I saw the coolest vehicle driving beside me on the road today. If Star Wars had vans, they would look like this Trimble Tech van. The weird contraption on the back of the van, was an elevated wide based scanner with cameras attached to it, as the van collected data and kept up with traffic, it displayed a large yellow sign high above the back that read: Caution - Testing.
The scanner on the van I saw today was 3 times the size of the one in the photo, but I was driving, so couldn't get a photo. I could only marvel at the R2D2- like animated machine.
I was fascinated that the data collection for the future of the landscape was driving beside me. These surveys will be used to assess the landscape for the driver-less cars of the future..
The Trimble Tetra tech van that was quickly scanning all the above ground features along the roadway as it was being driven. The system does 3 D scanning, and traditional virtual scanning on air, land and sea. It can also do remote sensing laser technology scanning known as LIDAR scanning.
It uses the ArcGIS platform to quickly process a massive amount of data collected, for purposes of analyzing areas where future projects will be constructed to give more accurate details of the landscape.
This is the company that will get the contract to survey the declining infrastructure in America and Canada.
It can also check for oil and gas exploration and provide engineering services for waterways and coastal areas and assist in flood prevention, and EPA’s water quality program, environmental cleanup and hazardous waste.
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Tetra tech has collected the details of road condition data on over 500,000 miles of roadways.
In 2009, the California based company made its’ first international acquisition in Canada,acquiring several major Canadian engineering firms.
It has an “Engineers Without Borders” sponsorship program in The US and Canada that brings clean water to many countries in need of clean water around the globe.
If space is the final frontier, there will be a flying Trimble tech craft surveying it for us.
Check out their website: http://www.tetratech.com/en/projects/mobile-scanning-solutions
photo - Tetra Tech