Scan to BIM: The Evolution of Scanning Technology

The truth is, scanning is the only cost-effective solution to collect the prevailing world.

You simply can't get into a cathedral, petroleum refinery, or metropolitan multi-use entertainment facility and measure with rulers and expect to get the accuracy it is advisable to confidently design renovations.

Laser scanning is the only way to take action.

Until recently, BIM users would take a group of "asbuilt drawings" put them right into a 3D modeling program and develop a computer model to work from. Now, after many years of doing that, the harsh realization has surfaced there are many discrepancies between the "record drawings" and the specific environment to be constructed.

Whether it's sheetrock and wood, it really is adjusted to fit. But whether it's glass, steel, concrete or mechanical equipment, a seemingly small error can grow too costly as it is a lot harder to warp and bend. (Putting expensive new equipment into a location that's too small is really a nightmare for the installer, designer, engineer and the insurance provider.)

These new 3D laser scanning technologies have dramatically changed the surveying industry - plus they have changed it fast. But to really understand the evolution, let's take a step back....

2004: 360-Degree Scans

The initial 360-degree scanners came onto the scene around 2004. Before that, in the event that you wished to scan something above your head, you had to tilt the scanner back and scan at a steep angle, as most only had a 120-degree scan ability on the vertical axis. Several companies arrived with full straight scanners concerning this time that made it much easier.

2006: Time-of-Flight Scans

The next evolution was time-of flight scanners. In 2006, a time-of-flight scanner took about 45 minutes to 1 hour for a whole 360-degree scan. If you could do 8-10 scans each day, you were doing perfectly. Today, the same can be achieved in about 12-15 minutes, depending on density you will want scan.

At our firm, our first scanning projects were roads. In an exceedingly complicated area, we'd scan 1"X 1". The time-of-fight scanners back then could collect 4,000 points per second. Now they can easily collect 50,000 points per second!

2008: Phased-Based Scans

Today's phase-based scanners collect 2,000,000 points per second and will develop a �-inch x �-inch pattern at a distance around 100 feet. This is incredible and as fast and dense because the average user needs. The hardware will eventually progress, faster and cheaper, but phase-based scanning is effective, stable, and provides the opportunity to scan just about anything in a reasonable about of time.

Present: Scan to BIM

Today, the big research money is going towards Scan to BIM technology, which converts vast amounts of points in the idea cloud into useful data.

Several companies have begun addressing this including small independent companies like Pointools, which developed a way for scanners to identify flat surfaces. (As small as this may seem, it is just a huge advancement.) https://surveyorwarwickshire.co.uk/best-building-information-modelling-warwickshire/ will also recognize pipes and model them automatically about 50% of the time. (Another major advancement.)

Now lots of the pipe programs are getting to exactly the same place and advancing the ball. Currently, we have been at what I call the "Model T Ford" in software packages, but each year the programs get better.

The next evolution

Having now scanned may very complex areas in industrial sites, we've had to be able to compare them to the asbuilt drawings. In the horizontal view, they're generally close geometrically to the specific. But in their vertical axis, the pipes and duct work in the asbuilt drawings are rarely correct.

There are many reasons for this, but frequently it is because the procedure is so difficult that when an installer sees a less strenuous path, he generally takes it.

"Record drawings," or asbuilt surveys, are rarely done after the work is complete. Typically, the conversation goes something like this: "Here are the design drawings. Redline any changes that you made."

There is not plenty of motivation to do a completely new survey. But if a design team takes these documents and models them to their computer programs, they are unknowingly creating multiple problems for the contractor on the brand new job.

We recently took a couple of asbuilt documents for a complex project, modeled them and compared them to the point cloud to do a clash detection to determine potential interferences. The outcome was eye opening.

Several pipes, ducts, waterlines or fire lines in the ceiling were in the place shown on the record drawings. If these documents have been used, the MEP contractors would have spent ten times our fee "field fitting" the brand new utilities inside the old.

With the utility and cost of laser scanning, it might be smart to use one on every renovation project. If for nothing else, insurance! Just one single field fit will often cost far more than the scan itself.

If you scan the surroundings and put the proposed design in to the point cloud, you can tell in just a few momemts where in fact the major interferences will undoubtedly be. We've found conflicts that could have taken upwards of $100,000 to fix if they needed to be field-changed during construction. Some were fatal flaws in the mandatory design clearance that could not need been achieved and a totally new design would have had to been submitted.

<img width="368" src="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/97/f8/83/97f88321fccc656d744a0ceae5c1c6c8.png">

Scanning to BIM is a big and extremely important part of surveying. Right now, it is the design software that's trying to catch up with the scanning potential. Already this year, several new programs have come out that are much better at accepting point clouds and computer models, however they still have quite a distance to go.

Not having a design predicated on a laser scan of the specific environment is really a risk that few designers should take. I understand I wouldn't want to tell an owner that there is a construction problem that could have already been avoided with a relatively inexpensive laser scan.

Laser scanning has evolved from the "luxury" to a best practice and it's not a step that any prudent designer should skip.

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Pub: 29 Jun 2023 21:19 UTC
Views: 69