Success story: LiDAR testing in the heart of the city
Calgary’s Living Lab in action LiDAR testing in the heart of the city
“Participating in Living Labs for just one day accelerated our development by about three months and allowed us to discover technical issues before we were in front of our customers,” says Joseph Hlady, President of Lux Modus.
Calgary-based Lux Modus leverages innovative technology to help construction managers and operators save time and reduce costs related to pipeline construction. The technology company’s pipeline construction specific remote sensing platform uses advanced mobile light detection and ranging technology (LiDAR) and imagery to create a detailed 3D digital model of a pipeline just before it is buried in the ground. It also models the construction environment during the various phases of pipeline construction and includes cloud based near-real-time data processing so the raw data can be quickly turned into useful information in near-real-time on the Right of Way.
In developing the platform, Lux Modus had already completed extensive lab and field testing of their hardware and were looking for an opportunity to test it in an uncontrolled, non-pipeline construction environment without incurring considerable costs.
Through related work with The City on the Future of Transportation Planning, they heard about The City’s Living Labs initiative and the potential to access specific City locations. The objective was for a collection / mapping opportunity in the downtown area, for about an hour’s worth of data, ideally, along a rail route. They found this along the 7th Avenue transit corridor, where Lux was able to set up along the C-Train line so they could receive consistent data flow between passes.
As a result of this trial, Lux identified areas for improvement which they will also be able to apply to help expand their system for potential use as an urban infrastructure mapping platform. Overall, they valued this opportunity with The City’s Living Labs to be in excess of $20,000, saving them the cost, time and energy they would otherwise have had to invest in simulations for the detailed testing and modeling required in different collection environments.
"Using the city as a real-world lab, beyond our test benches, saved us from having to use our customers’ real-world as a lab – thus allowing us to put our best foot forward." - Joseph Hlady, President of Lux Modus
The City’s living lab ecosystem offers start-ups like Lux Modus a great way to test and trial their technology outside of the lab, with reduced costs and risks. The City of Calgary’s Living Labs continues to look for ways to break down local barriers to innovation, helping businesses and researchers achieve real world testing to move their idea to the next stage of development in a safe and effective way. Contact LivingLabs@calgary.ca for more information.