Trimble Business Center - A True Geodetic Platform to Streamline Survey Data Processing from all Sensors

True North | Fall 2021

With the ever-increasing democratization of geospatial data, surveyors must now work with geospatial data coming from a multitude of sources and sensors. Mechanical and robotic total stations, digital levels, high-performance or entry-level GNSS receivers, terrestrial and mobile LiDAR sensors, even unmanned airborne vehicles (UAV). These are just a few of the geospatial data capture technologies that industry workers will inevitably be required to understand and have the ability to integrate and analyze. Today more than ever, there is a real need for a software platform that can integrate data from all these technologies to be able to prepare deliverables of all kinds. In this article, I will explain how TBC is a truly unique software in that regard.

Coordinate systems and datums

Traditional CAD software solutions typically have a ‘model’ space (scale 1:1) and a ‘paper’ space (scale of the deliverable to be prepared). Instead of simply replicating that model, Trimble Business Center (TBC) implements a truly geodetic model space. While it is possible to work in a TBC project using an arbitrary coordinate system, commonly referred to as local or scale factor 1.000, TBC really shines when a project uses a recognized coordinate system such as NAD83 (CSRS) to integrate in a common system, interpret and facilitate the processing of geospatial data coming from different sources. There are a multitude of officially recognized datum and coordinate systems available in the Trimble Geodetic Library and the TBC calculation engine can perform seamless transformations from one system to another, in both directions.

Grid vs Ground

As we know, geospatial data represented in any mapping projection will inherently contain certain distortions that will vary depending on the choice of the projection in question and the general elevation of the project. This is unavoidable when attempting to graphically represent the data in a cartesian coordinate system (North – East – Elevation). For example, when two points are observed using a GPS receiver at ground level, the mathematical distance calculated between these two points based on their coordinates in a projection, will be different from the actual distance measured between these same two points using a measuring tape or a total station (except under very specific conditions). The combined scale factor, derived from a grid scale factor multiplied by an elevation scale factor, allows us to make the transition from a distance in the projection (or Grid Distance) to a distance on the actual ground (Ground Distance), and vice versa.

Trimble Business Center distinguishes itself from other platforms by its ability to automate these transformations without the need for manual intervention on the part of the user, on the condition that the TBC project is using a recognized coordinate system and that an approximate project elevation has been defined. This is particularly relevant when working with live survey data in a TBC project (such as the Trimble Access JOB file for example).

For projects containing LiDAR data, TBC even goes so far as to apply the appropriate combined factor to the scans based on their point of origin so that the point cloud is consistent with the other geospatial data correctly georeferenced in the same project, whether they come from a GPS, of a total station or other types of survey equipment.

TBC is therefore the software platform of choice for the integration, analysis and processing of geospatial data from different sources and sensors, as well as for its ability to help streamline work processes in the office.

Jonathan Calvé
Professional Services Technology Lead
Cansel - Quebec