Laser Scanning
Capture Once. Capture Everything. Survey gRade.Typical Surveys Where We Deploy Scanners
- Scan-to-BIM / Scan-to-Model
- Hazardous sites surveys to minimise surveyor access by surveying remotely
- Detail and Level Surveys - with CAD extract done in the office
- Heritage Surveys
- Facade Surveys - perhaps for combustible cladding analysis
- Floor Flatness Surveys
- Dilapidation Surveys
- Deformation and Monitoring Surveys
How Does It Work?
Laser scanning produces a 3D survey and could be considered to cover a subset of technology in the overall reality capture field. Laser scanners operate on the simple concept a spinning sensor that "fires" a laser. The laser pulses hit surfaces in range - the reflected laser returns are registered by a sensor back in the scanner. The angle of the laser and the distance to the surface it hits is recorded - resulting in a point in 3D space.
As with all technology, improvements are made with time - and today's scanners can measure in multiple millions of points per second - a point cloud.
There are various types of scanners - some that are stationary when measuring - terrestrial scanners on tripods. There are scanners that can be mounted in planes or on drones - this is perhaps more commonly referred to as LiDAR. Finally mobile laser scanning - either mounted on vehicles or even hand held - are now available.
There is no "perfect" scanner - every scanner on the market has strengths and weaknesses - there are always trade-offs between speed of capture, accuracy, precision and cost. We have invested in the more accurate/precise capture technology - terrestrial scanners. Point cloud technology is therefore both accurate and complete. A single scanner can capture up to 2 million measurements per second. Additionally all over our scanners also include cameras - capturing a complete spherical image at the same location as the point cloud. This spherical image (per scan), aside from being a tremendous additional record, is also used to colour the point cloud.
Using laser scanners is far more efficient from a field perspective - we can capture an absurd amount of data very rapidly. Additionally we are capturing "everything" visible. So if the scope of survey is changed, there is every chance the initial scanning field work has already captured any data necessary. All that remains is for additional office-only extract to derive the additional intelligence necessary with no further field work.
Using scanners can also increase safety for survey staff - we don't directly measure, but use the laser scanners at range to remotely measure. Rail corridors, objects at height, confined spaces, busy roads - all examples of hazardous sites that we need not even enter - but can comprehensively capture nonetheless.
Projects can be as small as a few scans up to several thousand to capture a school or university campus.
Ultimately the point cloud data and and spherical imagery can be used - as a record for perhaps a dilapidation survey, the data can also be used inside other software to manually or semi-autonomously create models or other intelligent data - a process more commonly referred to as scan-to-model or scan-to-bim.
As passionate users of reality capture technology, we are always looking to promote and educate and are more than happy to provide a demo of point cloud / laser scanning technology and discuss how it might help with your project.
Regions Covered
Our laser scanning team deploys primarily from Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast. From these bases we cover all of South East Queensland. That said, many larger multi-day deployments make economical sense - and we regularly deploy to other Australian capital cities, regional Queensland and northern New South Wales - call it nation-wide.