Digital Twins are perhaps the most talked about, yet one of the least understood, technologies in the telecom industry. John and Kelly Chwalibog, the founders of Virtual Technology Simplified (VTS), are determined to change that.
VTS provides 3D reality captures of towers, rooftop sites, ground compounds and inside shelters, also known as digital twins. VTS’s 360Access™ capture services sends drone pilots and scan technicians to sites to document those spaces and provide the digital twin deliverables to its clients to use for downstream applications. According to the company, it has scanned 10 million square feet of space consisting of over 3,500 towers and rooftops in 30+ states, using approximately 40 capture technicians and drone pilots.
“We have deep roots in 3D laser scanning, LiDAR technologies and photogrammetry, and believe we are in a unique position to leverage the best possible technology depending on what our clients and partners want to do with the 3D data,” John told Inside Towers.
John Chwalibog has worked in 3D reality capture, positioning and measurement technology for more than 25 years with his wife Kelly joining him for the past five. They have done work for both big companies and startups in numerous industries. Initially, the technology they used was specialized, technical, and expensive and therefore only accessible to a few companies. Recently though, VTS says prices have decreased as artificial intelligence has been introduced, making it more accessible to tower companies, engineering firms and carriers.
“Having seen so many users and industries grappling with the challenges new technology brings (process disruption) has been instrumental in our approach to how we as a company develop new technology in this space,” John said. “It has also affected how we provide services to potential new users of 3D deliverables — we do it for you, teach you to do it, and support you in doing it yourself.”
It became apparent that these technologies were going to touch more and more industries. Chwalibog and his wife decided there was an opportunity to introduce people to these new technologies and be a vehicle for growth in this space.
Being affordable is only part of the equation for digital twins. Companies need to feel comfortable with integrating digital twins into their existing workflow processes. VTS is driven to get companies interested in 3D measurement technologies and implementation. “We have an opportunity to bring people into the ecosystem, educate them on what these technologies are and what they can do, and teach them how to do their own thing,” John said.
VTS began in 2017 and works with small companies that have been contracted to provide drone work, scanning, or 3D capture. With their 3D reality capture experience, the Chwalibogs have positioned themselves as an extension of the companies that are trying to engage with digital twin technology.
“With drone-based photogrammetry, there has been this massive explosion to get a digital twin to virtually access a property for a lot of different reasons,” John said. “But there’s still a lot of learning to be done, ultimately, in what you can do with a digital twin.”
Photogrammetry
3D reality capture involves digitally documenting a space. Tower sites can be captured with images taken from 360 degrees, known as photogrammetry, which provides accuracy down to the centimeter, to create a digital twin.
LiDAR
More accuracy may be needed, however, for engineering analysis. Combined with photogrammetry, LiDAR sensor data produces a very accurate point cloud. A point cloud is literally millions of points, three dimensionally spaced, that represent an object. To create a point cloud, a LiDAR scanner sends out a laser that bounces off an object, creating millions of points in space. Capturing those points digitally creates a 3D digital image that can help drive design and engineering applications with accuracies in the few millimeter range.
“When we talk about capture, in particular our 360Access™ services, it is about using the right technology with our people to go out and document those spaces, and then provide the digital twin deliverables to our clients.”
The Differentiator
VTS has made a large investment in providing operational support to its customers. For example, its multilingual scheduling team coordinates what happens at the tower site. “We do a lot of work with the scan technicians and pilots concerning risk compliance, insurance and safety, making sure everything is in check — whether it is a VTS employee, or a contractor,” John said. “We have a QA/QC team that coordinates with pilots and scan technicians when they are on site to make sure everything is going as planned and things are being captured the right way. We have a deep bench of people who are behind the scenes, making life easier for the drone pilot or scan technician. This approach translates to really good data and quality deliverables for our clients.”
Conclusion
The inspiration for VTS was the desire to grow the 3D reality capture industry, bringing digital twins to more people and creating opportunities for them to get involved with the technology, workflows and process. According to VTS, the technology and software for digital twins has advanced, but the resources to do the captures are very limited. For VTS, the goal is to be a tech software company that serves customers with multiple levels of knowledge and acceptance of digital twins, whether they are all in or just getting started.
“We believe that more users in the telecom space are going to want to manage and own this process of capturing their assets in 3D themselves,” John said. “In the future, we believe most of the industry will be doing these captures themselves with their own workforce.”
For more information, please visit: 3D Capture Services – 360Access™ or 3D Capture App & Portal – 360Capture™. Or email John directly at [email protected].
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
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