From cutting edge research to successful
commercial enterprise...
ABSL - As-Built
Solutions Ltd - was incorporated in the UK in 1993 to exploit commercially
photogrammetric research at the department of
Geomatic Engineering, University College
London.
This research formed
part of the Teleman nuclear robotics programme and was conducted in close
collaboration with the following partners to meet their operational needs:
 |
Nuclear Electric
(the organisation then responsible for the safe and efficient operation
of Britain's nuclear power stations) |
| Electricity de
France (EDF
- The French generating company with a capacity of 101,227 MWe, most of
which is produced in nuclear stations. |
| British Nuclear
Fuels (BNFL) - The UK nuclear fuel reprocessing company. |
The technology provided
calibrated image archives of nuclear plant where access was often
difficult due to very restricted access. End users could now 'visit'
hazardous areas without leaving their desktop. CAD Models of complex and
sometimes disordered environments could be created for accurate advanced
planning prior to robotic interventions.
The value of the
technology outside of the nuclear industry was quickly recognised in the
cost-effective creation of digital as-built representations of
industrial facilities with the principle
objectives of:
| Reverse engineering CAD models of
existing structures; |
| Exploiting these models to ensure
first-time fit, clash free, of new equipment; |
| Reducing the time spent on site and
hence the period during which a facility may be offline. |
Specifically ABSL are
now able to deliver solutions that have a proven track record of
addressing the specific requirements for such surveys which include:
| the geometric complexity of the
sites; |
| the fact that they are often
inaccessible or hostile environments; |
| the requirement to communicate plant
condition and layout to a wide range of end-users within an
organsiation; |
| the varying levels of detail and
accuracy that may be required across the site; |
| the difficulty of specifying the
distribution of such areas in advance of detailed design work.
|
The As-Built Solution focuses on
cost-effective delivery of As-Built data that is
| fit-for-purpose in terms of
currency and geometric fidelity; and |
| readily accessible to all
engineering end-users. |
End users can use
such data to support critical design decisions on a
‘just-in-time’ and ‘just-sufficient’ basis. |
