In four short years, lidar demonstrates with certainty the value of RIEGL’s full-waveform LiDAR over conventional survey methods in this lush, densely vegetated country.
Introduction
AB Surveying and Development’s (ABSD) founder and professional engineer/surveyor, Tony Botor, was excited enough about LiDAR technology back in 2016 that he began actively seeking out more information. Having used a lower end LiDAR scanner that was designed for architectural as-built documentation projects, he knew he was on to something with this technology for much larger applications. He knew he had only scratched the surface – he could do more with LiDAR if he had the right tools.
At that time, aside from a handful of professors at the University of the Philippines, rarely was anyone in the area familiar with LiDAR. So Mr. Botor began a worldwide search for a LiDAR tool that would reliably allow his survey crews to obtain very precise data over a wider geographical area. He hoped this same technology would allow him to get better survey data in areas with thick vegetation, a major challenge in the islands of the Philippines.
Mr. Botor’s research led him to the RIEGL line of scanning systems and he soon contacted them to learn more. He thought that if the RIEGL full-waveform LiDAR scanners worked as described – collecting long-range 3D point clouds with the ability to view through heavy vegetation all the way to bare earth – this would revolutionize the way survey was performed in the Philippines. The right tools would allow his crews to give their clients more useful data than they had received before, and in a fraction of the time.
RIEGL connected Mr. Botor to their nearby distribution partner, Mr. CS Lim at GPS Lands in Malaysia. Mr. Lim helped ABSD acquire their first RIEGL scanner, the airborne VUX-1LR.
The VUX-1LR was in the final stages of production at that time, and Mr. Botor was one of the first to purchase this model. ABSD’s experience with the RIEGL airborne sensor was excellent, as expected.
Now there was one more obstacle to success: convincing his company’s many government and private clients that this technology could be of great value to them, and that the better data and time savings would be worth the upfront cost.
Convincing Clients to Consider LiDAR
Surveyors in the Philippines have used conventional methods for many years, and they have a level of comfort in knowing what end product they can expect, how long it will take, and how much a survey is likely to cost. It’s understandable that ABSD’s clients would question if the LiDAR technology would really be able to meet all their needs and also be affordable. These unknowns made clients hesitant to take a chance.
For the complete article on how lidar demonstrates value CLICK HERE.
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