Welcome to the Q1 2021 Issue of GeoCue Group News!
Happy New Year everyone – welcome to our Q1 2021 edition of GeoCue Group News (I will try to refrain from comments about how time flies, how old we are getting and so forth!).
Looking back on the prior quarterly editions of this newsletter, the refrain that we are getting tired of COVID appears in far too many issues. However, things are different now. With a vaccine in distribution, I think we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps by June we will all be meeting up at conferences once again. In my opinion, the “virtual conferences” are not a substitute for the valuable information we all exchange at a physical conference.
In spite of working under the handicap of “COVID Rules”, we accomplished quite a bit in 2020. We focus on three major business areas within the company:
- Traditional Airborne and Mobile laser scanning (ALS/MLS) software tools and training
- sUAS (drone) mapping hardware and software for high accuracy surveying/mapping
- Enterprise Solutions Development (bespoke solutions), primarily hosted in AWS
Terrasolid Spatix
In the ALS/MLS area, we pushed the new Spatix-based Terrasolid products out to customers. This is an exciting new development from Terrasolid OY that allows users who do not need a full MicroStation stack to run standalone.
Enterprise Solutions
In our Enterprise Solutions area, we continue to develop and manage the data processing pipeline for Teledyne’s International Space Station hosted hyperspectral camera, the DESIS-30. This is also the division where we develop our namesake GeoCue software.
sUAS Mapping Solutions
Our sUAS Mapping Solutions division is where you see rapid turn-around R&D from GeoCue. In June we released the True View 615/620 product line, our new 3D Imaging Systems (3DIS®) based on the Riegl miniVUX series of sUAS laser scanners. Of course, we also develop our EVO software in concert with the hardware. We have recently transitioned the DJI Phantom 4 RTK and M210 RTK workflows from ASPSuite to True View EVO as “guest sensors.” If you are considering entering the photogrammetric mapping business area using drones, a P4 RTK along with EVO Lite is an excellent starting point.
GeoCue Software Updates
December was a trifecta of new software update releases from us. First off was our GeoCue workflow management software system for large LIDAR production shops. This is the seminal software for our company and is still heavily used by customers operating at the “factory” level of LIDAR processing (multi-county, state level projects). GeoCue 2020 brings many aspects of GeoCue from spatial reference system libraries to supported software versions up to date.
LIDAR Server Update
Second was a new release of LIDAR Server. LIDAR Server is an “on-premise” server solution for managing and disseminating point cloud data via a Javascript web interface. This new release brings a large array of interface improvements as well as enhanced performance for initial project display.
LP360 Software Updates
Thirdly, we also released LP360 2020.2, our second release of LP260 for 2020. LP360 is a 64 bit standalone desktop application aimed at mid-volume LIDAR production and advanced LIDAR analysis. This release brought significant new features such as our initial version of transmission line point detection and catenary modeling. True View EVO, our software for our True View hardware series which uses LP360 as its foundation, is released on an approximate 6 weeks basis.
Customer Support
Besides our leading edge technology, I think the thing that sets us apart from similar technology companies is our customer support. This is the most important thing that we do. When a situation arises (and they do, unfortunately) where a customer is experiencing a problem with our hardware or software, R&D pauses and all necessary hands focus on finding a rapid solution. The same team that provides front-line support also conduct training. This approach allows us to see mistakes being made in the field and adapt training to address these issues. This feedback allows us to constantly improve our solutions.
GeoCue Australia
In the October issue of GeoCue Group News, I announced our plans to open a joint venture company in Australia. I am very pleased to update you with the news that GeoCue Australia has opened its doors and already has True View sensors in customer’s hands! Under the capable leadership of Mark Hickey, I am confident this operation will become a core technology center for GeoCue.
New Year, New Releases!
I am quite optimistic about this new year. We have a very ambitious development pipeline that will bring you new tools to improve the efficiency (and thus ultimately the return on investment) in the areas that we service. We will be announcing new products via a series of webinars throughout the year so please stay tuned. Finally, I would like to invite you to personally correspond with me if you see important product areas that we are not addressing. We do our best when we are addressing problems that matter to you. Have a great 2021!