DIEPENBEEK – A drone from PXL University of Applied Sciences flew over Limburg DC this weekend to fully capture the campus. Earlier, a car equipped with a roof-mounted laser scanner had already driven around the site. All of this is part of a project by POM Limburg to develop a so-called digital twin: a digital 3D model of the campus that allows future construction and infrastructure projects to be virtually simulated.
“With the digital twin, we can assess future developments much more realistically,” says Stijn Vercampt, Manager of the Economic Space Team at POM Limburg. “We map out the impact on the environment, resources, and mobility in advance. That helps us plan better, manage costs, and avoid unpleasant surprises.”
“During the flight and the car ride, millions of data points are collected—so-called ‘point clouds’—from which a detailed terrain model is built. That model includes buildings, roads, terrain features, and greenery on the campus,” says Sam Ottoy, researcher at PXL BIO-Research. “To avoid disruption, we deliberately carry out the flight on the weekend.”
Smart Campus
The digital twin is part of a broader ambition to develop Limburg DC into a smart campus. To that end, POM Limburg is working with the knowledge institutions on site to create digital solutions for spatial planning. In addition, climate and environmental data will also be collected for scientific research.
Rapid Growth
Limburg DC in Diepenbeek is a rapidly growing campus where education, research, and entrepreneurship come together. The site is home to, among others, Construction Campus 2.0 and Health Campus Limburg. Numerous new construction projects are planned in the coming years. Work on the new gateway building and accompanying parking structure is already well underway.
In the coming months, researchers from PXL University of Applied Sciences and UHasselt – Digital Future Lab will work with the captured images to develop various visualizations.
