Trimble Dimensions 2007

Trimble Dimensions 2007 took place from 5th to 7th November 2007 at the Convention Center and Events Center, Mirage Hotel, Las Vegas, US. There were some 2,200 participants, up from last year's total of two thousand. With the usual format of plenary keynote sessions, technical sessions and a trade show, the event sported the theme “Transform Your Business with the Connected Site”.<P>

Trimble president and CEO Steve Berglund kicked off the conference, saying 'Welcome to the third dimensions'. His phraseology was intentional; the conference would focus on three dimensions, paralleling developments in the geospatial world. Pointing out how far technology had come over recent decades, Berglund went on to reminisce about the slide-rule he used in engineering school and how his generation advanced to using handheld calculators. Trimble epitomised this progress; its business had become more about solutions than components and equipment, and the company was transforming itself from a hardware to a software company. 'What is unthinkable today may be unavoidable tomorrow,' he said. 'Geeks will become visionaries.' This further explained the theme of the conference: 'Integrating processes and leveraging a connected site allows engineers, surveyors and construction industry professionals to identify new growth opportunities, find ways to save money, and gain a competitive edge to transform their business operations.'

Notable Speakers
Besides Trimble executives, the plenary sessions also featured keynotes. Dan Burrus, author and business consultant with the flair of a motivational speaker he also demonstrated at last year's event, offered insights into the opportunities offered by rapid advances in technology. 'I believe we are in transformational times in this industry. You are going to be either downsizing or adding personnel.' An example of an opportunity: 'Who co-ordinates the layers of information in GIS? It’s up for grabs.' He also talked about abundance versus scarcity. Industrialists around the turn of the nineteenth century hoarded extracted resources such as timber and coal to increase their value. But later ones, like Bill Gates, made millions by sharing information and making it abundant. 'Knowledge always increases in value when it’s shared.' As one of his main themes, Burrus pushed the point that change could be good. 'The only bad change is one that affects you and you don’t see it coming.' Other days featured other speakers. Peter Hillary, noted explorer and author, talked about achieving extraordinary goals through preparation and perseverance, relating experiences that ranged from reaching the summit of Mount Everest to traversing Antarctica; and Robert Ballard, discoverer of the wreck of the Titanic, illuminated the future of deep-sea exploration.

Technical Speakers
Most technical sessions were filled to capacity and many overflowed. More than two hundred educational sessions filled fifteen tracks. Three new topics made their appearance this year, GIS, geospatial information, and mapping offerings. Tracks included five in survey and six in construction, along with mapping and GIS, aerial and mobile mapping, connected site, and one in Spanish. Robert Jones, project manager at National Survey & Engineering in Brookfield, Wisconsin, talked about Boundless, a software his firm developed that ties surveys around the world to a fundamental reference frame and integrates them into a GIS. Web-based Boundless operates on ESRI’s ArcGIS Server 9.2 platform that automatically integrates multiple globally referenced survey drawings and databases. Data-collector software can calibrate Boundless output to whatever coordinate basis is needed. Gerhard Pilcher, president of H.B. Rowe, a general contractor in Mount Airy, North Carolina, cited the need for surveyors, government agencies and contractors to get connected. Problems could occur when 2D drawings were used, 3D worked better, and differences occur when paper drawings are translated to a digital model. Engineering firms were, he said, designing more often in 3D, but many were still reluctant. He thought the advent of machine control might mean less work for surveyors up front, but if they found ways to help with 3D modelling this might present them with opportunities. Myles Sutherland, ESRI, described how GIS could extend beyond the office and into the field. This allowed for real-time decisions and could be used for mapping, for example, fire hydrants, utility poles. Many sectors might benefit from this, including fire and rescue operations and resource management. Handheld devices were no longer considered specialised; they were now treated by companies as part of the IT family. Sub-metre accuracy in real time could be achieved by connecting to an augmentation system such as WAAS or by using a VRS.

Hands-on
Instructor Tom Mackie of Trimble labelled VRS one the company’s most misunderstood products. 'You can think of it as using your cell phone ten thousand miles away. That is about the strength of the signal.' VRS consisted of a series of base-stations about 50km apart. Positioning data from these fed to a server and correction data was then sent to a rover; this now resembled a base-station, because PPM error was removed. Some three thousand VRS base-stations were currently in operation. The maximum base-to-rover distance for RTK was 10km. RTK GPS had been around for about ten years, he said, while CORS (continuously operating reference stations) had been around twenty years but taken off only in the last five. Acceptable accuracy for RTK GPS was one centimetre horizontal, and two vertical. The radio link had been the limiting factor. But cell phones had changed this as operations were now being driven wirelessly and could solve radio problems, he affirmed. In the Outdoor Partner Pavilion groups of four or five people could stake out a mock construction site. Using a Trimble TSC2 data collector and SPS receiver attached to a pole, one began with a site calibration to ensure they were in the right area and then checked a control point. One could then walk along the asphalt surface locating points and noting the depths of cut or fill.

Small But Intimate
In the Indoor Partner Pavilion Trimble occupied half the trade-show floor; the other half belonged to partners. The 33 exhibitors included several magazines, two universities showing off their Surveying and Geomatics programmes, five Trimble companies (Tripod Data Systems, XYZ Solutions, Pacific Crest, Quantm, Meridian, INPHO, and Applanix), and five construction-equipment companies (Caterpillar, Volvo, Bobcat, Laser-Grader Manufacturing, and John Deere). Also included were a handful of other surveying-related companies such as ESRI, OmniSTAR, Seco, and Ohmex Instruments. This show ranks small by typical show standards, but it had an intimate flavour, affording ample opportunity for one-to-one conversation with company reps in a relaxed setting. And the Outdoor Partner Pavilion featured a host of construction vehicles and surveying equipment, making for a good variety when combined with the indoor pavilion.

Venue
If you stayed at the Mirage Hotel you would never have had to venture outdoors for the entire three days. But located in the heart of the Las Vegas strip, with Treasure Island next door and the Venetian and Harrah’s across the street, many attendees soaked in the Vegas experience. Those not predisposed to slot machines or blackjack tables and the glitz that goes with the gambling scene could take in a show or venture out of the city on a tour to the nearby Hoover Dam or, a bit further away, the Grand Canyon.