Had a demo of the Faro not too long ago.
It is fast and accurate but short ranged. We didn't see a use for it in transportation or public works projects. Probably good in indoor industrial use. But our Leica already did that.
My advice for anyone looking into this is that you are going into the scanning business. If you are successful, sooner or later you will need another type of scanner, and probably another brand. Before spending a huge amount of money on the proprietary software take the time to look at third party software which will handle data from any major brand- one cost, one learning curve, future flexibility.
We have a Scanstation2; we mostly use it for Forensic work.
Scanners are great for detail and hard things. Dirt topo? Forget it, you will spend hours "mowing" the grass etc. If they want contours I get out the conventional tools for that. They are also great for overhead things.
It really is just a total station that can shoot thousands of shots in a short time and make it into a point cloud. Obviously you need special software to handle the point cloud.
A setup (scanworld) will usually consist of 20 to 30 scans because if you just tell it to scan everything around you 0.01x0.01 you will be there for two days. In other words most scans are under 5 minutes so the scanner operator is busy constantly not to mention moving that monster on rough steep ground. We window and then scan. Scanning up we try to avoid scanning the sky (wastes a lot of time). Some things scan at high resolution other things at lower resolution (like pavement). We find that for scanning wires using a horizontal resolution of 1' with a vertical resolution of about 0.005' works really well. You get a cross section of the wire every foot or so which is usually way over kill anyway.
Some tips:
1. Acquire targets first then scan. This way if the battery dies or the generator runs out of gas you can still register what you have done so far at that setup.
2. Check every target in model space as you acquire them. This takes an extra 20 or 30 seconds but sometimes it will mis-model a target which can cause big headaches later. Better to find out now.
3. Good data handling is essential. Collect your scanning in a raw folder. Copy it to a registered folder before trying to register. Never mess with your only copy. Keep at least one pristine copy of the scans that you haven't messed with. Leica's Cyclone can be temperamental.
Obviously we don't do ALTAs but I could see where it could be great for that, especially an office on Saturday and Sunday when all the cars are gone. It would pick up everything.
I agree. Wish we had one, lighter weight, on-board batteries.
If it was pre-2007 and I still had $100,00+ worth of equity in my house I would have bought one last October when I was at Leica's scanning user conference in San Ramon.
I don't see a big future for surveyors in scanning, unlesss that's all you want to do. I think the engineers and architects will take this niche over and push us to the side to keep all the profits.
Its not hard to scan in the field and the rest a cad monkey can be trained to do.
Scanning around here is something that if you get the scan project you just rent the equipement. There are a lot of "scanners" in NYS.
Angelo
Leica Scan Station 2
Laser Scanning: The future is ours?
> I don't see a big future for surveyors in scanning, unlesss that's all you want to do. I think the engineers and architects will take this niche over and push us to the side to keep all the profits.
>
> Its not hard to scan in the field and the rest a cad monkey can be trained to do.
>
> Scanning around here is something that if you get the scan project you just rent the equipement. There are a lot of "scanners" in NYS.
If the surveyor's have the expertise, and the training, and the equipment I think that the future remains with those first in. The cost of the equipment is huge. The cost of the software is significant, and a trained and field experienced CAD operator that is fast and expert at point cloud processing is still a rare bird.
We do not have a scanner, but we are looking at it. I might be wrong, and if I am, I really want to hear about it!
Laser Scanning: The future is ours?
Scanners are great for detail and hard things.
That's something to think about.
To me, acquiring a scanner would sure require a very studied business plan:
-Services: What are you going to do with this?
-Cost: May find that monthly payments are more steady than scanning jobs.
-Technology: Moves very fast, better hope to pay the gear quick.
-Human Resources: "Trained CAD monkey" may take its expertise elsewhere.
-Market: Convincing the clientele (Just like in one of the episode of the Simpson's "yeah a guy can really do something with this" and walk away with a shoulder shrug) maybe difficult.
I think that two types of business may achieve success with this technology:
Large firms with presence in many areas, more resources, large client base. Traveling crew if necessary, more billable hours for the scanner.
Or a specialist with a great reputation, willing to travel with a lot of contacts across the land to get work.
Anyway, to answer your question, getting a total station with scanning capabilities may be a better investment. Today, I am staking out the building corners with my trusty scanner 😉
:beer:
It's a bit like the "Millimeter GPS" of a few years ago. Great idea but did it take off? Why not?
Laser Scanning: The future is ours?
> > I don't see a big future for surveyors in scanning, unlesss that's all you want to do. I think the engineers and architects will take this niche over and push us to the side to keep all the profits.
> >
> > Its not hard to scan in the field and the rest a cad monkey can be trained to do.
> >
> > Scanning around here is something that if you get the scan project you just rent the equipement. There are a lot of "scanners" in NYS.
>
>
> If the surveyor's have the expertise, and the training, and the equipment I think that the future remains with those first in. The cost of the equipment is huge. The cost of the software is significant, and a trained and field experienced CAD operator that is fast and expert at point cloud processing is still a rare bird.
>
> We do not have a scanner, but we are looking at it. I might be wrong, and if I am, I really want to hear about it!
I agree with DMYhill,
I can see a great deal of benefit doing the things I have in mind. If not a Surveyor then who? The ROI needs to be justified and all the kinks worked out, but just like everything else they will come down in price and most will have one.
O
Ralph
> How many laser scanning projects are you doing a year?
Between two and four. Some of those projects last a week, some last a day. The device: Leica ScanStation 2
ROI? The silly thing generally doesn't even make enough to cover the cost of it's annual maintenance upkeep (which is yet another cost everyone really needs to consider in putting all the cards on the table and trying to decide to buy one, or not). These devices are NOT like a modern GPS unit. You don't buy it, and use it until it doesn't turn on one day. Above the initial investment, there is an investment in maintenance contracts, software contracts, and ongoing personnel training. There is also a cost to NOT continually training your operators on the latest software. The cost in not continually training your people is profit out of your company's bottom line. Training is a valid expense in business which is often overlooked in Surveying.
The ScanStation I use reminds me of the early days of RTK GPS (1995/1996), where the office and receiver software were both evolving. It wasn't uncommon to send your GPS receivers in at least every 18 months to have them updated. It also wasn't uncommon to have your GPS office software get updated at least once every 12 months. (parallel hardlocks and all) Back then, an office software update was usually a blessing over the last cursed chunk of code you somehow managed to work with. I also remember knowing the email addresses of folks at the GPS manufacturer, off the top of my head.
It's certainly an interesting piece of equipment for my employer to own and be able to use whenever I feel like pulling it out of it's coffin box. Like every other tool in our profession, it has it's place in certain applications. In 2000 - 2001, we did a project that lasted 6 weeks out of town with two crews using robotic total stations. Doing similar jobs using the ScanStation in recent years took 12 days in the field, and got hundreds of thousands more data points. When I think back to spending two summers standing in South Florida traffic on busy 4-lane roads with an orange flag or prism pole in my hand collecting data the old way... The tool becomes priceless.
I'm on my second and third set of batteries since 2006.
Mobile Laser Scanning: The future is ours?
Just did a ride along on a mobile scanner...It is a neat tech...but it costs about $300k to get into it. That is a lot of scans!!!