EarthState

Automated modelling

From drawings and point clouds to a model an engineer can check

Most ageing structures have drawings, and many have been scanned. Very few have an analysis model. EarthState builds that model automatically from what the owner already holds, runs its own checks on it and records every assumption.

See a model built from drawings Try it on your drawings
EarthState Twin: a lattice tower model built from drawing tables, with model facts, member groups and sections listed beside the elevation.
EarthState Twin · model built from drawing tables · synthetic 48 m tower
Route 01 · Drawings

Straight from the drawing set

A drawing set that arrives as a vector PDF from CAD is read directly: the lines on each page, the dimension chains and the text labels. Where the general arrangement has a side view, the result is a member-level model, not an outline.

  • Vector PDF drawings, or node and member tables from the drawing workbook
  • 3D frame model with sections and steel grades on every member
  • Self-checks: gravity equilibrium, no mechanisms in the stiffness matrix, natural frequencies
  • Readings are kept per drawing file, so a reviewer can trace them
90%of members matched, against an independent member model of the same tower
97%of nodes within 150 mm of the independent model
3%largest difference in natural frequencies; critical wind speed 40.0 against 40.9 m/s

Comparison on one real 66 m double-circuit angle tower with anonymised drawing geometry. Independent engineering review of the verification cases is in progress.

Laser-scan point cloud of a long-span steel arch bridge under construction in a mountain gorge.
Laser-scan point cloud · long-span arch bridge during construction · identifying details masked
Route 02 · Point clouds

From a laser scan of what is really there

Where drawings are missing, or no longer match the structure, the model starts from a scan. Terrestrial laser scanning feeds point-cloud processing, a parametric model and then finite element analysis, so the assessment uses measured geometry.

  • Components recognised and separated in the point cloud
  • Parametric geometry fitted to the measured shape
  • The same model handed to structural analysis

Method developed and published by the founder; it is being brought into EarthState Twin.

91%Intersection over Union against critical structural outlines, on a real bridge
83%of primary components identified automatically
1/1800of the span: largest geometric deviation in a virtual trial assembly of prefabricated steel

Published results from the founder's peer-reviewed work on real and experimental bridges.

One source, two models

An analysis model and an information model from the same drawings

The drawings that produce the structural model also produce a BIM model, so the asset record and the calculation never drift apart.

Structural

Analysis model

Member-level finite element model, wind loads to EN 1991-1-4, member checks to EN 1993, and a reduced-order model for fast scenario runs.

Information

IFC4 model

One IfcMember per member, the structure as an assembly, Uniclass 2015 classification, EN 10025-2 materials and names that follow ISO 19650-2 with the UK National Annex.

Handover

Asset data

A COBie workbook linked to the model, information requirements to EN 17412-1, and ISO 19650-4 style acceptance checks before anything is issued.

How a model is accepted

Built by the platform, accepted by an engineer

01ReadProject files are indexed in place and read-only. Drawings, tables and scans are classified.
02BuildGeometry, members, sections and supports are generated, with every assumption written down.
03Self-checkGeometry and mechanics checks run automatically and are reported as pass, attention or fail.
04AuditEach key step goes to an audit column, where an engineer confirms it, modifies it or raises a doubt.
05UseOnly then does the model go on to sensors, calibration, capacity assessment and the report.

Have drawings or a scan, but no model?

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