Transforming the accuracy and precision of on-site data capture and transmission

作者：AMT-Sybex, part of Capita plc

英国的天然气网络是世界上最古老的，其历史可以追溯到1800年代初，尽管它的气体电源随着时间的推移升级，但仍有数千英里的管道由铸铁和其他延性金属制成。随着时间的流逝，这些管道会降低并最终断裂，导致漏气泄漏，影响环境，降低效率，提高成本并可能对人和建筑物构成危险。

Set up as an independent network in 2005 after previously being part of National Grid, Wales & West Utilities operates35,000 kilometres of gas distribution pipelines that transport gas to 2.5 million homesand businesses throughout Wales and the southwest of England. The company’s priority is to keep its 7.5 million customers safe and warm with gas connections and a gas supply they can rely on, and a level of service they can trust.

当威尔士和西部公用事业用威尔士和英格兰西南部的新型塑料塑料代替旧的金属气管时，它希望确保这些新管道在未来很容易找到和维护。

As it upgrades its pipes, the company also wants to upgrade its data and gain an even more accurate understanding of where its assets are. Wales & West Utilities has worked withAMT-Sybex和Leica Geosystems构建了一种新的移动解决方案，该解决方案使用高精度GNSS设备来测量和绘制铺设每个新管道的确切坐标，并捕获有关阀门，交界处和其他组件的重要元数据。以数字方式捕获信息有许多好处：

• Digital data capture saves time for field engineers and back-office teams
• 高精度GNSS提高了资产数据的准确性并降低了错误的风险
• Asset data can be transmitted from the field to the office in seconds, not days
• Eliminates paper-based processes, cuts costs and reduces environmental impact
• Future maintenance work should be safer and more efficient due to better location data.

Putting safety first

Safety is a top priority for Wales & West Utilities. The company invests £1.4 million pounds a week in replacing all old metal gas pipes within 30 metres of buildings with new plastic ones – reducing leakage and improving safety.

用更现代的塑料管代替这些金属电源可以显着提高网络的安全性和可靠性，从而减少泄漏风险和所需的维修数量。因此，健康与安全主管已建议所有天然气分销网络加速替换金属主，尤其是在建筑物30 m以内的金属主管。

Wales & West Utilities has taken this advice on board and is already nearly halfway through a 30-year replacement programme. On average, the companyreplaces more than 400 km of pipe every year。

威尔士和西公用事业的数据记录经理贝弗利·罗宾逊（Beverley Robinson）评论：“It’s a huge programme, and it’s very important for the business and for the regulator. In addition to capturing the information in the field my team is responsible for validating the data that comes in, keeping our asset repository up to date in our SAP ERP business systems, and producing reports for the regulator about our replacement programme progress.”

部分努力是确保当新管道铺设时，该公司会更新其资产数据，以跟踪管道，阀门和关节如何结合在一起，它们的制成以及在哪里找到它们。准确地记录管道的位置似乎是一项简单的任务，但它可能会产生复杂的问题。

基于纸的过程的问题

Simon Barrett, records officer at Wales & West Utilities, explains:“在过去,我们的测量工程师会啊ut on site with a paper map, a clipboard and a measuring wheel, and would draw the new pipes on the map with measurements relating to above-ground points of reference. For example, the pipe might run parallel to a road at a distance of 75 centimetres from the kerbstone.

“But what if a few years after we’ve laid the pipe, the road is widened and the kerb moved? Then our reference point is no longer accurate, and our crews could easily end up digging in the wrong place. Or what if we’re laying a pipe somewhere that doesn’t have any convenient reference points nearby, such as the middle of a field?”

After the initial data was captured, the downstream processes were also laborious. The engineers would scale up their field sketches and draw the new pipes on a larger map, which they would post to head office. Then the head office team would review the map and enter the data into the company’s central mapping system, Esri.

“We had to wait days for the latest information to arrive from the field, and processing the data was time-consuming for everyone,”adds Robinson.“We also used a lot of paper, which was wasteful and impractical. Our measurement engineers need to be able to work outdoors in any conditions, and when it’s raining or windy, dealing with paper maps can be a big problem.”

Finding a solution

Wales & West Utilities wanted to find a solution that would take the burden of locating assets away from the user, and provide a precise, unambiguous view of where each pipe is laid. It also wanted to digitise the whole workflow and reduce manual effort at every stage.

“For a few years, our leakage teams have been using a mobile solution called Affinity Geofield from AMT-SYBEX, which gives them access to accurate mapping data while they’re working on-site - even if they’re in a remote area where they don’t have a mobile data connection,” says Barrett. “When we saw that Geofield could be used for drawing assets too, we saw its potential to help with some of our paperwork issues.”

为了解决问题的另一半，公司决定使用Leica Zeno, high-precision GNSS equipment from Leica Geosystems, to locate each pipe’s geographical coordinates to an厘米的精度。但是，将ZENO GNSS硬件与地理菲尔德集成在一起将是首个项目。

“One of the biggest challenges was to ensure that the system would still work even if our measurement engineers lost their data connection,”解释说巴雷特。“Normally, the system works by using HxGN SmartNet Real-Time Kinematic GNSS services. The engineer holds a receiver, which takes positional data from a constellation of GNSS satellites. These readings are then compared with the readings taken by nearby base stations, whose precise locations are already known. By comparing the two, you can correct any errors in the readings and achieve incredible accuracy.

“但是，如果您没有与基站的移动数据连接，则无法比较读数，因此无法进行更正。由于我们的工程师经常在几乎没有手机信号的偏远地区工作，因此这可能是一个大问题。”

The project team solved this challenge by building a post-processing feature – if Geofield can’t find a mobile data connection, it will store all of the uncorrected readings from Zeno equipment locally until the connection is re-established. Once connectivity is restored, it can then process all of the readings in a batch, and provideaccurate, corrected geo-positioned data。