Leica Geosystems’ User Conferences

Leica Geosystems’ User Conferences for Laser Scanning and Airborne Sensing expand to become “Hexagon 2011” International Conference

(Heerbrugg/Switzerland, 11 February 2011) – Expansion highlights Leica Geosystems’ commitment to global customer base under the roof of its parent company, Hexagon AB.  Leica Geosystems’ High-Definition Surveying (HDS) Worldwide User Conference will participate in this new format, offering attendees an unprecedented variety of sessions, hands-on training, networking and new business opportunities. Also the Hexagon Airborne Sensor business is inviting the customers of Leica Geosystems and Z/I Imaging to join the “Hexagon 2011” Conference.

According to Juergen Dold, CEO of Leica Geosystems, “the HDS and Geospatial Solutions user conferences are well known amongst our customers. Now, also our partners in the surveying, mapping, and positioning technologies business can expect an exciting program under the Hexagon roof called “Trends in Mapping & Positioning for Government and Industry”.”

Hexagon AB, leading, global provider of 3D solutions to design, measure and position objects and to process and present data, will host its inaugural international conference, “Hexagon 2011”, 6-9 June at the Orlando World Center Marriott Resort in Orlando, Florida, USA. “Hexagon 2011” will bring together the latest technologies and user communities from Leica Geosystems, Z/I Imaging, Intergraph®, as well as Hexagon’s Metrology and Technology divisions, in one location to provide attendees with a user experience of unprecedented scope and value.

“Hexagon 2011” will feature more than 200 targeted break-out sessions and hands-on training courses tailored by tracks, previews of new technologies, interactive technical demonstrations and workshops and compelling customer testimonials. Additionally, the conference’s agenda includes insightful keynote presentations on industry and corporate trends as well as unlimited networking opportunities.

“The fusing of conferences into one unified “Hexagon 2011” conference underscores Hexagon’s steadfast dedication to its global customers and to delivering a conference of exceptional quality and value,” says Ola Rollén, President and CEO of Hexagon AB. “Every effort is being made to ensure that we exceed the expectations of our attendees, whom we thank for their continued support and encouragement.”

Employing the theme “Building a Smarter World”, “Hexagon 2011” emphasizes the ways in which Leica Geosystems and its sister companies empower organizations to build a smarter world through industry-specific technologies that makes processes and infrastructures better, safer and smarter. More than 3,000 attendees are expected to attend “Hexagon 2011”.

To register and to learn more about Leica Geosystems @ Hexagon 2011, visit http://www.hexagonconference.com .

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Leica Geosystems – when it has to be right With close to 200 years of pioneering solutions to measure the world, Leica Geosystems products and services are trusted by professionals worldwide to help them capture, analyze, and present spatial information. Leica Geosystems is best known for its broad array of products that capture accurately, model quickly, analyze easily, and visualize and present spatial information.

Those who use Leica Geosystems products every day trust them for their dependability, the value they deliver, and the superior customer support. Based in Heerbrugg, Switzerland, Leica Geosystems is a global company with tens of thousands of customers supported by more than 3,500 employees in 28 countries and hundreds of partners located in more than 120 countries around the world. Leica Geosystems is part of the Hexagon Group, Sweden.

Made by who?

I get a lot of questions and often times I get the same ones over and over. One of my favorite things is to hear a myth or a misconception on a topic about which I know the truth, or at least more of the story. In this small industry it is so easy to have a piece of information disseminated to the public only to have it interpreted incorrectly. Often times this is done unintentionally and is simply a breakdown in communication or a simple misunderstanding.

One of the latest bits of confusion is on data collectors. While the questions and the answers have little impact on what I do, they are questions that I am getting more of lately so I wanted to push this out there to try to help answer the questions, dispel the myths, or simply shed new light on the topic.

Many of us are familiar with the Allegro line from Juniper Systems.  The Allegro has been around for a long time and has been a recommendation for Field Genius and SurvCE over the years.  Leica also had a radio built in to the Allegro so users could power their Robotic Total Stations with SurvCE.

We were next introduced to the JettCE from Two Technologies.  This unit was branded and labeled for various companies so you saw it around in bright colors such as orange and blue and yellow and black.  Over the years we saw variations on that box with new names and new layouts, but essentially they were all JettCE devices from Two Technologies.

Now, here is where the confusion seems to come in.  We have been introduced to the FC2500 from TopCON and the Surveyor + from Carlson Software.   The Surveyor + line is produced by Juniper Systems and the FC 2500 by Two Technologies.  Both companies went to the manufacturers and designed these units from the ground up with their own specs for ruggedness, durability, function, and performance.

You will still see forms of the Allegro and the JettCE around and available, but it is hard to compare those models to their newer relatives the FC2500 and the Surveyor+.  As I said before, this really does not affect or impact what I do on a daily basis but it is something that has come up more than a few times recently and worth getting out there.

For more information on any of these products including specifications or where to buy visit the websites listed below.

Two Technologies
Juniper Systems
TopCON
Carlson Software

Registration open for 2010 Leica Geosystems HDS Worldwide User Conference

(Heerbrugg/ Switzerland, 3 August 2010) – Leica Geosystems announces the formal opening of registration for the 8th  annual HDS Worldwide User Conference, Oct. 25-27, in San Ramon, California. The international conference will feature presentations by more than 30 leading users of its High-Definition Surveying™ (HDS™) 3D laser scanners and software and by key Leica Geosystems staff.

Registration is open for the main conference of presentations and exhibits, plus all nine (9) training workshops. Workshop space is limited. Many workshops have sold out in the past, so prospective attendees are encouraged to register early for these popular workshops.

Although primarily intended for HDS users, the conference is also open to those looking for HDS service providers and to prospective users who want to conduct additional homework on how others are using these tools, such as the popular, new Leica ScanStation C10 scanner. Many members of the trade press are also planning to attend the conference. In total, more than 300 attendees from over 20 countries are expected for the 2010 conference.

New Forensic Track
Based on the very rapid adoption of laser scanning for capturing forensic scenes, the conference will feature for the first time a special Forensics Track and a special, all-day Forensics workshop on shooting trajectory reconstruction. This workshop will be taught by Mike Haag of the Albuquerque Police Department, an international leader in trajectory reconstruction analysis, in cooperation with the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Department.

Additional detailed information is available at:
http://hds.leica-geosystems.com/en/Events_6441.htm?id=6896

Leica Geosystems – when it has to be right
With close to 200 years of pioneering solutions to measure the world, Leica Geosystems products and services are trusted by professionals worldwide to help them capture, analyze, and present spatial information. Leica Geosystems is best known for its broad array of products that capture accurately, model quickly, analyze easily, and visualize and present spatial information.

Those who use Leica Geosystems products every day trust them for their dependability, the value they deliver, and the superior customer support. Based in Heerbrugg, Switzerland, Leica Geosystems is a global company with tens of thousands of customers supported by more than 2,400 employees in 22 countries and hundreds of partners located in more than 120 countries around the world. Leica Geosystems is part of the Hexagon Group, Sweden.

For further information please contact:

Leica Geosystems
Geoff Jacobs
Phone: +1 925 790 2317 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              +1 925 790 2317      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Fax: +1 925 790 2309
geoffrey.jacobs@lgshds.com
www.leica-geosystems.com/hds

Faster, More Compelling Models, Renderings, and Animations of Point Clouds

(Heerbrugg/ Switzerland, 23 June 2010)- Leica Geosystems announces Leica CloudWorx-VR for 3ds Max, 3ds Max design, and Maya. These plug-ins provide a convenient way for professionals to efficiently create more photorealistic and compelling models, renderings, and animations based on rich, High-Definition Survey™ data of sites & structures as collected by 3D laser scanners.

Easier, More Efficient Processing of Point Clouds for Multi-media Applications
The use of visually rich, High-Definition Survey data for multi-media applications such as marketing proposals, client education, and project communications has been steadily growing. However, traditional methods of processing as-built and topographic point cloud data and merging it with models and photography for multi-media applications have been time consuming. In addition, the quality of deliverables has been constrained by limitations in stand-alone point cloud software otherwise used for this. Now, Leica CloudWorx-VR-plus Autodesk 3ds Max or Maya overcome these limitations, making it easy to create even more compelling multi-media deliverables based on laser scan data.

Leica CloudWorx-VR offers 3ds Max and Maya users the same, familiar user interface they already know from using these multi-media tools. CloudWorx-VR lets users apply 3ds Max and Maya tools directly to large point cloud data sets. Users can efficiently load a dense, colored point cloud as a 3D background, merge point cloud data with other model elements, cast shadows on the cloud, and even process point clouds into smooth surface models – all within the 3ds Max or Maya interface. CloudWorx-VR supports data from Leica HDS and 3rd party laser scanners, enabling any laser scanner user to more easily expand service offerings to include exciting multi-media deliverables based on point clouds.

Global Access plus Local Support from Leica Geosystems
Users can purchase Leica CloudWorx-VR and receive local support directly from Leica Geosystems, the world leader in laser scanning hardware and software, and authorized representatives. The powerful, new plug-in was developed by Alice Labs (Netherlands), a start-up company comprised of experienced Leica HDS users plus talented academic staff. Alice Labs and Leica Geosystems have signed an exclusive agreement for Leica Geosystems to sell and support the plug-in product as Leica CloudWorx-VR, the newest member of the Leica CloudWorx family of convenient point cloud plug-in software.

What they’re saying
Dr.-Ing. Christian Hesse of Dr. Hesse und Partner Ingenieure, Germany reports, “We were impressed by point cloud animations of an historic ship that we saw at the 2009 Leica Geosystems HDS Worldwide User Conference in San Ramon, CA, and discussed the point cloud plug-in for 3ds approach with the presenter. We’ve since changed over from another vendor’s software to deploy this technology and we have been very pleased to quickly expand our business into this exciting area with excellent results. Our customer’s response was outstanding.” An example of this work done by Dr. Hesse und Partner Ingenieure is on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ4_biRWHvM
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Pricing & Availability
Leica CloudWorx-VR is immediately available. Ordering information is available from authorized Leica Geosystems representatives.
Leica Geosystems – when it has to be right
With close to 200 years of pioneering solutions to measure the world, Leica Geosystems products and services are trusted by professionals worldwide to help them capture, analyze, and present spatial information. Leica Geosystems is best known for its broad array of products that capture accurately, model quickly, analyze easily, and visualize and present spatial information.

Those who use Leica Geosystems products every day trust them for their dependability, the value they deliver, and the superior customer support. Based in Heerbrugg, Switzerland, Leica Geosystems is a global company with tens of thousands of customers supported by more than 2,400 employees in 22 countries and hundreds of partners located in more than 120 countries around the world. Leica Geosystems is part of the Hexagon Group, Sweden.

GPS Reference Networks

One of the mistakes we see companies make is they forget to be Boy Scouts (always be prepared).  In an effort to save a little money we often do not get back ups such as extra batteries, cables, etc…  This cost cutting usually ends up costing you more than you saved when everything goes down.

The same thing applies to working on GPS Reference Networks.  We assume that this simple solution that saves us thousands of dollars is a perfect end all answer and while it is great it is not the total solution.   We forget the variables involved such as the range of the receiver from the base, cellular connections, and let’s face it the base is being controlled by someone else.

When the company I worked for sent a GPS crew out to survey they had a back up.  When a standard crew went out, they had a back up.  I remember working in Louisville, KY one winter after a nice snow had come through and the temp was well below freezing.  We took 2 extra batteries for the total station which was a good thing because the old batteries did not hold up so well in the cold.  With about an hour of surveying left to do we had gone through the first two batteries and the third was starting to show signs of failing.  Several hours drive back to the office and a client wanting their job done that day did not leave us in a good spot.  My old friend and the Survey Manager (who was much smarter than me) chuckled when I started to hop in the truck to head back to the office.  He came around the truck with a level, a rod, and a tape.  We finished the job that day.

It can be expensive to have these extra things, but when you need them the savings is almost unmeasurable.  Reference networks are no exception.  The idea of being able to work miles from a base (over 20 miles in some cases) without having to ever set the base up or figure out the position is huge and something I would encourage more people to look in to.  The problem is that we get too relaxed and buy a single rover and have no back up plan.  When we reach the limits of the range of the network, the end of cellular coverage, or the network goes down you are essentially shut down and that is not good.

What do you do?  Go to plan “B”.   With so much new technology coming out right now we are finding great deals on used older technology GPS receivers.  We are also seeing products like the Altus APS-3 that can operate as a network rover, or as a base/rover.  For anywhere from $5,000-$12,000 you can have a back up plan that over time can save yourself down time, lost production, and most importantly money.

So do yourself a favor and be a Boy Scout….always be prepared!