What's All of the Fuss About High Definition Scanning?

When it comes to making precise measurements in complicated environments, high definition scanning - or 3D laser surveying, since it is sometimes called - is quickly making its way to leading of the line in an array of industries from engineering to historic preservation.

Engineers use laser scans to utilize real-world conditions in complex industrial as-built and plant environments. Construction companies utilize them to assemble precise data on site terrain and renovations, and architects use them to check on proposed design models against existing conditions to fine-tune their designs.

Even insurance firms and law enforcement have gotten on board, using the technology to recreate large-scale accident scenes.

Why is it better? For just one, laser scans are incredibly precise. Images are created from the "point cloud" of an incredible number of points that may be measured precisely like the distances and elevations between points. They are also versatile. The scans, when used in combination with digital color photos, can produce survey-quality files, videos and even 3D animated computer models and are so intuitive that even a novice can understand the information.

Laser scans may also be fast. In 2006, whenever we bought our first scanner, it took almost one hour to make a full dome 360 degree scan. Now we can scan in 6-8 minutes.  Homepage  enables us to take many more scans and capture more detail than we did before.

Scanning almost always pays for itself. It really is cheaper in the long run as you can revisit the initial scan multiple times from your computer desktop and never have to revisit the project site. Also, because the technology is so precise, the need for construction reworks and expensive retrofitting is minimized or removed altogether.

For firms considering getting associated with this technology, there are currently three ways to capture 3D data on large scale projects: Airborne LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging), Mobile LiDAR, and Terrestrial Scanners, which all produce LiDAR data.

Typical projects for terrestrial scanners are large pipes and tunnels, manufacturing facilities, plant process facilities, airport conveyor systems, bridges, buildings, towers and construction projects. (Our firm focuses on terrestrial jobs, because so many can't be readily scanned from airplanes or cars.)

The price of entry into this sort of scanning is normally between $150,000 to $250,000 for the first units and software. (Although less costly scanners are now available, software programs can be expensive and the expense of training should also be looked at.)

Aerial platforms and Mobile platforms start at $500,000 and go up to $5,000,000. These units are constantly being upgraded with newer and better digital sensors and data management enhancements. We currently work with service contractors on these kinds of jobs, which are usually centered on documenting civil infrastructure on a much bigger scale than terrestrial scans.

Projects could include scanning 100 miles of road to prepare a pavement analysis, mapping 1,000 miles of rail line, or mapping the town of Atlanta and producing 3D types of all the buildings.

If the expense of these units seems intimidating, remember that firms that have already invested in these technologies tend to be available to partnering opportunities with smaller firms.

Small scanning focuses on objects the size of a Volkswagen all the way right down to the mechanical components within a wrist watch. The applications in this field - commonly referred to as "reverse engineering" - include quality control of manufactured parts or data capture for a manufactured process. A typical project could possibly be scanning an ornate stair rail in order that an exact replica could be created from wood, metal or composite.

This scanning method is so precise you could dissemble a toaster, rifle or carburetor, scan the parts, manufacture duplicates, plus they would all work when re-assembled.

What can be scanned?

If it could be built, it usually is scanned. There is virtually nothing built that can't be duplicated and modeled with current scanning techniques.

As well as the engineering, construction and manufacturing industries, this technology is also being used by insurance firms and police to reconstruct accident scenes - like whenever a highway bridge falls during rush-hour traffic or perhaps a multi-car pile-up - and also on Hollywood sets. You can find companies that make their living scanning elaborate movie sets before and after they are constructed.

To give you an idea of the wide-ranging capabilities of the technology, within the last month, we've scanned a 120-foot pipe in Chicago, a 737 aircraft in Delaware, a luggage system in LaGuardia, and the interior of a peppermill in Virginia. This technology is everywhere!