Tight Access

With the small size and light weight of our new scanner we are now able to access areas once thought impossible to locate. This example shows the top (coloured) and bottom (green) of a wharf structure (with property boundaries overlaid) to show a comprehensive site layout and aid in development and engineering works.

Scanning for visualisation

A couple of new opportunities/business areas have opened up for scanning in the last month. One project has seen us scanning culturally significant trees for preservation and monitoiring purposes as mining operations encroach on these trees. The other one has seen us complete a scan of the newly completed Sherwood Bus Depot to provide council with a true and accurate representation of their newly aquired assest and will be prove to be useful for operations, maintenance and insurance purposes. Both these projects have been interesting as they have utilised the strong visual element of scanning as well as the accuracy and technical

Existing site conditions - steel work

Scanning has once again proved a great tool to assist general survey works.

Coloured point cloud

 In the space of a couple of hours the scanner rapidly captured existing steel work on site. Numerous dimensions between these structures and relative to grid lines were required to ensure prefabricated components will fit when they arrive on site. Scanning has provided invaluable for this project as the single site visit has allowed for multiple requests from the client to be responded to without additional site visits.

Full site with grid lines

Annotated point cloud

Heritage and Design

A couple of heritage projects have come across the desk recently which create something new and trees have been the new focus which makes a nice change. Scanning has once again been used to generate 3D building models to allow for restoration and redesign of heritage buildings.

Exterior view of raw scan data of heritage building

Interior view of raw scan data of heritage building

More interestingly scanning has also been used capture trees to allow for detailed project design One project incorporated heritage trees where the design concept was to closely interact with the tree making it a park feature. Scanning allowed the full complexity of the tree to be accurately and efficiently captured to allow the design to interact with the tree and still ensure preservation. The raw point cloud could then be rendered against the design also allow for detailed visual analysis and community consultation.

Design concept incorporating raw scan data of tree

For the next project, a proposed subdivision required building envelopes to be designed to account for the existing trees on site and allow suitable clearances should the tree fall. Scanning allowed for the trees to be rapidly located and then plotted and a suitable clearance determined.

Trees details for subdivision design
(green-surface model, magenta-lot layout, yellow-edge of vegetation, red-clearance line)

2011 Already

Christmas has somehow been and gone and so has a unique project for RPS. In the build up to Christmas RPS scanned the entire Queen Street Mall in Brisbane over 3 nights completing 58 scans. The point cloud dataset was then used to construct a 3 dimensional solid model of the mall including all features, fixtures and light fittings for the purpose of a lighting study. The deliverables along with the 3D CAD Model were an  internet explorer based viewer of the point cloud dataset allowing all consultants a google street view type environment for site familiarisation and "orthophotos" generated from the pointcloud.

3D CAD Model

Point Cloud "Orthophoto"

Webviewer

Asbuilts

It's been a busy few months in the scanning department with a collection of interesting asbuilt projects coming through the door. These projects have included;

• internal building fitout for a high end prefabricated design
• a large slab floor of in industrial warehouse

As always I believe pictures of this work speak much louder than words and there are relevant images below. For all projects the final deliverables involved modelling of the point cloud data into standard deliverables being 3D objects, strings, floor plans, elevations and contour/deformation models suitable for AutoCAD and similar packages. 

Renderings and Point Clouds

The last couple of months have provided some new challenges and deliverables. Two projects have required us utilising high accuracy scanners to generate highly accurate and dense point clouds to meet project requirements.

One of these projects was 2km of rail line requiring high accuracy modelling of the rail components and furniture throughout the site. Safety was the key here and in only a couple of days the full corridor was captured with little disruption to normal rail traffic, with all staff and equipment being kept clear of danger areas.

The next project involved the full capture of an internal chamber of a dam. The large chamber consisted of a hinged ceiling which formed the gate for the dam. Full internal dimensions as well as hinge and pin details were required for upgrade works. Access was gained through a deep shaft within the dam which proved an exciting experience.

Once in the confined environment scanning was completed in a matter of hours and a full model was captured even with poor lighting and scaffolding in place.

The next project allowed for the full visualisation capabilities of the scanner to a realised. A proposed waterfront development with cliffs surrounding the site required a detailed model of the cliff face to allow for planning and detail design. Scanning provided a comprehensive model of the wall and with high resolution imagery draped over the surface it was possible to visualise the wall and various rock structures. This visual component has allowed engineers and designers to design on a realistic model of the site allowing for full realisation of the proposed design before construction, which has also helped in council and public approval of the design. Corrected orthophotos were also provided to allow for to scale paper plans to be made.