A vehicle outfitted with high-tech equipment will soon be driving the streets of Redlands, creating detailed panoramic imagery and surveying streets, sidewalks and City facilities in 3D.
The white Ford Escape with orange and white chevrons on the hood and rear hatch and rack-mounted camera and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensor on top will be driving 300 miles of City streets and facilities, including the airport, cemetery, city yard, water and wastewater treatment plants and reservoirs.
On Oct. 3, the City Council approved a contract with CycloMedia not to exceed $41,250 to perform a detailed survey and create street level panoramic imagery. The imagery will provide City staff with greater accuracy and far greater detail and ability to meet current demands than is currently available through satellite imagery or such online applications as Google’s Street View or Bing’s StreetSide.
Some of the applications of the resulting imagery include identifying damaged infrastructure and providing detailed measurements of City infrastructure; providing detailed information for police crime scene reports and tactical planning; identifying access points to schools and public spaces for emergency responders; inventorying the City’s large urban forest, including measurements of height and width of trees; measuring building setbacks and updating building footprints; adjusting parking lines and signs; and managing City groves and parks.