3D laser scanning demand to increase

Technology set to grow rapidly in wake of public building regulations

3D laser scanning is set to “explode” as demand for the technology increases in the wake of the government's decision that three-dimensional modelling of public assets must take place as part of the recently announced strategy on construction.

Experts from Faro Technologies, a US firm which develops and produces 3D scanning equipment, said the fact that government construction contracts would be awarded to firms with 3D scanning ability was likely to increase demand for tools such as its Laser Scanner Focus, which rapidly produces detailed three-dimensional images of complex environments and geometries using infrared laser beams that tracks a million points a second. The system is already used extensively in manufacturing operations to model plant and components, and for reverse engineering. Ford has used it to model all its operations worldwide to reduce its manufacturing footprint by 5% and enable leaner production.

The government has indicated that 3D building information modelling will become a key part of the procurement of all public buildings in order to facilitate data sharing between all the contractors on a project and to monitoring of subsequent performance.

Introduced in November last year, the Focus is said to be five times smaller and four times lighter than the competition. It is about half the cost of large conventional scanning systems, Faro vice president of sales David Homewood said. The drastic change in form factor, which makes the Focus readily portable, and competitive price, mean that scanning is being adopted by to industries that have not previously been able to use the technology, Faro said.

The system relies on a simple touchscreen interface to work and can capture images in colour thanks to an onboard digital camera. The 3D data it captures can then be used in software packages for applications such as running simulations. It is deliberately designed to have an “open architecture” said Homewood.

Focus has been used in the film industry and is making and impact in the surveying market, he added. “The ability to capture 3D data is set to explode,” Homewood said.