A new direction

By Rick Vincent

The Sanborn Map Company, Inc., an industry leader in aerial mapping and LiDAR collection and processing, continues the tradition of implementing cutting-edge technology with the deployment of the Optech Lynx V200 Mobile Mapping System, a combination LiDAR and high-resolution video system designed to meet the accuracies required for today’s engineering-grade applications and solutions.

Leveraging Optech’s 33 years of technology development expertise and the latest in LiDAR innovation, the Lynx Mobile Mapper employs a revolutionary new iFLEX LiDAR sensor head to collect survey-grade LiDAR data at more than 200,000 measurements per second with a 360º field of view while maintaining a Class 1 eye safety rating.

Sanborn’s new mobile mapping survey solution is designed for the collection of engineering/survey-grade LiDAR data over large areas that are impractical to collect with static LiDAR sensors but require an accuracy and resolution that exceed airborne technologies. With a system accuracy better than 5cm and a resolution of up to 1cm, the  Lynx Mobile Mapper offers Sanborn customers unprecedented 3D detail – all from a vehicle moving at speeds up to 60 mph.

Sanborn mobile mapping provides remarkable capability for the rapid 3D mapping of highways, infrastructure, and buildings using vehicle-mounted lasers and 5-megapixel digital video cameras. It is a proven solution for collecting engineering/survey-grade LiDAR data over large areas where surveys are impractical with static LiDAR sensors, but require an accuracy and resolution that exceed those of airborne technologies.

Traveling at normal road speeds – day or night – the Sanborn’s Lynx Mobile Mapper offers a 360° field of view, with higher precision mapping to very long ranges. Capturing every detail along the highway corridor, including road barriers, cracks in the road surface, ditches and overhead wires, surveyors can create highly accurate 3D computer models for new scheme planning, road maintenance, wide-load route assessment, and asset management applications.

Sanborn mobile mapping is an ideal survey solution for LiDAR data collection for rail applications. Installation on a ‘speeder’ has demonstrated the Lynx’s ability to provide unprecedented detail for rail asset management. Traditional survey methods require frequent measurements on the rail base, the top of the rail, and the rail base on the opposing side – a labor-intensive, disruptive and occasionally dangerous process. By contrast, LiDAR and video data acquisition takes much less time and thereby minimizes the disruption to rail traffic. Surveyors are not put in harm’s way, and measurements are more frequent and easily chosen by the operator.

Sanborn has extensive experience with the collection and processing of massive amounts of geospatial information. With a fleet of nine aircraft, six digital aerial mapping cameras, three airborne LiDAR systems, 600TB of storage/300 CPUs for processing, and technical staff of more than 150, including engineers, surveyors, photogrammetrists, GIS specialists and certified project managers, Sanborn can effectively manage, control, and produce the required information and value-added products required from our Lynx Mobile Mapping System.

The addition of the Lynx Mobile Mapping System allows Sanborn to offer a complete ‘Ground2Sky’ picture of any environment, and is a natural extension to the workflows and processes in place for airborne LiDAR applications.

Biography

With more than 31 years of experience in the mapping industry, Rick Vincent has extensive experience, having managed orthophoto mapping and LiDAR programs both in the United States and internationally. Mr. Vincent currently oversees operational management for The Sanborn Map Company’s LiDAR, orthoimagery, and GIS mapping production division.