{"id":35605,"date":"2025-05-14T08:29:22","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T12:29:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rmcalumni.ca\/?p=35605"},"modified":"2025-05-14T08:32:24","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T12:32:24","slug":"the-importance-of-acquiring-field-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rmcalumni.ca\/fr\/the-importance-of-acquiring-field-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"The Importance of Acquiring Field Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

By OCdt Ladouceur, OCdt Lallier et NCdt Sauriol<\/p>\n

The third-year civil engineering students from the Royal Military College of Canada received a rather simple task over the last two weeks of April 2025 ; Gaining experience in the field and developing their leadership during Survey Camp. It was time to put to the test all the knowledge learned during the course introduction to Geomatics<\/em> taught by Dr. Vlachopoulos. This simple objective opened the floor to a more important subject in academia ; The importance of putting to practice the theory learned in class.<\/p>\n

Armed with basic knowledge, but a strong determination to learn, group #1, composed of OCdt Lallier, OCdt Ladouceur and NCdt Sauriol, got to work to accomplish the tasks at hand. The first goal of the week was to do a detailed survey of a given area of responsibility. Left to their own devices, the three apprentices carried out a reconnaissance of the terrain to find strategics control points to later accomplish a levelling and traverse exercise. Both were needed to establish a vertical and horizontal control and therefore finding the coordinates of the points. The team learned quickly the importance of establishing a good action plan before starting any manipulations to optimize the time spent on the terrain.<\/p>\n

Thus, group #1 established, right at the beginning of the week, a solid methodology that allowed them to complete their levelling loop in one day and obtain a closure error of 0.026 m, which is amply acceptable according to the Qu\u00e9bec provincial norm of 1st<\/sup> order.<\/p>\n

It was only the beginning of the group\u2019s success. On their second day, the team continued with their careful procedure and completed the traverse exercise. Given the unique shape of their area of responsibility, the group found a way to optimize the data collection and therefore save time and energy while also limiting the risks of error. Once again, the closure error was acceptable according to the 1st order. \u00a0The two exercises made it possible to conduct a detailed survey to collect all points of interests and later create a map of the whole area.<\/p>\n

As for the second week of survey camp, group #1 was given a more particular task ; create a 3D model of the Stone Frigate, located on the peninsula of RMC, using LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology. The students were now in unknown territory, with a new and powerful technology at their disposition. They had to show initiative in order to learn how to master the Leica ScanStation P40 and accomplish their goal. It is by working all together and not being afraid to ask questions to the many instructors that the group managed to scan every facade of the Stone Frigate<\/p>\n

However, their task was far from over ; they didn\u2019t know it yet, but the worst part was yet to come. It was now time to upload all the data collected from the LiDAR into the Leica Cyclone Register 360 <\/em>software. Between the complex interface of the software and the long waiting time to upload the data, group #1 had to arm themselves with patience and resourcefulness to finally understand and master the software.<\/p>\n

The group was therefore satisfied when they finally had a final product to present to their classmates. Although, what made them the proudest over the last two weeks was the skills and knowledge they acquired by working in the field. The main lesson learned from this group is the importance of seeking real life experience and challenge what has been learned in class. They also discovered to not give up easily, even in the face of adversity – or in their case a stubborn software!<\/p>\n

These lessons learned will serve them well for the rest of their careers and for this reason, all aspiring officers and engineers should seek to gain that experience.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

L\u2019importance d\u2019acqu\u00e9rir de l\u2019exp\u00e9rience sur le terrain<\/strong><\/p>\n

Par L\u2019\u00c9lof Ladouceur, l\u2019\u00c9lof Lallier et l\u2019Aspm Sauriol<\/p>\n

Les 3i\u00e8me ann\u00e9e en g\u00e9nie civil au Coll\u00e8ge militaire royal du Canada ont re\u00e7u un mandat simple pour les deux derni\u00e8res semaines du mois d\u2019avril 2025\u00a0: Acqu\u00e9rir de l\u2019exp\u00e9rience sur le terrain et d\u00e9velopper leur leadership gr\u00e2ce au camp d\u2019arpentage. Il \u00e9tait temps de mettre \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9preuve les comp\u00e9tences acquises par les \u00e9tudiants lors du cours d\u2019introduction \u00e0 l\u2019arpentage sous la tutelle du Docteur Vlachopoulos. Cette simple t\u00e2che \u00e0 soulever un sujet important dans un cadre acad\u00e9mique\u00a0: l\u2019importance de mettre en pratique la th\u00e9orie vue en classe.<\/p>\n

C\u2019est donc avec des connaissances de bases, mais une d\u00e9termination en fer que le groupe #1, compos\u00e9 de l\u2019\u00c9lof Lallier, l\u2019\u00c9lof Ladouceur et l\u2019Aspm Sauriol, s\u2019est mis en \u0153uvre afin d\u2019accomplir le premier objectif du cours, soit de cr\u00e9er une carte d\u00e9taill\u00e9e d\u2019une zone de responsabilit\u00e9 attribu\u00e9e. Laiss\u00e9s \u00e0 eux m\u00eame, les trois apprentis ont effectu\u00e9 une reconnaissance du terrain pour \u00e9tablir des points de contr\u00f4le \u00e0 des emplacements strat\u00e9giques pour \u00eatre en mesure de plus tard \u00e9tablir un contr\u00f4le vertical ainsi qu\u2019un contr\u00f4le horizontal via un exercice de nivellement et de cheminement respectivement. L\u2019\u00e9quipe a appris l\u2019importance d\u2019\u00e9tablir un bon plan d\u2019action avant de d\u00e9buter les manipulations afin de maximiser le temps pass\u00e9 sur le terrain.<\/p>\n

Ainsi, le groupe #1 a \u00e9tabli d\u00e8s le d\u00e9part une solide m\u00e9thodologie qui leur a permis d\u2019effectuer toute la boucle de nivellement en une journ\u00e9e et d\u2019obtenir une erreur de fermeture de 0,026 m, qui est amplement acceptable selon la norme provinciale du Qu\u00e9bec de 1er<\/sup> ordre.<\/p>\n

Ce ne fut que le d\u00e9but de leur succ\u00e8s, lors de la deuxi\u00e8me journ\u00e9e, le groupe a poursuivis son travail m\u00e9ticuleux afin d\u2019effectuer un exercice de cheminement. Compte tenu le terrain sp\u00e9cifique de la zone de responsabilit\u00e9 le groupe a trouv\u00e9 un moyen d\u2019optimiser la prise des mesures et ainsi \u00e9conomiser du temps et de l\u2019effort tout en obtenant un r\u00e9sultat une fois de plus acceptable selon le 1er<\/sup> ordre. Ces deux exercices ont ensuite permis de trouver les points d\u2019int\u00e9r\u00eats de la zone de responsabilit\u00e9 et de cr\u00e9er des cartes d\u00e9taill\u00e9es du terrain.<\/p>\n

Pour ce qui est de la deuxi\u00e8me semaine de travail, le groupe #1 s\u2019est fait donner une t\u00e2che particuli\u00e8re\u00a0: r\u00e9aliser une mod\u00e9lisation 3D du b\u00e2timent Stones Frigate, situ\u00e9 sur la p\u00e9ninsule du Coll\u00e8ge militaire royal de Kingston. Les \u00e9tudiants se trouvaient maintenant en terrain inconnu, avec une nouvelle et puissante technologie entre les mains. Il leur a fallu faire preuve d\u2019initiative pour apprendre \u00e0 utiliser le Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) <\/em>Leica P40 pour accomplir la t\u00e2che donn\u00e9e. C\u2019est en effectuant un bon travail d\u2019\u00e9quipe et en n\u2019ayant pas peur de poser des questions aux instructeurs que les trois \u00e9l\u00e8ves-officiers sont parvenus \u00e0 prendre des scans de toutes les fa\u00e7ades du b\u00e2timent.<\/p>\n

Toutefois, la t\u00e2che \u00e9tait loin d\u2019\u00eatre termin\u00e9\u00a0; il \u00e9tait maintenant temps d\u2019importer toutes les donn\u00e9es r\u00e9colt\u00e9es afin de produire un r\u00e9sultat final. Les \u00e9tudiants \u00e9taient loin de se douter que la pire partie de la semaine allait \u00eatre le logiciel Leica Cyclone Register 360<\/em>. Entre l\u2019interface complexe et les longs temps d\u2019attentes pour transf\u00e9rer les donn\u00e9es, le groupe #1 a d\u00fb faire preuve de patience et de d\u00e9brouillardise afin de comprendre et de maitriser le logiciel.<\/p>\n

Le groupe #1 fut donc bien heureux lorsqu\u2019ils eurent obtenu un r\u00e9sultat final \u00e0 pr\u00e9senter \u00e0 leurs coll\u00e8gues, pourtant ce qui les a rendus le plus fier au cours des deux derni\u00e8res semaines sont les comp\u00e9tences pratiques qu\u2019ils ont acquises. La le\u00e7on principale retenue par ce groupe est qu\u2019il est important de s\u2019impliquer sur le terrain et de mettre \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9preuve les comp\u00e9tences apprises. Ils ont aussi appris qu\u2019il ne faut pas baisser les bras face aux impr\u00e9vus et qu\u2019il y a toujours une solution, il ne suffit que d\u2019y r\u00e9fl\u00e9chir quelques instants!<\/p>\n

Ces le\u00e7ons leur seront grandement utile pour le restant de leur carri\u00e8re et c\u2019est pour cette raison que tous les aspirants officiers et ing\u00e9nieurs devraient participer \u00e0 ce genre de formation acad\u00e9mique.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By OCdt Ladouceur, OCdt Lallier et NCdt Sauriol The third-year civil engineering students from the Royal Military College of Canada received a rather simple task over the last two weeks of April 2025 ; Gaining experience in the field and developing their leadership during Survey Camp. It was time to put to the test all…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":550,"featured_media":35611,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[380],"tags":[387],"class_list":["post-35605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-donor-impact","tag-academics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rmcalumni.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rmcalumni.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rmcalumni.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rmcalumni.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/550"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rmcalumni.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35605"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.rmcalumni.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35608,"href":"https:\/\/www.rmcalumni.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35605\/revisions\/35608"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rmcalumni.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rmcalumni.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rmcalumni.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rmcalumni.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}