Urban planning and development are essential for building modern, sustainable cities, but maintaining accurate and up-to-date city plans is a monumental task. For the Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning, whose core missions include urban planning, urban development, building control, and technical services, efficient and reliable data collection is absolutely crucial to success.

The Challenge of Traditional Systems

In the past, the department procured a mobile mapping system to collect data for updating maps related to their missions, but operations were fraught with difficulties due to technological limitations and high costs. The workflow was heavily bottlenecked from the start, as equipment preparation was complex and time-consuming. Field operations lacked agility and required excessive manpower to manage the bulky setups. Furthermore, data processing back in the office was resource-intensive and incredibly slow. To make matters worse, the final output was limited strictly to basic imagery data, which was only suitable for specific types of projects and lacked the depth needed for comprehensive urban planning.

Project Background

To overcome these historical hurdles and find a better way forward, the department initiated a pilot project focused on geospatial data acquisition for map updating. The project covered a medium-sized area encompassing both urban and agricultural zones, with a total driving distance of approximately 360 kilometers. The strict project requirements included achieving a highly detailed map scale of 1:4,000. To ensure accuracy across this vast area, the network relied on 1 reference base station, 53 Ground Control Points (GCP), and 52 Check Points. Using their previous operational methods, a project of this scale and complexity was estimated to take a grueling 120 days to complete.

GVI Solution

By transitioning to the GreenValley International’s LiMobile M2 mobile mapping system, the department experienced a complete paradigm shift in their data collection and processing workflows.

The new technology directly addressed the pain points of the past, delivering transformative results:

l Simplified Deployment: Equipment preparation is now incredibly simple and requires minimal installation time. The hardware is designed so efficiently that it can easily be mounted to a vehicle by a single person, achieving a true "one man install".

l Lean and Agile Operations: Instead of requiring a massive crew, field operations are now highly agile and require a specialized team of only 3 personnel. Additionally, it takes minimal time for the crew to learn the equipment's operating system, drastically reducing training overhead.

l Unprecedented Efficiency: The new system significantly enhances overall operational efficiency. The team was able to complete the entire process within just 20 days—a staggering reduction from the original 120-day timeline.

l Survey-Grade Accuracy: Despite the rapid turnaround time, the acquired data yields high accuracy at the surveying standard level. By utilizing the 53 control points and 52 check points, the data achieved remarkably low root mean square errors, enabling diverse applications beyond simple 2D imagery.

l Seamless Map Updating: Once the data is collected, the powerful LiDAR360MLS software facilitates exceptionally easy map data updating.

By adopting the LiMobile M2, the Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning has not only modernized their technological capabilities but also redefined what is possible in high-efficiency urban mapping