How a Building Solutions Portfolio Supports Your Journey Toward Digitalisation

Digitalisation is no longer an upcoming trend in the construction industry. It is here. It is now. It can be seen, in some form or another, in nearly every building that is constructed around the world. The industry’s evolutionary journey may have accelerated more in some locations than others. Manoeuvring within COVID-19 environments may have won over a few more digital converts, but these are not just short-term adjustments. The evolutionary march toward digitalisation is underway.

Hexagon’s Geosystems division is also evolving. Our product portfolio keeps expanding with many new and exciting innovations, such as a reality capture device, CAD conversion and design software, layout and verification sensors, project documentation software and services, and much, much more.

Of course, customers and markets are the real drivers behind an expanding portfolio, and the Geosystems customer base stretches across multiple industries. It is a high priority for us to support our customers as they adopt digital innovations into their existing workflows — or as they adjust their workflows to best utilise the productivity gains these innovations offer.

To expand our industry solution offering, Geosystems is focusing on selected industries like Survey, Building, Heavy Construction, Mining and Geospatial Solutions. This gives us the ability to serve each of these industries better. Each industry has its unique characteristics, and for the Building Solutions industry, it provides an opportunity to focus on the five key stages in the life of a building.

Design & Engineering

Capturing the as-is environment of an upcoming construction site helps to visualise existing conditions and make informed decisions when planning the design of a new project or the renovation of an existing building.

Hexagon provides best-in-class software and sensor solutions to capture existing conditions and verify the as-built with the required accuracy and efficiency, for instance:

Our reality capture sensors capture point cloud and imagery data of existing conditions;

• UAVs equipped with photogrammetry technology enable measurements from photographs, especially for recovering the exact positions of surface points;

• GNSS captures key survey measurements along the perimeter and between key points on a jobsite;

• And also, utility detection equipment using ground penetration radar technology identifies potential risks lurking under the ground in the form of utility pipes and cables.

For all four examples, CAD conversion software quickly converts the data into new 3D models or adds the information into existing models. Whatever modelling software you are using, our workflows are integrated, allowing you to stay in your daily working environment.

Construction & renovation

When construction starts, design data is transferred to the field where it is read by machine control systems that guide earthmoving equipment along routes within the perimeter while avoiding utilities. As the building begins to go vertical, design data is transferred to Leica iCON total stations to lay out the foundation and location of key embedded objects, such as rebar and MEP objects, as well as validate the final as-built status to the model. Construction progress and object locations can be documented before they are covered with measurable images so that as the jobsite winds down, the information is properly handed over to facility management.

Each of these key steps — and more — are supported by sensor, software and services within the Building Solutions portfolio.

Operations & maintenance

The Building Solutions portfolio helps to prolong the life of mission-critical assets by facilitating remote maintenance, providing management cockpits with accurate and reliable information, and creating digital twins for indoor navigation or location-based services.

Building assets can be tracked based on 2D floorplans, or for those customers who have existing CAFM/IWMS maintenance software platforms, 3D location-based information can be integrated for accurate asset tracking. It can also go a step further. Building assets can be replicated by reality capture devices for 3D asset management. And, on a larger scale, the entire building and surrounding area can be captured to facilitate indoor and outdoor navigation.

Another great solution is the Leica BLK3D, the first compact 3D handheld imager on the market today. It provides real-time, in-picture 3D measurements with professional-grade accuracy. Every image captured is a complete and precise 3D measurement record of any given environment. This ensures that assets are not only documented, but the measurements within the image also enable maintenance crews to plan the appropriate modifications.

Safety & security

The digitalisation of buildings impacts all safety and security related systems, whether these are integrated or closed-loop control systems.

The award-winning Leica BLK247 is a real-time reality capture device that uses sensor fusion technology to detect and report physical changes within a space. Powered by Ethernet, the BLK247 is always-on and continuously scans the environment around it, providing 24/7 situational awareness of the current situation while anticipating future events.

Pre-incident plans for potential emergencies, such as fire or other damages, leverage automated or semi-automated 3D building models to help first responders navigate floorplans and indoor maps.

Buildings are subject to vibration, ground movement, extreme weather conditions and construction activities that need to be monitored to ensure they continue to have structural health and viability. Our portfolio of highly-innovative sensor and software technology provides real-time building displacement and deformation analysis without interrupting construction activities.

Enterprise 

Each building is unique. Managing the building performance throughout its entire life cycle requires a constant flow of real-time data among the stakeholders.

Our Building Solutions portfolio helps collect data and provide valuable insights throughout a building’s lifecycle by providing a solid foundation of geospatial building information, such as floorplans, 3D models and digital twins.

Hexagon’s innovative solution, HxGN Smart Build, is crafted especially for the AEC industry to optimise building design and construction. It connects the office and field for visibility into project status by linking model, schedule, and cost information to support 3D, 4D and 5D process in a simple-to use cloud and mobile solution.

HxDR is Hexagon‘s cloud-Based visualisation and collaboration platform for spatial data and services. Models can be placed into accurate 3D maps of cities, towns and landscapes for visual context in real-world locations.

And finally, our geospatial and reality capture solutions provide the space, layout and as-built drawings that are so important for real estate due diligence. Our solutions provide accurate visual details for existing buildings as well as records of as-built conditions that can be used by sellers or buyers.

Hexagon’s Geosystems division’s Building Solutions portfolio is quite extensive and covers a wide range of applications. Ease of use is important to us as it makes it as easy as possible for users to adopt digital tools and workflows. And for the most advanced users, the products in our portfolio have many extensive features that allow you to optimise your way of working and stay at the forefront of the latest trends.

Regardless of where your organisation is on this journey, Hexagon is a partner who is ready to walk alongside you. We look forward to collaborating with you as we take this journey towards digitalisation together.