Improving quality, efficiency and safety of data collection 

Story Contracting wished to collect data for a coastal rail project in Cumbria, UK, covering over 200,000 m2. Owing to the size of the site and access limitations, for both safety reasons and tidal peaks, conventional data acquisition methods such as total stations were not ideal. Central Alliance, an RSK company, suggested a ROBIN surveying system to collect accurate and highly detailed data thereby eliminating the challenges from using conventional methods.

The innovative ROBIN wearable mobile mapping system was used to traverse the entire area, capturing data on the rock formations, slopes and tidal flats without the need to access hazardous routes. The system can capture data from paths and trails only accessible by foot, scanning and mapping terrain to a vertical accuracy of 1–2 cm and needs just two surveyors to operate. In comparison to conventional total station methods, the ROBIN system requires 90% less on-site time, greatly reducing the amount of time that staff are exposed to site hazards and eliminating the need for track possession. The data acquired is of significantly higher quality, collecting 1.1 billion data points in the same time a total station instrument would collect 10,000.