Ground vehicles 

Trimble has teamed up with Exyn Technologies to develop an autonomous robotic system that can be used for surveying complex environments where existing positioning technologies won’t work (writes Nick Flaherty).  

The system uses the Spot robotic dog from Boston Dynamics with the Trimble X7 3D laser scanner and the ExynPak machine learning platform. The combination allows Spot to move fully autonomously inside complex and dynamic construction sites to capture consistent and precise surveying data. 

“Integrating autonomous surveying technology into a construction workflow can improve operational efficiency and transparency throughout a build, while also transforming worker safety for potentially hazardous data collection,” said Aviad Almagor, vice-president of technology innovation at Trimble. 

A tool called ExynAI can sense and avoid obstacles, dynamically adapting to the changing environment of sites. 

The ExynPak uses a Velodyne Lidar sensor on a gimbal with two Chameleon 5 MP cameras from FLIR mounted on Spot for Level 4 autonomous operation without the need for satellite navigation. That avoids the need for an operator or for the robot to learn about its environment beforehand. A surveyor defines a 3D volume for a mission, and the integrated robotic solution handles the complexities of self-navigation without needing a map, GPS or wireless infrastructure.

Integrating the Trimble X7 provides the 3D laser scanning to capture the state of the environment. The captured data can be uploaded to the Trimble Connect collaboration platform to be shared, which can include a comparison with Building Information Models and previous scans to monitor quality and progress. This creates a detailed map with minimal human intervention and risk.