Recommendations for paperless plans in the field

[spinspecdrt]

Does anyone have a recommendation on software or method of going paperless for plans. I am trying to find a digital solution for recording field data on a day to day basis. Specifically we are recording compaction test locations, mapping removal limits, sub drains, etc. Currently everything in the field is done on paper. At the end of the project the paper is sent into the office, then drafted in AutoCad. I'm looking for something simple that a technician could do on a tablet in the field.

 

[CivilEngAus]

Are you recording the data via survey accurate GPS or another means?

 

[GeoEnvGuy]

Only thing that comes to mind would be take the nuke shot, then take a handled gps shot and label the compaction and moisture for the point. Export handled gps from program to excel and then to cad.

 

[jayrod12]

I don't know the particulars, but I've heard of people making interactive google maps where you can add meta-data and labels to specific GPS coordinates. I'm not sure if it is exportable however.

 

[cmoreride]

We use "Plan Grid"

 

[dik]

I don't know what information you are adding, but, I usually mark up a set of *.pdf plans on my laptop...

Dik

 

[AS_PEng]

Avenza Maps.

https://www.avenza.com/avenza-maps/

You can run it onto your tablet or smartphone. It needs a base map to work so you will either need to georeference your PDFed drawings or download a map off of the Avenza store. There are bunch of softwares out there that let you georeference your PDFs. You inmport your map or drawings and it relies on your phone or tablet GPS to determine your location. If you want really good accuracy you may want to look into getting an external GPS antenna that will boost your signal and get a more precise location. We bought one a few years ago for about $100 that Bluetooths to my tablet to get sub-metre accuracy.

The software allows you to add information to the uploaded map and the information can vary from text to pictures for each location. All georeferenced and can be exported as a KML, CSV, GPX or SHP file.