It's always good practice to routinely assess your status, re-evaluate your goals, and revisit your critical assumptions. As I look back on our 9+ years of Mobile LiDAR ownership there are many things that are just as pertinent today as they were nearly a decade ago. None more poignant than our 13 Laws of Mobile LiDAR.
Whether it's your first time, or just the first time a while, now is the perfect opportunity to catch up on our Baker's Dozen.
The Baker's Dozen: 13 Laws of Mobile LiDAR
- Too much is better than not enough;
- Sometimes more is just more, not better;
- Hard drives are cheap, time isn’t;
- Consistency counts; stop guessing;
- When someone wants “full planimetrics,” they really don’t;
- The stated laser range is X’, but the lasers are only capturing data to Y’; and Y is definitely less than X, yet nobody can tell you what Y is…
- The data you capture is only as good as the applied control;
- Today’s best practices will be tomorrow’s old habits;
- Field vs. office time ratios are pipe dreams;
- Mobile LiDAR systems are not created equal, and neither are the operations behind them;
- Off-the-shelf processing software will only do 50% of what you need it to do;
- When the system encounters issues, take a breath and reboot;
- Mobile LiDAR is not all fun and games, but it does feel like it some days.