In a cozy, tucked-away corner at the bustling Trimble Dimensions Conference in Las Vegas, I sat down with Karl Bradshaw and Gareth Gibson, both of whom play pivotal roles in shaping the trajectory of Trimble’s geospatial and reality capture technologies. Bradshaw, the Market Manager for Mobile Mapping, and Gibson, the Marketing Director for Mapping & GIS Solutions, came armed with an infectious enthusiasm and an array of details about Trimble’s latest innovation: the Trimble MX60. It was clear from our conversation that for them, the MX60 wasn’t just another product—it was a leap forward in the way we understand and interact with the physical world around us.
The Trimble MX60 offers improved positioning and optics, making it ideal for transportation infrastructure and road analysis and comprehensive asset management for utilities.
Bradshaw wasted no time in setting the stage. “Reality capture has evolved tremendously within Trimble,” he began. “We’re moving beyond static methods and into a realm where the devices do much of the heavy lifting. With the MX60, we’ve created a platform that collects mass data and makes it available for a range of practical applications.” He elaborated on how the MX60’s mobile mapping capabilities allow it to capture high-definition images and detailed 3D point clouds with stunning accuracy. The camera system, he emphasized, was a key development for utility companies, municipalities, and other sectors dependent on reliable asset data.
Las Vegas — Against a backdrop of rapid technological advancement, Trimble’s CEO delivered a powerful keynote at this year’s Trimble Dimensions conference in Las Vegas, presenting a vision for the future of construction and design centered on connection and transformation. Rob Painter set the stage with a compelling metaphor, drawing a parallel between Trimble’s journey and the relentless progression of the Olympic Games, where world records are shattered, new techniques are introduced, and the very definition of excellence is redefined with each passing year.
Painter invited the audience to imagine 1988, the Summer Olympics in Seoul, where American sprinter Carl Lewis took gold in the 100 meters with a time of 9.92 seconds. Fast forward to the most recent games in Paris: the last-place finisher in this year’s 100-meter race crossed the line faster than Lewis’s record-breaking time. This moment, Painter argued, encapsulates the dizzying pace of advancement not only in sports but in the world of construction and design as well. “Even if you’re at the top of your game today, one year—or one moment—might not be enough to keep you there,” he said. In a world moving as fast as ours, companies must keep pace with change or risk falling behind.
This year, Trimble framed its strategy around what it called the “power of connection.” Using the Olympics as a metaphor for continually rising standards, Painter urged attendees to embrace an industry redefined by digital connections, integrated workflows, and artificial intelligence. “The power of connection is the core of this revolution,” he emphasized, outlining Trimble’s plans to link people, data, workflows, and ecosystems into a connected digital fabric that will underpin the construction industry’s future.
In a significant stride toward unifying the architecture, engineering, construction, and operations (AECO) sector, Esri and Autodesk have taken their collaboration to new heights by integrating Esri’s ArcGIS geospatial data directly into Autodesk Forma. The integration, announced at the 2024 Autodesk University in San Diego, brings transformative enhancements to the design and planning phases of AECO projects, arming professionals with precise geographic data to inform critical early decisions. This groundbreaking partnership promises to reshape the way buildings and infrastructure are conceived and constructed.
The announcement comes at a pivotal moment when AECO professionals are increasingly relying on digital tools to navigate the complexities of modern urban design. Traditionally, planners, architects, and engineers have had to juggle multiple platforms, often resulting in disjointed workflows and data loss between tools. This new integration of Esri’s comprehensive spatial data into Autodesk Forma addresses those inefficiencies head-on, creating a seamless experience that allows AECO professionals to access real-time geographic data from the outset of any project.
“Forma represents a new foundation for Autodesk in the 2020s, potentially akin to the impact AutoCAD had in the 1990s,” said Marc Goldman, AEC Industry Director at Esri, during our conversation at Autodesk University. He noted that incorporating ArcGIS data in Forma bridges critical gaps in the planning process. “The partnership between Esri and Autodesk is transformative. It combines the power of GIS and BIM in a way that allows teams to start projects with comprehensive geographic context—something that has been sorely lacking in the past,” Goldman emphasized.
