Wireless data transmission technologies have become a part of our everyday life and are used in many industries. Construction and engineering professionals who use wireless technology in their everyday lives would like to extend its benefits to their professional activities. So more and more manufacturers of tools and solutions for construction, repair and maintenance of utilities are now offering products that support remote data exchange.
Before construction begins
Any construction project begins with a geodetic survey using tools such as theodolites and total stations. They are also indispensable at the stage of excavation and during the erection of the main building structures. Modern electronic models are equipped not only with a GPS module for accurate georeferencing, but also with built-in or plug-in modules for rapid transmission of the data received via radio channel.
For example, Nikonarrow Nivo M-Series total stations support Bluetooth wireless protocol for connecting external controllers or recording measurements to external digital storage devices. In the field, this allows for faster measurement and on-site processing and analysis of results. In the course of engineering surveys before construction, it is also important to clarify the location of underground utilities that may be damaged during excavation or foundation laying. For this purpose trace-search complexes are used, which, depending on the model and modes of operation, can detect live power cables, communication lines, utility pipelines.
For example, the RIDGID SR-24 tracefinder equipped with omnidirectional antennas is able to display not only the position and direction of utility networks, but also their intersection at different depths. For integration with external devices, it is equipped with GPS and Bluetooth modules. This allows to transmit data to mobile devices and use the RIDGID trax application to map underground utilities with exact coordinates and depths.
The RIDGIDST-33Q+ line transmitter can also be controlled wirelessly from the locator at a distance of more than 180 m. This device is used for active location of underground utilities and can generate inducing currents with frequencies from 10 Hz to 490 kHz. The ability to remotely change the operating frequency of the transmitter from the SR-24 locator allows the operator to more quickly and accurately determine the location of dissimilar utilities at different depths and their intersection points.
Modern construction is unthinkable without the use of electronic measuring devices. Thus, laser distance meters allow specialists to quickly and accurately determine the distances required for the correct design and installation of building structures, pipelines and networks for various purposes.
Thanks to wireless technologies, devices that used to be perceived as toys are becoming useful tools.In particular, human-controlled or autonomous drones (drones) have recently been used exclusively for aerial photography and video recording.But now there are models adapted to assist in the construction process. For example, drones with large payloads are already delivering tools and supplies to high-rise installers, as well as helping to lay overhead communication lines between neighboring buildings.
But the integration of wireless and cloud technologies makes it possible to go even further and use drones for comprehensive construction monitoring. Kespry has developed such a system. In a special program, the client sets the area to be circled by selecting an area on the map or by entering exact coordinates. The drone automatically flies around the construction site along the specified route and takes pictures of the object, immediately transmitting the data to the cloud via WiFi. A 3D model of the object/territory under investigation is built based on the photo and video footage.
