Laser Scanning: what you see is what you get

Gone are the ‘old’ days where surveyors precariously balanced on surrounding items such as furniture to measure over the top of wardrobes, or put themselves at risk to measure awkward features at the top of buildings. The beauty of modern survey techniques such as laser scanning, is that if a surveyor can see it, then they can measure it using precise survey technology…

Above: Gone are the ‘old’ days where surveyors precariously balanced on surrounding items such as furniture in order to capture measurements.

Laser scanning allows us to manage workloads at the press of a button. Survey technology has advanced so much that we can press start and within 2 minutes, the equipment has measured 11 million points (which is probably 10,999,980 more than we need!) and the surveyor hasn’t moved a thing.

Above: FARO Focus Laser Scanner working on a site.

Laser scanning easily measures areas that are visable. But what about survey areas that a surveyor can’t ‘see’ such as rooftops and hard to reach spaces?

The most common areas of laser scan data loss or ‘blackspots’, includes roof and ceiling areas, as well as other hard to reach areas.

10.5m laser scanning mast.

How to tackle blackspots in roof data:

If there is no access onto the roof (e.g. it isn’t a flat roof) SUMO will use an extending pole. This allows us to survey up to 10.5 meters above the ground. Using the extending pole, we can suspend the laser scanning equipment above the roof areas and scan them from above, whilst maintaining accuracy. Alternatively, dependent upon site location, SUMO could consider using a drone and photogrammetry to fill in the missing data.

Scanning Ceiling voids:

For the most accurate representation of ceiling voids the answer is, of course, to take the suspended ceiling down for inspection and surveying. But, there are other options available to clients who don’t wish to go down this route. Using Hand Held Laser Scanning equipment to scan above the suspended ceilings can be a much faster and cheaper method of surveying ceiling voids. The limitation of this technique however is that the tolerance of the data is lowered. But in most cases, the Hand-Held scanning data is adequate for the purpose. If you need extremely detailed scans of the ceiling voids, then the traditional laser scanning and dismantling of the suspended ceiling would be the favourable option.

Above: Hand-held laser scanning equipment being used to survey ceiling voids within an office space.

Whatever your requirements, Laser Scanning has a wide range of applications to suit many survey areas. With the time and budget benefits, don’t waste yours! Contact SUMO today to discuss your requirements.