The Sanborn Map Company

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.

Technology Benefits

This technology provides  a product that excels in:
•    Safety – Data collection at posted highway speeds without risking personnel in traffic to collect  road/railsurvey data
•    Collection Efficiency – Faster by up to 50x than conventional survey data collection methods
•    Accurate – Precise positional processing integrating survey control GPS and IMU data
•    Delivery – Product is delivered in standard  formats and is immediately available in CAD or other software packages
•    Cost & Schedule Effective – Virtual survey means no return to the field to pick up “missed” features
•    3D Visualization Excellence – Accurate and complete detail of structures, roads and infrastructure

Transportation, Highway, Engineering, Airports and Critical Infrastructure
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.

Benefits for Transportation/Highway Applications:

• Analysis of road infrastructure
• Location of encroaching overhead wires, light poles, and road signs
• Bridge structures and overhead clearances
• Road surface conditions
• Complete asset management for cities and counties

Benefits for Airports and Critical Infrastructure Applications:

•    Complete and accurate survey of airport facilities, runways, and infrastructure
•    Detailed and complete survey of critical infrastructure such as power plants, communication power and gas distribution hubs
•    Accurate documentation of  as-built government facilities and properties for inventory purposes, asset management, environmental and security purposes
•     Support for homeland security and border areas by creating a high-resolution and accurate terrain, and information on a 3D virtual world for analysis and planning
•    Adds value to the survey as it is a current “snapshot” of as-built structures allowing for “near”rea- time updates as changes occur

Rail and Utilities

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.

Benefits for Rail Applications:

•    Data collection in hours instead of days, reducing schedule and improving the value and timeliness of the information
•    Inventory completely acquired, including clearance of overhanging wires, natural obstructions (trees, rock faces), and tunnel/bridge clearances
•    Switches, location and type, and “frogs” located with precise accuracy

The Sanborn Lynx Mobile Mapper provides remarkable capability and flexibility for the rapid 3D mapping overhead wires, utility and power infrastructure, including substations and  power transmission corridors.

Benefits for Utilities Applications:

•    Accurate and rapid survey of overhead wires
•    Complete inventory of connectors/transformers/poles, etc.
•    Accurate and rapid identification of obstructions and encroachments within rights-of-way
•    Mapping as-built infrastructure for dams/power plants

Data and Quality Management

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.

Benefits of Mobile Mapping Technology

•    Rapid and accurate collection of all features “seen” from LiDAR and imagery in a single pass,allowing additional information and products to be generated
•    Collection of data at road speeds – eliminates traditional surveyor safety issues, keeps roads/lanes open, and minimizes impact to traffic
•    Can be used in emergency response for both emergency and tactical planning, with potential use for insurance/property inventory

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.