Ergon Energy is experimenting with open source gaming engines and physics models in an effort to capitalise on a massive geospatial data set from its ongoing laser-mapping project. The Queensland utility has completed 10 percent of its year-old ROAMES project, expected to map out some 150,000km of power lines in the state by June 2013. It aimed to collect about a petabyte of data a year by completing more than 900 regional aerial mapping runs with plane-mounted LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) equipment. Data would be used to identify and target unwanted trees around its power lines and inform asset management practices. Read More
