Intro to Laser Scanning

3D laser Scanning is an emerging technology which is revolutionising digital data capture for 3D use. Across all industries 3D has become the standard for design, presentation and engineering. Laser Scanning allows real world environments, people, equipment and items to all be captured in 3D exactly as they are. The uses for this technology are endless.

Digital Surveys have been working with the technology and associated software for a number of years and have pioneered the use of laser scanning in a number of key areas from heritage documentation to building information modelling for architecture.

How does it work ?

3D Scanning can be achieved using a variety of different technologies these include laser scanning, white light scanning, video scanning, and photogrammetry. There is no one 3d scanner that does everything. Each scanner has different advantages, speeds, ranges and accuracies. Digital use a number of different technologies depending on the task in hand. One thing that is common across all the technologies, are the final deliverables. The scanning process creates a rich dataset know as a point cloud made up of millions of dimensionally accurate 3d points.

When using a laser scanner an intensity value is also generated for each point. This is the reflectivity of the surface being scanned. Colour in the form of an RGB value is also becoming more common as scanners have inbuilt cameras added, or through the use of external camera kits which burn colour from photographs onto the point cloud.

Industries & Applications

The technology for 3D Scanning has been around for many years, however it is only recently it has become cost effective in the wider market place. This is leading to lots of exciting new applications across a wide variety of sectors:

The oil & Gas sector were one of the first areas to embrace medium range 3D laser scanning. Trying to manage Oil and gas installations often in hazardous and remote locations is an extremely expensive process. Requiring constant maintenance, accurate asbuilt plans are essential. Trying to survey rigs conventionally required high mobilisation costs and were often inaccurate. Laser scanning has become indispensible in this sector allowing rigs to be documented exactly in the fraction of the time. Designers and engineer can then design new modifications knowing that they will fit first time, eliminating costly rework.

The aerospace and automotive industries use close range laser scanning often on robotic arms for inspection and reverse engineering. Items such as panels and turbines can be scanned and compared against design model to check for tolerance and compliance. Software such as Geomagic has made the comparison of point cloud data and 3d models quick and easy utilising virtual gauges and creating full color deviation maps comparing the reference to the as-built part.

Surveyors have been quick to adapt to 3D laser scanning and companies like Leica and Trimble have been keen to develop laser scanners that act like surveyors total stations. With new kinetic and mobile mapping systems coming to the market large scale civil and city mapping projects are becoming a reality. Today’s mobile mapping systems allow data collection at up to 60mph and data accuracies of +/- 25mm. The applications for civil engineering projects vary from documenting bridges, surveying road and rail infrastructure to mine and quarry surveys.

The film and computer games industry have seen a surge in demand for 3D digital capture services. 3D Scanning allows sets to be capture to scale very quickly. This greatly reduces 3d modelling time and increases the realism of the final cut. Cyber and body scanning of props and people allows for the integration of the real world within the digital pipeline.

Laser scanning has become an essential tool to police and forensic departments. The ability to capture a crime scene down to the smallest detail exactly is invaluable. Laser scanning allows the reconstruction of accidents from the analysis of blood splatter trajectories to accurately visualising bullet trajectories. Scene plans can be generated quickly and 3d models recreated for use in court.

A recent sector to begin utilising 3D laser scanning is the insurance industry. For large insurers having an accurate documentation of a commercial site provides many cost saving advantages. Should a disaster such as a fire occur, not only does the laser scan allow the insurers to accurate value the contents of the property, it also enables the site to be reinstated very quickly, eliminating costly production delays which can be critical for companies with large scale obligations on there products.

Scanning also allows the insurer to accurately validate potential claims and if necessary reconstruct the scene to confirm that no unscrupulous claims are being made.