Lidar News by Stu Rich, Penbay--Center City in Philadelphia, PA find lidar a speedy way to add 3D georeferenced data to their city-ArcGIS geodatabase.

1. This is a frame from a 3D video data set that was
created for the entire captured area. This deliverable
is of particular interest to the public safety community
for planning and preparedness workflows.
Lidar Unlocks
Subterranean Philadelphia
C
The City uses a blend enter City in Philadelphia is a to build up the area while at the same
of robotics and GIS for confluence of transportation, time making certain the downtown
an innovative project shopping, business and remains ready for business every day.
below Market Street government agency activity, with several To effectively serve the city, including
multi-level spaces (including under- this bustling area, City staff relies on
ground) within a few blocks. The fifth their GIS, which is based on Esri ArcGIS.
biggest region in the nation, Center City Like most traditional GIS installations
also boasts the third-largest downtown however, theirs did not include data for
population. The City of Philadelphia is the insides of the Center City buildings
committed to encouraging business and or the vast infrastructure under the
real estate development in the area and streets. In order to maintain and grow
By Stu Rich has embarked on an innovative project the City effectively, staff need a complete
Displayed with permission • LiDAR Magazine • Vol. 2 No. 2 • Copyright 2012 Spatial Media • www.lidarnews.com

2. A 3D LiDAR point cloud that is dimensionally accurate in real-world coordinates will be used as a beginning framework for the derivation of
multiple data sets used for architecture, engineering, construction planning, facilities asset inventories, emergency action planning and real
property space planning.
view of the infrastructure—both inside develop spatially accurate floor map data will be used as a beginning dimensional
and out—of buildings, railways and of the underground infrastructure that framework for the derivation of multiple
surrounding areas for their facilities connects several notable buildings along data sets from architecture, engineering,
management, public safety, space Market Street in Philadelphia. and construction planning to facilities
planning and real property departments. PenBay provided this data to the City asset inventories, emergency action
PenBay Solutions, an Esri partner in a building information system data planning, and real property space plans.
headquartered in Brunswick, Maine, was model (BISDM)-compliant data set, This Also provided to the City is a set of
contracted by the City to provide facility gives the City the capability to more spherical images for the entire captured
management mapping services for a pilot easily extend their existing GIS data area. This deliverable should be of particu-
project aimed at testing the effectiveness for a holistic, 3D GIS view of the City’s lar interest to the public safety community
of a total 3D GIS solution. This service busiest area when needed. Providing for planning and preparedness workflows.
included interior data collection utilizing data in a structured format allows City This deliverable also provides assistance to
an innovative robotic platform employ- staff to address issues more effectively facilities managers in condition assess-
ing 3D LiDAR and spherical imagery going forward. ment and asset inventory.
technology, coupled with advanced Last includes a set of in-building floor
global positioning systems (GPS) and One cloud—many uses maps of the captured area. This deliver-
inertial measurement unit (IMU) This pilot project includes several able should be of interest to real property
systems to develop vector floor map data innovative deliverables. and space planners, as well as public
for specific areas of interest. The specific First is a 3D LiDAR point cloud safety. This provides the City a unique
platform used was the Trimble TIMMS that will be dimensionally accurate in view of their indoor space with reference
system. The focus of this effort was to real-world coordinates. This deliverable to the surrounding landscape.
Displayed with permission • LiDAR Magazine • Vol. 2 No. 2 • Copyright 2012 Spatial Media • www.lidarnews.com

3. The City of Philadelphia can analyze and manage their building infrastructure by using accurate and comprehensive spatial data information
Understanding the inside to fire extinguishers and other components client, developed a detailed list of
make sense of outside space found within the rooms; and spherical priorities, points of contact, access
The City’s challenge was to understand images that are collected to guide anyone dependencies, and geographic proximity
their building infrastructure better. They who needs to access the space, such as that allowed for the creation of a project
are interested in seeing the relationship public safety officials, so they can get a real plan and schedule to capture the data.
between: pedestrian concourses with sense of what a space looks like. The decision was made to operate one
platforms, corridors, stair locations, In order to effectively plan and execute two-staff crew onsite under the control of
and ramps; ingress and egress points; this project, a site assessment and the project manager. This plan optimized
emergency access and air vent facilities; requirements validation was conducted the use of PenBay and client staff so that
connections between levels. Partial at the client site. The goals of this activity there would be a minimal impact on
interiors of a minimum of 3 buildings were to validate deliverable requirements building occupants, and client resources.
that connect to the defined pilot area; and define data collection specifications;
and in-building floor maps. To effectively identify project logistical support Collecting data during
analyze and manage this critical public requirements, discuss and validate business hours
infrastructure they need access to accurate project staging, access, and scheduling Once the dates for the survey visit were
and comprehensive spatial data informa- dependencies and visually inspect determined—the survey itself took
tion, including varied datasets that include project areas of interest. place in the fall of 2010—PenBay started
data about space like rooms and how Upon completion of the site visit, the logistics necessary to mobilize the
they are being used; asset data, such as PenBay staff, in conjunction with the equipment and staff needed to execute
Displayed with permission • LiDAR Magazine • Vol. 2 No. 2 • Copyright 2012 Spatial Media • www.lidarnews.com

4. ADVERTISER
INDEX
3D LASER MAPPING 29
www.3dlasermapping.com
the data collection phase of the project. robotics, PenBay was able to measure
BLUE MARBLE GEOGRAPHICS 9
Upon arrival at the client site, the survey pertinent space in a fraction of the www.globalmapper.com
team closely coordinated their collection time it takes with traditional collection
activities with the client. Since data methods. Since these facilities are
CARLSON SOFTWARE 21
collection happened mostly at night in complex and have a high volume of www.carlsonsw.com
order to keep with Center City’s mission pedestrian traffic, minimal survey
of not impacting the community, time and disruption was a critical CARDINAL SYSTEMS IBC
security escorts were provided by the factor that PenBay was able to provide www.cardinalsystems.net/
City for safety as well as to provide with this highly efficient spatial data
unencumbered access to all areas, collection method. The floor maps, or EARTHEYE 15
such as the subway system and secure georeferenced space plans, created by www.eartheye.com
buildings. Staff took only 20 hours to PenBay’s in-building data collection
collect all the data necessary for the methodology were provided to give ERDAS 5, 33
pilot project. the City an accurate understanding of www.erdas.com/LiDAR
After completion of the data their current building space and floor
collection, PenBay initiated the data materials within them. GEOCUE 25
www.geocue.com
processing workflows that took the raw With their city agency experience,
LiDAR point cloud data and spherical PenBay provided the City with a GIS
imagery captured in the field and created solution that employs a spatial data GEODIGITAL 7
www.geodigital.com
several useful data products including collection technology to collect a host of
CAD (AutoCAD) and 3D BIM (Revit) information in one pass. The result is a
files of the area of interest and of course, standards-compliant geodatabase useful LEICA GEOSYSTEMS 41
www.leica-geosystems.us
the primary deliverable of an ArcGIS to multiple city agencies as an extension
geodatabase to make the files easily of their existing GIS.
LIZARDTECH 43
accessible to the City staff over the web. PenBay helped the City collect and www.lizardtech.com
Through this pilot, PenBay was able develop GIS-ready data sets in the form
to demonstrate how critical deliverables of 2D and 3D map documents that
MICROSOFT 27
can be created to support the City facili- should be of particular interest to several www.iFlyUltraCam.com
ties management initiative, including: City service functions including Public
creating space definitions defining where Safety, Evacuation Planning, Facility
OPTECH 17, BC
boundaries such as hallways and rooms Management and Lease Management www.optech.ca
beginning and end within the City GIS; to make better informed decisions in
capturing floor plan data to represent the future. The City now has a model RIEGL USA 3
interior space and structure accurately; for a standards-compliant geodatabase www.rieglusa.com
and performing facility surveys quickly, that provides a holistic GIS view of its
safely and cost effectively. This survey subterranean space and assets. SPAR INTERNATIONAL 23
provided the client with a clear and www.sparpointgroup.com/International
Stuart Rich is Chief Technology Officer at
accurate view of how their underground
PenBay with more than 15 years experi-
infrastructure links to its above ground ence developing database applications and TOPCON IFC-1
buildings and roads. geographic information systems (GIS) for www.topconpositioning.com/ips2/
government and commercial organizations
across the US and internationally. He has
Built for the future several years of extensive GIS experience, VIRTUALGRID 19
with an expertise in ESRI technology and a www.vrmesh.com
In total, PenBay collected 340,000
focus on project management, data analysis
square feet of designated infrastructure. and modeling, business process analysis and
Using a combination of GIS and workflow methodology design.
Displayed with permission • LiDAR Magazine • Vol. 2 No. 2 • Copyright 2012 Spatial Media • www.lidarnews.com