Renovations of older buildings and structures can present unique challenges. Original plans and drawings can be difficult to find, and the ones that are available often can’t be easily transferred in modern digital workflows.
Another problem is the lack of surveyors required to inspect aging, critical infrastructure. Planners would prefer to survey more often, for both safety and project efficiency, but often it’s simply not possible due to the lack of surveyors to monitor the vast amounts of public and private infrastructure and the extra costs involved.
Nexys can be your force multiplier in many surveying situations, allowing your team to do more with less. You can increase surveying frequency without having to purchase a myriad of sensor packages and layered software integrations.
As-built documentation helps engineers, architects, and planners understand exactly how a building is constructed as it currently stands. This can seem simple enough, but a building can evolve over many years, going through new owners and redesigns, and this means the original plans and other documentation could no longer be accurate. As-built documentation gives engineers a timely and accurate starting point to begin their renovation plans as well as a way to document final changes when the renovation is complete.
Older buildings set for renovation can also have unique geometry due to their age and construction methods. Walls or other structures within the building can be less than perfectly aligned. Last-minute changes during construction can also cause a building to not exactly match up with existing plans and drawings.
Another issue for survey teams managing multiple properties is that original drawings may be missing, incomplete, or inaccurate. It’s common in older buildings to find that additions, modifications, or repairs in the past may not have been fully documented. Once again, this means the building as it stands today is no longer accurately represented by the plans.
Finally, you have the intricate and ornate structures within older buildings that are very difficult to model. These often need to be preserved for historic or regulatory reasons, and it’s necessary to model these structures accurately to avoid damage when planning any construction.
While digital scanning through a traditional laser scanner (TLS) has been used for as-built documentation, the modularity and flexibility of the Nexys autonomy and mapping payload makes it an easy-to-use tool to quickly integrate into a surveying workflow. One Nexys platform can be mounted to an quad-copter aerial drone for autonomous exploration missions in order to survey the exterior of a building, then operators can quickly and easily dismount to use Nexys by hand or mounted to a backpack for hands free operation. The platform can also be mounted to a vehicle and driven around a site, or mounted to a ground- or land-based rover for further autonomous mapping.
This modularity and flexibility allow you to quickly capture the as-built data you need in any situation, and with less cost and setup time than many other methods.
Nexys is capable of exploring and mapping without the need for a prior map, existing wireless infrastructure like GPS, or even a pilot in the loop. Once an operator plans a mission on the supplied tablet and presses play, Nexys takes over for a completely autonomous mission. This standalone design philosophy also includes post-processing, which is all done on-site and on the same mission planning tablet. Your team can ensure they have all the 3D as-built information needed before leaving a site, eliminating return trips and project delays.
Nexys helps to address all the major challenges of quickly and efficiently capturing as-built documentation at any stage of the construction or renovation workflow. Even the most difficult structures can be easily scanned and modeled in far less time than a traditional tripod-based terrestrial scanner.
If your renovation project is missing plans or drawings due to age or undocumented additions, you can quickly deploy a handheld Nexys to capture a highly accurate 3D model of any area. Because ExynAI is capable of exporting point clouds into industry-standard formats, all of this information can be seamlessly imported into your CAD and BIM workflows.
Nexys as-built 3D data is also fully compatible with the Trimble Reality Platform for fast collaboration and approvals across design teams and all project stakeholders.
Reducing your on-site time helps to lower costs and also helps to keep project phases on schedule. When used by hand, Nexys can be initialized directly on the device and ready to start scanning within minutes, all by a single person. This is far less setup time than a traditional laser scanner and a team of surveyors.
More importantly, Nexys is one of the few mobile 3D scanning platforms to handle all post-processing on-site. Your team can check the captured 3D model to check for any missing areas of inconsistencies before leaving the project site.
Our proprietary SLAM algorithms are used after data capture to further refine map quality and accuracy that can reduce or even eliminate drift that can accumulate during long scans. Drift is a phenomenon that can occur during digital 3D modeling scans due to the nature of on-board inertial sensors and how they work. As the scan progresses, inertial sensors can introduce “noise” which can impact accuracy.
During post-processing, ExynAI uses advanced algorithms to further refine the map using only onboard telemetry and other data streams, while further map refinement is available through GCP or GNSS geo-referencing for additional map constraints.
Digital 3D models are crucial for as-built documentation and renovation planning, but so are visual inspections. With Nexys, high resolution visual images known as photospheres are captured throughout the scanning areas.
These photospheres are full panoramic images, and you can instantly pull up a visual image for any location within the 3D area scanned. This is critical for older buildings with unique geometry or ornate architectural structures which require special attention.These photospheres are also useful for progress reports to ensure all construction and renovation is meeting project specifications.
Renovations in older buildings often encounter complex mechanical systems with poor documentation. Over the years, repairs and additions are made that aren’t in any existing plans or drawings. The Nexys allows you to quickly create scans of critical HVAC or electrical systems to update all of your as-built data.
Having the option to carry the Nexys by hand means that even tight utility areas or corridors can be scanned and mapped easily, providing additional flexibility for renovation and project planning.
Book a personalized demo of the Nexys system today to learn how our exclusive modular design can provide you with the tools needed to face any renovation project. The cost savings and efficiencies will make the Nexys an invaluable tool in your digital BIM and CAD as-built workflows.