REALITY CAPTURE
What is reality capture? Which equipment is needed?
Reality capture is the process by which the dimensions of existing physical assets are captured, with various devices depending on the environment. Those devices can be static, mounted on monopod/tripod, or mobile, mounted on a human/robot/drone. The reality capture technology itself can range from LiDAR (laser), photogrammetry/videogrammetry (images), magnetic or radar (for buried assets). Our Shared Reality solution is agnostic of the Reality Capture method and will work with any of the technologies mentioned above.
Who does the site scanning, how is it done?
Our clients rely on their surveying contractors to perform the site reality capture. Some of them have in-house surveying teams. For those who have no experience nor established contractors, Samp can recommend a local reality capture partner, or provide surveying specifications.
Is a 3D model created out of the scan?
What you see in Samp’s Shared Reality workspace is the direct result of the site reality capture, it is called a 3D reality model. There is no need to perform a Computer-Aided-Design (CAD) remodelling of the scene, also known as a 3D CAD model. This saves a lot of time and money. 3D CAD models are only used to design future modifications (hence the “D” for “Design” in CAD).
How detailed and precise is the 3D reality model?
The 3D reality model level of detail and precision will depend on the device used for reality capture, the method applied by the surveying & postprocessing team, as well as the environmental conditions (eg: humidity). Generally, models used in Samp’s Shared Reality are centimetric grade: equipment details range between 3mm and 5mm, absolute precision at full site scale ranges between 10mm and 50mm.
INPUT DATA
What is the minimal data needed ?
The minimum needed is a 3D point cloud. This is the result of the reality capture. Formats accepted are industry standards and vendor neutral: E57, LAS, LAZ. They can be structured or unstructured, georeferenced or not.
Other data can be used as optional inputs:
– equipment list (as spreadsheet or CSV file extracted from the ERP/EAM/CMMS)
– technical diagrams, such as PFD, P&ID, electrical diagrams, layout plan, ATEX zones…
What if I don’t have an equipment list to start with?
Samp’s AI will generate an equipment inventory, which can be used as a basis to create an equipment list.
Equipment can be tagged within the Shared Reality workspace, to assign unique equipment identifiers (eg “Tag numbers”), or for the initial loading of an ERP/EAM/CMMS.
What kind of equipment list should I use?
Use the equipment list that makes most sense to your teams’ daily work. It can be a flat list, but is preferably organized with one or two sub-levels. Subfolders can be organized by system , area , equipment class , depending on your company practice.
If Shared Reality is used without connection to your IT, the list is extracted as a spreadsheet or CSV file from the ERP/EAM/CMMS.
For each equipment, it can contain attributes/properties and even hyperlinks to your existing systems of record. This equipment info will be displayed in the equipment information box when navigating in the Shared Reality workspace.
If Shared Reality is used with connection to your IT, a webservice will directly display your ERP/EAM/CMMS equipment list, and all the associated information.
Which kind of technical drawings can I use?
Any type of technical drawings can be used for verification against 3D, such as PFD, P&ID, electrical diagrams, layout plan, ATEX zones.
The industry’s main file formats are supported, whether they are vector/raster images (SVG, PNG), or proprietary formats (DWG, DXF, DGN), as well as PDF or DEXPI.
Do I need to clean-up my data before I start ?
Absolutely not. It is rather the opposite.
Shared Reality is designed to be a visual data cleansing workspace. Most of our clients load their existing (partial and outdated) data as-is, then leverage the power of 3D linking / filtering / colorization to visually verify & improve the consistency and completeness of their existing records.
This enables a continuous improvement loop, with empowered and engaged teams, whatever their discipline and seniority level.
Implementing Shared Reality early also saves A LOT of time and money on asset data or document upgrade projects, such EAM deployment or P&ID creation/update.
DATA HOSTING AND CYBERSECURITY
How do I connect my existing technical data or IT systems?
Most clients start with manual files loading, then evolve to automated files loading. Some clients chose to move towards webservices, generally read-only, and sometimes move to bidirectional (read/write) webservices for specific types of data.
If Shared Reality is used without connection to your IT systems, a copy of the equipment list (CSV file) and drawings/schematics (PDF, PNG, SVG and more) needs to be loaded into the workspace via the upload interface. Those files can be updated as often as needed, along with the attributes/properties to be displayed in the equipment information box. Periodic file loading/update can be done manually, or can be automated, and performed on a need basis (monthly, weekly, nightly…).
CONS: does not provide fast information refresh rates.
If Shared Reality is connected to your IT systems, webservices can directly query your systems of record to read dynamically the equipment list/properties and drawings. It can also query the attributes/properties to be displayed in the equipment information box, including “hot data ” from real time monitoring systems / SCADA / data historians. These connectors can be mono or bi-directional, depending on the client’s needs and constraints.
- From Shared Reality: with hyperlinks embedded in equipment infoboxes, enabling the users to directly open existing IT systems on the specific piece of equipment.
- To Shared Reality: with hyperlinks embedded in existing IT systems or shared by emails, authorized users can directly access a specific piece of equipment or location (eg a weld) in a given site.
Where is my data hosted, and who owns it?
Your data remains your property.
A copy of your 3D data always needs to be hosted by Samp, as it is transformed into a 3D streaming format for instant access over the web.
When a copy of other data needs to be hosted by Samp (if Shared Reality is not connected to your IT), it will be exclusively hosted inside your company’s instance of Samp.
Each client organization has a fully segregated Samp instance, hosted in the country of their choice.
Our infrastructure is hosted by Amazon Web Services.
What happens with my data if our relationship ends?
Your data remains your property.
All data hosted by Samp is a copy of your original data. Your original data remains stored in your systems of record.
If specific data was created inside Shared Reality (eg annotations, automatic inventories) it can be exported in an open CSV format.
How is Shared Reality secured?
All of our clients are highly sensitive critical infrastructure operators, or their suppliers.
As such they conduct in-depth security audits, which are part of the onboarding process.
All of our clients data remains in Samp’s systems, whether for storage, processing or display.
Samp’s system architecture is deployed as a code (infrastructure as code), which can be fully audited.
Our clients can select the location of their data hosting.
Our infrastructure is hosted by Amazon Web Services.
How are accesses and users managed?
Samp recommends using your corporate Single Sign On (SSO), to ensure a seamless experience to your employees, as well as the highest level of access control. Users rights and audiences to different sites and features are defined and managed by your organization.
It is also possible to use Samp without SSO, in which case MFA is recommended. Here again, users rights and sites audiences can be controlled at a very granular level.
How scalable is it?
The solution was designed for high scalability from the ground up, and is hosted by Amazon Web Services, one of the largest IT infrastructure providers.
Whether for storage, computation, caching, display, parallel use, Shared Reality can shoulder the load, even if your organization operates hundreds of large sites staffed with thousands of users.
AI AND TRUST
What does the AI do exactly?
Samp’s AI will perform several tasks.
3D: it will detect process equipment (eg: pipes, valves, pumps…) and make grouping proposals of the relevant points in clusters. It will also suggest an equipment class proposal for each object (eg: pipe, valve, pump). It will also detect and group the floor or the main structures, such as walls, roofs, ceiling etc, for ease of navigation and interactivity in the workspace.
2D: it will overlay selectable lines and boxes on the system diagrams, so that they can be selected and associated with the corresponding equipment 3D clusters, or the corresponding item in the equipment list.
How can I trust the AI results?
The AI proposals can be visually checked directly in the Shared Reality workspace, and modified as needed, giving your full control over the final outcome
3D: the objects can be grouped together (eg pipe sections as a full line) or ungrouped (eg pump motor from pump head). The equipment classes proposals can be checked thanks to color coding, and easily modified.
2D: the interactive boxes around equipment, or interactive lines over piping, can be edited, deleted, or added.
Do you train you AI on my data ?
AI training and AI execution are two different stages in the AI lifecycle, executed on different data and in completely segregated environments.
Samp’s AI is trained in our own environment. It learns to detect and segment process industry components (pumps, valves, pipes etc) both in 3D point clouds and in 2D schematics.
Once this training is done with Samp’s generic training data, the trained AI is deployed in our commercial solution, and is able to perform this segmentation on our customer’s private data, in their dedicated production environment.
Note that some clients agree to provide some of their anonymized data to improve Samp’s AI performance. Such an agreement is not mandatory, and is governed by strict contractual terms.
Which taxonomy of equipment can you recognize?
Samp offers detection of 20 classes of equipment most commonly found in the process industry; it is a subset of the CFIHOS / ISO 15926 standard.
This taxonomy can be replaced by a client-specific one, generally more detailed. This allows users to manually go deeper in the classification of objects if needed.
How long does it take to process a site?
The processing time will depend on the site size and equipment density.
After loading in Shared Reality, a site will be visible and ready to be used in the workspace on the next day generally. For very large sites, it may be a few days (less than a week), for very small sites it may be less than an hour.
CONTINUOUS UPDATE
Can I update the data myself?
Yes, Shared Reality Is designed for you to be able to update 3D data, technical diagrams or equipment lists by yourself, by simply uploading new versions in the workspace.
If you use Shared Reality integrated to your IT systems, some of this update process may even be automated, without the need to manually upload.
How do I update my 3D?
If a full area of your site was modified and re-captured, you will re-upload the full area and reprocess it as new. You may reuse previously existing objects links and focus only on new/changed equipment. This process is recommended for contracted reality capture (professional surveyors, often relying on lidar scanners).
If a single/few piece of equipment was modified and re-captured, you will re-upload the local capture, and replace the previous equipment. This process is recommended for in-house staff (eg. maintenance, construction, inspection teams, often relying on photogrammetry from smartphone/tablet).
How do I update my P&ID?
If a full area of your site was modified and the corresponding P&ID updated, you will re-upload the corresponding P&ID and either reprocess it as new or reuse previously existing objects links and focus only on new/changed equipment. This process is recommended for process engineers.
If a single/few piece of equipment was modified and re-captured, you will be able to redline/draw on the P&ID directly in the Shared Reality workspace for all users, until you need process engineers to update it in the native CAD system. This process is recommended for in-house staff (e.g. maintenance, construction, inspection teams).
DIFFERENCES WITH OTHER SOFTWARE
How is your solution different from 3D VIEWERS?
How is your solution different from CAD?
Samp is not a Computer Aided Design software system. CAD systems are good to design (hence the ‘D’ of CAD) new facilities, or modifications in existing ones.
Shared Reality is used to re-create a fully consistent 1D 2D 3D context (equipment lists + technical diagrams + reality capture) from existing sites, which most of the time offer no CAD data:
– 1D equipment lists can be generated by AI from the 3D reality capture, or reused from existing IT systems
– 2D technical diagrams can be scanned from existing paper or microfilm records, or reused from existing P&ID
– 3D reality capture is performed by your teams or contracted surveyors, and loaded into Samp in an open format
Unlike a CAD system, Shared Reality can be used by non-specialists, and requires only minutes of discovery with the built-in guided tour.
Can I load and view 3D CAD objects in your solution?
It is possible to load and view 3D objects within the Shared Reality workspace, whether they come from a 3D CAD system or not (e.g. 3D reality models coming from reality capture).
Samp supports a variety of 3D input formats (e.g. GLB, GLTF, OBJ, IFC…), and third party software may be used to convert other formats into a supported one.
Can I export 3D CAD objects from your solution?
Shared Reality allows to automatically detect and export specific objects in the 3D reality model scenes.
For now, it is possible to export piping components (straight sections, elbows, tees, reducers, flanges) as STEP or IFC primitives.
When opened with the right setting in a CAD system, those primitives can be edited.
How is your solution different from BIM, CDE, EAM or CMMS systems?
Shared Reality is designed to be the missing link between these data repositories and the reality of the field.
It can be connected progressively to some or all of your systems or records, depending on the use cases to be covered.
During a project, Shared Reality can interact with BIM/CDE systems. During operations it can interact with ERP/EAM/CMMS/EDMS/data historian systems.
Shared Reality will increase the use of your existing systems, making access to field-checked information easier and faster.
As you replace your legacy systems with new ones, end-users will notice no difference within Shared Reality.
USE CASES AND ROI
What are your clients use cases?
Our clients main use cases revolve around all stages of their existing facilities lifecycle. The 3 major types of use cases, and associated use of Shared Reality, are:
– brownfield projects (site modernisation or expansion): pre-project studies, engineering & safety studies, services procurement, lock-out tag-out, work preparation, tests & commissioning, handover to operations
– contract operations: site assessment, bid preparation & bid presentation, teams training, inspection & maintenance, lock-out tag-out, periodic information transfer to owner
– operation & maintenance: equipment inventory, risk-based asset management, services procurement, teams training, inspection & maintenance, lock-out tag-out
When Shared Reality is connected to our clients existing IT systems, it is also used as an easier & faster gateway to information, as teams always prefer to retrieve data from a visual representation, whether it is reality capture or technical diagrams.
What is the ROI of the solution?
The ROI of the solution will depend on the client use case, industry and organization. It is generally extremely fast, and can be calculated with the ROI calculator we provide during the pilot project.
This ROI calculator lists typical use cases for 6 different domains (QHSE, engineering, project, procurement, site work, operations & maintenance).
GETTING STARTED
How can I try the solution?
We offer a pilot package, which is up and running in days, and allows your teams to fully test Shared Reality over a duration of 3 months.
Beyond the technical assessment, during this period, our team will provide you with the use cases guide and ROI calculator, and if needed will participate in architecture and cybersecurity reviews.
Can I talk to your clients?
Yes, we do have reference customers who are willing to talk to their peers, share their experience, and the way they benefit from Shared Reality on a daily basis.
Customer reference calls take place during or after a pilot.
What is the pricing model?
- a subscription per facility, based on the number of process equipment per site (eg a pumping station with 100 tags vs. a refinery with 100,000 tags)
- an optional enterprise subscription, based on the number of systems of records to connect to (eg connectors to ERP, EAM, CMMS, EDMS, telemetry…)
How much training is needed?
Little to no training is needed for standard Shared Reality users. The app features a short guided tour popping up at the first connection.
See also the tutorials section of our website.
