As a field measuring professional and a General Partner at Prime Edge As-Built Services (http://www.primeedge.com) use of CAD applications such as AutoCAD has been a given for many years. With the technology advances in handheld devices, PowerCAD and PocketCAD both came to light, a very good direction for ever-mobile construction industry. In my experience, this Laser and Mobile CAD technology is good combination for certain tasks, but not all by far. When completing asbuilt verification process different information needs to be verified such as wall lengths, reflected ceilings plan layouts, electrical outlet locations – from entire sets of construction drawings to simple floor plans. When existing CAD files are available for use, PowerCAD or PocketCAD combined with laser technology allows direct and, more importantly, instant understanding of the space and project in general. However, in my own experience, working with such small device to create drawings from scratch is simply an effective approach. After numerous attempts our company found it to be more effective in using a somewhat a “hybrid” combination of using a link between laser equipment and a handheld device while sketching. Data is collected into a database and later gets transferred into desktop CAD application. In a nutshell, technology is still new and definitely has a long future ahead of itself. Feel free to play with it; I think both PowerCAD and PocketCAD will give you a free trial. These two packages, by the way, are far more advanced then any others you may find at this time.
Dmitry Shkipin, Associate AIA
Prime Edge As-Built Services
1684 Decoto Rd., Unit 157
Union City CA, 94587
(510) 499-4148 Tel.
(510) 794-4178 Fax
www.PrimeEdge.com
www.AsbuiltEdge.com
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