CDA begins every project by working with you to determine your team’s expectations and goals for its digital twin.

The necessary drawings are gathered, the P&IDs and other drawings are reviewed, and any specific areas that deserve special consideration are discussed. A preliminary “scan plan” is made, and arrangements for scanning the facility are made. CDA works with you to minimize site time needed for scanning – after all, one of CDA’s and your main goals is to minimize site time.

Then the digitalizing process begins. Safety trained personnel who are highly skilled in capturing plant data will laser scan your facility.

If you’re not familiar with 3D laser scanning, the process utilizes specialized distancing devices that capture everything around them in 360 degrees with accuracy typically below 2mm. Each laser scan takes about 10 minutes and delivers both a dense point cloud and a 360-degree high definition panoramic image.

CDA generally refers to this process as Transformation because it is a highly automated process that will result in a 3D realistic digital twin of your facility. The amount of manual effort required to complete your digital twin uses innovative specially developed technology and techniques to both minimize the human effort, and deliver a “model” that is visually representative of your assets.

CDA’s transformation process can be completed in a fraction of the time that would otherwise be needed to build a conventional and unrealistic CAD model.

Despite the reductions in time and human effort, your resulting digital twin includes all the tags needed to integrate your plant data - enabling just about any imaginable application.

Example of Raw Data in the form of a Point Cloud.

CDA then generates a textured mesh so you will have total freedom of navigation in your digital twin.

Textured mesh generated from the Point Cloud.

We align and combine the textured meshes with 360-degree panoramic images

Combined mesh and panorama 

CDA adds intelligence in the form of tags to every process item in the meshes and panoramas – resulting in the clearest and most realistic intelligent digital twin available in the industry.

The Digital Twin 

CDA brings your digital twin to life as an intelligent realistic representation of your facility’s assets. Clear visualization fosters safety and improved decision making.

Example of a Smart Digital Twin.

CDA provides applications to solve problems and meet your business objectives. Here is but one example showing a Visual Corrosion Report application. You can use it to quickly locate non-conformances in the plant. Read between the lines and you might see a world without 2D isometric drawings historically used for this purpose.

Example of a corrosion report.

You can apply the same integration and colorization capabilities to many processes including leak detection and repair (LDAR), Risk Based Inspection (RBI) ratings, equipment vibration, flow rates, temperatures, pressures and more.

Our team of engineers and developers apply system integrations with sensors, databases, data historians and other applications to deliver a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

CDA applies data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) as appropriate. Together with you we are redefining the value of digital twins and their business applications.