All signs point (cloud) to Valencia
Laser scanning the BILT Europe 2022 conference venue
Have you ever come across a mystery target like this one? Maybe someone was laser scanning the building!
At DBEI, we are committed to promoting the use and development of the latest digital technologies. In partnership with Clearedge3D, a global Gold Sponsor, we commit to deliver a high-accuracy as-built BIM for the facility managers at the Palacio de Congresos, Valencia, the venue for our upcoming BILT Europe 2022 conference. The operators of the Palacio intend to use this digital model as a basis for their maintenance and event planning as well as for any future renovation works.
To carry out this task, we employ the latest in laser scan surveying techniques to capture accurate point cloud data about the location of objects in space. Later, this will be processed by the modelling team at Clearedge to produce a BIM. Through this collaboration, the technology provider Topcon have been able to further test their equipment, and the Palacio operators add a powerful tool to their utility belt.
A GTL-1200 total station was initially used to collect a circular connected network of data using a targeted registration method, which essentially triangulates the location of the total station in space, relative to surveyed targets. Once a main network through the building was established, a faster, non-targeted method was used. The lighter-weight GLS-2200 uses cloud-to-cloud registration to stitch geometry back to the main network. Cloud-to-cloud registration relies on overlapping and distinct geometry. For example, plain, white corridors do not survey well cloud-to-cloud due to monotonous colour and shape. See a demonstration of this type of registration using Topcon’s MAGNET Collage.
Despite the reflective surfaces, the interior of the Palacio de Congresos makes a perfect cloud-to-cloud registration case, its distinct spaces and curved structures are a perfectly suited to demonstrate the technology at its best!
It took a single operator just one day to traverse the iconic Norman Foster structure, and due to a well planned and meticulously executed survey path, registration work back at the office added little over an hour. Explore the building for yourself here. Check out our great scanning-related content and more in our fantastic program.
The resulting point cloud provides a digital representation of the building which the modelling team can use as a basis for developing a highly-accurate as-built BIM.
Stay tuned for our future posts where we’ll be reporting on the scan-to-BIM process for the Palacio, and exploring some of the options available for automating aspects of the task!
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