Through their LAS-Roads project, Sando, the construction company based in Andalusia, has developed a system that enables them to extract useful information from data captured by their airborne laser sensors. Sando has been using drones for construction purposes since 2011.
In times when important technological changes are taking place, companies need to make as much effort as possible to be at the cutting edge of technology, using not only state-of-the-art tools, but also incorporating systematic developments into their normal everyday work.
Many companies have gone through a process of renewal due to the slump in contract procurement witnessed during the crisis, an increase in competition for tenders, and the arrival of new technology.
In the case of the construction company Sando, based in Andalusia, in the light of these events, they set about a project in 2011 to create an app which would enable them to capture data periodically and help them manage and control civil engineering projects (roads, Railway lines, etc.). The company has found that drones or UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) are extremely useful for undertaking civil engineering work.
As a result of one of their Research, Development and Innovation projects undertaken in collaboration with two other companies, Stereocarto and Leica, and with financing from the CTA (Technological Corporation of Andalusia) and the Agency IDEA, Sando has developed a topographical data handling system using laser sensors, both airborne and on the ground.
Drones enable information to be obtained from the air, making it much easier to plan roads, bridges, railway lines and other civil engineering infrastructure, thus eliminating the need for conventional planes for capturing aerial data and problems associated with availability of such aircraft.
According to Juan Antonio Báez, the head of Sando’s Research, Development and Innovation department, “the use of drones has several direct advantages, such as being able to save us a great deal of time, a tenfold reduction in time spent; also the information is much more precise, both with regard to the images obtained from which we can obtain direct measurements using the clouds as reference points; also, drones can help us reduce the dangers for our employees and users”.
In this Research, Development and Innovation project known as LAS-ROADS, in which the investigation group Computer Graphics and Geometrics and the Photogrammetric and Topometric Systems group from Jaen University have taken part, the construction company has managed to develop an information tool capable of processing data, almost in real time, with the precision required for civil infrastructure.
The LAS-ROADS project has helped place Sando at the top of their field with regard to technological development and innovation, and has also improved their level of competitiveness and quality in the sector. Introducing these kinds of technological solutions gives a much more innovative company image, and furthermore, as pointed out by Javier Cañizares, the person responsible for the Aerospace and Production Process sector, investing in technology means the company has more chance of winning international tenders.
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