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Simplify Monitoring Deliverables with Trimble Business Center v5.40 Deformation Monitoring Module

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Introducing the New Deformation Monitoring Module for Trimble Business Center v5.40

The Trimble Business Center (TBC) Monitoring module enables survey and construction professionals to create comprehensive manual (also known as campaign-based) deformation monitoring deliverables using GNSS, total station, level, and point cloud data. No longer will you need to separately manage large and complex spreadsheets for monitoring projects when using TBC. Bring your designs, survey, and monitoring data together in one software. This module saves survey technician's time by automating report creation and removing the need to manually manage data.

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Manual Monitoring

Manual monitoring is the most cost-effective on short-term projects or those that require a low frequency of measurements over time. Common project examples that can benefit from the new TBC Monitoring module:

  • Short-term construction projects, such as pile installation, excavations, and concrete pours where project length is short (e.g., a few days) and the frequency of measurement is high (e.g., every 15 minutes).
  • Concrete and earthen dams, landslides, high rise structures, roadways, and bridges that pose low-risk safety concerns, yet require low frequency of measurements (e.g., once per year) over long periods of time (e.g., 10 years). 
  • Long-term construction projects such as tunnel convergence and shoring, and excavation processes where permanent monumentation (e.g., concrete pillar) is not feasible and frequency of measurement is low (e.g., several times per week).

Monitoring Point Movement with TBC

The new set of TBC Monitoring module commands are an ideal supplement to manual deformation monitoring projects because they compare coordinates for points that have been measured in the field multiple times over an extended period of time to track point movement. For example, when monitoring earth or structure movement, the new module will automatically import GNSS, total station, or level data into TBC for each epoch where it can be timestamped, processed, and adjusted as necessary. This data is then uploaded to the monitoring project in the Trimble Connect cloud where it is synchronized with previously uploaded data to determine point displacement from epoch to epoch. This significantly reduces the complexity and time required to manage the data on your own.

You can also view point coordinate displacement values and user-specified warning/alarm threshold values for each monitoring point in the Point Properties. Alternatively, you can view these values for all monitoring points in the Monitoring Points Spreadsheet. Threshold values alert you when the point has moved beyond the user-specified distance from the previous epoch. You can view a displacement chart for each individual monitoring point that displays actual and extrapolated displacement values along a scrollable timeline including trends in a single point's movement in its separate components - elevation, easting, northing, 2D, and 3D. You can also run a report that contains complete displacement information using tables, charts, and scatter plots for the entire monitoring project. No matter the format you wish to share your data, it is all easy to print or can be sent digitally as a PDF.

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Simplifying Monitoring Deliverables with TBC

The TBC Monitoring module is the ideal office software supplement to any manual monitoring project. 

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Typically, field surveys are conducted by using a total station, GNSS, and level sensors. Data collection is streamlined when utilizing field software applications such as Trimble Access Monitoring to reduce operator input and manual pointing errors, thereby increasing confidence in the data. 

Once collected, the data can be transferred using a standard format such as via USB, email, or Dropbox. For advanced management and field-to-office connectivity, Trimble Sync Manager provides a seamless process for transferring survey data and designs between Trimble Access and TBC. 

In the office, manual monitoring data is then imported into TBC, processed and adjusted to propagate any error as necessary, and synchronized with the Monitoring Project data. From here displacement reports and charts can be created per individual client requirements. The benefits of using TBC Monitoring are:

  • Create manual monitoring deliverables from all survey data - total station, GNSS, level, or scanning.
  • Define warning and alarm thresholds to flag points with significant movement.  
  • Visualize movement patterns and magnitude using 3D displacement vectors.
  • View individual point movement trends using interactive charts showing thresholds in context of the movement levels.
  • Create comprehensive monitoring reports showing displacements for client requirements.

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Getting Started

A free 30-day trial of TBC is available by contacting your local Trimble distributor.

Current TBC users require TBC v5.40 Intermediate edition or greater to add-on the Monitoring module. TBC Intermediate edition provides all the necessary tools for survey data process, QC, and adjustments.

For new users, TBC can be purchased in either perpetual license or subscription. Contact your local Trimble distributor for pricing.

An active subscription to Trimble Connect Business is required to create more than one monitoring project using TBC Monitoring. Trimble Connect Business is included in all TBC subscription levels and with an active Trimble Access maintenance plan. To purchase a Trimble Connect Business subscription, visit the Trimble Connect website.