Merry Christmas and a happy New Year

As a parting gift to 2009 find below the new King George Square in Brisbane and the Christmas Tree. This is quick fly though of a raw data set collected in around a hour when the tree was put in place earlier this month

I will be on a break as of this afternoon and will be returning in January to see where scanning takes me in 2010. Have an enjoyable and safe break and see you next year.

Conveyors

Now we move from the large scale to the small. Utilising a high definition scanner we have provided as constructed information detailing 5 conveyor lines including the conveyor heads and tails as well as their associated structures. Detailed information was provided for the whole system from column dimensions down to individual bolt locations. The images attached show the extent of the project and also the level of detail that was achieved. It may be a short note this time but, as always, with scanning I believe the images speak for themselves.

Modelling the Earth

Two recent projects have shown the true capabilities of scanning in rapidly and accurately collecting the full extent of complex sites.

 

The first image shows an open cut mine (approximately 1.5km long and 1km wide) that was located utilising real time GPS and our vehicle mount. With the scanner mounted to the roof of the car we could efficiently move around the mine to various scan locations and develop a comprehensive model of the pit. With a 2km range on our scanner minimal scans were required to develop the model and the scanning was completed in just a few hours. This data could then be processed into a surface model providing a comprehensive model of the operating pit allowing for accurate volumes and planning for mine operations.

This second image is also from the mining industry but this time it's underground. The images shows part of a 200m long entry portal to the underground mine. The portal was lined with steel ribs and a rough concrete surface. A conveyor designed to be suspended from the roof was noted to be clashing with the portal in several areas requiring a model of the of the portal to be created to ensure the full extent of these clashes could be determined. Scanning was best option as the full portal could be located with the required density in only a few hours. A comprehensive surface model could then be generated and analysis of the design could be done. This analysis consisted of a cut/fill analysis of the design line against the surface model and also a basic visual analysis as can be seen in the image with the red line representing the clashing edge of the conveyor.

Both these projects were completed in a matter of hours rather than days and provided accurate models of complex surfaces that would be difficult and impractical to locate by other means.

More Models

It's been a while so I guess I've been busy (see next post for some details). To extend my modelling capabilites I've had some great assistance from our Design team who are doing some fantastic things with 3DS and seeing where 3D modelling of design concepts fits into the world of design and planning. See below for some examples of what can be achieved by this group. With more developments in this area and better integration of scanning technology on the horizon expect some exciting possibilites with joining the design world and built envirionment.

Rendered Wireframe Models

With the wealth of data captured by terrestrial scanning, complex structures can be rapidly and accurately modelled into simple wireframe models allowing for use in engineering and visualisation software. In this example a complex building facade was chosen to demonstrate the full capabilities of this process.

The finished product can be viewed on Google Earth (743 Ann St Brisbane) and is also part of the Google 3D Warehouse.

and so it begins

In an effort to promote and educate others as to the applications and benefits of the emerging scanning and 3D technologies I will be periodically updating this blog with developments and highlights from this world.

For those unaware of what laser scanning can do, see the attached image of raw scanner data capture. In the space of a few hours this dataset was captured providing a survey accurate, colour real, live 3D model of the Brisbane CBD with extensive visulisation and modelling capabilites.