Baltimore Building Scans

Baltimore, MD

What do you do when your building's floorplans are decades out of date, or don't exist at all? Call SARA of course!
SARA spent time in Baltimore this week helping create floorplans for an east side school that's on it's way through some remarkable renovations. The scans included sensor data collection, making sure that the classrooms are as safe and healthy as ever.

She also took some time out to spin her wheels on the cobblestone streets of the famous Inner Harbor waterfront. A drive past Charm City cakes, and her trip to Baltimore was complete. Next stop, surveying for the US NAVY.

Columbia grammar school

Upper West Side, NYC
Ms. Carp's Columbia Grammar class had a surprise visitor today; SARA the robot stopped by to ask the class for some help in making a map. The class was happy to help her out, taking turns driving her while creating a high resolution classroom floorplan in a matter of minutes. The students learned some pretty advanced mobile robotic concepts, and tested out the communications protocol by dancing in front of the on-board video camera.

The class also drew amazingly detailed designs for new concept robots, everything from cute 'covert-cat' schematics to 'multiple laser response machines'!
Next time you see a robotic cat with lasers driving down the street, you'll know where it came from...

Another Week in the Beltway

Alexandria, VA.
SARA spent another quality week traveling around the Beltway, making stops at historical places, and making new friends along the way.
She started out the week with a couple meetings in Falls Church and Tyson's Corner, showing off her map-making abilities and sensor integration talents. Her second stop was in old town Alexandria where she had a chance to meet folks from SAME (Society of American Military Engineers) and CABA (Continental Automated Building Association). She wrapped up the week by visiting with her new friends at Staubach and GDIT . The weather may have been frigid, but she's sure got a warm spot in her heart for all people and places she visited around the Beltway. Now if they could just do something about the traffic.... maybe a Bot lane?

Measuring up Washington DC

Washington, DC.
From the Capitol steps to the Washington Convention center, SARA explored the nations capitol from top to bottom this week.
In town for the ESRI Federal Users Conference, she got a chance to strut her stuff for government reps from across the country, showing them what Spatial Robotics is all about. She made maps of the Convention center, then set off across the floor on her own, dynamically routing herself to see the new ArcWeb Services demo.

Her trip also included a visit with folks at GSA's Public Buildings Service, and a large group of program managers at Michael Baker Group in Arlington, VA.

On Deck: SARA Surveys for the US NAVY

Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois.
All hands (and bots) on deck. SARA and friends spent some time last week helping the US Navy survey facilities at the Great Lakes Naval Station, just outside of Chicago. This week long trip was part of a pilot project to help compare traditional survey methods to SARA's capabilities. While the weather was a bit on the cold side, SARA stayed warm by covering huge amounts of square footage in a wide variety of building types.

read more here...

SARA meets Senator Snowe

Camden, ME
SARA had the chance to make some new friends in high places today, a face to face meeting with Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME). The Senator was visiting the offices of PenBay Media to learn more about this small business located in Camden Maine, and took some time to learn about SARA and what she does best. Senator Snowe and Deborah McNeil are shown getting a demonstration of SARA, with PenBay President Ann Yahner.

Sara Surveys Brooklyn

Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Sara took some time out of her busy travel schedule recently to survey the scene in Brooklyn NY. Working for an international architecture firm, she helped map the inside of buildings to help building management better understand and allocate their indoor real estate.













Survey says: Williamsburg is where it's at.

SARA goes to MERS

SARA visits NASA Goddard, the home of the MERS terrain simulator for Mars rover development and testing. The verdict: SARA would not live long on Mars, but she does great work surveying right here on Earth.
Thanks to everyone at NASA Goddard who showed her around!

Roaming the Halls at LAFB

Personnel at Langley AFB recently came face to face with the most unlikely of spatial survey technicians, a mapping Robot named SARA. The robot turned heads while visiting a number of buildings on base during a 3 day floorplan survey effort in mid March. Langley AFB Geographic Information Office used the robot to rapidly survey selected buildings on base, as part of an efficacy trial to evaluate the methodology in terms of speed of capture and product quality.