Land Survey Automation Challenge

If you haven't been living under a rock, you may have noticed that drones are making their way into our lives in new ways.

At first, we heard of them as a military tool, far removed from the daily lives of most of us. Later we heard about UAV enthusiasts buying or building their drones, and we worried about how easy it would be for them to peek in on their neighbors.

Today, however, drones are far from a fringe hobby. They're finding themselves in a variety of commercial uses, being used by big businesses to get things done. Agriculture, construction, inspecting, surveying, and security are just a few of the practical purposes, besides all the more recreational, but still commercial, ways they're being used (like drone racing).

The ability to get a birds-eye-view on a landscape is precious, and that's why we're hosting the Land Survey Automation Challenge. As you know, the challenge is already in progress, but check out how these companies are already working to solve similar problems. 
 

DroneDeploy

DroneDeploy is a drone mapping app that functions with any drone. It offers the ability to automate flight plans, including take-off and landing, plus image capturing along the way.

The app has features geared towards a variety of industries: agriculture, construction, inspection, surveying, mining, and more. The surveying tools are pretty extensive, providing elevation and 3D models, real-time measurements, and other analyses.

The beauty of this system is the ability to automate flights, but the autopilot can be disabled for manual control at any time. Collaborators can share maps, comments, and annotations easily.

You can experiment with the app for free with limited features (which do including mapping and 3D processing), but the full range of features will cost a monthly fee.

DroneViewTech

DroneViewTech is a business-to-business company providing a service, rather than an app. They're composed of a diverse team of experts, from fields like surveying, aerial imaging, photogrammetry, civil engineering, GIS, and drone tech.

They offer UAV services for a variety of purposes - particularly aerial mapping and topography.

While airplanes have been mapping from the sky for a long time, drones can safely fly at lower elevations – around 25-400 feet – which means they can capture images of much better quality. Survey-grade photos are now taken from the air, which can in turn become 3D models.

DroneViewTech believes that drone surveying tech won't replace skilled human surveyors – instead, drones are tools that will make surveyors more efficient, giving them better information, faster. Their impact will be felt especially on projects of around 5 to 500 acres in size.

Airobotics

Airobotics offers the complete package: an industrial-grade drone, an airbase, and software. Takeoff and landing are completely automated, and it includes an easy interface that is quick to learn.

Their drone offers a cheaper, safer, and faster way to survey large construction sites. Mapping missions can be pre-defined or manually controlled, and, in addition to creating accurate orthophotos (scale-corrected photos) and terrain elevation maps, the software can handle a variety of other tasks like measuring quantities of on-site materials and site planning.

As you can see, this one isn't made for personal use. It's industrial-strength, made to withstand impact and weather. It even has an emergency landing parachute.

In addition to surveying, the Airobotics package also offers features like security (patrolling an area), inspection (examining structures for defects), volumetric analysis (measuring grain or counting cows), and emergency response (delivering medicine, supplies).

We're just beginning to see the impact that drones are having on the world. It seems like every few months, drones are deployed in new industries, for new purposes. Wherever they go, they seem to make things more efficient (and a whole lot more futuristic).

Drones show a lot of promise when it comes to mapping and surveying, and we think they'll play a key role in the $100,000 Land Survey Automation Challenge. The registration deadline is over, but you can check out the progress made by the teams involved to develop a system to make real estate transactions faster and easier, by automating one of the most tedious parts: the ALTA Land Survey.

Hopefully, we'll be seeing some cool prototypes soon. Drones to the rescue!

That's right folks, there are less than ten hours left to submit your idea to the Land Survey Automation Challenge.

Looking for some inspiration? Check out this message from the William Warren Group! 

The Concept Phase submission deadline is only four days away! All submissions must be received by February 16th at 11:59 p.m. EST.

Here are some last minute tips to help you in the submission process.

1. If you have not already, ensure you view the submission form early as there are numerous questions involved. At minimum, begin your submission process several hours before the cutoff time.

2. Your submission will not be reviewed until you click the orange "Submit Final Entry" button at the top of the final review page. Please remember to do this! 

3. Check out two great overviews of Land Title Surveys provided by judge Gary Kent: Land Title Surveys Explained & Video Interview

4. This is your chance to submit your big ideas! Yes, we acknowledge there may be regulations or other barriers that your idea will need to overcome. This is your chance to dream.

5. Be honest. We want to know where you are struggling and how we can provide support.

6. Have any questions? Comment on this post and we'll do our best to answer.

Thanks so much, and good luck to all! 

Hi Everyone,

I spoke with Gary Kent, professional surveyor and judge of the Land Survey Automation Challenge, and asked him your burning questions about Land Title Surveys. Check out the video to hear what he has to say.

Just a reminder the deadline for the concept phase is just over a week away! Remember, this is your opportunity to share your big ideas! We don't expect you to have all the answers, and certainly not a working prototype. What we're looking for is you to be bold in your thinking and forthright about the challenges you are facing. We are looking forward to seeing your ideas!

Check out this phenomenal overview of Land Title Surveys written by a member of our judging panel, Gary Kent.

Gary is a professional surveyor with The Schneider Corporation in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is also a regular lecturer and frequent expert witness on a variety of survey-related topics including boundaries, Land Title Surveys and easements. Gary is chair of the ALTA and NSPS committees responsible for the ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey standards.

Do you have any other questions on Land Title Surveys? I'm speaking with Gary on Tuesday and would be happy to ask him your questions. Comment on this update with any questions before 9:00am PST on Tuesday February 7th.

Quick reminder, the deadline for submissions in the Concept Phase is February 16th. Remember this is your chance to share your vision, let us know where you're getting stuck, and whether you would like to form a team.

- Kyla

Land Title Surveys Explained

In order to really understand what a Land Title Survey is about, one needs to understand the land tenure system in the United States and the role of title insurance. That takes some time and effort, but the singular most important fact is that in the United States, there is no guarantee of  ownership of real property. A deed is, in fact, not proof of your ownership of real property, it is only evidence that you might own it. 

Overcoming this problem and being able to confidently buy real property, or to obtain a loan to buy or develop real property, requires some sort of assurance that one's investment is not at risk. The way that is accomplished in the United States is with title insurance.

There is not a bank in the United States that will lend money to purchase or develop real property unless it is provided a title policy in order to ensure that its investment (the real property collateral) is protected. In addition, lenders require that one of the standard exceptions to the coverage afforded by a title insurance policy - the "standard survey exception" - be deleted from their policy. 

The exact wording of the standard survey exception varies, but an example is: an exception for any "Claims of parties in possession, boundary line disputes, overlaps, encroachments and any other matters not shown by the public records which would be disclosed by an accurate survey and inspection of the property."

This is a standard exception to title insurance coverage because of the myriad of potential problems that could be detrimental to the integrity of a property's title and that will remain completely unknown unless a Land Title Survey is performed. 

When the title company is provided with an acceptable Land Title Survey, it will remove that standard "blanket" survey exception and write exceptions for the specific problems identified on the Land Title Survey that represent possible problems with the title. The buyer and lender are then on notice as to the specific title problems that may affect the property and that, therefore, the title policy will not cover. 

In order for all of that to work, the title industry must be confident that surveyors will provide a survey that will disclose all of those potential title problems (to the extent that they can be observed by the surveyor). Hence, the Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys were developed (first in 1962 and revised 8 times since - most recently effective February 23, 2016).

The standards are jointly developed and adopted by the American Land Title Association (ALTA) and the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS). This joint effort is required to assure that the needs of the title industry are addressed while necessarily taking into account what it is possible to accomplish - at a reasonable cost and in an acceptable time frame - by virtue of the survey process. 

Having provided the reader that necessary background, we can describe the process. 

A Land Title Survey is first and foremost a boundary survey that includes a lot of requirements above and beyond just simply surveying the boundary. This is  because of the need to also identify all of those potential title problems listed in the standard survey exception above.

The ALTA/NSPS requirements are therefore almost all aimed at having the surveyor collect and document data from the records and on the ground in order to support the needs of title companies when they are asked to insure title without the standard survey exception.  

Achieving that end is, from the survey standpoint, a multi-part, multi-dimensional exercise. 

First, there must be extensive research both into the public records and into relevant private records. 

If the survey is of an existing parcel, it is called a "retracement" and the surveyor's job with respect to the boundary is to "follow in the footsteps" of the original surveyor of the parcel.  Often, that original survey was decades or more in the past, and finding the relevant records may entail a lengthy search through public and quasi-public records, and what is sometimes a fruitless attempt to find information from other private surveyors relating to that original survey. 

Once the necessary records have been located - or not - the survey process moves to the field investigation.  A diligent search for original or subsequent survey markers is made including the controlling or reference corners upon which the boundary lines and corners are dependent. 

Except when the property is a lot in a platted subdivision (and even often in that case also) those reference corners and lines are typically some distance from the property.  In many cases, they may be up to a mile away. In addition, those reference corners are very frequently buried anywhere from a few inches to several feet beneath roadway pavement or under or around trees, fences, walls or buildings.  The relevant evidence may also be very difficult to find and ascertain, like long-abandoned roads, railroads or canals upon which the corners and lines of the boundary are dependent. 

Finding the relevant evidence in order that the surveyor can develop a defensible opinion as to the boundary's location is typically the most difficult and time-consuming part of the survey. 

Once that field evidence is located and documented, the analysis of that evidence begins. Almost never is the evidence in perfect congruence with what the records say, and the surveyor must then run through an extensive iterative process of sorting through the evidence, weighing it, conducting many calculations to test it, and finally applying the appropriate boundary law principles to the evidence in order to arrive at the location that he or she believes best represents the boundary as originally established by that original surveyor. 

In the process of collecting the field evidence of the boundary, the surveyor will also locate the many other features required by the ALTA/NSPS standards such as the building locations, access points, evidence of use of the property by others, possible encroachments, fences, drives, utility features, water features, parking lots,  parking spaces, etc., etc.

All of that fieldwork is conducted using a wide variety of tools at the disposal of the modern surveyor. Field conditions and other factors, like the size if the property and the number and density of improvements, will typically dictate the appropriate tools. They may include electronic total stations, robotic total stations, magnetic locators, GPS, ground/penetrating radar, utility locate technologies, aerial mapping, aerial photography, remote sensing, laser scanners and unmanned aerial vehicles (aka "drones"). More mundane tools like shovels and pick axes are usually required because the evidence that needs to be found and located is frequently, if not usually, beneath the surface. 

After the boundary corners and lines have been retraced to the satisfaction of the surveyor, the surveyor will return to the field to set or reset any missing corner markers. 

Then the plat/map of the survey is prepared to document those boundaries and all of the located features. The plat/map is prepared using any of a number of computed aided drafting (CAD) programs like Autodesk's AutoCAD, or applications that run inside AutoCAD. There are a number of other popular drafting/computing softwares used by surveyors such as Carlson.

The drafting process can be very  automated with metadata on field-collected features being used to automatically create linework, connect up the related lines, place the appropriate symbols and even label boundary lines. Of course, presenting all of that data in a legible, readily understood form necessarily takes some manual adjustments of labelling locations, etc.

The plat/map must also show any gaps or overlaps with adjoining properties as revealed in the records, and the location and extent of any easements identified in the title commitment.

There are many notes required on a Land Title Survey such as those related to the depicted easements (e.g., recording information, whether shown, and, if not, why not).  Other notes include, but are not limited to, those identifying problems or ambiguities relating to the boundary, areas that were inaccessible, and water boundary boundaries. 

If the surveyor deems it appropriate to prepare a new property description based on the results of the survey, that will be undertaken with great care given to not inadvertently creating new title problems or confusion as to the boundaries and corners. A new description may be written to indicate new corner markers that were set or to reflect higher precision in measurements and dimensioning than the old description did. It should be noted, however, that just because there are differences between measured and record dimensions that most assuredly does not mean the old description is bad and needs rewritten. Like boundary locations, legal description interpretation is a function of legal principles, not mathematics. 

Once the plat/map has been completed and any and all issues related to boundaries and easements resolved, it is sent out for review and comment by the interested parties (title company, lender and client/buyer). Any comments received will be reviewed and addressed if necessary, and the final plat/map then signed and sealed by the professional surveyor and sent to the interested parties. 

Depending on the size and location of the property, the complexity of - or problems with -the legal description, the number and clarity of easements, and the amount of improvements and utilities on the property, the fee for a Land Title Survey can run from perhaps $2,000 at the very low end, to several hundred thousand dollars at the high end.  The effort could take anywhere from about a week to several months.