Archibus Geospatial Extensions for Esri

Georeference Floor Plans with the Archibus Smart Client Extensions

To publish an Archibus floor plan to ArcGIS, you must establish a relationship between the cartesian coordinates of the architectural floor plan and the geographic coordinates of the map.  The process of establishing this relationship is called georeferencing.  This relationship will be defined, stored, and referenced by the Extensions for Esri publishing process; the process will use this information to transform and project the floor plan from its cartesian coordinates to its geographic coordinates.

Georeferencing can be done in both AutoCAD or Revit using the following procedures, outlined in this topic:

Once georeferencing is complete, you can publish the floor plan to ArcGIS from AutoCAD or Revit.

Georeferencing with AutoCAD using a Campus Map or Survey Plan

This section covers the georeferencing process with AutoCAD using a campus map or survey plan. The map that will be used for georeferencing should use a local geographic coordinate system. In the US, this should be one of the State Plane Coordinate Systems.

The Smart Client Extensions Navigator will guide you through the groreferencing process.  The georeferencing tasks are available under Space / Space Inventory / Extensions for Esri .

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Procedure

  1. Open the Smart Client Extension for AutoCAD and start a new drawing.

  2. Set the AutoCAD drawings units to match those in the map that you’ll be using for georeferencing. If you are using Imperial units, the unit of length should be Decimal. The insertion scale should likely be Feet. Set Length precision to 6 decimal places, and set Angle precision to 2 decimal places.
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  1. Attach (XREF) the map that you will use for georeferencing.  In order to maintain the map’s original coordinates, use a 0,0 insertion point, a scale of 1 , and a rotation of 0 .

  2. Use the AutoCAD Zoom and Pan commands to navigate to the location of the building to be georeferenced.

  3. Change the Drawing Units – Insertion scale to match those of the floor plan to be georeferenced. If you are using Imperial units, this should likely be inches.

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  4. Attach (XREF) the Archibus floor plan to be georeferenced.  Apply the proper scale to the floor plan to accommodate for the difference between the units of the floor plan and the units of the map. If you are using imperial units, the proper scale factor will likely be 1/12 or 0.083333 . If you are using metric units, the proper scale factor will likely be 1 . Move and rotate the floor plan so it is aligned with its building footprint.

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  5. Save the georeferenced information. When prompted, select the floor plan that was just georeferenced.  Enter the WKID for the Coordinate System of the basemap. Enter the geolevel for the floor plan.  The georeferenced parameters will be saved to the afm_dwgs table.  This information can be viewed using the Smart Client and viewing the afm_dwgs table, or using the Manage Drawing Georeference Parameters view (ab-arcgis-manage-geo-params.axvw). Note that this view is not on the Navigator, but you can load it by adding it to the Web Central URL.
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  1. The georeferencing process is now complete.

Georeferencing with AutoCAD using ArcGIS for AutoCAD

This procedure covers the georeferencing process using ArcGIS for AutoCAD. This process is for those sites that may not have a campus map or survey plan available for georeferencing.

  1. Download and install ArcGIS for AutoCAD at https://www.esri.com/en-us/arcgis/pr...is-for-autocad.

  2. Open the Smart Client Extension for AutoCAD and start a new drawing.

  3. Set the AutoCAD drawings units to match those in the map that you’ll be using for georeferencing. If you are using Imperial units, the unit of length should be Decimal. The insertion scale should likely be feet. Set Length precision to 6 decimal places and Angle precision to 2 decimal places.
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  1. Use the ArcGIS Manage Coordinate System tool to assign a local coordinate system to the drawing.

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  2. Use the ArcGIS Add Data tool to attach a basemap to your drawing.  (World Imagery or World Topographic are recommended.)

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  3. Use the AutoCAD Zoom and Pan commands to navigate to the location of the building to be georeferenced.

  4. Follow steps 5 – 7 in the Georeferencing with AutoCAD using a Campus Map or Survey Plan section (above) to complete the georeferencing process.

Georeferencing with Revit using a Campus Map or Survey Plan

This section covers the georeferencing process with Revit using a campus map or survey plan. The map that will be used for georeferencing should use a local geographic coordinate system. In the US, this should be one of the State Plane Coordinate Systems.

  1. Open the Smart Client Extension for Revit and start a new model.

  2. Link the AutoCAD map or survey drawing that you will use for georeferencing.  This reference drawing should use a local geographic coordinate system.

  3. Check the location of the Project Base and Survey Points.  If they are not in close relation to the linked CAD drawing, unclip them and move them to a good location on the drawing.

  4. Use the Revit navigation tools to navigate to the general location of the building to be georeferenced.

  5. Set the Project Units to the  units of the CAD drawing you are georeferencing.  If you are using Imperial units, this will likely be decimal feet.

  6. Use the Revit Manage Coordinates tools to specify coordinates of a known point. (Manage -> Coordinates -> Specify Coordinates at Point).

  7. Position (move and rotate) the model so it is aligned with its footprint in the linked CAD drawing.

  8. Use the Revit Manage Coordinates tools to publish shared coordinates to the Revit model. ( Manage -> Coordinates -> Publish Coordinates)

  9. Save the Revit model you are using to do the georeferencing.

  10. When prompted, save the position / shared coordinates back to the linked model.

  11. In Web Central, use the Manage Drawing Georeference Parameters view ( ab-arcgis-manage-geo-params.axvw ) to enter the EPSG code for the Spatial Reference System of the basemap used for georeferencing. Note that this view is not on the Navigator, but you can load it by adding it to the Web Central URL

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  12. Also in the Manage Drawing Georeference Parameters view, enter the geo level for each floor / level of the Revit model.  Note that for Revit models, the Geo X, Geo Y, Geo Scale, and Geo Rotation parameters should be left blank.

The georeferencing process is now complete.