Laser Scanning
Three-dimensional laser scanners produce three-dimensional images that can be measured and modelled in different software applications to create accurate drawings. The system is extremely useful in busy or dangerous environments like factories and for structures where drawings no longer exist.
The scanner takes 1,000 images a second to build a 3-D image of an object based on its width, height and depth. The data collected can then be used to automatically generate an image accurate to within two millimetres, even across large complex structures.
Rolton Group has used Cyrax laser scanners in a wide range of building services projects such as am assignment at a major automotive plant, where we carried out a feasibility study into the replacement of the factory's heating and ventilation system, which needs to be replaced. The factory, built in the sixties, manufactures thousands of gearboxes a day for assembly plants across Europe. The pace of operations at the factory meant that any approach that called for a programme of lengthy and detailed access to the 93,000 square metre factory floor would be unacceptable.
Additionally, the roof area was already highly serviced, and we needed to be sure that our proposed new displacement ventilation system would fit the available space. Using laser scanning meant that we were able to quickly collect the information we needed without interfering with the plant's production lines. The information collected by the system's Cloudworks software was interfaced with our CAD programs and used to design a solution that would dovetail neatly with the existing services.
Other applications have included a large block of pre-war apartments in London, where we used the scanner in a project to replace an ageing boiler system. There were no original drawings and we used the data from the scan to ensure that our new plant would fit the available space.
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The system also came into its own when we surveyed a swimming pool at a leisure centre in London where, again, there were no record drawings. Using a laser scanner completely avoided the problems we would have faced with a traditional approach when working over an expanse of water in a high-roofed building.
As well using laser scanning to create drawings of large complex structures, we have also used laser scanning to survey mobile phone masts. By law operators must, wherever possible, use existing masts. However, many operators have poorly maintained records of the masts they possess.
Adapting a mast for use with new technology can be dangerous. They are often sited in accessible areas, on private land far from easy access or on busy streets. Even the smallest modern masts are eight metres high - and the oldest of them are 30 metres tall. Poor weather conditions can mean that traditional surveying methods 'up close and personal' can be difficult and even dangerous.
Because the scanner works best at a distance of 20 to 50 metres, access to private land is not a problem and surveys can be provided in a fraction of the time that a traditional survey would take.
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