A guide to laser scanning in 2018
As the first quarter of the year is almost behind us, it’s a good occasion to make a summary of existing trends in laser scanning technology. Since the beginning of the year, we’ve seen many potential developments and emerging applications, but the question is:
Which ones will stay longer and which will turn out to be a dead end?
Today I want to present a list of trends in LiDAR that in my opinion have a chance to define the direction of its future development.
More various applications of drones
The appearance of lightweight and compact laser scanning hardware suitable to use with UAVs, for sure will contribute to broadening the applications of drones in surveying, construction and forestry.
Since drones offer significant cost reduction compared to capturing data from an aeroplane, aerial 3D scanning will no longer be reserved for large area projects only. Also, time-consuming terrestrial surveys might be successfully replaced by drone scanning without losing accurate measurements.
One might ask why use drone scanning when the same deliverables can be generated from drone photography. I believe that both methods have their pros and cons. LiDAR works even in poor lighting conditions and will be more useful on areas covered with dense vegetation. In the end, the requirements of a specific project will determine which technology is more appropriate.
LiDAR in VR and AR workflows
As expected, at the beginning of 2018 the buzz surrounding virtual and augmented reality (VR / AR) still continues. Laser scanning starts to be seen as part of virtual reality workflows, as it delivers point cloud data required to generate virtual environments.
These virtual environments might be used for training and visualisation purposes and to improve the quality of collaboration between team members and stakeholders. Even in movie and gaming industry, it’s common to digitise real-world places and create virtual realities from point clouds.
LiDAR has applications in AR as well. Let’s take for example quality assurance. High-resolution point cloud presenting geometry of an object can be accurately overlaid onto CAD model. This enables a direct comparison of the object with the plan or CAD data. Visualisation in AR allows to instantly recognise the possible differences.
Development of large-scale mapping techniques
Although Single-photon and Geiger-mode LiDAR (SPL, GML) debuted some time ago, there still hasn’t been a major breakthrough that would make them widely used. The testing of these new technologies is in full swing, so I expect that soon they might become more popular. But what makes them different from conventional linear mode LiDAR?
There are some technical differences between SPL and GML, they both operate at higher range of altitudes and deliver higher density point clouds. Increased speed and efficiency of data acquisition make them a cost-effective solution for large-area mapping.
If these technologies live up to the expectations, there will be more methods of airborne scanning to choose from which are better suited to requirements of different projects. Certainly, these technologies have a potential to change aerial data collection as we know it.
Indoor scanning for AEC
Until now, using terrestrial laser scanning for data acquisition in complex and enclosed spaces was quite challenging. The absence of the GNSS signal indoor, limited visibility inside buildings and high hardware costs were the biggest obstacles that restricted the applications of indoor laser scanning. Fortunately, the new generation of hand-held laser scanners using SLAM solves the problems that came with using terrestrial scanners.
Along with the growing demand for 3D deliverables and popularisation of progress tracking for construction projects, we need new methods for performing fast and effective 3D data capture indoors. Hand-held scanners are ideally suited for this purposes. Without the doubt, they will become more and more common tool for as-built surveys and inspections in the upcoming months.
Read more about SLAM here
Laser scanning in autonomous vehicles
Since autonomous vehicles continue to be a hot topic in 2018, LiDAR remains in the spotlight as well. Light detection and ranging system is the key sensor enabling a car to map and navigate an environment.
By providing very accurate depth information and full 360 degrees visibility, light detection and ranging system enables a car to map and navigate an environment. But that’s not all. As LiDAR started to offer higher-resolutions and operate at longer ranges, now it’s also used to detect and track obstacles.
So what can we expect in the nearest future? Obviously, the aim is to bring self-driving cars to the market. Before that happens, it’s necessary to reduce the costs of autonomous systems. Right now a number of companies are working on developing and manufacturing low-cost LiDAR sensors. Soon, we can expect production of inexpensive sensors designed specifically for autonomous cars. Only after then commercial use will follow.
What to read next
- If you want to learn more about web-based point cloud viewers, read this text.
- Learn how to a create 3D map with open source GIS software, QGIS.
- Read about the accurate 3D mapping using hand-held scanners and SLAM.
- If you want to find out how to create GIS data from panoramic photos, check this tutorial.
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