3D laser scanning - learning curve?

Honestly, it's not that hard. You'll get better with experience. I've only been doing it for a year. It used to be voodoo, but the user interface and speed have improved greatly.

Here are pointers when it comes to targets:

• Always have a minimum of three common targets in a scan, preferably four or more. Scanning is much like performing a resection.
• Try to keep your targets at roughly the same horizontal plane.
• Use the recommended targets; this will help with registering the target in the software, since they scanner will reflect better off them.

Another caveat; find out the effective range often scanner a stick to that as your limit. The maximum range is just that, the maximum... divide by two to be on the safe side if you don't get a straight answer.

Scanners are becoming purpose driven towards certain applications... this divulges into time-of-flight vs. Phase based.... another story.

Check out laserscanningforum.com ... lots of good tidbits there.

Work on perfecting acquisition and registering of scan data... modelling is a whole other can of worms and should and is much like what drafting is to surveying.

Cloud to cloud registration on industrial work has improved dramatically.

We have been scanning 18 years. We have found that in laser scanning your control needs to encompass your project whenever possible

You will learn things in Laser Scanning that you ignored in traditional surveys. Keep asking yourself what is all this ‰ÛÏextra‰Û data trying to tell me?

Been at it for just over a year with static and mobile. I am learning more every day.

I can produce, but I am not as proficient as I am with TS/GPS to CAD.

Do you have aerial lidar in your area? Best place to check is the USGS Earth Explorer. If so, I would grab a copy of Blue Marble's Global Mapper with LiDAR Module. It will set you back a whopping $900 or save some cash and buy two seats. That will get you into the game.

From there, the processing packages go up in price and difficulty. We also have TopoDOT, Carlson Point Cloud, C3D / ReCap and Faro Scene. TopoDOT is awesome, but you have to use Microstation. Carlson's is coming along and once Paul (lead programmer) has the 3dtk engine up and running he can return to more functionality. C3D is awful and I am not impressed with ReCap. Faro Scene is good for registration but not much else.

the scanning itself isn't difficult. With a little preparation fast scanning is possible. The postprocessing takes some time (CPU-time) but is pretty straightforward.

I'm using Faro Scene for registration, Kubit Pointsense and Virtusurv for modeling and drawing and am looking into Pointcab for other tasks.

I use my TX5 for standard surveying, volume calculations, ortophotos, floor flatness analysing and archeology.

I've not been on this site as much as I would like because of the learning curve ;-).

That said I've been involved for over a year now and it really is an amazing tech/art. I work with both static and mobile scanning most of the time now. The software is much better than it was.

Highly recommend having your control in place before any scanning is done. Have found that the process of registration becomes much less of a chore if that is accomplished first. Think of it as if you were going to topo something conventionally. Its essentially the same process and gets you in the real world where you want to be.

In our office we have broke up the tasks for:

• Field target layout
• Office registration
• Data extraction

Each group being uniquely trained in each task. Doesn't always work smoothly, but that is how we have it set up. I've been involved in all of those. We just scanned and extracted about 9 miles of twisty-windy-hilly roadway with no shoulders and I would not have wanted to do it any other way.

The safety factor is huge.