PipeHawk has introduced a seemingly important update to its e-Safe All Service Avoidance Tool, used to support safe digging processes at water and power companies.
The firm says the success of the tool has been down to its uncomplicated design, easy operator interface and cost effectiveness. Since its introduction in 2013, PipeHawk has continued to enhance the system with new features and accessories.
In 2014 came the MAX ‘Off Road’ kit, extending usage to sites with more variable and undulating ground conditions than the typical street environment. This was followed in Spring 2015 with e-Safe+ the first standalone variant, bringing features like Instant Depth Estimation and “Chronos Masking” – the latter aims to provide a low-effort way to check for services stacked one beneath the other, at any given point. Then in Autumn of the same year came the e-SafeLOG variant, bringing with it the first Supervisory feature. A downloadable ‘Log’ of Operator usage provides the date and time of each use, as well as approximate location coordinates, generated by an on-board GPS.
Over the course of 2016 came the introduction of a second wave of supervisory features including an eight-stage Power On Self Test, and an Automated Service Log, providing visual colour coded confirmation of the systems current Service Status.
Now in 2017, PipeHawk has released e-SafePRO its latest and apparently most significant variant to date and set to be the flagship of the e-Safe range bringing a series of new features and enhancements including:
- Auto data hold feature: Retains up to five times more detail in view than previously available.
- Choice of three different deployment methods ‘Baseline’, ‘Syncline’ and ‘Switchback’: Provides greater flexibility of use across diverse site conditions.
- Updates to the Chronos Masking feature: Now equipped with a four-stage, surface-down process that makes it more intuitive to use.
- ‘TrackBack’ enhancement to Depth Estimation: A significant addition providing opportunity to track depth estimations taken at points in live data, back through similar points still held in memory, in order to gain greater clarity on the likely line and depth of potential services routes identified by the operator.
Businesses already using e-Safe systems in their site safety routine, are to be supported by an upgrade service, allowing existing e-Safe systems to be changed to this latest specification at a fraction of the cost of total replacement. For those using multiple e-Safe systems within large, nationwide fleet operations, or running equipment hire operations, these savings will become substantial with scale, says PipeHawk.
