Spike Told in Pictures: How to Safely Capture Measurements

Imagine this. You’re a surveyor who lives life on the edge – a rebel without a cause, some say. You climb ladders and take measurements without fear. Legend has it, you’re the Jack Bauer of surveying.

But one day, you climb up a ladder as usual when something goes wrong, and no one is there to spot you. Suddenly, you lose your balance. Your heart stops as your too-short life flashes before your eyes while you fall to the hard ground. As if your injury weren’t bad enough, now you have to worry about the added headache that comes with workers’ compensation. You wish you could have kept your feet safely on the ground and still captured those measurements now, don’t you, big shot?

Let’s look at this at this from the perspective of your boss. Workers’ compensation is a necessity, but no manager wants employee injuries on the job. Not only does this short you of a talented employee, but it costs your business money. Wouldn’t it be nice if your employees could capture necessary measurements but in a safer way than traditional methods?
At another site, you can’t even plant your ladder because rocks and bushes line the property. Even a bucket truck isn’t always accessible, and if it is, is there room for that huge cost in your budget? No? We don’t blame you.

Or maybe Mother Nature decides to complicate matters. A tornado passed through town, leaving lots of wreckage behind – fallen trees, poles and street signs – and you need to measure all those destroyed homes and buildings for damage assessment, reporting, restoration, etc. Instead of teetering your way through the wreckage to access the property, you wish you could capture measurements and location data from a safe position.
Other times, a busy street may come between you and your survey location. One side of the property lines the street, and in order to reach the top of the property, the foot of your ladder runs into the street. But there’s an easier, safer way to get those measurements.

Spike, a laser measurement solution, can capture all the measurements you need while keeping your feet planted on the ground at a safe distance. Attach Spike onto your smartphone or tablet case, stand back and take a picture of your survey location. That picture records every measurement you could need without you even leaving the ground. Say goodbye to nervous tremors from up high.

When a busy road separates you from your survey location, Spike can handle it. In fact, Spike allows you to capture measurements from 6–650 feet, or 2–200 meters, away with an accuracy of plus or minus 3 percent. Rest assured, your car-dodging days are behind you.

And what about those times when pesky return trips call? Instead of hauling your ladder back into the field and putting yourself at risk again, you can sit back and access those measurements from your saved photos using the Spike app or cloud-based software. If other co-workers need to access the measurements, keep them out of the field and share the files as a JPG, PDF, Spike File (XML) or KMZ. Look at you now. Not only are you safer but you’re also more efficient. Talk about a win-win.

To learn more about capturing measurements the safe way, visit our Spike page.