Planning an installation overhaul with ten year old drawings is asking for trouble. Nothing matches up exactly anymore. Walls have been altered, pipelines rerouted, new components added. 3D laser scanning is the fastest way to bridge that gap: in just a few hours you have an up to date, millimetre accurate digital copy of reality.
How does it work?
A 3D laser scanner fires millions of laser pulses per second into the surrounding space. Every point where a pulse reflects back is recorded as an XYZ coordinate. Once several scan positions are linked together, a pointcloud is produced: an accurate 3D record of everything the scanner has seen. Pipelines, steel structures, floors, walls: it is all in there.
When is 3D scanning the right choice?
- Renovation or expansion of an existing installation where current as-built data is missing
- Clash detection before installation: avoid conflicts between new components and the existing situation
- As-built documentation after delivery of a construction or installation project
- Scan-to-BIM: converting the pointcloud into a working Revit or Civil 3D model
- Forensic investigation or damage assessment where the geometry of a situation needs to be preserved
And when should you not use it?
For small objects or single dimension checks, a total station is often faster and cheaper. 3D scanning only adds value when a lot of geometry needs to be captured, when the situation is complex, or when the data will be reused later for engineering or facility management.
Dutch Survey BV works with the NavVis VLX, a mobile scanning system that can also be deployed in narrow spaces and across multiple floors at once. That makes our scans particularly efficient in industrial environments.
