Identify & Isolate Irregular Assets Using Attribute-Value Data Filtering in TBC

January 18, 2023

To filter data using attribute values, follow this step-by-step guide. In this workflow we used Trimble^® MX9 mobile mapping data and Trimble^® Business Center 5.81.

Application Scenario

Feature attributes are frequently extracted from mobile mapping data when doing asset inventory, or when determining when maintenance or repair is needed.

Attributes can be extracted as numerical values (like measurements done with point cloud data) but can also be qualitative information, like a scenario in which an operator is inspecting images. Records are first assigned to specific attribute fields and then can be used to filter or to select items based on the attribute values.

Tools & Procedure

The Point Cloud dataset was used to extract light poles from a mobile mapping data collection. The Feature Definition Manager tool is useful to create a feature attribute library and better qualify characteristics of the extracted poles. Specific attributes have already been extracted and assigned to each pole attribute field.

Poles and all the attributes are displayed in a specific Trimble Business Center spreadsheet; from the Home ribbon, click on the New Feature Spreadsheet icon in the data group:

Specify and select the feature layer you would like to have represented in the spreadsheet:

The spreadsheet will be loaded and displayed. This is very similar to a typical attribute table many GIS platforms utilize and is also used to organize, edit, and query data. You can also customize the attribute to be displayed on the feature spreadsheet.

In this example, a vertical tilt (tilt angle) attribute was extracted as part of the feature attribute schema. We assume that poles featuring tilt values larger than 2° have to be considered problematic and any such poles must be identified to take action for maintenance campaigns.

To filter out non-compliant poles, select the filter symbol in the specific attribute column Tilt Angle. Select the custom option to produce a formula-based query search.

For this example, we will search for poles with a tilt angle larger than 2°. After clicking on Custom, build up the specific condition from the custom filter window: