Swiss engineering & planning firm Rapp Group take receipt of their new NavVis VLX, impressed by potential for fast, accurate and versatile mobile mapping.
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, the Rapp Group offers comprehensive services in the field of construction, engineering and industrial surveying.
Whether it's a small project or something more complex and demanding, their Surveying and Geoinformatics team pride themselves on having the right expertise, experience and equipment for any job.
That’s why the launch of NavVis VLX, our new wearable mapping system, was met with great enthusiasm by the specialists at the Rapp Group.
“With the NavVis VLX a device is now available, which convinces not only in handling but also in the quality of the measurement results.”
They’ve been closely following the development of mobile laser scanning market for many years, and routinely test the latest generation devices for their suitability.
Evaluating NavVis VLX, the team concluded that the device had the right ratio of price and performance for their needs.
“With the NavVis VLX a device is now available, which convinces not only in handling but also in the quality of the measurement results,” says Dominik Eichenlaub, GIS Project Manager at the Rapp Group.
“The device can create a digital image of a building and its surroundings in a very short time.”
Over on the Rapp Group company blog, Dominik and his team shared an unboxing video together with preliminary impressions of the device as he scanned the office.
Remarking on the features that impressed him most, Dominik says: "The additionally captured panoramic images allow a digital inspection of the building at any time."
He continues: “And due to the underlying survey, individual measurements such as room height or aisle width can be taken directly from the panoramic images."
"NavVis VLX is the ideal device for us for a large part of the tasks from the area registration and the growing market of Scan-to-BIM."
While these new innovations in mobile mapping are to be celebrated, not least because of the SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) algorithms that elevate the data quality to whole a new level, it’s important to remember that there is still a role for terrestrial laser scanning to play in modern surveying practice.
"The mobile scanner is not a replacement for our stationary laser scanners," says Dominik. "Rather, it extends our range of scanning services."
"NavVis VLX is the ideal device for us for a large part of the tasks from the area registration and the growing market of Scan-to-BIM," he explains.
The future of laser scanning lies not only in mobility, therefore, but also in the speed of capture and accuracy of the data.
With these three requirements addressed, the modern surveying firm can provide more and more services, ranging from construction documentation to facilities management.
“The advantages of the mobile device lie in its use for surveying during ongoing operations, where business interruptions remain minimal."
“The advantages of the mobile device lie in its use for surveying during ongoing operations,” adds Dominik. “Business interruptions remain minimal and we can adapt to our customers with targeted activities, depending on the situation.”
Here at NavVis HQ, everyone is absolutely thrilled to see our customers and partners documenting their first experiences with NavVis VLX in this manner.
We invite anyone else awaiting receipt of their device to share more of the same. Send us your videos!
Image and video credits: The Rapp Group