Lidar Point Cloud Segmentation

A Novel Framework for Processing Terrestrial Lidar Data

Terrestrial Lidar data has great potential to produce measurements for as-built building information modelling (BIM). Unfortunately, processing hundreds of millions of points, often contaminated by substantial noise, can be tedious and time-consuming. Normal variation analysis (Norvana) segmentation is an automatic method that can segment large terrestrial Lidar point clouds containing hundreds of millions of points within minutes. Thanks to the high speed, point density and accuracy of modern terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), as-built BIM can be conducted with a high level of detail. But TLS captures not only useful geometric information but also unwanted objects, such as people, animals or... (read more)

2019-05-10 02:00:42

Bentley Puts Modelling in the Cloud

Is the 3D model becoming the only deliverable? For construction, is photogrammetry a better option than LiDAR? How long before modelling software can calculate costs? When should you start mentioning BIM? Richard Groom reports from a day of insight. It was only near the end of a morning of presentations at Bentley’s London offices that the acronym BIM was mentioned. The reason, I was told, is that the meaning of BIM develops with people’s understanding as they progress through Levels one to three and that for those just starting out, talk of BIM as a process can be a step... (read more)

2017-04-28 05:47:45

Vercator Desktop Delivers Efficient Point Cloud Processing

Vercator Desktop software is developed by Correvate, a UCL spin-out company whose vision is to improve geospatial understanding by delivering unrivalled 3D point cloud data processing. The new software delivers fast, automatic 3D point cloud registration and data processing by exploiting an innovative approach which utilises natural features in the environment to register data sets. Accuracy is enhanced as a result with traceable, repeatable reporting. Initially targeted at the construction sector, Vercator Desktop promises to improve the productivity of BIM users in the supply chain. As those involved in the delivery of a construction project increase their appreciation of BIM,... (read more)

2018-07-02 11:45:18

LizardTech Awarded Lidar Patent for Point Cloud Compression

LizardTech, a provider of software solutions for managing and distributing geospatial content, has been awarded a USA patent for the compression of Lidar point clouds. The patented technology provides lossless compression of point clouds captured by airborne Lidar sensors or terrestrial laser scanners for easy and cost-effective processing, storage and transmission of data sets. “Lidar systems capture terabytes of data that can be difficult to exploit due to the difficulty processing such massive files,” said John Hayes, LizardTech Senior Engineer. “Our Lidar compression technique allows users to maximize their return on investment in point cloud data collection.” LizardTech developed the... (read more)

2017-09-25 02:47:34

Maptek Releases I-Site Studio 6 Point Cloud Modelling Tools

The latest I-Site point cloud processing tools from Maptek focus on the everyday needs of mine surveyors for fast and accurate volumes, conformance reporting, geotechnical analysis and CAD design. I-Site Studio software offers an expanding range of applications with increasing sophistication. I-Site Studio 6, released earlier this month, provides various new tools and requested enhancements. New CAD design tools include user-friendly preferences for snapping to angles and points. Other in-demand items include auto registration and alignment of scans, complex surface modelling, waviness analysis for geotechnical modelling and analysis. Surveyors are under pressure from all departments to quickly and safely survey... (read more)

2016-01-11 04:59:37

Bringing Low-cost Airborne Sensors and Cloud GIS Together

GeoXphere, a new UK-based company, has launched this month with the support of airborne hardware manufacturer WaldoAir, USA, and aerial survey and solutions provider Getmapping, UK. The aim is to bring together the airborne survey sensor, XCAM, together with adaptable cloud-based GIS services for the benefit of partner survey companies around the world. GeoXphere was launched at Intergeo 2016 in Hamburg and was met with support from survey operators on all continents who want to expand their survey and solutions capabilities without large capital investment that comes with purchasing large format cameras and survey aircraft. XCAM, the WaldoAir survey camera,... (read more)

2016-10-25 10:59:10

Robust Automatic 3D Point Cloud Registration and Object Detection

The Vercator toolkit offers a ground-breaking approach to generating survey data for a BIM process. Produced by a UCL spin-out company, Correvate, this article touches on the robust automatic registration and smart object recognition technology that the company is developing for downstream analysis. In order to construct survey-grade 3D models of buildings, roads, railway stations, canals and other similar structures, the 3D environment must be fully recorded with accuracy. Following this, accurate measurements of the dimensions can be made on the recorded 3D datasets to enable 3D model extraction without having to return to the site and in significantly reduced... (read more)

2018-03-23 10:45:54

Laser Scanning Professionals Convert Point Clouds with NavVis Cloud

NavVis, a provider of indoor spatial intelligence solutions for enterprises, has announced the launch of NavVis Cloud, a new cloud-based platform that gives laser scanning professionals access to NavVis IndoorViewer as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution. Fully immersive, web-based 3D buildings can now be delivered as part of every scan project using point cloud files from terrestrial laser scanners and the NavVis M6 Indoor Mobile Mapping system (IMMS). NavVis IndoorViewer is a web-based application that transforms data captured by laser scanners into fully immersive 3D buildings. With a few clicks, scan data is automatically structured into a basic model of the... (read more)

2019-03-25 11:04:06

NavVis IndoorViewer: Select and Download Sections of Large Point Clouds

NavVis, a global provider of indoor spatial intelligence technology and enterprise solutions, has announced the beta release of NavVis IndoorViewer 2.5. This major software release will significantly extend the point cloud functionality through a new download feature that lets users select and crop sections of large point cloud files in browser, and then download and use the file in third-party modelling software. NavVis IndoorViewer is a web-based 3D building visualization software that displays point clouds, 360° panoramic images and floorplans as realistic, fully immersive digital buildings. The intuitive interface and realistic 3D view have made NavVis IndoorViewer especially popular among... (read more)

2019-09-11 10:56:47

Point Clouds – the Representation of the Third Kind

Point clouds represent the world at its best: up to date, and with every detail there is to be known. Most articles pay particular attention to the data acquisition of such point clouds, as they are obtained from 1) Lidar time-stamped reflections with the advantage of indicating ‘empty’ space between the observation point(s) and surface points, and 2) images by structure from motion (SfM) and dense image matching (DIM) techniques with the benefit of colour-enriched points. Nowadays they are not only obtained by high-end professional equipment, but also ever-more point clouds are ever-increasingly captured using low-cost (consumer) hardware such as... (read more)

2019-12-11 09:30:56