Whether you’re in construction, architecture, engineering or other related industries, there’s a good chance that you’ve already come across the words 3D point cloud at some point.
A Guide to Understanding the 3D Point Cloud
A Guide to Understanding the 3D Point Cloud
With 3D laser scanning gaining a lot of momentum in these areas today, there’s a lot of interest in the processes and technologies involved in it. But what exactly is a 3D point cloud and how is it used as part of the Liverpool building laser scanning process?
The 3D point cloud
A 3D point cloud is essentially a three-dimension rendering of a space or physical object that’s made from millions of measurement points gathered through Liverpool 3D laser scanning.
These measurement points are usually marked with an x, y and z coordinate, but advanced measurements may also include RGB colour data and even intensity information.
3D representations of landscapes, spaces, structures and objects that are generated by a Liverpool 3D scanning company prove to be useful in a lot of applications. It is because they make planning, implementation and monitoring much easier than using a 2D representation that doesn’t give a clear view of an existing object or structure.
To be able to create a 3D image, a laser point cloud is used and it is typically made up of millions of points that are comparable to the pixels in a digital image.
But instead of having only the x and y coordinates, a LiDAR point is made up of x, y, and z points that represent a specific position in the 3D space.
How a 3D point cloud is created
A 3D point cloud is generated with the use of a 3D laser scanning, which is essentially a portable tool that sits on top of a tripod and set up within view of the space that you want to measure.
Instead of doing measurements manually, which can take time and a lot of resources, you can delegate this task to a reliable Liverpool laser scanning company like us that offers high quality 3D laser scanning services to different industries.
The most important part of a 3D laser scanner is the LiDAR sensor, which is capable of using rapid laser pulses to take extremely accurate measurements per second.
A lot of these scanners also include an RGB camera that helps to add colour to the 3D point cloud to make 3D BIM models more realistic and accurate.
3D point clouds can also be generated using photogrammetry that uses different images taken from various angles to calculate points and render an image.
Although photogrammetry is also capable of creating high quality images, especially with an additional RGB value, survey laser is still more widely used because of its accuracy.
The uses of a 3D point cloud
Data generated from the 3D point cloud can be used in a wide variety of applications including:
• Building Information Modeling (BIM).
Data gathered by a Liverpool laser scanning company can be rendered into a 3D BIM model, which is a digital representation of the characteristics of a structure or facility. This raw spatial data is useful in planning for renovations and repairs because it offers an image in “as-is” conditions.
• Floor planning.
A 3D point cloud is one of the easiest ways to generate a floor plan because it allows you to create an image from the top-down view that’s rendered through a floor planning software or you can generate one automatically through more advanced AI-powered software.
• Project monitoring.
Building laser scanning allows for easier monitoring of the progress of a project, so you know exactly which areas are already completed and which parts of the project still needs to be done. This helps you save a lot of time and resources while making sure that everything is done on time.
The future of 3D point cloud
With Liverpool 3D laser scanning becoming more accessible to the public, we can expect 3D point cloud to be used more widely by different industries in the future. There’s also a constant evolution in the technology that makes this type of surveying method more accurate and precise than ever.
Now if you’re looking for a reputable Liverpool laser scanning company that offers the best services in laser scanning and BIM, you can check out our services. You can also check out our blogs to learn more about these technologies.
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