- The Summit did not place much emphasis on 3D – maybe we can have a session next year on Digital Cities and CityGML.
- The most audience reaction came on a comment about coordinate systems.
- The hybrid scanner/total station is the preferred instrument by Bechtel’s survey crews.
The conference itself did not provide a lot of information on laser scanning and/or LiDAR, and I was particularly surprised that there was not more information on 3D. This is not ESRI’s strong suit, but in terms of future opportunities it seems to me this is one of the key intersections of GIS and surveying.
Perhaps next year we can provide a session on digital cities and CityGML. I would think this should be a primary direction for ESRI, given their history with urban environments and planning.
During one of the question and answer sessions the comment that drew the loudest reaction of the day was in connection with coordinate systems and the fact that these are still not being dealt with properly in ArcGIS. A good friend of mine also told me of his frustration in not having the survey engineering tools that he needs to QA/QC data, adjust it as needed and then publish it to a geodatabase. The Survey Analyst does a good job with cadastral data, but not control survey.
I thought it was interesting that Joe Betit’s presentation on the value of laser scanning did not emphasize 3D, it was all about efficiency. This is what we want to hear. His Bechtel surveyors tried all of the scanners, but in the end prefer the hybrid scan/station – a total station, scanner and digital camera all in one. A certain amount of this is the result of being in a construction environment, but as mentioned before I think this is the instrument that the surveyor is going to find the most value in using and adopting to his/her traditional workflows.
Joe is also very proud, as well he should be, that he is going to leave behind an operational survey and positioning system with active real time control. This never happens on a construction project. Joe is taking a leading role in the adoption of new technology to the survey profession.
