February 16, 2009
Field data collection is vital to the work of the
engineering and construction industries, driving significant decisions
that ultimately affect the bottom line. Many of the current methods and
technologies are inconvenient, error-prone and time-consuming. For
example, in many situations field staff collect data on paper forms or
maps and those data are re-keyed in, adding not only more time and
cost, but the possibility of errors. Thiess Construction has begun
using digital pen and paper technology to speed up GIS-based work plans.
Established in 1933, Thiess has grown to become one of the largest
construction, mining and service providers in Australia, South East
Asia and the near Pacific. Thiess currently has $10.3 billion in work
underway across the building, civil, mining, environmental services,
utilities services, facilities operations and maintenance sectors.
Thiess manages over 20,000 employees and subcontractors across more
than 180 projects with operations in Australia, the near Pacific and
Asia.
Regional project offices rely on consistent information
Thiess' workflow processes are like many others in the GIS, surveying
and CAD industries. Thiess project engineers work in separate
regional offices, building preliminary project maps and environmental,
traffic and management plans for large-scale civil engineering
projects. The regional offices have to get consistent and
accurate data back to the project office where those data can be
quickly assimilated to support decision cycles and improve development
schedules. To ensure accuracy, the field engineer previously had to
accompany a GIS analyst or drafter to work through collected data and
manually enter them into the database. Projects leaders often
have segmented workflows, with a "bucket brigade" of players, and there
was an increasing demand for streamlined solutions to improve
efficiency.
Digital pen technology and ArcGIS
The Capturx hardware and software, a paper and pen solution, was chosen
to build-out preliminary project maps and environmental, traffic and
management plans within ArcGIS for Airport Link, Northern Busway
(Windsor to Kedron) and Airport Drive Connection projects. These three
projects are part of Australia's regional transportation plan and form
one of Australia's largest road and bus-way networks. Ten thousand
people will work on the design, construction and delivery of this
integrated transport solution. Over one million new plants and 5,400
new trees will be planted within the corridor.
The Capturx software product suite is a practical solution that
improves data collection and project schedules in both GIS and CAD
environments. Theiss staff members use the pen to mark up base
plans and drawings produced from within ArcGIS on site environmental
plans, traffic management plans, community consultation plans and site
establishment plans. The staff print out ArcGIS maps on standard paper
and then make changes and annotations directly on the paper map using
the digital pen. The handwriting is converted into digital ink,
which imports into ArcGIS. From here the information may be edited and
the updated version is uploaded to the geodatabase. The field
personnel use the tool just as they would traditional pen and paper.
Capturx software generates a unique geo-referenced digital watermark
which is printed along with the map data on ordinary paper. When the
user touches the digital pen to a symbol on the legend, it, in effect,
sets the target layer to be edited. As the digital pen writes
with normal ink, its sensor tracks its position with the watermark and
digitizes the ink strokes into the feature type that was touched in the
legend. Touching another legend icon changes the target
layer. Any number of points, lines or polygon features, as well
as Capturx redline data, can be added to the map. When the pen is
connected to a PC through USB, it uploads the data into ArcGIS, ready
to be imported through the Capturx toolbar. On import, an edit
session is started and all the features that were created by marking on
the map are instantly loaded into their corresponding geodatabase
feature class or shapefile.
New technology provides operational efficiencies
"Capturx is the perfect solution for Thiess," said Jason Clark, GIS
manager with Thiess. "During the planning and design phase the digital
pen accelerates the flow of spatial data and ideas project-wide."
During the operational phase the digital pen will aid in the
preparation of maps and plans, often numbering in the thousands over
the duration of a project. Once the data have been collected on the
paper maps, the data are transferred into the geodatabase and cleaned
for excessive vertices. The data are then made available for the
project via ArcGIS Server and plans are reproduced and circulated to
stakeholders.
Thiess also looks forward to using the digital pen for the preparation
of as-built plans. The redline markup process will streamline and
automate the recording of site instructions and design construction
notes. The software syncs up with ArcGIS, allowing teams to share the
data across multiple offices. Project engineers are not distracted by
the technology of, say, a PDA and can stay focused on their job
collecting up-to-date operational, design and planning data on maps
with the simple action of using digital pen and paper.
Duplication of work is avoided because data are uploaded directly from
digital pen to database. Now, the data are available faster and are
more accurate than before; data can be updated into the geodatabase and
then shared in real-time. Thiess can accelerate its planning,
constructing, decision time and processes.
Following the implementation of Capturx, there has been a spike in
demand from various project teams for more Capturx digital pens.
Since deployment, the company describes significantly increased
operational efficiencies and forecasted cost savings. By eliminating
the need for transcription of data, the geospatial information seems
not only to be more accurate, it is also reported to be disseminated
faster and more frequently, leading to a better informed decision
making process.
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| This is an interesting solution. It seems that the Capturx pen is a good choice for field workers if: i) Field work is always planned. The field users need to know where they are going to be working in order to print out the maps in advance of the site visit. ii) The field workers are working in an environment where the paper maps can be kept dry and in good condition. In situations where field workers must be reactive, and work in harsh environments, a rugged mobile GIS solution seems like a better choice. |
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| This is a killer app. A pen and a map are MUCH simpler to understand than a piece of electronica. As for the concerns above - a map book printed on Tyvek waterproof (just about everything-proof) paper solves these questions. Adapx needs to make a Mil-Spec pen - not a case, the pen itself must be weatherproof - to really succeed with this application. |
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