April 2014 Archives
3D Scanning: Mobile Mapping: Survey Grade vs Mapping Grade
As mobile mapping systems become more commonplace the debate between accuracy and cost rages, with suppliers competing in terms of system performance as well as fitness for purpose. Here are some of the pitfalls and misperceptions associated with the selection and application of a mobile mapping system and a description of the differences between survey- […]
Business Angle: Communication: The Two-way Street
Columnist Bill Beardslee, PLS, PE, PP, writes in this space about the importance of clear communication with your clients. This month a surveying company based in New York shares their insights into client communication from more than 35 years of business, as they expanded into a multi-discipline, multi-state firm. Marketing your business and its services […]
Software Review: Terrain Navigator Pro, Revisited
One of the most powerful productivity-boosting tools these days is probably that little machine right there in your pocket. Plenty gets written about how “mobile is taking over the world.” You’ve probably seen your smart phone changing the way you do your work, or maybe it has in ways you haven’t realized—and you could do […]
Feature: MATE
Marine Advanced Technology Education is creating the future of marine surveying and operations from groups of innovative kids working around kitchen tables.Does it seem like those youngsters in the increasingly popular robotics clubs are having a lot of fun? Yes, but they’re doing something else, too. The boom in robotics clubs, and especially underwater robotics, is […]
Feature: Hydrography by Remote
Surveyors in parched California measure sedimentation levels in a reservoir using a small, remote-controlled boat integrated with a survey-grade RTK. Before they even start taking measurements, surveyors often have to deal with such practical challenges as how to access and move around in their survey area—which may be rocky, filled with dense vegetation, or obstructed […]
Feature: Discovering Lee’s View
A geography professor uses GIS to recreate the Battle of Gettysburg, discovering what General Lee could and could not have seen to guide his fateful decisions. Advances in tech-nology in the last 150 years have been remarkable. In our industry we have seen many changes in our surveying methods and in mapping practices in general. […]