Leica Singapore: On a high with HDS

Singapore is well known for its diverse economy, highly efficient public and private organisations as well as a reputation of developing and adopting best-in-class technology. All of these characteristics are demonstrated in the use of Leica Geosystems High-Definition Surveying (HDS) technology in the island state and are highlighted in the following three applications, a small sample the daily work undertaken by HDS service providers.

The first application is typical of engineering industry usage of HDS in Singapore. In order to facilitate the conversion of a Multipurpose Shuttle Tanker to an FPSO (Floating, Production, Storage, Offloading) vessel at the Keppel Shipyard in Singapore, an HDS scanning team was deployed to capture, register and model the entire topside deck of the vessel to provide current and accurate as-built for the conversion exercise. The use of HDS benefited the owner of the vessel by quickly providing more complete and accurate as-built plans, by reducing the number of site visits - key to safer operations - and reducing project risk and costly rework.

Next, an application that brings HDS to Singapore's iconic shopping district - Orchard Road - where a recent upgrading of the shopping experience involved the design and installation of a covered walkway. The challenge? None of the existing trees could be cut!

The solution - 3D laser scanning of the entire street-scape to perform a virtual clash detection of the environs against the design model of the walkway. The third and last application surrounds the use of HDS technology for topographic mapping. This is characterised in the recent airport runway scans conducted by a service provider in Singapore, with the mapping exercise completed during the overnight shutdown period and rapidly producing more accurate and dense digital terrain models far quicker than with conventional techniques.