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Introducing a new dimension in reality capture and a new way of working for 3D laser scanning.
Introducing a new dimension in reality capture and a new way of working for 3D laser scanning.
Today, asset managers and infrastructure teams increasingly need accurate, up-to-date geospatial data on roads, bridges, tunnels, utilities, and other critical assets. As they shift from reactive maintenance to proactive asset management, this data helps reduce costs and closures by identifying emerging issues earlier, like cracks before they become potholes.
Meeting this surging demand for geospatial data requires data capture that is accurate, efficient, safe, and scalable. However, traditional tools, such as terrestrial laser scanners (TLS), struggle to keep pace, particularly across large, complex sites with live traffic, GNSS obstructions, and limited access windows.
Traditional surveying and mapping of roads and highways places crews close to live traffic and may require road closures to capture the necessary data. This increases project costs and disruption to normal highway operations. It’s also slow, requiring significant time moving between individual setups in the field to capture the necessary data.
On the other hand, mobile mapping systems (MMS), such as the Leica Pegasus TRK, are designed to overcome these challenges. They enable rapid, autonomous data capture of roads, highways, and tunnels, while helping teams work more safely.
“The Pegasus TRK can accomplish in 2 hours what would take a terrestrial scanner 20 days to scan on a highway corridor of the same density. The larger the project, the greater the efficiency gains.”
David Jaynes, Sales Representative for Mobile Mapping Solutions, Leica Geosystems
MMS enables efficient and safe data capture of road and highway networks.
Historically, mobile mapping required highly specialised technicians. The Pegasus TRK removes that barrier with an intuitive, autonomous field workflow. Operators can be trained to collect survey-grade data within an hour, allowing field teams to focus on safe driving while the system manages the capture.
Road and highway surveys with Pegasus TRK follow a simple Capture, Prepare, Deliver workflow. Before the survey, it’s important to plan the route, set control points, and assess GNSS visibility. One tip, especially when mapping long road networks, is to plan safe opportunities to stop in open-sky areas. Good GNSS visibility allows the IMU to correct for any accumulated drift.
The Ohio Department of Transportation deployed a Pegasus TRK700 during a major urban interstate upgrade, where three sections were ranked among the state’s top-10 crash locations. The team paired the mobile mapping system with aerial LiDAR, using mobile mapping for the mainline where accuracy was critical for tie-ins and crown extractions, while aerial LiDAR covered local roads where the project area got too large.
Despite challenging conditions, including signal interference from surrounding buildings, partial construction zones and harsh winter weather, the combined approach delivered accurate data across the corridor, while also avoiding the need to put a crew in live traffic in one of the state’s most dangerous stretches of road.
One of the core benefits of mobile mapping roads and highways is that the colourised and georeferenced point cloud can be used for a range of deliverables that support inspection, planning, design, maintenance, and asset management.
Mobile mapping produces accurate, reusable data for inspection, planning and asset management. With Pegasus TRK, organisations can support safety reviews, corridor and road-design planning, bridge-clearance assessments, rockface modelling, volume surveys, utility and powerline extraction, and as-built documentation for roads, tunnels and bridges.
What’s more, additional deliverables can be realised at a later date using the same data captured from a previous day.
As-built documentation
As roads, tunnels, bridges, and utilities are built or updated, transport agencies and asset managers need an accurate record of changes for compliance and future reference.
Pegasus TRK collects LiDAR, high-resolution imagery, and road condition data simultaneously, so full-colour imagery and the road surface are all part of the same survey. While users are running an IRI (International Roughness index) assessment of road surfaces, they’re also collecting what they need for a telephone pole inventory or guardrail check, so there’s no need to return for additional drives.
The result is a detailed record supporting future inspections, upgrades and long-term asset management.
Pegasus TRK captures the full roadside context in a single drive. including vegetation, buildings, and street furniture.
Road and pavement condition assessments
One study testedurement tools. Systems spanning traditional profilometers, MMS, and connected vehicle solutions were tested against certified ground truth across real-world driving scenarios, including braking, acceleration, and stop-and-go traffic.
Mobile mapping systems consistently demonstrated the strongest overall performance. They maintained stable IRI and profile measurements during braking, stopping, and acceleration, where traditional profilometers and connected vehicle systems struggled.
Find out more about the DuraBASt benchmark.
The Pegasus TRK accurately captures the full road width and overhead utility lines at the same time.
Mobile mapping in GNSS-denied environments, like tunnels, requires more planning and a slightly adjusted data capture workflow.
