811 Call-before-you-dig, Augmented Reality and Transforming a Utility GIS into a genuine spatially accurate Digital Twin of the Real World
Services like the 811 in the USA are implemented in many other countries. Still, they all work differently due to data sources, compilation, and process flow. The data sources typically used are detailed “as-built” construction drawings showing dimensions concerning physical features that can be used to locate underground features.
Many commercial Augmented Reality (AR) offerings on the market promise to revolutionise the mapping and management of underground utilities. AR allows workers to see a visual overlay of underground utilities on their devices, providing a clear and accurate representation of pipes, cables, and other infrastructure beneath the surface … … but only if their GIS is a spatially accurate Digital Twin of the Real World and their GPS does the required (differential) corrections to be accurate enough.
Most customer’s GIS do not meet this criterion, and their asset locations could be hundreds of feet off their true position. Our global #utility and #telco customers experience large irregular displacements (up to 1,000 feet) between the land base and utility network in their legacy GIS and “real world” measurements.
In recent years, there has been a revolution in #imagery and #LIDAR technology. We can now map the Real World at +/- 1″ using Total Stations, #GPS, Aerial Imagery, and LIDAR—all basically “too accurate” to match most Utility #Network legacy GIS.