Press Release: ISI technology enlisted to assist UTA project

January 5, 2008 – Salt Lake City based company, InteliSum Inc. is working with Engineering firm, Wilbur Smith Associates, on an elaborate light rail project for the Utah Transit Authority (UTA). As UTA continues to develop their light rail TRAX lines, it has begun the design process for the new light rail line that will join the existing lines with a route to the Salt Lake Airport. Furthermore, UTA is planning on laying 70 miles of track in the next seven years, making it one of the largest and most ambitious light rail projects in the country. One of the challenges with this project is that downtown Salt Lake City already has several TRAX lines, so the new design must connect to the existing system.

To accomplish this, Wilbur Smith used InteliSum’s technology, called Life Dimensional 3D, or LD3, which fuses LiDAR data points to digital images at capture, making a model that is instantly visually and dimensionally accurate.

Time and money were also critical factors to the project. The cost needed to meet a strict budget, and the scanning and CAD processes had to be completed in less than seven days. Both requirements were successfully fulfilled.

First, two specific sections were captured with an LD3 enhanced scanner, called the InteliCamera. The first section was to capture the section of the power lines referred to as the “spider web”, because of the crisscrossing of the wires from several lines. The scans captured the lines as well as the connectors. Here, it was crucial that the lines were captured accurately, as much of the new design work will be in the connections of the new line’s wires. LD3 is the most practical way for this wire data to be captured as it gathers data to the nearest sub-millimeter.

The second section is where new track will be placed and will require the site to be developed. The designs for the new line will be placed within the LD3 environment to test clashes with the existing environment and to propose “what-if” scenarios. Using the intelligent LD3 Model, Wilbur Smith Associates, as well as UTA, will use the desktop surveying tools to take accurate measurements from the model for direct integration with their CAD programs, as the designs are validated against the environment.

InteliSum’s LD3 combines 3D LiDAR information, GPS/GCS location, and digital imagery into an instant intelligent 3D model at capture. This technology has already found applications in several large industries, including the rail industry AEC market, and the Oil and Gas industries. InteliSum also has working relationships with industry experts that are constantly using LD3 to create solutions for industries, such as the rail industry. http://www.intelisum.com

Wilbur Smith Associates is a full-service transportation and infrastructure consulting firm providing a unique blend of planning, design, toll, economic and construction-related services to clients around the world. The firm is headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina, USA. http://www.wilbursmith.com