High Definition 3D Laser Scanning
Our Leica ScanStation C10 laser scanner is capable of recording up to 50,000 points per second with the accuracy of a reflectorless total station.
This very rapid method of data collection dramatically reduces site time and produces a 3D pointcloud which can be interrogated directly or used as the basis for 2D or 3D AutoCAD drawings.
Laser scanning provides a much higher level of detail than surveying by traditional methods. The process may be thought of as recording a geometrically correct 3D image of the site and then extracting the required features and levels from the data. In some cases the scan data may be supplemented by total station observations where the ground is obscured by thick vegetation, standing water or other obstacles.
Laser scanning has applications in most of our work but is particularly well-suited to building surveys, where elevations, floor plans and sections can be produced as different slices through a single 3D model.
A perspective view of a pointcloud. Colours are based on laser reflection intensity. Click to enlarge.
A screenshot of raw pointcloud data from a medium resolution scan, illustrating the high level of detail. Click to enlarge.
At the data processing stage, images from the C10’s on-board digital camera can be used to assign RGB values to each data point.
For example, above is a picture of the C10 scanning a radar tower and below is roughly the same perspective viewed from within the resulting pointcloud.
The use of the RGB values, coupled with a suitable choice of background colour, can thus greatly aid in the interpretation of scan data.
