Looq AI Elevates Data Capture Accuracy and Reliability with Best-in-Class GNSS
Author: Lukas Fraser, Vice President, Product - Looq AI
Point clouds and high-resolution imagery have transformed the way we visualize and analyze infrastructure assets. For topographic surveys, point clouds allow you to extract highly accurate contours and elevation models, offering insights into slopes, drainage patterns, and terrain features. This level of detail is invaluable for planning infrastructure, environmental assessment, or design. For assets, you can visually analyze fine details, such as wear and tear, vegetation encroachment, or potential damage. This enables proactive maintenance, safety evaluations, and efficient decision-making. However, while they excel in capturing the 'what' and the 'how,' they often fall short in answering the critical question of 'where.'??
The combination of this visual richness with spatial location provided by GNSS ensures that these features are not just detailed, but also geographically anchored, allowing professionals to tie them to real-world coordinates for actionable insights and integration into broader geospatial models. This is where spatial location—enabled through Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS)—becomes essential. By adding precise real-world coordinates to point clouds and imagery, GNSS allows these detailed models to be tied to the earth’s surface. This integration bridges the gap between visual data and actionable geospatial context, unlocking new dimensions of accuracy and usability for surveying and infrastructure management.?
Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) have become indispensable to industries worldwide, powering critical applications from precision agriculture to advanced logistics. As highlighted in the recent Forbes article, "The Critical Role Of GNSS In Today’s Business Ecosystems", GNSS is the backbone of innovation in geospatial technology. The article explores how GNSS not only delivers accurate positioning data but also drives operational efficiencies and enables new business models. It emphasizes the growing importance of integrating GNSS solutions into platforms that prioritize reliability and scalability.?
At Looq, we recognize this critical role of GNSS and have integrated it into our platform to address the evolving needs of professionals in engineering and surveying. Our approach combines the strengths of GNSS with user-focused enhancements to ensure unparalleled accuracy and resilience in data capture workflows.
Understanding GNSS in the Looq Platform?
Looq’s integration of GNSS aligns with its mission to simplify data capture workflows while maintaining high standards of quality and accuracy. GNSS serves as the backbone for precise positional data, which is critical for:?
By embedding GNSS capabilities directly into the platform, Looq eliminates the need for additional third-party tools, streamlining operations for surveyors and engineers.?
Why GNSS and Base Stations Work Together?
GNSS relies on satellite signals to determine precise positioning. However, these signals can sometimes be affected by environmental factors such as atmospheric delays, multipath errors, or signal obstructions in urban areas or dense forests. To address these challenges and enhance positioning accuracy, GNSS workflows can integrate a base station as a complementary tool.?
A GNSS base station enhances the reliability and accuracy of GNSS data by providing real-time corrections to mitigate errors. Acting as a ground-based reference point, the base station offers a local perspective on satellite signal errors, ensuring centimeter-level precision.
By incorporating base station capabilities, Looq ensures that users have the flexibility to achieve the highest level of accuracy when and where it’s needed. This approach reinforces our platform’s commitment to addressing both standard (uncorrected) and advanced (corrected) accuracy needs.?
Additionally, the Looq Platform now offers the ability to accept local base station uploads. Users can select "Auto Base" or "Upload Base" when assigning captures to a site. Using the "Auto Base" will automatically download the closest reference station from one of our 20+ station providers. And using the "Upload Base" allows users to use their own instead.
How Looq Delivers Practicality Through Innovation?
The addition of base station support reinforces Looq’s practical approach to innovation. While GNSS alone is often sufficient for many use cases, the integration of a base station adds resilience and reliability for users facing complex challenges in the field. This capability provides:?
领英推荐
Powered by Septentrio’s Excellence?
Looq’s GNSS capabilities are built on the cutting-edge technology provided by Septentrio, a global leader in high-precision GNSS solutions. Known for its advanced multi-frequency, multi-constellation GNSS receivers, Septentrio’s technology ensures robust signal performance and accuracy, even in challenging environments. Their expertise in mitigating multi-path errors and interference aligns perfectly with Looq’s commitment to delivering dependable geospatial tools.?
By leveraging Septentrio’s state-of-the-art receivers, Looq provides users with:?
This collaboration underscores Looq’s dedication to partnering with the best in the industry to provide unparalleled value to our users.?
User Experience and Scalability?
At Looq, we understand the importance of delivering advanced functionality without complicating the user experience. Our platform’s intuitive design ensures that incorporating base stations and leveraging GNSS enhancements remain simple and efficient. Whether users are new to advanced geospatial tools or seasoned professionals, Looq adapts to their needs, scaling seamlessly with project complexity and team size. This focus on usability minimizes learning curves and maximizes productivity.?
The more I dig into this tech and look at the data from the test drive, I’m coming to the conclusion that this particular approach to terrestrial photogrammetry and AI feature recognition represents a significant shift. For many surveying applications, this may be the most efficient approach (for topo, etc.) I’ve seen in all my surveying-geek years.
Gavin Shrock, Consulting Editor, Land Surveyor
With the Looq platform, we capture everything we see while walking the site and all of that becomes the digital twin. Even the first couple of times we used the technology, we had this intuition that we were approaching survey accuracy and could supplement the traditional survey process at one-third the cost of traditional land survey.
Blake Darling, PE, PMP, Director of Engineering Underground Programs, Aquawolf
Delivering Confidence with Looq?
The Forbes article highlights the transformative potential of GNSS in driving efficiency and innovation across industries. Looq’s implementation of GNSS and base station capabilities builds on this foundation, delivering tools that professionals can trust to meet their most demanding challenges. By ensuring accuracy, reliability, ease of use, and sustainability, Looq empowers surveyors and engineers to focus on what truly matters: providing precise, actionable insights that drive results.?
Sources
[1] "Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS): The Critical Role of GNSS in Today’s Business Ecosystems," Forbes, Jan. 14, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2025/01/14/the-critical-role-of-gnss-in-todays-business-ecosystems/.
[2] Septentrio, "High-Precision GNSS Solutions." [Online]. Available: https://www.septentrio.com/products/gnss-receivers.
[3] "Looq AI: Surveying with GNSS, IMU, Imagery, SaaS, and Photogrammetry," Geoweek News, [Online]. Available: https://www.geoweeknews.com/blogs/looq-ai-suveying-gnss-imu-imagery-saas-photogrammetry.