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Conference Review: 2009 Leica Geosystems HDS Worldwide User Conference
Introduction
 "Underscoring the strong interest in laser scanning the 2009 Leica Geosystems HDS Worldwide User |
Overview
The goal of the conference was to help users increase their success with HDS. Reflecting today's times, the conference had a theme, "Leveraging HDS tools for maximum success in today's economy".
The conference featured 38 presentations, including a luncheon keynote by Dr. Dieter Fritch, Director of the Institute for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, University of Stuttgart, Germany. Most presentations were by users who educated attendees about the latest HDS applications and workflows, over a wide array of markets. Two presentations were panel discussions; another was a "product input" session in which users stated their latest wish list for HDS product & service enhancements to key Leica staff.
The conference also featured eight (8) half-day, hands-on workshops, an exhibit area, and several, popular networking events. Feedback was very positive, with >98% of respondents stating they would like to attend future HDS user conferences. For the first time, the conference was also webcast. Almost all presentations are available for online viewing.
Dr. Dieter Fritsch of the Institute for Photogrammetry, Universityof Stuttgart, delivered the keynote address on
the need for further development of software for more efficient extraction of deliverables from laser scan data
Informative Presentations
The conference is built around 2 ½ days of presentations in which almost all were given in one main conference room to over 200 attendees. Highlights of several are given below.
New Laser Scanner
Leica's Dr. Greg Walsh gave an insightful presentation on the new Leica ScanStation C10 laser scanner, announced shortly before Intergeo. Dr. Walsh was one of the heads of Leica's US-Swiss team which jointly developed the compact, "all-in-one" laser scanner. He described several features not detailed in marketing and spec sheets, but which are of interest to users. For example, he noted that many parts of a Leica ScanStation C10 are the same as those used in Leica's total stations. These include four read head absolute angle encoders found in the high-end Leica TM30, ½-arc second total station; System 1200 laser plummet; onboard touch screen display; total station batteries & charger; and TPS high-precision, nitrided azimuth ball bearings. These all contribute to the ScanStation C10 being a "next-generation platform" on which users can expect to see incremental enhancements over time compatible with other Leica instruments.
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Leica's Dr. Greg Walsh used this cutaway view to help describe the ScanStation C10's
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Dr. Walsh also described how ScanStation C10's new Smart X-Mirror design works to enable both oscillating scans for capturing fine details at long distance and spinning scans for capturing full-dome interior scans in less than two minutes (>20 times faster than the ScanStation2 scanner).
 Conference attendees get a demo of the Leica ScanStation C10 scanner in the conference exhibition area" |
Forensics
The use of laser scanning in forensic investigations is growing rapidly and a presentation on the morning of the first day prepared by Valentin Vanhecke and Theo Kok of the Dutch National Police (Korps landelijke politiediensten - KLPD) showed why. Their presentation described use of both a long range, time-of-flight ScanStation2 scanner and a short-range, ultra-fast, phase-based Leica HDS6000 scanner to investigate major incidents. The long range scanner is mostly used outdoors and for big objects, such as a fallen crane or a stretch of roadway; the short-range scanner is mostly used indoors or when extra, close-range detail is needed. The department can contact regional Dutch police agencies to access two more scanners.
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Valentin Vanhecke of the The Dutch National Police describes how his department uses laser |
The department's origins are investigating traffic accidents with serious injury or deaths; their largest was a 114 car pile up in Badhoevedorp. They also recorded the Firework explosion in Holland and several terrorist attacks in the Middle East for the UN, plus the 2009 Queensday tragedy.
Scanning is used on many, but not all, cases. For forensic investigations, things they need to record are fading and disappearing over time, some in a matter of moments. Plus, there is almost always a need to clean up the site, such as a roadway, quickly. Some sites are also not safe to occupy, so speed is again beneficial. This need for speed is one of the major reasons why scanning is used. Another reason is when a high level of detail is needed. Valentin cited a shooting scene as an example - a bullet hole in a wall that was not originally observed was later found in scan data. Another situation benefiting from detail is where the investigating team is not clear what needs to be captured, so to be safe, they try to capture everything. Regardless of the situation or tools used, their goal is an unbiased, independent recording of the site.
Deliverables typically include 360º photography (from a Spheron camera), Leica TruView point clouds, and a plan drawing of the scene. Sometimes 3D computer models are created. Deliverables are used in different ways:
1. in an interrogation or to go back "virtually" to the crime scene with a witness
2. as a visual aid to case detectives
3. as a visual aid in the courtroom (also during questioning of witnesses and accused) or to paint a general picture of what happened
On Day 3 of the conference, Sara Watson of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department gave a similarly interesting presentation on how their crime lab uses their two (2) ScanStation2 scanners for major incidents in California.
Mobile Scanning
Attention was drawn to the challenges of implementing a mobile scanning system to meet user needs. Several aspects were described in detail:
1. system integration of various sensors
2. accurate timing
3. sensor alignment and system calibration
4. GNSS outages and their affect on positional accuracy
5. data volumes and data reduction
6. QA/QC
As an example of the above items, Bert Jeeninga explained that for a vehicle traveling at 90 kph, just one millisecond timing error (0.001 second) leads to 2.5 cm horizontal positional error. He also showed a 2m long ramp fixture that QPS uses for calibration - a vehicle travels sequentially in opposite directions to capture the fixture and results are then overlaid on each other for comparison. Further on positional accuracy, it was shown that GNSS can be a source of significant vertical error and that selection of the best INS sensor is key for high accuracy results. Lastly, for creating real-time results, Bert Jeeninga provided several technical insights to data reduction approaches that do not compromise accuracy. In addition to this presentation by QPS, mobile scanning was also addressed by knowledgeable speakers from Germany and from Turkey who have also successfully used Leica phase scanners in mobile mapping.
Scanning-to-BIM
BIM (Building Information Modeling) and laser scanning are both hot topics. To get beyond the buzz, the conference featured two individual presentations and a panel discussion with several Leica HDS users who are active in both areas.
One individual presentation on scanning and BIM was by Dale Stenning of Hoffman Construction, Seattle, USA; the other by Lem Morrison, president of Mercator Land Surveying, New York, USA. Panelists included Dale Stenning, plus Chris Zmijewski, Stantec (US and Canada), Odd Erik Mjorlund, GEOPlan (Norway), and Shane Loyd, RLS Group, (US).
Dale Stenning's presentation was interesting because he represents a $1 billion/yr construction company that has been using both BIM and scanning successfully for many years. He gave numerous practical examples where the two had been used in tandem. Many uses of HDS were for QA/QC of portions of a construction project that involve critical structures. With this QA, downstream construction project risks involving these structures were reduced, thus avoiding possible costly fixes and project delays. Other uses included quantity surveys and final as-builts. The general idea was to use HDS to keep the original BIM model up-to-date, reflecting actual construction. This not only enabled construction to proceed more smoothly, but the final model could also be used with confidence by building owner/operators for facility management or additional engineering needs.
Lem Morrison's presentation showed how his small survey company used HDS to assist a developer client with better leasing plans for a New York City property. Scanning and BIM in this case served as better asset management tools than traditional methods.
Perhaps most intriguing and exciting was the panel discussion on Scanning-to-BIM. Here, the question was posed to the panel as to whether or not Scanning-to-BIM was hype or real. What attendees heard from the expert panel was that it was already very real.
Stantec's Zmijewski cited a scanning-to-BIM contract that his 130-location, 10,000-employee firm had just won with a potential for $30 million in scanning services over the next 5 years. Scanning was based 100% on the owner/operator's requirement for scanning. In this case, the owner/operator was the General Services Administration (GSA) which is landlord for many US government buildings. Shane Loyd's RLS Group had won a similar sized contract for small, regional firms.
The role of government in driving BIM forward was reinforced by GEOPlan's Mjorlund, who cited a Norwegian Government requirement to use BIM on all new construction by 2010 and all existing buildings by 2012. The consensus was that BIM had recently transitioned from talk into actual heavy project usage by most leading construction firms and large architectural/engineering firms and that HDS was a natural fit for accurate 3D as-built information. Several presenters at the conference cited BIM as a major business opportunity for those in laser scanning.
Searching for a lost da Vinci painting
One of the most fascinating presentations on this topic was the conference's very last one by Michael Olsen, representing the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) and Oregon State University. He described research efforts aided by HDS to locate and identify The Battle of Anghiari (1505), a lost painting by Leonardo da Vinci. Its main scene depicted men riding war-horses engaged in battle. A 1603 drawing by Rubens (Louvre), The Battle of the Standard, was based on an engraving derived from the original da Vinci painting. Referred to as, "The Lost Leonardo", some believe that it was not only da Vinci's best work but that it's also still hidden behind a later mural painted by Vasari in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence.
Olsen described various sensing and measurement techniques including x-ray, ultraviolet fluorescence scans , thermography, and infrared reflectography which can "see through" surface frescoes and characterize content beneath the surface. Many of these techniques can only be done precisely on very small areas, so HDS is used to piece them together into a geometrically correct mosaic. The research effort is led by UCSD's Dr. Maurizio Seracini and is funded largely by National Geographic which plans to eventually broadcast its final results. No photography or video was allowed during this session, reinforcing how special of a treat this presentation was for attendees.
Key Trends
Another obvious trend was that today construction companies and fabricators now clearly "get it" as far as seeing the significant financial benefits of 3D laser scanning for their business. Several presentations were by construction companies or fabricators who own their own Leica HDS scanners and software. Multiple presentations showed that scanning is also not just the domain of large organizations - one and two-person companies also use HDS very beneficially for their everyday business. Lastly, the exploding use of TruView (including web portals) and the proliferation of fly-through movies made it clear that more clients are increasingly appreciating the benefits of the rich data that high-definition surveys can deliver.
Summary
Author
Geoff.jacobs@lgshds.com
Currently Sr. VP, Strategic Marketing for the Scanning Business unit of Leica Geosystems AG. Geoff's role includes organizing the annual Leica Geosystems HDS Worldwide User Conference. Geoff has been involved in laser scanning since 1998 when he joined Cyra Technologies, which was acquired by Leica Geosystems in 2001. Geoff has a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from the University of Rochester and a Master of Science in Engineering from Penn State University. www.leica-geosystems.com/hds
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