High-Definition Surveying (HDS)

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Stevens Surveys is excited and proud to be the first survey firm in Manitoba to own a High Definition Scanning System. The newest technology available to surveyors, high-definition surveying (HDS) is a non-intrusive method of rapidly and accurately collecting the detailed shape of targeted objects.

The process, also known as 3D laser scanning, or LIDAR (light detection and ranging), involves the use of a laser to emit a pulse of light. The time before the reflected light is detected is used to determine the distance to the object and the orientation of the laser determines the direction to the object. The result is a three-dimensional position of the target point. The reflectivity of the object is represented by the intensity of the reflected light. As many as 50,000 points per second can be scanned, each to an accuracy of only a few millimetres.

Enjoy Faster Project Turnaround in a Cost-Effective & Safe Manner

High-definition surveying benefits both client and surveyor. It offers cost advantages, faster project turnaround, improved safety, and more complete and higher quality data capture. At a comparable price to traditional survey methods, the client receives significant added value:

  • Turnaround time is drastically reduced. Measurements that would take days to acquire using traditional survey methods can be done in just a few hours.
  • Scans can pick up detail at 1mm spacing across the entire target area. To acquire the same quantity of data by traditional survey methods is virtually impossible.
  • The richness of the data gives the client confidence that the survey is accurate and complete.
  • The existing conditions are permanently recorded, eliminating the concern that something may have been missed.
  • Data can be processed many different ways, dependent upon project demands, without the need to return to the site.
  • Measurement scanning can be completed without major interruption of surrounding activities.

Traditional survey methods are limited to measuring one point at a time. HDS laser scanners remotely capture the intricate shape and geometry of targeted objects at the rate of thousands of points per second, whether it is building structures, mechanical installations or landscape.

HDS Applications

  • Accident scene and forensic investigation
  • Archaeological documentation
  • Architectural preservation and replication
  • As-builts
  • Asset management
  • Construction quality assurance
  • Deformation monitoring
  • Design conception and verification
  • Emergency preparedness
  • Fabrication and construction inspection
  • Historical and legal archiving
  • Litigation protection
  • Manufacturing and reverse engineering
  • Modelling
  • Profiles, cross-sections and volumes
  • Retrofitting and renovation
  • Topographic and engineering surveys

Completing the field work is only half of the job. The millions of recorded points, called point clouds, produced by the scanning operation are generally not used directly, other than for simple visualization. Extracting information from the point clouds and translating it into results which the client can understand and depend upon is critical.