Laser System measures and maps buildings.
Press Release Summary:
Lightweight LaserPlans(TM) intelligent wheeled sensing device makes precise, annotated floor plans available to architects, inspectors, emergency rescue teams, insurance adjusters, and builders in minutes. As it is pushed around building, it measures over 1,000 sq. ft per minute, while gathering odometric data and recorded audio. Software uses data to create electronic floor plan of building, which is stored in database for easy access.
Original Press Release:
ActivMedia Robotics New LaserPlans(TM) Revolutionizes Building Measurement
New system makes precise, annotated floor plans available to architects, inspectors, emergency rescue teams, realtors, insurance adjusters and builders in minutes
Peterborough, NH, April 30, 2002 -ActivMedia Robotics, LLC, today announced a revolutionary new floor mapping system, LaserPlans(TM) (patent pending), its first in a line of 21st Century tools for building and property professionals. Combining the best of its intelligent mobile robotics technology, laser sensing systems and software, ActivMedia has created the first system that electronically maps existing buildings in minutes.
LaserPlans is a highly maneuverable, lightweight and intelligent wheeled sensing device. As it is pushed around a building, it simultaneously measures the distance to 180 points in a room many times a second, plus gathers odometric data and recorded audio. LaserPlans software then uses this data to create an electronic floor plan of the building, which is stored in a database for easy access. Plans can be enhanced with labels, annotations and interactive photos. Dimensions automatically appear between any two selected points on the plan and may be stored for printing or viewing.
Buildings now are typically measured by hand with a measuring tape or a single-point laser range-finding device. An architect or construction professional usually takes the measurements by sketching the room and noting the dimensions by hand. With a measuring tape and pad of paper, people might measure approximately 1,000 sq ft per hour, showing only the most important dimensions in each room.
LaserPlans data collector measures over 1,000 sq. ft per minute, including all floor dimensions, instead of just a few. It does not require a trained professional to use, so measurements can be taken by nearly anyone. Multiple buildings can be stored on the same 1x2inch storage key. Once measurements are completed, the storage key can be snapped out of the collector and used in a standard PC with LaserPlans software. LaserPlans software analyzes and draws up the floor plan at a speed limited only by the size of the building and the speed of the PC - typically several minutes.
Floor plans transformed from a rare luxury to a common resource
Because the task of creating floor plans is an arduous one, most buildings do not have existing plans for use by realtors showing the building, by inspectors or insurance agents documenting the building, or by rescue workers trying to find someone in the building. When building an addition, an architect typically measures the building before beginning construction and in many projects, new construction must also be measured after it is complete, in order to compare actual with specifications - both currently time consuming tasks. The quickly created and accurate floor plans along with the audio recording functionality provided by LaserPlans make jobs easier for building contractors, architects, interior designers, realtors, venue promoters, model makers, building inspectors, insurance adjusters, crime scene detectives, firefighters and other first responders.
"We expect architects, realtors and others in the building trades to find that LaserPlans floor plans give them a real competitive edge in promoting their services as well as saving them time," said Jeanne Dietsch, CEO, ActivMedia Robotics. "But we actually think positional documentation may be just as popular an application - that is, whenever an insurance agent, building inspector or law enforcement officer needs to record or legally document the condition of a building at a particular point in time. LaserPlans creates a time-stamped electronic record of the space and items in it, with embedded audio annotations and photos. In addition, LaserPlans provides that critical information for emergency rescue teams, such as the Office of Homeland Security's First Responders. A database of floor plans of major security and terrorist targets can now be a standard part of First Responders' data resources."
Pricing & Shipping
LaserPlans is priced at $17,995, which includes the LaserPlans data collector, USB storage key, software, instruction sheet and one-year warranty. The product will be available for shipping in September 2002.
About ActivMedia Robotics, LLC
ActivMedia Robotics, LLC, is a global leader in the design and manufacture of intelligent mobile robots, sensing systems and robotics development platforms. Leading international organizations such as MIT, Hewlett Packard, Intel, Honda, Microsoft, NASA, Siemens, Sprint, US Army and the US Navy have chosen ActivMedia products. To learn more about the company and its technology, please visit www.activmedia.com. The R&D, production, development and business offices of ActivMedia Robotics, LLC are headquartered in Peterborough, NH; additional R&D takes place in the company's Menlo Park, CA office.
