Questions to...

Morten Hertz Knudsen

For this series of Q&As, we invited a number of geospatial industry experts to share their insights into the current state of the sector and their expectations for the future. What are their views on the biggest challenges facing the industry, the technological growth drivers in the years ahead, and the future outlook for the surveying profession?

What do you see as the biggest challenges for the geospatial industry as a whole in the coming years?

The geospatial industry’s biggest challenge will be to embrace and incorporate automation. We must engage employees who can handle robots and embrace and implement new methods and workflows such as machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI). I expect the automation of data collection will become much easier and therefore the availability of data will become more widespread in all aspects of our lives. All kinds of autonomous vehicles and platforms will collect data in real time and a here-and-now dataset will be available. In the world of building and construction, various robotic platforms will automate data collection and real-time data will characterize construction sites, thus increasing the need for geospatial professionals who link up with data scientists, engineers and programmers.

What will be the main technological drivers in mapping and surveying?

For the mapping and surveying profession

I see automation as the biggest driver – not only automation and robotization of data collection, i.e. the actual survey, but also automation of the generation of drawings and 3D models using things like AI. The combination of image-based feature recognition and automated modelling using feature extraction from point cloud geometry will provide completely new opportunities for lightning-fast production of CAD models and drawings. We increasingly find that only the point cloud is in demand, and the design is done

Morten Hertz Knudsen is a 3D scanning and survey specialist at COWI, with 20 years of experience in 3D laser scanning, technical surveying and mobile mapping. He has worked as a specialist, project manager and team leader on several national and international projects and has showcased projects and workflows at multiple international directly in the point cloud. I also expect that there will be a transition to working with intelligent point clouds. This will mean that points on a road surface will be able to classify themselves as roadways, for example, and points on a wall will ‘know’ that they are part of a wall element.

Will surveyors have been replaced by robotization and AI in ten years’ time?

I believe that, in a decade from now, surveyors will support robotization and AI by creating the frame for how data must be collected, for example, and ensuring the quality of the collected data. In other words, they will develop the specification for the task at hand. In recent years, we have seen a greater demand for support and sparring about new methods and techniques. Today, anyone and everyone can fly a drone and produce an orthophoto or a DSM/DTM, or set up a capture device and document an area, but how do they ensure the quality of the data and how do they make sure the produced data is adding value to the projects? The more data that is collected, the greater the need will be for surveyors in a facilitating and quality-assurance role regarding the use of data originating from new methods and techniques.

Which types of survey projects are paramount for your organization in the coming years?

We are an in-house reality capture department that is part of a large-scale conferences and educational institutions. engineering and architecture consultancy company, so reality capture by images and 3D scanning is paramount to our organization. We see a strong demand for all forms of reality capture for various types of projects within building & construction, heavy industry (power, process and plant), infrastructure and even environmental projects, for design, visualization, inspection and as-built purposes and more. It is now increasingly the rule rather than the exception that reality capture is crucial for project success. Therefore, reality capture is now often initiated even before the project has been fully described, driven by a desire to uncover all possible and relevant areas. Today, we have several urgent projects that have been initiated without having to spend time on clarifications, quotation calculations, approvals and budget allocations.

How will you prioritize technology investments in your organization over the next couple of years?

Our investments in technology will focus on robots, autonomy and new technologies. We pay close attention to technologies such as autonomous drones and robots, image-based SLAM (in combination with point-cloud SLAM), intelligent point clouds, ML and AI-based feature extraction and modelling, and cloud-based solutions and workflows.