Topcon Bundles Bentley’s ContextCapture with their UAS

Charles Rihner, vice president of the Topcon GeoPositioning Solutions Group, talked with GISCafe Voice about Topcon ContextCapture, powered by Bentley Systems ContextCapture reality modeling software, now offered with Topcon UAS (unmanned aerial systems).

Falcon 8 site overview

ContextCapture can turn photographs from any camera and/or point cloud data into highly detailed 3D models for use throughout a project lifecycle. The basic package offered by Topcon will be bundled with Falcon and Intel Sirius Basic/Pro and will allow operators to process data from the UAS into textured 3D reality meshes, point clouds and orthophotos.

The collected data can be processed vertically with cloud services offered by both Topcon and Bentley Systems or processed on premise from within the MAVinci Desktop flight planning and management application or using Bentley’s ProjectWise ContextCapture Share (for Bentley users).

GISCafe Voice: Will there be changes to customize ContextCapture for the Falcon 8?

ContextCapture, powered by Bentley, has been extensively tested with and optimized for Falcon 8 data. These optimizations are part of the product and ensure excellent performance of the Falcon 8 and ContextCapture combination. ContextCapture, furthermore, provides users with options to optimize results for their project types and goals.

GISCafe Voice: How is the bundled product going to enhance the lives of users?

The bundled solution, included Topcon ContextCapture Standard and ContextCapture Advanced, enhances user experiences with its seamless integration into workflows using Intel Sirius and Falcon 8 UAVs — post-processing can begin directly from within the MAVinci Desktop flight planning and management application.

The standard package allows operators to process data from the UAS into textured 3D reality meshes, point clouds and orthophotos. The quality and detail of the results will impress users.

Bentley Systems ContextCapture

Topcon ContextCapture Advanced allows users to process data from any UAS. Its integration includes CAD, inspection, GIS, civil engineering and survey workflows on desktop or mobile platforms, using multiple formats. It also includes ContextCapture Editor, which enables operators to take advantage of all project data by integrating reality meshes and point clouds into infrastructure workflows. The result is access to a wide-variety of reality modeling tools to help increase productivity.

More information, including a video, is available on the Topcon site here.

GISCafe Voice: Is this a combination of easy to use products, i.e., how much knowledge does one need to implement it?

Topcon ContextCapture, powered by Bentley, represents the next step in the Topcon and Bentley Systems collaboration to advance the concept of constructioneering — allowing users to start from a reality-captured survey context and leverage and update their digital engineering models throughout the construction process, and finally deliver the as-built infrastructure in real time.

It is designed to be easy to use, enabling greater efficiency and productivity in the global construction market.

GISCafe Voice: Can you describe “constructioneering”?

Constructioneering is a term coined by Bentley CEO Greg Bentley to describle the combination of surveying, engineering and construction workflows to provide new efficiencies in creating affordable, smart and sustainable infrastructure globally. The concept allows users to start from a reality-captured survey context and leverage and update their digital engineering models throughout the construction process in real time.

Compared to traditional workflows between design and construction, in which data from survey and digital engineering models can be lost and inefficiently recreated, constructioneering provides seamless integration for constructible models that offer real-time updates and data exchange for improved efficiency and cost reduction.

GISCafe Voice: What is the time savings of taking data from UAS into point clouds, reality meshes, etc.?

Topcon ContextCapture allows mapping, construction and surveying professionals to quickly turn simple photographs and/or point cloud data into true-to-life, highly detailed 3D models for use throughout a project lifecycle, resulting in increased time savings and productivity.

GISCafe Voice: How is this point cloud data taken into a BIM project in a common workflow?

The reality meshes and point clouds can be imported directly in many products — ContextCapture provides a wealth of export formats.

Tags: AEC, Bentley, Bentley Systems, climate change, cloud, data, geospatial, GIS, GPS, imagery, Infrastructure, LiDAR, maps, small sats, Topcon, UAS

Categories: 3D Cities, Bentley, Building Information Modeling, drones, geospatial, GIS, lidar, photogrammetry, remote sensing, resilient cities, sensors, UAS, UAV, UAVs, utilities

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 13th, 2017 at 4:13 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.