Critical Complexity: Inspecting, Repairing and Maintaining Utilities

Utilities and other infrastructure are critical to the livelihood, safety and comfort of citizens, though their inner workings are rarely seen by the public. Maintaining and updating utilities and other necessary public works is a demanding task, and the consequences of falling behind on repairs or not observing defects can be devastating – from power outages to dam failures and other preventable disasters. The complexity of these systems, combined with their relative inaccessibility makes the task an even more challenging one. Recently, emerging technologies, including the utilization of UAVs, autonomous robots, and other advanced 3D scanning and photogrammetry techniques have enabled more efficient workflows for utilities, including those that keep inspectors out of hazardous areas, or concentrate efforts on the most urgent issues, lessening the time from inspection to repair. Case studies in this session showcase the latest innovations and advances in working with critical infrastructure, demonstrating new techniques and approaches that will help utilities to stay on top of their most pressing problems.

Deploying AR and Digital Twin to Improve AEC Workflows
Redefine infrastructure construction and maintenance tasks with a 3D Digital Twin powered by AI and highly accurate Augmented Reality. Using novel approach to construction coordination you will learn how to improve AEC workflows to reduce costly delays, errors and rework. The presentation reviews common pain-points and solutions for addressing them. The presentation dives into the latest in the digital twin and AR technologies that enable AEC companies utilize their spatial data, including BIM, GIS and point clouds in a unified, always up-to-date 3D view of the construction site accessible 24/7 to all stakeholders on any device.

Alec Pestov, vGIS Inc.

GIS Mapping is Key for Future Damage Prevention | Case Study: How DOTs Took a Proactive Approach 
The advancement of 3D gyroscopic mapping tools now enables accurate utility locations of any underground utilities and live natural gas pipelines. We’ll review the technology that makes this possible, and the incredible importance of collecting, storing, and managing highly accurate XYZ data – which in turn significantly reduces the risk of future damage to pipelines. With the capability of locating and profiling the pipeline, then seamlessly loading data into GIS database systems, this mapping technology has the potential to enhance the value of your GIS platforms and most importantly, the safety of our crews and community members.

Santosh Kumar Saride, GeoCal LLC (Envirocal)

University Asset Management
The presentation will focus on the collaboration between Fugro, a global geospatial company, and Pepperdine University, a private university in Southern California, to create a digital twin of the university’s campus. The presentation will cover the data collection and processing methods used to create the digital twin, including aerial lidar, photogrammetry, and GIS analysis.

The benefits of having a digital twin of the campus will be highlighted, including improved asset management, enhanced safety and security planning, and the ability to simulate and optimize campus operations. Additionally, the presentation will showcase potential applications of the digital twin, such as virtual campus tours, disaster response planning, and energy efficiency analysis.

Overall, the presentation will demonstrate how collaboration between industry and academia can lead to innovative solutions for complex challenges, and how digital twins can improve the management and operation of physical assets and systems.

Courtney Malott, Furgo

Autonomous Robotic Inspection System – Lessons Learned in Applied Outdoor Robotics
Today’s society has a growing dependency on centralized facilities, from data centers to energy generation and distribution.  The impacts of failure at sites that support our power grid never been higher, often impacting some of the most vulnerable parts of our communities at the worst possible times.  The energy industry has been working to transform from a run until failure model to a planned or predictive maintenance model.  Remote sensing technologies have an ability to support this transition, but to do so data cadence and resolution must be available at scales that support operators.  For these dynamic systems, the information cannot be constrained to a single snapshot in time as is typical with traditional airborne platforms, creating the need for novel remote sensing platforms.  

Over the past 5 years we have developed & operationalized an autonomous robotic inspection system (ARIS) to support facility inspections with remote sensing technologies.  

This talk will discuss some of the lessons learned from deploying robotic systems in the real world, including the challenges and value of true remote operations, breakthroughs in autonomous navigation systems, hardware considerations for operating in harsh environments, as well as systems integrations and operational considerations.

Ian Berdie, NV5 Geospatial

Real-Time Damage Assessment Of Electric Infrastructure In Entergy’s Service Territory
Entergy is a utility in the South East, United States with a vast service territory spanning several states. The territory is regularly hit with severe storm events causing damage to assets and power outages to many customers. The traditional methods of sending out teams after a storm to assess damage and determine the repairs to be conducted was too time consuming and, in some cases, is a matter of life and death requiring restoration of power services as quickly as possible. Teledyne, Pickett, CobraVision and Energy Bill proposed a unique solution.  Using Galaxy Onboard and its real-time lidar processing capabilities, the point clouds are fed into EnergyBill’s AI platform for automated assessment of damage to utility assets. The damaged assets are identified and crews dispatched to the correct locations and with the appropriate equipment to complete the repairs in record time. This enabled Entergy to fully identify asset damage in the impacted area within 36 hours, a process that historically has taken up to a full week with thousands of people deployed. This new approach therefore provides the opportunity to not only accelerate the power restoration time but also achieve tremendous cost savings.

Malek Singer, Teledyne Geospatial