3D Laser Scanning for Buildings

[scharette]

Hi @draftex,

@draftex

• What kind of data is required (collision avoidance, object detection (with or without zones), precise measurement, etc.) - We require reasonably accurate geometry, we have the intention of ‘tracing’ over it in Revit to produce as-built drawings.
• What type of environment (indoor, outdoor, water/humidity, temperature, etc.) - Generally indoor, within building sites, but occasionally roof plantrooms which could be external
• How precise, accurate, etc. do the measurements need to be - As long as they give a general idea of the installation in order to trace over in CAD software to reflect the install, then accuracy isn’t a huge issue.
• Type of surface being measured - MEP services. Generally insulated pipework (steel, cast iron, various plastic etc) insulated in various materials such as phenolic foam or mineral wool. Also ductwork, cable trays, cables, boilers and similar equipment.

From this, I gather that your goal is to quickly obtain a point cloud of sufficient quality to then convert this data set to a CAD model?

@draftex

• Power requirements - Ideally as portable as possible, are these available with portable battery or 240v?
• Interface type (various serial (UART TTL, RS-485, etc.), Ethernet, various wireless, etc.) - Is this for data transfer to a computer? Wireless is always nice but it really makes no difference to us

@draftex

And probably quite a few other things. Most importantly, what is the goal / what problem are you trying to solve with a LIDAR? - Primarily for tracing building services in 3D CAD software (Revit).

Any of the LIDAR we offer could be used in a portable fashion. LiPo/Li-Ion battery packs are numerous and simple to integrate in a design at this point. Most likely you could run the data gathering from a laptop connected to a LIDAR, so the power would be obtained from said laptop or with a separate rechargeable battery/battery pack.

@draftex

• Should the device be fully solid state or is a rotational design ok - Not sure, what are the pros/cons of each option

I think in your case a 3D scanner with two axis of rotation (or one axis + multiple beams) would probably help.

@draftex

Obviously, as a startup who have not launched yet, affordability is always key. Looking forward to your response.

Quite the moment, then!
Well, integrating your own scanner and hardware/software is certainly not an easy or trivial task.

Since you need to scan a room/area in 3D, you’ll probably need a sensor like one of these:

Slamtec RPLIDAR A3 360° Laser Scanner (25 m)

It is a reasonable cost and it is very durable due to how it is designed internally (no contact internal comm and power, both wireless). It also has been used in similar applications to what you describe.

Now, of course, you probably realized that it only scans on one axis, effectively providing a circular “slice” of a room. All you need to add is a way to rotate said sensor (of course, you need to know the angle, too!) and you’ll rotate that “slice”, effectively getting points in 3D. You can then process said 3D point cloud into something that can be used in CAD.
Possibly you could use a geared down stepper motor to rotate the sensor. Since steppers use steps they implicitly tell you where they are (and hence the angle of the sensor)… as long as you don’t have it slip (proper design/torque requirements)! You also may want to add an IMU for initialization so the sensor can know its starting angle, too (and up from down! ).

Since you are developing a new product you’ll have lots of reading and work ahead of you, since none of this is trivial.

Here are some links that may help you out:

Point cloud

https://info.vercator.com/blog/what-are-point-clouds-5-easy-facts-that-explain-point-clouds
http://www.open3d.org/docs/release/tutorial/Basic/pointcloud.html

Point Cloud Library

https://www.autodesk.com/autodesk-university/class/LiDAR-Data-and-Point-Clouds-Scanning-Planning-and-Beyond-2013

Digitize Your Room With LIDAR

3D mapping using only a 2D Lidar

You may also be able to gather some knowledge from LIDAR-based SLAM projects, too, since they create 3D maps of their environment for navigation in real time.

Sincerely,