Using Point Cloud Data for Infrastructure Projects

Traditional surveying? Drone photos? Sonar? LIDAR?  How you get your point cloud data doesn’t particularly matter. The question is: what comes next? How do you go from point cloud to 3D model? Brian Flaherty and Michael Harvey tackle this challenge head-on in their AU 2017 class and show that complex conditions are nothing to fear. Combining AutoCAD Civil 3D with Leica CloudWorx, they show you how to navigate through various point-cloud data sets and verify accuracy, then begin the process of creating 3D models. Whether you’re a surveyor, a planner, or a civil engineer, if you want to make the most of the data you have, this class is a must-watch.

Watch Using Point Clouds in AutoCAD Civil 3D now. (video: 55:47 min.)

Monitoring Infrastructure Construction as It Happens In this 10-minute video, Ed McCaffery of Topcon discusses strategies to combine data from traditional surveying, drones, LIDAR, and mobile mapping in a single platform to get a real-time view of infrastructure construction progress. (video: 9:49 min.) https://youtu.be/kzLDGSmuNaY More Learning at AU online Ready to enhance your skills about point-cloud workflows? Check out these classes at AU online: Infrastructure Condition Assessment and Monitoring with Point Cloud, Images, and 3D Model Speakers: Ali Afrasiabi and Vincenzo Melchiorre In the old days (10 years ago), if you wanted to perform a structural assessment of an infrastructure project, you had to take the photos and make the notes and sketches by hand. Today, we have terrestrial LIDAR and drones to do the dirty work. Learn the latest options for collecting data remotely, then how to use that data to create 3D models in Civil 3D or Revit, and share them with your team using the BIM 360 platform. (video: 55:49 min.) Data Aggregation with InfraWorks and ArcGIS for Visualization, Analysis, and Planning Speakers: Stephen Brockwell, Kathleen Kewley, Sean Kinahan, Jessica McCall To make the best decisions about infrastructure, you need to be able to integrate all the data you have. That might include GIS and other public data, as well as data you’ve collected yourself. Learn how to merge multiple sources of information using ArcGIS Online and InfraWorks to create rich 3D models. (video: 44:32 min.) Visualize Before You Vote: Using InfraWorks to Help Voters Make Informed Choices Speaker: Mike Smith Civil engineers look at technical documentation routinely, but citizens who need to vote on local infrastructure projects don’t. That’s where a good 3D model can help. Follow a real-world case study in which the CAD files, GIS data, and site imagery for a roadway design were integrated using InfraWorks, enabling citizens to visualize the project before voting. (video: 01:02 hr.)