How mapping assets is key to maintenance

Cyann Fielding talks to industry experts about how tank mapping with lasers can improve the efficiency and longevity of assets Mapping assets can be hugely useful to help understand the inside of a tank, leading to better management. Using lasers to create these images can aid operators and workers in assessing facilities and assets better. Relying on inaccurate data can lead to incidents such as storage tank rupture, a decrease in production, environmental impacts and costly repairs. Jason Hayes, market manager, Reality Capture Solutions, at Trimble Geospatial, explains how laser mapping works: ‘LiDAR, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, is the core principle of our laser scanning solutions. The basic idea is that a pulse of light, the laser, is sent out from the scanner, which measures how long it takes the pulse of light to reach a surface and bounce back to the scanner. Because we know the speed of light, we can then calculate how far that surface is away from the scanner. We also measure the horizontal and vertical angles the light travels and can then calculate the precise 3D coordinate for a point. LiDAR systems send these pulses of light out very quickly, so...