Lidar News readers are interested in how innovative companies and individuals are leveraging Phoenix LiDAR 3D technologies to solve their customers’ problems. Lidar News Founder Gene Roe has provided the following interview questions to help the Phoenix LiDAR customers tell their Surveying and Lidar story.
Can you please provide a brief overview of your professional background (s) and experience, particularly with 3D laser scanning/drone lidar technology, and/or a brief history of the growth of the company and its use of 3D technology? Please include an idea of the timelines.
I began my career in surveying back in 2001 working part time in the summer and on breaks. We got into 3D scanning and drone lidar back in 2016 as we saw that this was a very useful tool and feel it is the future of surveying. We started off with a terrestrial scanner and mobile mapper. Shortly after we acquired photogrammetry drone and quickly upgraded to a RIEGL VUX1-UAV.
Can you provide an inventory of some of the primary 3D surveying and mapping hardware and software that your company currently uses, as well as any other related products? Please include an idea of the timeline of purchases.
We currently own 3 mobile mapping systems (2022 – RIEGL VMX-2HA with RiProcess, 2016 – Leica Pegasus 2 Ultimate, and 2018 – Leica Pegasus; both processed with Pegasus Manager) , 2 aerial mapping units (1 Phoenix Ranger Ultra with Spatial Explorer and RIEGL VUX-1UAV), & 6 terrestrial Scanners (RIEGL VZ 600i, RIEGL VZ 400i, Leica P50, Leica P40, Leica RTC 360, & Leica BLK).
What attracted you to the use of Phoenix Lidar hardware and software? Did you look at other products? Why did you choose Phoenix?
We certainly explored other options. There were two main factors when choosing Phoenix. The main factor was the processing suite. We found Spatial Explorer to be the strongest processing suite of all the options we entertained. The second factor was they are local. One of the biggest challenges in working with integrators is support. Having them available with a few minutes’ drive has been extremely helpful in troubleshooting and the very few support issues we have experienced.
How do you integrate Phoenix Lidar products into your workflows? What were some of the challenges with that? What were some of the best practices and lessons learned?
We have created workflows that allow us to use our Phoenix Lidar data seamlessly with our many different 3D Scanning tools. The biggest challenge when integrating data was processing power. Most of our projects are long corridors and usually equate to massive data files. Spatial Explorer is the most efficient of all our processing suites and is capable of handling processing with minimal down time.
Can you provide a brief overview of two or three of the projects where you made use of Phoenix Lidar’s technology? Can you provide any thoughts on time savings vs. other methods? Any thoughts on return on investment?
If we are tasked with 3D mapping of any roadway or corridor, we utilize our Ranger system to supplement or be the primary collection methodology for every single project we do. Even if we are not scoped to utilize aerial lidar for a mapping project, we found that the coverage, penetration and aerial imagery this system provides makes extraction more efficient and reduces the need for traditional surveying in potential obscure areas.
What do you see in the future for the use of Phoenix Lidar’s 3D technology on your projects? Are you investigating other advanced technologies that will create new business opportunities?
We will continue to utilize Phoenix Lidars technology to provide a more efficient way to collect data for our clients as well as mitigating safety issues by keeping our field crews out of harm’s way.
The technology we are excited about is the new HydroRanger. Being able to perform bathymetric surveys without a submergible piece of hardware will drastically reduce collection time and help provide some cost savings to our clients.
Shawn Trevino, Geospatial Manager, McGray & McGray
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