Ready for action: Tunnel survey training with the Trimble X9 and RSME

A maze of underground defensive tunnels was the perfect training location for the Royal School of Military Engineering to team up with KOREC and compare Trimble X9 3D Laser Scanner technology with traditional total station techniques.

Purpose: Invited by Steve Coates, Head of Engineering Surveying at the Royal School of Military Engineering Surveying and Sergeant Niel De Witt, Senior Military Instructor, to deliver Trimble X9 3D Laser Scanning training in a tunnel

Training delivered by: Melvin Penwill, Scanning Specialist and Sarah Cummings, Training Specialist, KOREC

Location: Underground tunnels at Fort Amherst, Chatham

Additional benefits: Useful comparison of laser scanning compared with traditional total station and traversing methods. What had taken a week traversing with a total station was achieved in just a few hours with the X9 and included far more data

Stand out X9 features: Easy of use, in-field registration for visual checks on site, easy auto-levelling and excellent performance in the dark

A few years previously, KOREC had trained the Royal School of Military Engineering students on the Trimble X7 3D Laser Scanner. This time around, along with TSA, our scanning specialist Melvin Penwill and training specialist Sarah Cummings were delighted to accept an invitation from Steve Coates, the school’s Head of Engineering Surveying, to return with the Trimble X9, which offers a longer range, increased accuracy, faster scanning and enhanced imaging.

The location for the tunnelling workflow training was Chatham’s Fort Amherst, Britain’s biggest Napoleonic Fort with its maze of underground tunnels and features making it the perfect testing ground for the X9.

After arriving at the site, a sports pavilion was scanned with the X9 and a colourised pointcloud generated for a speedy demonstration of what could be achieved.  The X9 was then taken to the tunnel area. Control had already been established earlier in the week when the trainees had traversed through Fort Amherst and then undertaken a total station topo survey of the tunnels. With KOREC on site, the same work was then completed using the Trimble X9.

Scanning the Tunnel

The instrument was controlled by a Sergeant using a Trimble T10x Tablet running Trimble Perspective software and his first set up, guided by Melvin and Sarah, was at the mouth of the tunnel. Once in inside, the massive tunnel complex provided a perfect showcase for the X9’s functionality taking in a 20m shaft to measure its height, a steep staircase, hall and areas with very little detail and not much overlap which would be a good test for the Perspective software’s in-field registration for a visual check that nothing had been missed.

As well as surveying the tunnels, the twenty-metre-high shaft was scanned using the indoor mode fifty second scan in order to achieve sufficient detail in the shaft and capping. The scanner’s laser was used to shoot the control points and an area scan completed where the cannon was positioned.

Cintoo Cloud turns laser scans into mesh-based reality capture data perfect for sharing

Following the seventy-five setups needed to complete the maze of tunnels, undertaken over a period of just a few hours, the afternoon was spent in the classroom where Melvin demonstrated Trimble RealWorks software for point cloud handling and showed the scanned data on a projector and answered questions.

Both Sarah and Melvin appreciate the positive feedback from the trainees and thoroughly enjoyed themselves as well!

For further information on the Trimble X9 or KOREC Training, please contact us here.

KOREC’s Melvin Penwill at Fort Amherst