Bentley today announced a partnership with Pointools to include their Vortex Engine API into the Bentley platform. This integration will allow users to reference and manage point cloud data within MicroStation for better project management, and marks Bentley as the first CAD vendor to incorporate point clouds as an integrated data type and to manage these files through ProjectWise.
“The difficulty of managing and integrating point clouds into infrastructure products has been a barrier to laser scanning adoption,” noted Greg Bentley, CEO of Bentley Systems. “I expect innovations in every infrastructure application domain to leverage point cloud models of existing conditions for lifecycle performance.”
Pointools has been working since 2004 to create a universal point cloud engine for diverse point cloud formats. The integration of this engine into MicroStation means that users will be able to uniquely reference and geospatially coordinate point cloud files with vector geometry and raster data. Current tools only allow management and manipulation outside of a CAD environment.
With the Pointools Vortex API, point cloud data can be loaded, displayed, analyzed and the points can be extracted. The Pointools file format (POD) captures and retails the scanner type, original scan file name, scan date, scan locations and scan keywords.
The point clouds will also be integrated with Project Wise content management tools to index the files and allow them to be searched and managed by project. The file caching capability of ProjectWise will speed the use and transfer of large point cloud files to distributed teams.
This announcement is a significant step forward for model-based design. The integration of point clouds means that project managers can scan and record building progress along the timeline of project development to accurately record as-built conditions. The added capability gives designers more control of the construction process, and increases the communication capability of work teams. The recorded data adds to the intelligence about the building for operation and maintenance once the project has been completed.
