Africa Surveyors May-June digital issue 2020

May- June issue 2020

Volume 3 issue no. 9

Africa Surveyors

Hydrography Survey importance of obtaining the underwater measurement and description of the physical features

Agricultural Drone transforming the modern farming for fast and efficient agricultural solutions

Architecture

How to Decide on Software Architecture Modifications

In this issue......

Ramaphosa signs hydrographic bill into law....pg 5 May-June issue l 2020

Opinion: Hydrographic services on the African continent ...pg 12

How to Decide on Software Architecture Modifications....pg 36 Africa Surveyors News l 2020

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CONTENTS

Contents Managing Editor Francis David

May- June issue 2020

Editor-in-Chief

Current Issue

Augustine Rang’ondi

In this issue, we look at Hydrographic Surveying and its importance

Editor

Volume 3 issue no. 9

Africa Surveyors

Hydrographic Surveying

Hydrography Survey

importance of obtaining the underwater measurement and description of the physical features

Agricultural Drone transforming the modern farming for fast and efficient agricultural solutions

Architecture

How to Decide on Software Architecture Modifications

In this issue......

Dorcas Kang’ereha

Ramaphosa signs hydrographic bill into law....pg 5 May-June issue l 2020

Opinion: Hydrographic services on the African continent ...pg 12

How to Decide on Software Architecture Modifications....pg 36 Africa Surveyors News l 2020

Writer

Violet Ambale Harriet Mkhaye Irene Joseph Innocent Momanyi

Agricultural Drones

REGULARS News Briefs

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Events

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Sales Executives

Innovation

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East Africa

Opinion

12

Industry Tips

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Jimmy Mudasia Lydia Kamonya Caiser Momanyi Vincent Murono Sheila Ing’ayitsa

South Africa

Paul Nyakeri Sean Masangwanyi Lisa Brown Thembisa Ndlovu

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26 Mining: Annual Survey of Mining Companies, 2019

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Engineering: Bentley Systems supports remote civil

COVER STORY

engineering teams

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hydrographic surveying

Profile: GeoShack Celebrates 25-Years

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Agricultural Drones: transforming the modern farming for fast and efficient agricultural solutions

Profile: 45 years in the service of concrete industry

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Hydrographic Surveying: Importance of

Nigeria

Emelda Njomboro Uche Maxwel

Published by:

Nailex Africa Publishing P.O. Box 10109, 00100 Nairobi, Kenya.

ADVERTISER'S INDEX 1.

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Autobuild Africa.....................................................................Pg 38 Alwarqa Survey Engineering...............................................pg 23 AMS Group..............................................................................pg 38 Building Smart........................................................................IFC DGR Consult............................................................................pg 38 Graco........................................................................................pg 16 GRK Engineering India Pvt Ltd............................................IBC iXblue........................................................................................pg 9 Mavic Air...................................................................................OBC Pertamina.................................................................................pg 11 Ranhill........................................................................................pg 25 Teledyne Marine.....................................................................pg 21

The Editor accepts letter and manuscripts for publication from readers all over the world. Include your name and address as a sign of good faith although you may request your name to be withheld from publication. We can reserve the right to edit any material submitted. Send your letters to: info@africasurveyorsonline.com

Disclaimer:

Nailex Africa Publishing makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the contents of its publications, but no warranty is made to such accuracy and no responsibility will be borne by the publisher for the consequences of actions based on information so published. Further, opinions expressed on interviews are not necessarily shared by Nailex Africa Publisher.

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News BRIEFS

Leica Geosystems and Pointfuse announce cooperative agreement

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ointfuse, makers of a 3D point cloud modeling software, and Leica Geosystems have announced a global cooperation and development agreement aimed to streamline the use of reality capture.

The Pointfuse modeling engine works to convert point clouds into usable 3D models, primarily for downstream BIM and facility management software, and Leica Geosystems has been developing scanning tools like the Leica BLK2GO to bring 3D scanning into more construction workflows.

and create intuitive reality capture tools that bring advanced project efficiencies to their users. This streamlined workflow provides the fast, simple solution to capture and convert point clouds into deliverables that drive every stage of the building construction, operations, maintenance and lifecycle management.

Matt Wheelis, Hexagon’s Geosystems Division Global Business Development Leader for Building Construction, hopes this partnership will help their digital design and construction customers.

This strategic cooperation demonstrates the shared focus of Pointfuse and Leica Geosystems to democratise 3D technology

3DUserNet extends its free trial program to help with remote working

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o allow more companies try their cloudbased platform while working from home, 3DUserNet has announced an extension of their free trial program in order to improve the process of remote work for the 3D modeling and scanning industry.

opportunity for more people to be able to work together, especially if they are not in the same office. Rather than gathering around the only computer in the office that has the right

3DUserNet’s platform allows point clouds and 3D models to be viewed, edited and shared online on any device.

By eliminating the need for every user to have specialized or CPU-heavy software to view point clouds and models, 3DUserNet offers an

“This strategic partnership leverages the respective strengths of Bobcat and Ainstein to further advance our connected and autonomous technology,” said Joel Honeyman, vice president of global innovation at Doosan Bobcat North America.

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The platform can ingest point clouds from any scanner hardware, photogrammetry solution, 3D models or line work without total size limits. The scans or point clouds can be viewed online and worked on directly online using an integrated toolset. The tools include a set of measurement tools, area, volume, angle and slope calculations, line of sight tools.

3DUserNet co-Founder Paul Snudden emphasized that being able to effectively collaborate is key.

objects on jobsites.

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software, 3DUserNet aims to facilitate remote collaboration across a variety of devices.

The ability to directly annotate within a model (including inserting hyperlinks) can make getting feedback about project issues more straightforward, especially from customers and non-expert stakeholders.

Doosan Bobcat Partners with Ainstein on Radar Sensor Technology

oosan Bobcat North America announced it has partnered with Ainstein AI, Inc. – a radar technologies company headquartered in Lawrence, KS – to develop next-generation radar sensor systems for Bobcat equipment. Through this partnership, Ainstein and Doosan Bobcat North America will collaborate to create radar-based sensing solutions to detect

To launch this new cooperation, Pointfuse has developed a new version of its software, called Pointfuse, powered by Jetstream, that provides users of Leica Geosystems solutions with a scan-to-BIM workflow within the Leica Jetstream ecosystem. Taking its place within the Jetstream ecosystem, Pointfuse, powered

by Jetstream, is configured with tailored profiles specifically for Leica Geosystems 3D laser scanners, including the Leica Geosystems LGS file format, to ensure best results first time round.

Working together, we can evolve autonomous operations and provide our customers with optimal productivity and the ultimate operator experience through sensor technology.”

Ainstein K 79 Sensor 2Doosan Bobcat North America and Ainstein will collaborate to create next-generation radar sensor solutions to detect objects on jobsites when using Bobcat equipment. The radar system

developed by Ainstein collects object position data — like range, azimuth, elevation and doppler information — to provide realtime alerts to operators by incorporating a combination of mmWave radar, sensor fusion and artificial intelligence. This technology will enable obstacle avoidance solutions and future technologies that support autonomous operations.

“At Ainstein, we design and develop radar systems that are smarter and more affordable, and offer complete solutions for autonomous vehicles,” said Andrew Boushie, vice president of strategy and partnerships at Ainstein. “We are excited to begin our partnership and collaboration with Doosan Bobcat North America.”

The partnership is part of Doosan Bobcat North America’s initiative to identify forwardlooking solutions to help equipment owners and operators maximize their productivity, efficiency and safety through innovation and technology.

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News BRIEFS

Brandt Acquires GeoShack Canada Company

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eoShack Canada Company has reached an agreement in principle, to sell its Canadian Operations to The Brandt Group of Companies.

The agreement is expected to close no later than June 26, 2020. GeoShack is the long-time exclusive supplier for Topcon Positioning Systems equipment in Ontario, providing sales, service, and rentals of GPS, lasers, survey

equipment, and more for the construction, survey, engineering, and agricultural industries.

The company also delivers comprehensive machine control solutions for all OEM construction and forestry equipment brands.

This addition will give Brandt a comprehensive retail footprint to supply premium GeoPositioning equipment to Canadian construction and forestry contractors, engineering firms and survey companies and will further establish the firm’s position as a premier privately-held Canadian company.

“The combination of the GeoShack team and Brandt’s national infrastructure is going to be powerful for Ontario customers,” said GeoShack President, Scott Beathard. “We’ve worked very hard to build strong relationships and a solid operation in the Ontario market over the years and we’re completely confident that Brandt will continue to grow the business and provide unmatched value for clients in that market.”

“We are very excited to add this highly respected team along with these key product lines and support services for our customers in Ontario and Quebec,” says Brandt CEO, Shaun Semple. “GeoShack has built an impressive reputation over the years and we’re looking forward to working with them to build on that strong foundation as we expand our commitment to those markets.”

The agreement is expected to close on June 26, 2020.

Ramaphosa signs hydrographic bill into law

the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as the prediction of their change over time, for the primary purpose of safety of navigation and in support of all other maritime activities, including economic development, security and defence, scientific research, and environmental protection,” the Presidency said.

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resident Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law legislation that will improve the safety of navigation in South Africa’s territorial waters, with the Hydrographic Act now in force.

The Presidency said on June 5 that the Hydrographic Act will improve the safety of navigation in South Africa’s territorial waters. It provides for the establishment of the Hydrographic Office as a unit within the South African Navy, with responsibility for the safety of navigation in South Africa’s exclusive economic zone and the internal waters of the Republic of South Africa.

The Office will ensure that hydrographic surveying is done in accordance with international specifications and will issue sailing directions, notices to mariners and nautical publications, in addition to other services. This is vital for the safe use and economic management of the marine

President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa

resources along South Africa’s 3 000 km coastline, which is at the centre of an important global shipping route, the Presidency said.

“Hydrography is a branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of

SAS wins Best Established Black Business award

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outhern African Shipyards (SAS) was named Best Established Black Owned Business at the coveted Black Business Quarterly Awards in Johannesburg.

The ceremony hosted at Emperors Palace saw the country’s leading Black Owned Businesses being honoured for their contributions to transformation and Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) in the country.

The company is today 100% Black Owned; 70% Black Women-Owned and 12% employee owned and has over the years grown exponentially from humble beginnings.

Founded by the the late Don Mkhwanwazi and the company’s current Chief Executive Prasheen Maharaj, SAS today competes on a global stage in the ship repair and ship building sector. Maharaj expressed his gratitude for the acknowledgment.

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Maharaj was particularly proud of the SAS Artisan training programme, where hundreds of young South Africans graduate as Maritime professionals. In a statement published by the International Monetary Fund it was revealed that South Africa faces low growth and low job creation prospects and that the increasing labour force is projected to exacerbate unemployment pressures, poverty, and inequality.

Signing of the act into law comes as Sandock Austral Shipyards (formerly Southern African Shipyards) makes progress in the construction of a new hydrographic survey vessel to replace the ageing SAS Protea.

(HSV) for the South African Navy which represents one of the most complex projects to be undertaken in the African continent in recent years.

Another milestone project was the Transnet Ports Authority (TNPA) contract to build nine state of the award tugs, the largest contract to be issued to a single company by the State Owned Entity - the project value was an estimated R1.4 billion.

“There needs to be a sincerer effort to have meaningful engagement between the private sector and government as ultimately the private sector will be the largest absorber of the skills base,” said Maharaj.

The company was recently awarded a multi-billion rand contract to build a Hydrographic Survey Vessel

Southern African Shipyards CEO Prasheen Maharaj with the award

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EVENTS

COVID-19 ANNOUNCEMENT POSTPONEMENT OF AFRES 2020 CONFERENCE

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fter carefully considering the spread of the corona virus across the globe and across our continent the AfRES (African Real Estate Society) Executive team, in consultation with the board, have had to take the decision to cancel the 2020 AfRES Conference to be held in Lusaka in September.

While consideration was given to the fact that by September the situation might have normalised, we have taken the view that the risks associated with going ahead were just too high for the society, our presenters, delegates, sponsors and other stake holders.

We acknowledge that this cancellation decision will inconvinience some members of our community and ask that you understand the unique circumstances under which we have had to make this decision.

On behalf of the entire AfRES community, we would like to thank the Southern African Chapter and Conference organising committee for the hardwork that went into the preparation of the 2020 conference. Thank you very much for supporting AfRES during these unprecedented times. Stay Safe and we look forward to seing you in Zambia 2021.

Kind Regards, AFRES 2020 Organising Committee.

AAK Convention 2020

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he Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK) Convention is an annual event of the AAK which brings together its membership as well as other built industry practitioners and stakeholders for deliberation on themes of common concern.

It is the Association’s premier Continuous Professional Development (CPD) event that sharpens our members’ professional and business acumen by exposing them to discussions on pertinent issues in the industry.

This year’s convention will take place on 12th – 14th August 2020 at the Sandies Tropical Village, in Malindi, Kenya.

The theme ‘THE FUTURE OF DEVELOPMENT CONTROL’ focuses on building for industrialization

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EVENTS

INTERGEO 2020

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NTERGEO is the leading international trade fair for geodesy, geoinformation and land management and focuses on groundbreaking developments and projects in a dynamically developing geoIT sector.

Reasons for visiting INTERGEO 2020 Are you interested in future-oriented applications, products and services from the GEOSPATIAL world? Then INTERGEO is the right place for you! And there are even more reasons to come to Berlin from 13 – 15 October 2020:

1. worldwide

platform for geoinformation, geodata and future-oriented applications. Over 700 exhibitors from 42 countries and 20,000 trade visitors from more than 100 countries make INTERGEO the central innovation hub of the geo industry. And the community is growing and growing!

2. International CONFERENCE International CONFERENCE over three days with renowned speakers and around 1,300 participants. Focus sessions on current topics. Three EXPO STAGES on the subjects of drones, smart cities, geoinnovation/BIM.

3. Future-oriented theme platforms

Solutions and innovations from futureoriented subject areas such as BIM, Smart Cities and drones are presented on integrated platforms. They are part of INTERGEO , are based on innovative technology, the latest digital developments and show how geodata can be applied in these central future fields.

4. Geospatial community As the number one event in its sector, INTERGEO unfolds international reach throughout the year via numerous industry publications and online and social media channels. Join this unique community now!

The world’s leading expo and conference

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INNOVATION

Trimble Access 2020 is now available

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outed arlier in 2020, Trimble announced the release of their TDC600, a rugged mobile device designed for the field and powered by Android OS. Touted as a solution that could reduce the number of devices surveyors need in the field, the TDC600 includes its own built-in GNSS packaged in a small form factor. To add on to the robust system, Trimble has updated the latest version of Trimble Access to support the device. The Trimble Access 2020 field software will allow surveyors to gain the ability to use familiar workflows and instruments while remaining in the Android OS platform.

The advantage to the TDC600 is definitely its small, lightweight design, and offers a lower-cost entry for those wanting to use Trimble Access software and workflows. Jason Rossback, marketing director for Trimble Geospatial Field solution says that the combination should broaden the potential users of the device.

“The ability to use the intuitive field software on the Trimble TDC600 Android device will put Trimble Access in the hands of more surveyors and engineers. This solution provides a powerful option for field workers such as road inspectors, who need the full set of survey tools combined with the portability of a mobile device.”

The updated Trimble Access 2020 also comes with some additional features, including a “Snap-to Toolbar” that allows users to select locations on objects in maps by snapping to a specific point, even if a point does not already exist. The addition of a “Limit Box” function allows you to excuse data in a map to view areas more clearly, for example, by removing elements from a yard when you are looking at the structure of a residence.

Pix4D launches two new stand-alone cloud mapping solutions

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ix4D is a software development company that provides solutions for converting images collected via hand, drone or plane into georeferenced 2D mosaics, 3D models and point clouds. After announcing new tools earlier this year, Pix4D has now announced a pair of cloud-based mapping platforms: Pix4Dcloud and Pix4Dcloud Advanced.

The two new stand-alone cloud products use Pix4D’s photogrammetry algorithms for mapping and modeling reality from images. Both products now replace the previous Pix4D Cloud platforms, and Pix4D Advanced extends the functionalities of Pix4Dcloud for construction with the addition of time-based monitoring and higher accuracy. Both Pix4Dcloud and Pix4Dcloud Advanced can be purchased on top of any Pix4D product. They differ in their functionality: the right tool depends on a user’s needs and workflows.

Another key benefit to the cloud-based solution is that the projects and datasets created by users are all in one place, allowing for more seamless access and reduced time searching for sites and datasets.

With Pix4Dcloud Advanced, projects can now be processed with ground control points (GCPs) directly on the cloud. Pix4D has combined machine learning and computer vision in the AutoGCPs feature to pinpoint the exact center of a GCP target almost instantly with pixel-level accuracy, all automatically.

For construction customers, Pix4Dcloud Advanced can be bundled with their purpose-built Crane Camera, allowing for a straightforward – and less invasive – workflow for automatically capturing construction site imagery.

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From sensors to vessels.

Solutions for hydrography, oceanography and geophysical survey Octans AHRS

Canopus Supervision software

DriX + Gaps AUV tracking & navigation solution

DriX + Ramses Box-in solution

Gaps USBL transceiver

Rovins Nano Navigation solution for ROVs

Rovins + Ramses High-grade navigation solution for ROVs Canopus LBL transponder

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Phins Compact Series + Ramses Navigation solution for UUVs

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INNOVATION

Pix4D launches stand-alone photogrammetry cloud processing solutions

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ix4D, the photogrammetry and drone-mapping industry leader, announces today the release of Pix4Dcloud and Pix4Dcloud Advanced: the new mapping platforms for online surveying workflows and construction site monitoring.

These stand-alone cloud products run Pix4D’s photogrammetry algorithms for mapping and modeling reality from images.

Pix4Dcloud Advanced extends the functionalities of Pix4Dcloud to address the needs of construction customers with timeline-based monitoring and improved accuracy. Both products now replace the previous Pix4D Cloud platforms.

Christoph Strecha, Founder and CEO of Pix4D, comments: “Pix4D’s new and improved cloud solutions actively contribute to completing the existing desktop and mobile product offering.

Integrating Pix4D’s leading algorithms and know-how in an online platform delivers strong value to professionals in need of a powerful, flexible, and easy-to-use application.

interfering with site operations. Thanks to improvements made in the alignment process, projects of the same construction site captured on different dates are aligned even better than before.

Pix4Dcloud and Pix4Dcloud Advanced can be purchased independently from any desktop software to generate 2D maps and 3D models for online-only surveying workflows.

Explore demo projects for free and without an account on cloud.pix4d.com/demo .

Survey-grade accuracy on the cloud With Pix4Dcloud Advanced, projects can now be processed with ground control points (GCPs) directly on the cloud. Pix4D has combined machine learning and computer vision in the AutoGCPs feature to pinpoint the exact center of a GCP target almost instantly with pixel-level accuracy, all automatically. Read more on Pix4D’s blog.

A refreshed, more powerful interface All projects and datasets are now in one place: the drive. Projects and sites can be easily searched and there is no need to go from one application to another to open different project types.

On the map view, annotations and overlays are automatically grouped, to make work and collaboration easier. All grouped layers can be hidden with a click, and multiple annotation groups can be created and simply reorganized Construction sites monitored with the Crane Camera now accurately georeferenced When bundled with Pix4D’s Crane Camera, Pix4Dcloud Advanced is also the most straightforward solution to automatically capture and process construction site imagery without

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INNOVATION

Twinmotion releases a new version of its visualization tool for architectural renderings

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o provide high quality project visualization for professionals in urban planning, architecture, design and construction, gaming company Epic Games has released a new version of its visualization tool, Twinmotion 2020. Armed with the best technologies from gaming – including the Unreal Engine – Twinmotion 2020 is raising the bar for realism.

Adding new computer-generated lighting controls, improved plants and vegetation, more material options, the 2020 release further blurs the line between computergenerated models and envisioning a model in the real world.

Lighting features include a new global illumination method for simulating indirect lighting, as well as a sun and sky model that gives more realism to building and outdoor renders, and even controls to adjust light at different times of year.

The people have gotten better, too. The 3D animated characters are all new, with photoscanned character assets. 62 animated and 82 posed characters are available and look more realistic and less distracting than previous versions.

The vegetation, while probably not important to the actual designers/owners/builders, is impressive, with realistic trees, individual grass blades, and detailed shrubs of all kinds. A new vegetation growth tool can model how vegetation will look within a property over time, from first planting to full growth.

Marc Petit, General Manager of Unreal Engine at Epic Games says that the architectural

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industry, in particular, has been very interested in these types of renderings.

Twinmotion delivers real-time, finalquality rendering through a simple and intuitive interface, with the ability to quickly produce a variety of presentation options including images, panoramas, videos, and virtual reality content.

quality visuals in real-time, while still being extremely intuitive and easy to use.”

Licenses of Twinmotion 2020 are available to new users at a 50% discount off the US $499 purchase price, plus free upgrades through December 2021.

Early adopters using previous versions of Twinmotion get access to Twinmotion 2020 free of charge, and free upgrades through December 2021.

“We have seen incredible adoption of Twinmotion within the architectural industry, with almost half a million Twinmotion registrations since it joined the Epic suite in May of last year,” says Petit.

“It’s always our mission to make highend visualization more accessible to all users regardless of experience, and Twinmotion 2020 is the most robust release to date – enabling high-

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OPINION

Hydrographic services on the African continent: competence and national sovereignty

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he African continent is made up of 54 countries, 38 of which have access to the sea. For these coastal countries, mastering hydrographic know-how is a strong marker of national independence. At stake is both autonomy in the understanding of maritime territorial limits, which enables them to assert their rights in the competition between nations, and economic independence in the management of waterways and ports.

Author: Raphaël PACOT Deparentis Managing Director

This ambition requires substantial resources, and by resources we mean budgets and competences. In Africa, this is a cruel observation. National hydrographic services, where they exist, are not always able to carry out the work of mapping or updating bathymetric data in complete independence.

The operation of a specialized vessel, equipment and licenses are expensive. It is understandable that, in terms of national budgets, these expenses are not a priority.

However, all these countries have international obligations to provide hydrographic services.

United Nations resolutions regularly refer to the importance of this activity in ensuring the safety of navigation worldwide, while the IMO reminds us of our duties: (SOLAS – Chapter V, Regulation 9): Art.1 Contracting Governments undertake to make arrangements for the collection and compilation of hydrographic data and for the publication, dissemination and maintenance of all nautical information necessary for the safety of navigation.

In order to meet these obligations and to assist States in the acquisition of skills, it is

necessary to recall the admirable work of the International Hydrographic Organization which has put in place a real strategy for capacity building.

As a complement and to meet specific needs for measures, this task is often delegated, with more or less success, to private companies.

So, are we observing today a transition phase, and can we hope that tomorrow, the national hydrographic services in Africa will have built their full autonomy?

Despite the encouragement of international institutions, I am moderately optimistic.

From a local perspective, the initiatives will undoubtedly experience varying fortunes depending on the countries and their readiness to respond, or not, to the assistance offered to them.

While for some African countries full autonomy is an ambitious goal, I am nevertheless convinced that we can redistribute the challenge regionally. By pooling their resources, neighboring countries could mutually benefit, while at the same time gaining a form of independence.

Let us imagine a training course organized by the member countries of the African Port Management Association, and a regional hydrographic service with a ship and equipment, which would go from port to port all year round on the continent. Wouldn’t that look good?

Let’s not be naive. Such a supranational organization would certainly be a hotbed of tension and difficult compromises. But there is no doubt that shared autonomy is a preferable ambition to giving up our sovereignty.

it is necessary to recall the admirable work of the International Hydrographic Organization which has put in place a real strategy for capacity building.

IHO Membership | Image courtesy source IHO, January 2020

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13

OPINION

Using High Res 3D Meshes for improved Shape Reconstuction of Marine Survey Data

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hen using dense, high-precision survey data, the method for management and visualization of the data can have a large impact on the final decision making process. This is an important factor when accurate shape reconstruction is required, as there are significant trade-offs with traditional approaches. For applications where it is critical to know exactly the shape and size of surveyed objects, a high-resolution 3D mesh is likely the best option.

Gridded surfaces, even with variable resolution, cannot adequately model complex overlapping or vertical structures. Though we think of grids as 3D objects, they are referred to as having 2.5 dimensions because of this limitation of being able to only represent a single vertical value per grid cell. Alternatively, point clouds can represent any shape or structure, but by themselves pose challenges for visualization and quantitative analysis.

To address these limitations and bridge the benefits of both point clouds and gridded surfaces, QPS has created tools for creating and working with high resolution 3D meshes, directly in the QPS Fledermaus software package. The new techniques can be used with the majority of common survey formats, with data coming from photogrammetry, LiDAR, or multibeam. The primary requirement is that the data is dense enough to support the 3D reconstruction process.

Supporting Structure From Motion Before adding functionality for creating new meshes, Fledermaus supported the importing of meshes created using Structure From Motion (SfM) techniques in 3rd party software, such as Agisoft Metashape and Pix4D. Users desired improvements for better handling of large meshes, and wanted the same functionality they were used to when working with gridded surface. This included operations such as applying color maps, measurement tools, and interactive profiling.

Initial applications for these tools were coastal and near shore mapping and analysis, with data acquired from aerial drones. Figure 1

Danny Neville, Fledermaus Product Manager at QPS

illustrates an example of an inter-tidal area represented as a mesh in Fledermaus. With rapid advancements in lighting and camera technology, SfM tools were also applied underwater, with impressive high density point cloud produced from ROV and AUV video, as shown in Figure 2 (Data source: USS YP-389 NOAA/Project Baseline). One of the key benefits of a 3D mesh can be seen in the overlapping and protruding structures of the wreck. These features would be averaged out when using a grid, and would be more difficult to see in a point cloud.

After adding support for meshes created in 3rd party software, the next major step was adding the ability to create new meshes from point clouds. This ability was first introduced in Fledermaus 8.0, and the process has been improved in each follow up release.

To maximize the benefits of adding a new data structure to your workflow, the creation process needs to be accessible, and well integrated. To achieve these goals, the Fledermaus mesh creation tools were designed to be almost as simple as creating a standard gridded surface.

In addition to opening up the mesh creation process to both multibeam and LiDAR data, this also allows SfM derived point clouds to

Figure 2 (Data source: USS YP-389 NOAA/Project Baseline)

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be improved before mesh creation. There are often times when SfM data requires further processing, because of deficiencies in the original pre-built mesh. By using the point editing and QC tools in Qimera software, the point cloud data can be improved, and a more accurate mesh created in Fledermaus.

There are also specialized tools, such as the SfM add-on for Qimera, which can be used to correct for refraction errors in submerged data acquired from airborne photogrammetry, as shown in Figure 3 (Data courtesy 4DOcean).

The image shows a beach profile running from land to underwater with the original terrestrial and bathymetric SfM points, and the refraction corrected SfM terrain model derived from the same source, but after the correction. The original terrain model’s profile is colored in Red and the corrected one in Green. Within Fledermaus, the mesh tools use the Poisson surface reconstruction algorithm (Kazhdan et al. 2006) for creating a best-fit surface of a dense point cloud. A key part of the mesh construction is determining the orientation, or shape from the point cloud. By using a data source with recorded navigation and orientation data, Fledermaus can make an improved mesh compared to generic mesh creation algorithms.

Applications of a 3D Mesh In terms of applications, this technology is beneficial anywhere that accurate shape reconstruction is of utmost importance.

This can apply when proper identification and measurement of features is critical to risk management, and to a greater extent in situations where there will be close interaction with the surveyed objects. When performing marine salvage, construction, or asset inspection, it is critical to have the most comprehensible and accurate representation of the data.

These applications highlight the differences between historical usages of mesh structures, and the new techniques now being introduced. Representations such as triangulated irregular networks (TIN) have been a common part of surveying for many decades. However, there have been major changes driving a completely new approach to how meshes are created and used. Instead of using a mesh as a way to create an interpolated shape from a sparse set of points, the abundance of dense point data now allows for the most accurate representation possible from the source point cloud. In addition, there has also been the transition from 2.5D meshes, to true 3D structures.

The change to high resolution 3D meshes has been enabled by three factors:

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OPINION • Growth in CPU and GPU capacity, especially in regards to multi-core processing • Advancement in shape reconstruction algorithms • Increased availability of dense, high precision point cloud data

Multibeam Sonar Applying the mesh tools to a traditional multibeam survey, Figure 4 shows an example in shallow water of data collected with a Kongsberg EM2040D of 4 shipwrecks. At this scale, there is no discernible difference between the 10cm mesh and the 10cm grid.

Looking closer at the data, Figure 5 can better highlight the differences between data structures. The grid still provides some details, but comparing it to the original point cloud, there are missing details and the overall dimensions are distorted. The mesh provides a much better preservation of the shape, and full dimensions of the object.

The most immediately visible benefit of a 3D mesh is the ability to model areas with overlapping z values, such as slopped walls, or protruding structures. This is easily visible in the wreck show in Figure 2. A complimentary benefit is that the mesh is a variable resolution structure. When creating a mesh, you provide a minimum resolution, and the creation algorithm will adapt the resolution as needed based on point density and the shape itself.

Lastly, mesh creation can also reduce the data volume while still preserving shapes and structures. In the example from Figure 4 & 5, the original point cloud had just under 8 million points, but the mesh was able to reduce that to 2.5 million vertices, while also helping to improve visual analysis.

Revisiting the comparison of a 3D mesh with a standard grid, the downside is that a grid is limited as a 2.5D surface, which can only represent one Z value or depth, for each grid cell. This prevents accurately representing quickly changing slopes, overhangs, or any protruding structures. The advantage is that

grids are quick to build, and easy to understand. A variable resolution grid can address some of the limitations of a standard grid, but ultimately it is still restricted by it being a 2.5D surface that cannot accurately represent certain shapes. In situations

Figure 7 an R2Sonic Sonic 2024 multibeam operated in UHR (700kHZ) mode

where accurate reconstruction is required, a grid should not be used for detailed planning or measurements.

Comparison with Point Clouds In a similar comparison for point clouds, we can see that points have the advantage of no additional building time, compared to grids and meshes. As your point density and resolution increases, mesh construction can be resource intensive. However a modern multi-core machine can help offset this, with a close to linear reduction in build times with each additional CPU core. Points naturally represent objects at the full resolution of the sensor, with 3D meshes usually coming close to the same.

The largest potential downsides of a point cloud are that it is not a connected shape, which complicates quantified analysis, such as slope or volume calculations. Also point clouds can be challenging for visual perception, as you are seeing either too many points at once, or obstructing fine details.

What is best?

Considering the complimentary benefits and trade-offs, the best approach is to work with a combination of data structures, to best fit the situation and data. There can also be complementary applications between data structures, such as combining a medium resolution mesh with a point cloud to help

In the example from Figure 4 (pictured here) & 5, the original point cloud had just under 8 million points, but the mesh was able to reduce that to 2.5 million vertices, while also helping to improve visual analysis.

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create structure, and occlude points on the backside of the point cloud. This improves the visual perception of the points, without needing the time to create a high resolution mesh.

A more complex example is when working with a large multi-sensor survey. This can be examined using a sample data set from Bibby Hydromap, a former survey company based in the UK. The asset inspection survey combined data from a Reson SeaBat T20-P multibeam, a Blueview scanning sonar, a Carlson Merlin laser scanner, and also airborne LiDAR. Figure 6 is an example of one area of the survey, and shows multiple different data structures used together in one scene.

The multibeam data of the riverbed is represented with a regular grid, as that is quick to produce and is a good match for the bathymetry. Areas of interest on the riverbed can be selected and 3d meshes created as needed. To best identify problems, the bridge is a 3d mesh combining the laser scanner, the scanning sonar, and the aerial LIDAR points. Additional laser points, such as the surrounding vegetation, are left as a point cloud, as direct analysis is not needed for those points.

Maximizing your Point Clouds There are significant costs associated with collecting and processing dense, highresolution point cloud data. To maximize the return on those costs, it is important to have a set of tools that can best leverage the investment in collecting the data. The QPS suite of tools can support a workflow focused on creating the highest quality 3d data possible. For example, using the new 3D point filter in Qimera 2.2 with the latest mesh technology in Fledermaus 8.2, is a powerful combination. Applying these tools to a data set collected with an R2Sonic Sonic 2024 multibeam operated in UHR (700kHZ) mode, provides a great example of what can be achieved, as shown in Figure 7. In future versions the technology and capabilities for 3D meshes will only improve as more tools are developed to integrate this new data type into various workflows.

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ADVERTORIAL

Odfjell discovers the benefits of Graco’s EcoQuip 2 EQp Frustrated with the drawbacks of dry blasting their ships, Odfjell SE looked for a cleaner and more productive surface preparation solution … and found it. it on Odfjell’s ship Bow Atlantic. They also upgraded the unit with a 1” hose for incoming air. An extra compressor wasn’t necessary as the Atlantic Bow already had a large 55 kW compressor capable of providing sufficient air.

One obvious advantage of the EQp is that it’s small and easy to move around a ship. To reach all parts of the ship, a total of 30 meters of hoses is used. Odfjell uses quartz sand with a thickness of 0.3 mm as abrasive media, at a rate of 60-70 kg/hour.

Increased productivity

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orwegian ship owning company Odfjell SE offers complete in-house ship management services including crewing, QHSSE, technology support, digital innovation, new-builds, energy efficiency solutions, and overall fleet management. But when it came to onboard maintenance work, they weren’t too happy about the efficiency of their surface treatment methods.

Time-consuming and unhealthy For onboard maintenance, Odfjell was using a combination of dry blasting and mechanical tools. On-the-spot repair with mechanical tools was taking time and effort, and was unhealthy and unpleasant for the crew due to the heavy vibrations of the tools. Moreover, dry blasting was requiring a massive amount of grit, and the dust was having a negative impact on the crew, the ship and the surrounding environment. To overcome these problems, Odfjell decided to look for alternative methods for their onboard maintenance work.

With the EcoQuip 2 EQp, Odfjell were pleased to see that their surface preparation was as good as with dry blasting. The benefit of using the EQp over dry blasting is an incremental reduction of used grit and generated dust. EQp also desalts the surface, so it’s immediately ready to be painted, eliminating the need to clean it first. The feathered edges around the prepared area are smooth so no rust will occur around the prepared area.

“We are using 75% less grit volume compared to dry blasting,” says Torleif Solheim, Senior Technical Superintendent at Odfjell. “When blasting, we fill two bags which last for 35-40 minutes before we have to refill again. And that’s not the only benefit, the maintenance crew find the EQp very easy to handle and operate.”

Dan Törnqvist, Business Development Specialist HPCF at Graco, adds a bit of advice.

“If you want to use the 1” inch blasting hose, you need a 1” hose for incoming air. Keep in mind that your compressor has to be at least 30-37 kW. For smaller compressors, the EQp should be used with a ½” blasting hose and incoming air hose.”

Less blast media, less dust Graco’s EcoQuip vapour abrasive blast equipment provides a performance equivalent to sandblasting but with 92% less dust, thus minimizing the need for PPE, tenting and containment, and decreasing environmental impact. It uses up to 75% less blast media and far less water than wet blasting, and creates little run-off, thus there is no large slurry mess to clean-up and dispose. It’s effective in rain and high humidity, and efficiently removes coatings without damaging the sub-surface.

The bottom line is that EcoQuip reduces project costs while increasing the speed, efficiency and productivity of blasting.

EcoQuip 2 Portable (EQp) is lightweight (99 kg) and therefore easy to take from one surface preparation job to another. It still packs the necessary power for any small to medium sized job. It can blast up to 10.5 bar and can handle most of what a 10.5 m³/ min compressor delivers. It’s also optimized to work well with a 5.2 m³/min compressor and blasts for up to 90 minutes between refills.

• Portability: weighs only 99.8 kg and is easily transported on a cart with lift handles • Low water usage (only 0.5 - 1 l/ min) means less mess • Works with coarse, fine or nondestructive media • Fast removal rates compared to other cleaning methods: blast pressures up 10.5 bar • Blasts for up to 90 minutes between refills and holds approximately (4) 25 kg bags of media

They were already aware of abrasive media and their usefulness to prepare surfaces.

But Odfjell not only needed good surface preparation, they also wanted a technique that was easy to use and not dangerous for the crew.

Cleaner, lighter and more portable Discussions with Odfjell’s local Graco distributor led to the solution. J.S. Cock recommended the Graco EcoQuip 2 EQp vapour abrasive blast equipment and installed

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May-June issue l 2020

EcoQuip™ 2 EQp Vapour abrasive blasting

A cleaner and easier way of blasting for more profitable and durable results.

Small and portable – makes it easy to move on the deck.

It can handle both horizontal and vertical surfaces Atex approved – can be used on all vessel types (even tankers) Environmental friendly – 92% less dust and less media consumption compared to dry blasting. Uses less abrasive and less water than traditional machines for slurryblasting, pressure washing or water jetting.

Limited Health Risks – Limited risks due to vibrations caused by hand tools Surface preparation – the surface roughness, visible cleanliness (rust, deteriorated coats) and nonvisible cleanliness (chloride levels) combined with feathered edges in spot blasting generate quality prepared metallic surfaces for recoating jobs.

WATCH THE VIDEO! www.graco.com/marine/ecoquip

MINING

Annual Survey of Mining Companies, 2019 infrastructure, socioeconomic and community development conditions, trade barriers, political stability, labor regulations, quality of the geological database, security, and labor and skills availability.

The survey is an attempt to assess how mineral endowments and public policy factors such as taxation and regulatory uncertainty affect exploration investment

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his report presents the results of the Fraser Institute’s 2019 annual survey of mining and exploration companies. The survey is an attempt to assess how mineral endowments and public policy factors such as taxation and regulatory uncertainty affect exploration investment. The survey was circulated electronically to approximately 2,400 individuals between August 20th to November 8th, 2019. Survey responses have been tallied to rank provinces, states, and countries according to the extent that public policy factors encourage or discourage mining investment.

We received a total of 263 responses for the survey, providing sufficient data to evaluate 76 jurisdictions. By way of comparison, 83 jurisdictions were evaluated in 2018, 91 in 2017, 104 in 2016, and 109 in 2015.

The number of jurisdictions that can be included in the study tends to wax and wane as the mining sector grows or shrinks due to commodity prices and sectoral factors.

Like last year’s survey, this year’s survey also includes an analysis of permit times.

The Investment Attractiveness Index takes both mineral and policy perception into consideration An overall Investment Attractiveness Index is constructed by combining the Best Practices Mineral Potential index, which rates regions based on their geologic attractiveness, and the Policy Perception Index, a composite index that measures the effects of government policy on attitudes toward exploration investment.

While it is useful to measure the attractiveness of a jurisdiction based on policy factors such as onerous regulations, taxation levels, the quality of infrastructure, and the other policy related questions that respondents answered, the Policy Perception Index alone does not recognize the fact that investment decisions are often sizably based on the pure mineral potential of a jurisdiction. Indeed, as discussed below, respondents consistently indicate that

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approximately 40 percent of their investment decision is determined by policy factors.

The top The top jurisdiction in the world for investment based on the Investment Attractiveness Index is Western Australia, which moved up from 2nd place in 2018.

Finland moved into 2nd place after ranking 17th the previous year. Nevada moved down two spots from 1st in 2018 to 3rd in 2019.

Alaska ranked 4th this year, and Portugal improved from 46th in 2018 to 5th in 2019.

Rounding out the top 10 are South Australia, the Republic of Ireland, Idaho, Arizona, and Sweden.

The bottom When considering both policy and mineral potential in the Investment Attractiveness Index, Tanzania ranks as the least attractive jurisdiction in the world for investment. This year, Tanzania replaced Venezuela as the least attractive jurisdiction in the world. Also in the bottom 10 (beginning with the worst) are Argentina: Chubut, Argentina: La Rioja, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Zambia, Venezuela, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, and Nicaragua.

Policy Perception Index: A “report card” to governments on the attractiveness of their mining policies While geologic and economic considerations are important factors in mineral exploration, a region’s policy climate is also an important investment consideration. The Policy Perception Index (PPI), is a composite index that measures the overall policy attractiveness of the 76 jurisdictions in the survey. The index is composed of survey responses to policy factors that affect investment decisions.

Policy factors examined include uncertainty concerning the administration of current regulations, environmental regulations, regulatory duplication, the legal system and taxation regime, uncertainty concerning protected areas and disputed land claims,

The top Finland displaced Saskatchewan from the top spot this year with the highest PPI score of 100. Finland was followed by the Republic of Ireland in the second place, which moved from 4th in the previous year. Along with Finland and Ireland the top 10 ranked jurisdictions are Nevada, Utah, Western Australia, Alberta, Idaho, Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskatchewan, and Arizona.

The bottom The 10 least attractive jurisdictions for investment based on the PPI rankings (starting with the worst) are Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Argentina: Chubut, Argentina: Mendoza, Bolivia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia, Guinea (Conakry), and Argentina: La Rioja.

Authors:

Ashley Stedman Senior Policy Analyst, Fraser Institute

Elmira Aliakbari Associate Director, Natural Resource Studies, Fraser Institute

Jairo Yunis Junior Policy Analyst

May-June issue l 2020

MINING

Doosan Infracore pilots Concept-X XiteCloud 3D drone survey at Peru mine construction site With XiteCloud, a contractor can manage multiple tasks such as surveys, terrain analysis, equipment operation and construction management on a single platform, thereby reducing construction costs and saving time while increasing work accuracy, which in turn raises productivity. The solution even makes it possible to digitise earthwork site information into three dimensions as well as to analyze rock formations. Since it is cloud-based, XiteCloud makes it easy for stakeholders, including contractors and clients, to join forces and manage the progress of a given project together.

D

oosan Infracore has launched XiteCloud, its new smart construction solution, in South Korea. XiteCloud is the first step towards the commercialisation of Concept-X, the company’s integrated unmanned and automated control solution, first demonstrated to the world in 2019. It has relevance for mining too including mines in the construction phase.

of a large-scale mine in the country. It says the client was greatly satisfied with the service, particularly the regular drone-based surveys and the sophisticated construction management results. An executive of the client company said, “XiteCloud provides a comprehensive project progress management service which serves to increase trust between client and contractor.”

XiteCloud maximises productivity by incorporating complex 3D drone construction surveys and earthwork calculations into a cloud platform, allowing them to be completed in just one to two days.

Doosan Infracore plans to expand XiteCloud’s applicability to large-scale construction equipment by exploiting 5G mobile technology and telematics. Having successfully launched XiteCloud in the domestic market, Doosan Infracore now plans to start its overseas launch in the near future, including Europe.

XiteCloud has already been applied at a pilot project in Peru, ahead of the development

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Even on unfriendly terrain such as steep slopes and cliffs, XiteCloud calculates exact work volumes using advanced drone-based surveys. By analysing vast amounts of field data quickly and accurately, XiteCloud completes construction surveys and earthwork calculations, which typically take as long as two weeks, within a day or two.

In November 2019, Doosan Infracore held a Concept-X demonstration event at its performance test site in Boryeong, Korea, and introduced the construction site of the future, which will be characterised by a high concentration of advanced unmanned and automated technologies. “Concept-X is a comprehensive control solution that encompasses the entire construction process, including drone-based surveys, automatic analysis of topographical data, construction planning, and unmanned construction machinery and control centre operations,” said an executive of Doosan Infracore. “We will launch various solutions in stages even before the full-scale commercialisation of Concept-X, with the launch of XiteCloud marking the very first step towards that goal.”

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COVER STORY

Why is Hydrography Survey important

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ydrographic survey is the science of measurement and features description present underwater that affect maritime navigation, dredging, marine construction, offshore oil exploration/offshore oil drilling and related activities. Conducted under authority concerns, Hydrography is mainly carried out by means of sensors, sounding or electronic sensor system for shallow water.

Hydrography is performed to map the underwater bottom with a high level of accuracy that help correlation and interpretation of the data obtained from other methods that measure thickness from the bottom, which yield sub-bottom information and allow a quality check of the results.

Since the surface being mapped cannot be observed directly or occupied, it is necessary to infer topography from depth measurements of deducing underwater topography from numerous discrete observations of depth at positions throughout the survey area. The activity uses the raw data collected through hydrographic survey into information usable by the end user. However, the quality of its product depends on the accuracy and density of these observations. But why is it important to keep under water features and measurement in check?

Importance of Hydrography Ships and fishing boats use hydrographs to establish whether an area is safe to head into, either in advance or while on the water. It is important to obtain the underwater measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as with the prediction of their change over time, for the primary purpose of safety of navigation and in support of all other marine. While the objective is to delineate the shape of a portion of the earth’s surface concealed by water, a strong emphasis is placed on soundings, shorelines, tides, currents, seabed and submerged obstructions that relate to the previously mentioned activities.

Navigation According to Jennifer Birdsall, SEAFLOOR SYSTEMS INC. Marketing Coordinator,

Hydrographic Survey serves an extremely important function due to its inherent association with ocean going vessels. To ensure that large vessels fully laden with petroleum products passes unobstructed and undamaged through navigational channels and canals, highly accurate surveys are required on a consistent basis.

Seafloor Systems has a wide dealer network in Africa as well as extensive users in the Civil Construction and Mining industries. Their Seafloor USV and Echosounder products have found use in Egypt, Mozambique, Morocco, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

Accuracy In his opinion Sean Strevens of Cheetah Marine Says that, hydrographic survey is done to obtain accurate river and coast data to allow safe shipping and mining.

Cheetah Catamarans are renowned in the commercial world where time at sea is dictated by the weather conditions a boat can operate in. The company sells direct to their customer from their factories in the UK and Portugal.

Dredging Regional Sales Manager at Teledyne Marine, Nico van Woerkom says that, doing Hydrographic surveys on cm level accuracy helps one to know the

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From the seafloor to the surface‌ Teledyne Marine delivers solutions

Teledyne Marine is a group of leading-edge undersea technology companies that have been assembled by Teledyne Technologies Incorporated. Through acquisitions and collaboration, over the past 14 years Teledyne Marine has evolved into an industry powerhouse, bringing the best of the best together under a single umbrella. Each Teledyne Marine company is a leader in its respective field, with a shared commitment to providing premium products backed by unparalleled service and support.

www.teledynemarine.com

COVER STORY oceanographic, geophysical survey and marine environmental assessment in any African countries and any region.

Their products are widely used in Africa in the following countries, Cabo Verde, Morocco, Seychelles, Reunion Island, Mauritius, Senegal, Tunisia, Gabon, Madagascar, Egypt,

be remembered that more than 95% of international trade in Africa transits by sea.

Pacot adds that, the hydrographer’s expertise is essential for every construction project, maritime works, and installation of outfalls, power cables or telecommunications such as fiber optics, coastal development or erosion control.

Based in Dakar, Senegal, DEPARENTIS specializes in coastal hydrographic activities, inland navigation and port related services in West Africa. The company carries out investigations at sea from survey vessels specifically designed and equipped for this purpose. They are also involved in topobathymetric surveys on the coastline with LiDAR or photogrammetry.

Factors to consider when conducting Hydrographic Survey Safety

depth of the Port/rivers and one can easily determine where dredging should take place or if dredging is required. ”Knowing the exact depth can save millions of dollars on maintenance. Inspection of breakwaters using our multibeam technology is also an essential part of the surveys,” says van Woerkom.

Teledyne Marine is a group of leading-edge subsea technology companies that are part of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated.

Their Products can be found in Ports for dredge maintenance and surveys, on rivers to measure water flow and discharge and hydrographic surveys.

Total cost / budget control

Eritrea, Angola, Algeria, Libya, Kenya and Tanzania.

Delineating Maritime Boundaries As a Hydrographic Surveying expert, Raphael Pacot, Deparentis Managing Director, believes that, Hydrographic surveying is essential on several levels. At the national scale, a good awareness of the situation makes it possible to assert one’s rights by delineating maritime boundaries, and thus to claim the natural resources in national waters, fishing, oil and gas.

Close to the coasts, hydrographic survey allows the control and maintenance of accesses, waterways, ports, to ensure safe navigation. The stakes here are vital. It should

According to Deparentis, safety is the first consideration as the activities involve exposure to water environment and conditions for which one must prepare: training and anticipation are the keys to safe practice.

Technically, the project requirements are obviously those of the customer. However, there are international standards and norms, which are published by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO).

“We have to adapt our capabilities and methods to meet a wide variety of needs. For example, a bathymetric survey takes different forms depending on whether it is a question of calculating dredging volumes, producing an accurate chart of a port or a navigational area, or carrying out a coastal protection survey over several kilometers of coastline. We cannot require our clients to master norms and standards, or to be informed of the latest state of the art. This is why we owe them the

“Hydrography originated to ensure safe travel to seafarers and prevent grounding, saving thousands of life. Hydrographic survey became one of the principal pillars supporting the growth of countries having access to maritime and fluvial trade routes,” says David Vincentelli, iXblue, Manager at the Sea Operation division.

“It is therefore the baseline for any development of the African blue and green economy, supporting the development or the extension of ports, fairways, allowing new touristic development or lowering the cost of exporting raw materials or manufacturing goods. Not only supporting the economy, it is also one of the key science to understand the impact of extreme climate events and the impact of climate changes in general,” he adds. iXblue offers a complete range of products, solutions and services for hydrographic,

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DriX, iXblue’s Unmanned Surface Vessel, being deployed from its Launch and Recovery System

May-June issue l 2020

HYDROGRAPHY advice that is an essential part of our business, so that we can finally deliver the best service: the one they need,” says Pacot.

Mr. van Woerkom adds that, hydrograpic survey is essential to ensure safe shipping on rivers, channels and Ports.

Stability and Effeciency According to Mr Strevens, When conducting hydrographic survey, the key factors to look out for is the vessel stability, fuel efficiency and easy engine maintenance.

“Another factor to consider is the Hydropod for the multibeam systems and if it does not need re calibrating between survey sites<” he adds.

Environmental Conditions When it comes to environment conditions, Seafloor Systems suggests one of the main factors to consider when conducting hydrographic survey are the environmental conditions, and what data set you’re looking to achieve.

Conferring with iXblue perspective, there are several other factors that contribute to a successful hydrographic survey, this are: - Vicinity of port and local support (crane, warehouse) - Availability of vessels, crews or potential local surveyors - Custom process for foreign manpower and imported equipment - Permitting - Local knowledge (expected water depth, geology, weather risk…)

Other factors include: -Labor cost, -Equipment cost -Transportation -Efficiency -Acuracy & result -Easy to operate or not This is in respect to Frank Kong, the Project Manager for OceanAlpha Group Limited.

robust, the major maintenance are to be anticipated trough regular calibration procedures and signal quality control.

Nowadays a large panel of equipment is accessible from low cost plug and play systems with short life cycle to auto-calibrated, robust and long life cycle equipment.

“I would say the major maintenance procedure that is common to any hydrographic survey equipment is the field operators education background and continuing education. All major equipment manufacturers and hydrographic offices or regional hydrographic societies have developed or are developing e-learning capacities, webinar or other continuing education materials,” continues David Vincentelli from iXblue, and also president of the Francophone Hydrographic society.

Proper cleaning Like all equipment deployed in the field in extreme environments, proper maintenance, operation and care is critical to the long term availability of the equipment. With hydrographic survey equipment, you have the added influence from salt water which

requires proper cleaning and maintenance, this is according to Jennifer Birdsall of Seafloor Systems Inc.

Training Mr. van Woerkom of Teledyne concludes that, training Hydrographic surveyors is key as this will help the surveyors know how to use the equipment correct and how to achieve best accuracies for data collection, data processing, modelling can do volume/differential calculations.

Oceanalpha manufactures Unmanned Surface Vessel/Autonomous Surface Vehicle.

The company helps professionals in, water sampling, hydrography survey, patrol & drowning rescue. Their products are in use in Africa as well in countries like South Africa, Mozambique, Ghana, Nigeria, and Morocco.

The maintenance Frank Kong, of OceanAlpha says that, as per the standard of different equipment, including physical and software maintenance, there is need to comply with operation procedure as per different equipment ‘ requirement.

Regular calibration procedures Hydrographic survey equipment are pretty

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Africa Surveyors News l 2020

23

aDVERTORIAL

iXblue: Opening up new horizons

i

Xblue is a global high-tech company specializing in the design and manufacturing of advanced autonomous and marine technologies. The group in-house expertise includes innovative systems and solutions devoted to inertial navigation, subsea positioning, underwater imaging, as well as shipbuilding.

The company’s products and solutions are perfectly suited for challenging environments where GPS is not available, and address a wide range of applications such as hydrographic, oceanographic and geophysical surveys, marine environmental assessment, offshore and renewable energies applications, or underground mining.

Vision Through their mastery of the key technologies of autonomy, of the sea and of photonics (on which all of the company’s inertial navigation systems are based), iXblue contributes to the mutations of the world and are opening up new horizons.

Vertical integration iXblue has end-to-end control of its value chain, from the design work carried out in its engineering offices through to manufacturing in the company’s own production shops.

This brings great flexibility and agility to the company, allowing it to adapt better to the specific needs of its customers and to market trends.

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R&D Research and development is central to the company’s activities and iXblue is recognized as a pioneer in many technical disciplines. This focus on innovation has enabled the company to establish and maintain a leading position in its strategic markets over the past three decades.

iXblue in African countries

going), Mauritius, Senegal, Tunisia, Gabon, Madagascar, Egypt, Eritrea, Angola, Algeria, Kenya and Tanzania.

During those surveys, iXblue is especially attentive to develop equipment that aim to: • Reduce the environmental impact of such surveys • Reduce the human risk exposure when working at sea • Contribute to the gathering of georeferenced and calibrated data.

iXblue products are widely used in Africa, with close to 20 countries already using the company’s systems. Those include Fiber-optic based (FOG) navigation systems (gyroscopes and INS), acoustic subsea positioning systems (Gaps USBL, Canopus LBL), seafloor mapping sensors, as well as DriX unmanned surface vessel (USV).

All of iXblue products and solutions can be purchased locally through a network of partners. They are also used locally by international companies on the occasion of major contacts.

For the past ten years iXblue Sea Operations division, that conducts surveys around the world, was furthermore involved in many survey operations in the following countries of the region (starting from the most recent experiences): Cabo Verde (on-going), Morocco (ongoing), Seychelles, Reunion Island (on-

May-June issue l 2020

FEATURE

AGRICULTURAL DRONES: Why a modern farmer needs a drone

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rones are becoming increasingly important in agriculture and in these modern days, more and more farmers are considering purchasing a drone. In fact, farmers are now turning to high-level drone technology that can provide them with fast and efficient solutions.

The agricultural industry is now embracing drone technology and using these advanced tools to transform the modern farming. The use of drone technology in agriculture is currently helping agricultural businesses meet the changing and growing demands of the future. Moreover, high-tech drones allow farmers, and the drone pilots that operate them, to increase efficiency in certain aspects of the farming process, from crop monitoring to planting, livestock management, crop spraying, irrigation mapping, and more.

According to a recent report by Markets and Markets, the agriculture drones market is expected to grow from US $1.2 billion by 2019 to US $4.8 billion by 2024 at a CAGR of 31.4%. The pressure on global food supply due to growing world population and increase in venture funding for the development of agriculture drones are a few of the key factors driving the growth of this market.

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Importance of drones in agriculture

Remote sensing

The use of drones for precision agriculture continues to evolve as the industry matures, and new technology is introduced that help to accomplish difficult and time consuming tasks and at the same time reducing cost on agricultural activities. The evolution of drone software and its overall affordability also account for the increased application of drones. Let’s now explore how drones can be used for agriculture, more specifically.

Drones are helpful especially when it comes to determining crop yield and crop health in the form of NDVI imagery, in Africa, drones are used to monitor deforestation and locust swarm movements, disaster management, This is according to Mirjam Bäumer, Microdrones Marketing Manager.

Crop yield According to Justin Cunningham, Hitec Commercial Solutions, LLC Drone Sales Manager, the value of drones in the agricultural industry is increasing exponentially. In the past, most farmers needed to use a full-scale aircraft which is extremely expensive and not an efficient use of time or money.

“Now, drones are able to quickly deploy when needed, provide higher quality data at a fraction of the cost and allow the farmer or land owner to grow with technology while improving crop yield,” he adds.

With reference to Nikita Prokofev, Head of agriculture at Geoscan Ltd., nowadays, there are two main applications for remote sensing drones: land management and multispectral mapping for variable rate fertilization. i.

Land management

Land management is based on the measurement of each field border position and area. This is vital information for resource planning, because amount of seeds, fertilizers, water and employee’s workload depends strictly on the arable land area. Also at this stage elevation maps can be built which is very useful for water management. Variable rate application (VRA) is more complicated and requires compatible machinery such as sprayers and spreaders. VRA is a part of precision agriculture which has proven its efficiency multiple times in various conditions

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AGRICULTURAL DRONES products has never been higher and drones can maintain competitiveness despite high costs.

“Agricultural drones can provide farmers with immediate information about soils, plant health, growth rates, fertilizer requirements, weeds, pests and weather damage,” asserts Lefebvre.

Crop spraying “The crop spraying drone technologies are advancing at a very rapid rate – making farming smarter and more efficient / cheaper,” says Tim Wise of PACSys (PTY) Ltd. “In some cases the drones are capable of more effective applications than the existing methods of application (knapsacks / tractors) thereby enhancing crop production and quality. This means more revenue for the growers and more food for the population,” he complements.

Field data collection

and on different crops. The idea of this method is quite clear: fertilizers should be applied depending on the crop needs, and should not be applied at the zones where vegetation is non-viable or where there is no vegetation at all. So the task is to make the map of plant requirements, i.e. reveal vegetation zones. ii.

Multispectral mapping

Justin Cunningham , says that, utilization of multi-spectral sensors gives the farmer the ability to target a specific area in their crop that may need particular attention, measure plant health, generate maps to provide prescribed health if needed and optimize efficiency of fields.

The farmer can also use other sensors to quickly assess storm damage, identify any damage to the fencing or infrastructure, determine optimal foraging areas if they farm livestock, monitor livestock movements and customize surveillance of their property.

stage as an information of crop health or nitrogen deficiency. Eventually, prescription maps are exported and loaded in the field computer or controller installed at the tractor, sprayer, etc,” says Nikita Prokofev.

Crop Surveillance Matthieu Lefebvre, Wingtra Sales and Business Development Manager argues that, drones can gather more detailed and complete information far more quickly and more cost effectively than satellites, manned aircraft or conventional ground survey methods.

Overseas demand for clean, agricultural

Matthew Davis, Drone Ops Manager at Aerobotics states that, drones are essential in agriculture as they can collect a lot more data points much faster than traditional farming practises. “Drones can cover large amounts of area and with our machine learning, we can provide farmers with actionable data within a couple days of the flight. The cameras that they carry also help offer valuable metrics that health, chlorophyll content, canopy area, tree counts, etc that help identify issues early on and help farmers track growth in their orchards,” he affirms.

What you should lookout for when buying a drone Drones are accessible and relatively inexpensive, yet there are important things to take into account before implementing drone solutions. The steps involved in transforming your farm into a drone-enhanced agritech business include the following factors: Flexibility “The most important thing to consider is the flexibility needed with the aircraft. No

“Drones are easy-to-use tools for multispectral mapping. Obtained imagery is processed up to reflectance maps and then either vegetation indices or a composite map is built. This data is used at classification

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AGRICULTURAL DRONES one wants to have an aircraft that can do only one job or has limited capabilities,” states Justin Cunningham. However, there are multiple factors to consider when purchasing an agricultural-based drone.

One needs to consider how much land there is to cover, basic topography, the goal of the aircraft based on overall needs, what type of sensors are required and the overall flexibility of the aircraft on what type of sensors it can carry, he adds.

Determining goals Agriculture drones have a range of applications; ranging from field and crop monitoring, seed planting, cattle surveillance, etc. What do you want them to do?

Mirjam Bäumer advices on determine the core farm processes that you believe would benefit most from using drones, i.e., will the drone be used for spraying, spreading, NDVI imagery, topographical Surveys, Land Tenure.

Conditions of flight matters too, i.e., weather conditions, topography etc.

Mr. Wise adds that among other factors one should look out for is what is the current pesticide application method cost per hectare and is the drone going to be cheaper / more effective? Is the pesticide you’re applying registered for aerial application at around 30 liters per hectare? If not, then the drone may not be as effective as other ground application methods (knapsacks, tractors) for higher volume applications.

“I think the most important thing to consider when buying a drone is to what extent you will use it. You can use smaller, cheaper drones for industries like film but in Agriculture we recommend bigger, more industrial drones. When flying for Aerobotics you will need a drone that can carry dual payloads (two cameras). The visual camera also needs to be of a certain quality (15 megapixels) and have geotagging capabilities.

The bigger the drone, the more expensive it

will be, but you will be able to cover more ground in a day and therefore get paid more,” says Matthew Davis.

Product discovery phase Matthieu Lefebvre points out that, one need to look out on several factors before using a drone, for instance, -Safety: Can the drone be operated safely for itself, the pilot and the environment?

– Ease of use and maintain: What are the skills to operate and maintain such advanced technology tool?

- Productivity and accuracy: How fast and accurate is the drone in collecting the agricultural data that are needed?

Automation Nikita Prokofev comments that, automation is crucial when a drone is meant to be used in agriculture, because you’ll never know if it is possible to train operators in a proper way before they launch their first flight. Payload type should be defined by typical tasks for a drone.

“One of the most important factors is ease of use. For example, our drones are fully automated and even supplied without RC. Flight mission is planned at the operator’s laptop; manual control also is performed

there, if required,” says Prokofev. “Payload type should be defined by typical tasks for a drone. Our specialization is remote sensing, and for this task you have two main options: quadcopter or fixed wing with digital still camera or multispectral camera. Basically, fixed wing fits better for larger areas of survey, with typical performance of 300-700 ha per hour. Quadcopter covers significantly lower area, approximately 50-100 ha per flight.

Nevertheless, quadcopter is able to fly at lower altitude and speed, comparing to fixed wing. This is useful for ultra-high GSD, lower than 2 cm, thus quadcopters are widely used in research tasks,” he elaborates.

Caring for the Drone Mr. Cunningham indicates that, depending on the amount of flight time on the aircraft, agricultural-based drone maintenance is fairly simple. You may need to replace motors, props or other basic parts. Battery refresh is also needed after a certain number of flight hours.

The occasional software update may be needed, which is simple to do in the field.

Overall, if the aircraft is kept clean and protected, it will last for a very long time.

On the other hand, Ms Bäumer is keen on customer support 24/7, Inspection Program every 12 months or 150hr of flight to inspect for damaged and corroded parts, Service Program every 300hr and 900hr to replace motors, payload cables, power plugs, electronic components and arm joints.

Mr. Prokofev recommends that, remote sensing drones, especially electric types, do not require complicated maintenance procedures.

Most often, battery health decreases, limiting battery life cycle to approximately two years.

Some moving parts such as motors should be checked every 80 flights.

According to Mr. Wise, The high resolution cameras that the drones carry help offer valuable metrics such as health, chlorophyll content, canopy area, volume and tree counts which assist farmers with identifying issues at an early stage to ultimately help prevent loss and increase yields.

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May-June issue l 2020

ADVERTORIAL

DJI Agriculture:Technology Inspires Growths

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JI Agriculture equips operators with cutting-edge technology as well as innovative workflows, making farming more efficient than ever. In 2012, DJI was determined to extend its cuttingedge drone technology to the agricultural industry. Thus, in 2015, DJI Agriculture was born. DJI Agriculture is committed to providing intelligent solutions through drone technology, facilitating agricultural innovation and development on a global scale.

At present, DJI has successfully released a wide array of crop protection drones, including the MG-1, MG-1S, MG-1P, and T16, as well as P4 Multispectral and Phantom 4 RTK. DJI has also introduced a dedicated software called the DJI Agriculture Data Management Platform. With tools servicing over 30 countries in multiple regions, DJI Agriculture has empowered over 10 million professionals with intelligent farming solutions, which are:

a)

Reliable Operation

The all-new modular design of the T16 simplifies assembly and accelerates daily maintenance. An IP67 rating provides reliable protection for key components of the drone.

A light, yet durable airframe is made of carbon fiber composites and can be quickly folded to 25% of its original size, making it easy for transportation. Both the battery and spray tank are easily swappable, significantly improving the efficiency of power and liquid supply.

b)

Enhanced Efficiency

Supported by its outstanding flight performance, the T16 spray tank can carry up to 16 L, and the spray width has increased to 6.5 m. The spraying system has 4 delivery pumps and 8 sprinklers with a maximum spray rate of 4.8 L/min. The T16 can spray 24.7 acres (10 hectares) [1] per hour. The spraying system also has an all-new electromagnetic flow meter, providing higher precision and stability than conventional flow meters. c)

a horizontal FOV (field of view) of 100˚°, double that of previous DJI agricultural drones. It can also detect the angle of a slope and adjust to it automatically even in mountainous terrain. This innovative radar system adopts Digital Beam Forming (DBF) technology, which supports 3D point cloud imaging that effectively senses the environment and helps to circumvent obstacles

d) Comprehensive and Intelligent Operation DJI Agriculture is committed to making the workflow of crop protection more efficient and intelligent. With drones and effective tools, DJI’s agriculture solution greatly simplifies operations, improves efficiency, and increases industrial upgrades.

Innovation is a core value for DJI Agriculture. Determined to enhance industrial development and meet user demands, the team has worked diligently to renovate traditional agriculture with efficient, reliable, and intelligent technology.

Environmentally-Friendly Solutions DJI Agriculture pledges to protect our

planet. This not only means empowering agricultural operators with optimized tools and solutions but also with more environmentallyfriendly workflows. DJI Agriculture strives to continuously reduce waste and damage during field operations and create a more harmonious co-existence with nature.

Building a Sustainable Ecosystem DJI Agriculture carries out production, study, and research cooperation with a variety of partners, including universities, agrochemical companies, and research centers. Together they have co-established an ecosystem focusing on talent recruitment, agrochemical optimization, and technological innovation to advance the global agricultural industry.

Passion for Farming With a great passion for farmers’ success, DJI Agriculture is determined to enhance productivity. Through cutting-edge technology and intelligent solutions, DJI Agriculture aims to help farmers solve problems in the field, increase yield rates, and ensure efficiency.

DJI crop spraying drone

Easier operation

The T16’s upgraded radar system can sense the operating environment during the day or at night, without being affected by light or dust. It has greatly improved flight safety with forward and backward obstacle avoidance and

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ANNIVERSARY

GeoShack Celebrates 25-Years!

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eoShack, Inc. – 2020 is a big year for GeoShack as it celebrates 25-years in business. GeoShack’s formation, in 1995, changed the distribution landscape for the markets it serves. Since the company’s inception, GeoShack has seen extraordinary growth, becoming not only North America’s largest overall Machine Control dealer as well as Topcon’s largest distributor. The company has seen numerous changes over the years, growing from a small regional dealer with 1-location in North Texas to having a real North American presence with 19 locations in 8 states and the province of Ontario, and from 5 employees to over 180 employees today.

•

GeoShack in Dallas, Ft Worth, San Antonio and Austin, Texas.

Spectra Laser & Precision Instrument Inc. in Houston, Texas.

Laserline Ontario in Toronto and Exeter, Ontario, Canada.

Blue Beam in Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio & Detroit, Michigan.

have evolved and become more softwaredriven. GeoShack has had to change with the markets to stay competitive. The company’s leadership approach has played a significant role in GeoShack’s success, consistently collaborating to deliver industry-best products and services while fostering internal professional growth.

The industry has also changed significantly over the years – the technology and products

“The real foundation of our success lies in the long-term relationships we have established

• • •

GeoShack, Inc. was formed in response to the rapidly changing marketplace in the construction laser, machine control, GPS and survey instrument markets. In 2003 the company took a giant leap forward with the merger of four independent distributors and a brand new Master Distribution Agreement with Topcon Positioning, creating the basis of what the company is today.

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May-June issue l 2020

SURVEYING

with our customers, our employees, and our manufacturing partners,” said Mr. Scott Beathard, President and CEO. “We have always operated as an active member of the industries we serve. Over the years, we have evolved to serve our customers and the markets, by delivering solutions that have and continue to fundamentally reshape the competitiveness of their businesses. We will continue to invest in our people and will keep looking for ways to better serve our customers so we can be here for them over the next 25-years and beyond.”

“Strategic acquisitions have been fundamental to the growth of the company over the years and our ability to deliver quality products

May-June issue l 2020

and services to our customers,” added Mr. Tom Brennan, Vice President. “We have made several acquisitions which expanded the markets we serve. Whether it’s through internal development or acquisition, we continue to work hard to deliver the technology and services our customers want.”

Mr. Brennan was President of Spectra Laser in Houston and continues to serve on the Company’s Board of Directors.

Mr. Thomas Hawthorne, the company’s COO, comments, “Over the years we’ve had an extremely strong financial track record when compared with other companies in the markets we serve. We have continued to

grow consistently over the years. This is a real testament to what can be achieved when we stay focused on the needs of our customers.”

GeoShack would like to take this opportunity to thank our customers for putting their continued faith in our organization, our employees for their hard work and dedication to supporting our customers, and Topcon, our primary vendor partner, for supplying us with the technology and products to serve our customers.

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ANNIVERSARY

ELKON: 45 years in the service of concrete industry

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stablished in 1975, ELKON is the leading concrete batching plant producer in the whole Europe, this is according to annual sales numbers and production capacity. Currently, ELKON has more than 4000 concrete batching plants operating in over 130 countries in 6 continents. With a 65.000m2² production area and 4 factories (5th is under construction with 20.000m2² area), ELKON maintains its operations thanks to automated robotic production lines carrying out the processes such as welding, cutting, drilling, grinding etc. ELKON also manufactures concrete block making machines, cement silos, stationary concrete pumps, tailor-made precast concrete batching plants and many more.

The solution to concrete industry in Africa With numerous concepts of concrete batching plants in the product range, ELKON offers creative solutions to its clients with the plants from the capacities of 30m3/h up to 480m3/h. Throughout the entire world, ELKON has establish a connection with the client, listen to their requirements carefully and submit to them the most suitable solution.

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According to Serkan ÖZKAN, Mechanical Engineer, EMEA Region Sales & Marketing Director, their compact and on-site type concrete batching plants are the most demanded models in Africa due to the advantages they offer. The onsite concrete plant model Mix Master-30 is an economical solution that allows concrete production in compliance with international standards after a short installation time of 1 hour at the desired location. In addition, the compact type concrete plants, which they offer in a wide range from 30 m3/h to 175 m3/h, are preferred from relatively small projects to huge dams, refineries, etc.

Besides, much larger projects started to take place in Africa in recent years. For example, it is stated that the refinery, which is under construction by Dangote in Nigeria, will be the largest in the world when completed, and 4 Elkomix-135 concrete batching plants with a total capacity of 540 m3/h of concrete per hour are working to provide required concrete on this project.

Plant solution at its best service As indicated above, in between the capacities of 30m3/h and 480m3/h, ELKON offer

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CONSTRUCTION producers, oil companies etc. in our scope.

Remarkable projects in Africa With more than 900 concrete batching plants in the whole Africa, they have been involved in not one but numerous projects. Some of the important ones are as follows: Dangote Refinery Project in Nigeria which is Africa’s biggest oil refinery, Upgrade & Expansion of Kigali Airport Project in Rwanda, Kazangula Bridge Project between Zambia and Botswana, USA Embassy Project in Ethiopia, Ibese-Itori Road Construction Project in Nigeria, Thiba Dam Project in Kenya, Danida Bridges Project in Ghana and many more.

Behind the scene business success over the years “The feedback and satisfaction of our customers have always guided us. As ELKON, we have always adopted high technology, innovation and high quality as important values. As a result, we are the largest concrete plant manufacturer in Europe with 45 years of experience, and we are the bestselling and most preferred concrete plant brand in Africa,” affirms Serkan ÖZKAN.

Future ELKON

stationary, mobile, compact and on-site concrete batching plant options. Being in the concrete market for 45 years now, the company serve to each and every individual and/or establishment who needs high quality

May-June issue l 2020

concrete within international standards.

Nevertheless, generally ready-mix concrete producers, international and/or local construction companies with operations in many other countries, concrete block

ELKON has been and will be the pioneer of the sector with the innovations brought to the industry. Thanks to the R&D center accredited by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Turkey, ELKON has been developing innovative solutions for its clients listening to their requirement together with more than 40 in-house and well experienced engineers. As a result of these studies, ELKON will maintain its best-seller title in the coming years and keep developing the most innovative and quality products.

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ENGINEERING

Bentley Systems supports remote civil engineering teams

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nfrastructure and civil design projects are essential for the functioning of cities and roadways, and urgent repair and redesign projects simply cannot wait out a pandemic.

Bentley Systems, makers of comprehensive software for design, constructions and operations of infrastructure aims to support those working on crucial infrastructure projects, especially those who are working remotely. To do this, Bentley has announced that it will be opening up ProjectWise 365 to new users by waiving subscription fees through the end of September 2020.

from home situations. During a press briefing, industry experts discussed how Bentley Systems’ civil design technology is helping the industry to better manage working remotely and to redefine how professionals design and build infrastructure projects.

ProjectWise 365 is a Microsoft Azurebacked cloud solution for infrastructure design collaboration, and allows users and stakeholders to share information, conduct collaborative design reviews, simplify transmittals, and RFIs ad to help with issue resolution. Rather than sharing PDFs via file sharing or through several disconnected applications, ProjectWise 365 keeps everything in one place, streamlining communication even when users are apart.

“In the U.S., we can see that a lot of states have kept ‘business as usual’ and have still allowed roadway construction to happen.

Even some states are accelerating this. So for example, Florida, last week announce that they will invest $2.1B in extra funding this year to accelerate some projects.”

In a briefing, Bentley’s Vice President of Civil Engineering, Francois Valois, highlighted that despite the current pandemic, there was still a significant amount of infrastructure work being done, with some states even increasing their work because streets are emptier than usual.

Helping infrastructure work continue during COVID-19

The challenge, however, is that work sometimes needs to be done with fewer people onsite, there needs to be less manual work, which is what has driven Bentley Systems ProjectWise 365 announcement, says Valois.

To protect and support their colleagues during the COVID-19 outbreak, organizations around the world have shifted quickly to working

“We can no longer interact around a printed plan, and be pointing at each other on the plan. We have to find new ways to work”

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“Our answer to that is the digital twin for transportation. And with this technology concept we are helping our users who are ‘going digital,’” added Valois.

Mo Harmon, Director of Industry Strategy at Bentley Systems said one of the major goals of opening up ProjectWise 365 is to allow for the creation, collection, and sharing of data on dispersed teams.

“Some key issues facing the construction industry is the lack of productivity and safety on the jobsite. Now contractors are faced with making decisions on what critical staff really need to be physically on the job. And then, with that change, how are they going to get data back and forth to the site ad to their home base,” said Harmon.

Andy Kaiyala, Vice President of Engineering at Lane Construction spoke to how important it is to be able to move that data effectively.

“Anything we are tracking with an Excel spreadsheet means that we are behind our best competitors,” said Kaiyala.

iTwin Partner Program At the same time as the ProjectWise 360 announcement, Bentley Systems discussed

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ENGINEERING

ProjectWise 365 enables an immersive, web-based 2D/3D hybrid review environment, designed to help teams streamline coordination and resolve issues.

their iTwin Partner Program where they plan to invite third-party developers to work with them to further integrate their tools.

“The developers could be startups or more established software vendors who want to collaborate and work with us,” said Valois.

“If they are successful, we are successful, and ultimately the industry wins. That’s what we’re about – making sure that were are going to go all together in advancing infrastructure.

Bentley Systems shared that they are hoping to work with industry leaders in their own domains, whether that is in construction or operations. Their goal is to help to make sure that data flows not only between Bentley tools, but through other third-party software.

This parallels the similarly agnostic approach that Digital Construction Works has adopted in connecting existing workflows in more efficient ways.

“We build those integrations, but we also want others to come to the party and help,” said Valois.

“We will work with these startups in and collaborate with them closely because they can create very significant and disrupting innovations that will basically change the world and the way we work forever,” added Valois.

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INDUSTRY TIPS

How to Decide on Software Architecture Modifications

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hroughout the software development lifecycle, the foundational decisions that define a product’s architectural design impact every aspect of the application, so the process of modifying that architecture requires extensive analysis and consideration.

its behavior. It’s generally a reorganization process that results in higher quality code.

A rewrite is like a nuclear football: hitting that switch requires heavy, careful consideration because it’s usually the most expensive option and slows down timeto-market

This topic crops up on a regular basis at every company. Most of the time, you’ll have an existing architecture that needs to be rewritten or refactored.

Using these situations, you can quickly learn to pinpoint what to analyze, how to analyze it, and how to appropriately act on the findings.

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or the delivery of new features.

For the sake of clarity, here’s how we differentiate between rewriting and refactoring.

Factors Driving Architectural Decisions

Refactoring, according to Martin Fowler, is about changing the design of something without impacting

Architecture is influenced by three major drivers that should always play a key role in an organization’s decision to refactor or

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Business drivers are usually related to the direction of the company and its overall mission or vision. An example of a business driver is a need to create 10 new integrations a month, or perhaps 5,000 integrations by the end of the year. Another is an expected incremental increase in users or a boost in sales orders.

Quality attributes are aspects of the software that require protection, such as maintainability, accessibility, resilience, agility, security, and performance, to name a few. Organizations should define which quality attributes are most important to the business because adjusting one is usually detrimental to another. For instance, enhancing a product’s security can result in performance drop-offs, and improving an application’s resilience might result in longer deployment cycles.

When choosing to refactor or rewrite an application’s software architecture, or to understand when it’s completely unviable, use the following considerations.

Refactoring vs.

Rewriting

rewrite it: business drivers, quality attributes and risks.

The final drivers, risks, include things like slow time-tomarket, market competition, or financial risks related to the software’s user base. Again, organizations should decide which risks pose the biggest threat to the software’s success and trade them off against the lesser threats to better analyze their software architecture for its capability to mitigate these risks.

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ARCHITECTURE

About Author:

Consideration of all of these drivers is an essential part of the decision-making process, both when defining architecture from the start of a project and analyzing the need to refactor or rewrite an existing application. If any drivers are still relevant or have created a positive impact on the business, then any planned modifications must take those facts into account.

Soft Changes and Rigid Changes After analyzing the relevance of drivers for architecture modifications, it’s important to look for any gaps in the source code and ensure that important quality attributes are protected. On a deeper level, perhaps there is a lot of technical debt to deal with, or coding standards are not as high as they could be.

We call these examples “soft” changes, which means they are easy to adjust and there is no need for foundational modifications to the source code.

Things change when the business impact is higher. In these cases, if the architectural changes are soft, then it’s highly recommended to refactor the application, but when rigid changes are necessary then it’s often worth considering a full rewrite from scratch.

Sebastian Velez is head of technology and also oversees PSL’s training and development program and R&D innovation lab. He has been in the industry for more than a decade, with experience as a developer, software architect, scrum master and college professor.

To summarize, when evaluating the health of an application’s architecture, engineers need to consider many things to decide on modifications, from issues with the tech stack and unprotected quality attributes to elements that play no role in achieving business goals.

By evaluating the viability and severity of these changes, it becomes much easier to assess the difficulty of any modifications from a technical perspective and analyze the potential impact they will have on the business.

If, on the other hand, there are many instances where the architectural source code fails to align with the business drivers or quality attributes, then the necessary changes are “rigid,” which translates to difficult, timeconsuming and risky.

If organizations can categorize the findings in their analysis in terms of this scale of rigidness, it becomes easier to decide what to do with the application.

As a rule of thumb, if the architecture is very rigid and any changes would have no noticeable impact on the business, it’s best to do nothing. However, if changes to the architecture are soft or easy to implement, but the business impact of any changes is still low, companies should consider tweaking it on a sprint-by-sprint basis to improve it in small chunks and measure the impact after each sprint.

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