In our previous post, we explored the origins of the XERRA platform at Agonics. This week we are looking at how XERRA transitioned from an internal tool for at-scale LiDAR processing to be the rail industry’s preferred platform for rail corridor visualisation and analytics.

Following on from the QR Corinda to Thallon project, where we processed over 500km of LiDAR data to support a clearance investigation to tight project timeframes, new capture projects brought new use cases for XERRA to tackle. The development of a front end user interface for XERRA allowed us to bring in panoramic imagery to assist in use case delivery. While LiDAR is incredibly useful, having high quality visuals of the rail corridor really brings everything to life.
Importantly, this was an opportunity to design a user interface that would be simple enough for any rail professional to use. This was a fundamental design principle because we felt that existing rail engineering software, even those available at enterprise level, were too complex to use and required constant upskilling and refresher training, and we wanted to get away from that.

The goal of the user interface was to achieve two things: 1) give non-LiDAR users excellent visuals of the rail corridor and 2) decrease training overhead for our clients.

Once the user interface had completed rigorous testing, we were ready to initiate discussions with railway networks where MLS datasets already existed. It was evident in those discussions that there was clear demand for an easy way for railway staff to interact with valuable MLS datasets recorded on their network.

As more complex use cases crossed our desk, the importance of a good user interface in validating and communicating outputs could not be overstated. With railway networks beginning to routinely apply LiDAR to reduce safety risks around operational maintenance, it was evident that being able to assure outputs in a controlled, streamlined way would be a key requirement for rail networks to move from manual processes to automated workflows