History?
The history of building scanning technology dates back to the development of technologies such as photogrammetry, which emerged in the 1960s. However, it was the advent of laser scanning at the end of the 20th century that brought about a true revolution. The technology did exist in the 1960s, but it was far from suitable for larger surfaces due to the amount of time required for accurate measurements and the limited computing power available. Even today, significant storage is needed to store all the scan data, but with the substantial decrease in the price of hard drives and storage, this can now be achieved much more easily. Still, these files are often too large to email or quickly transfer.
Scanning, in principle, is not very complicated and is widely used to scan houses, bridges, installations, and even people. The complexity lies in the final result, the end product. In this course, you will become familiar with the process and discover the different aspects involved. How does it work, and where do the real challenges lie? First, we will dive into some background information on what photogrammetry and LiDAR technology actually are.
SCAN technology (Structural Computer Aided Analysis) refers to tools and techniques that digitally capture the structural, architectural, and environmental details of buildings and infrastructure. This technology creates a digital representation, often visualized in 3D. This can include the characteristics of a building, both inside and out.