The integration of existing drawing archives with computer-aided Facilities Management systems requires an efficient technology to convert and capture FM-related data from original building drawings. The need to keep FM data up-to-date through a simple process has motivated the PlanTracer development. PlanTracer focuses on efficiency and usability.
PlanTracer delivers advanced tools for floor plan drawing and editing. Its unique toolset also includes automatic and semi-automatic conversion of input such as 2D CAD drawings or raster floor and building plans into intelligent models. PlanTracer will recognize a floor plan, extract FM data and create Intelligent Objects from vector or raster drawings. These objects will contain all the necessary data for your FM solution.
PlanTracer provides an open programming interface for easy integration with Facilities Management applications, databases and MS Office. A Facilities Management solution can access all objects in a PlanTracer floor plan model.
- Floor plan creation
Three modes of floor plan creation are available:
- Automatic conversion of original floor plans made from room measuring to parametric model (parametric mode)
- Traditional floor plan drawing using parametric library objects (library mode)
- Floor plan creation from measured outer and inner contours of the building (contour mode).
All modes allow the use of precise drawing tools: object snapping, relative object insertion, dynamic dimensioning, and more.
- Object Library
All building elements in a parametric floor plan model are stored using templates in the Object Library. This library is user managed. Libraries are loaded and unloaded as required. Library objects can be created directly from AutoCAD blocks or sets of entities.
- Rooms and other objects
The basic construction element in a parametric floor plan model is the Room object. PlanTracer provides commands for semi-automatic room, apartment and floor plan creation. There are other objects in a parametric model, such as Walls, Windows, Doors, Columns, and Stairs etc. PlanTracer provides customizable definitions for these. All objects can have attributes. The list of attributes is stored using an external XML-file.
- Creating exact room contours
FM users usually create contours for rooms according to on-site measurements. The user obtains exact floor space areas with corresponding formulas to calculate them.
- Floor plan recognition and conversion
PlanTracer has automatic and semi-automatic conversion of floor and building plan drawings into parametric models. The source data can be:
- Raster (bi-tonal) images
- 2D non-parametric drawings, made using AutoCAD or most other CAD applications saving to industry standard formats, as well as using the direct results of raster-to-vector conversions
- Floor plan correction and editing tools
To create the floor plan model is only part of the job. It is also imperative to keep it up-to-date. The user is able to use dedicated walls correction commands, such as adjoining, trimming, extending, line-to-curved wall conversion, etc.
- Customizable multi-level classifier structure
It is impossible to create one FM classifier fit for all users. PlanTracer has an application-independent data structure that allows users to maintain proper facility standards. The multi-level classifier structure provides users with the ability to create a proprietary system of definitions
- Data exchange
A Facilities Management solution can integrate PlanTracer using the built in COM API to access the floor plan model. PlanTracer can also export data to XML.
