Detection of cracks and loss of mass in concrete through 3D point clouds generated by Terrestrial Laser Scanner

Author(s):  
B.W. Voigt ◽  
F. Bordin ◽  
P. Gorkos ◽  
M.R. Veronez
Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 201
Author(s):  
Michael Bekele Maru ◽  
Donghwan Lee ◽  
Kassahun Demissie Tola ◽  
Seunghee Park

Modeling a structure in the virtual world using three-dimensional (3D) information enhances our understanding, while also aiding in the visualization, of how a structure reacts to any disturbance. Generally, 3D point clouds are used for determining structural behavioral changes. Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) is one of the crucial ways by which a 3D point cloud dataset can be generated. Additionally, 3D cameras are commonly used to develop a point cloud containing many points on the external surface of an object around it. The main objective of this study was to compare the performance of optical sensors, namely a depth camera (DC) and terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) in estimating structural deflection. We also utilized bilateral filtering techniques, which are commonly used in image processing, on the point cloud data for enhancing their accuracy and increasing the application prospects of these sensors in structure health monitoring. The results from these sensors were validated by comparing them with the outputs from a linear variable differential transformer sensor, which was mounted on the beam during an indoor experiment. The results showed that the datasets obtained from both the sensors were acceptable for nominal deflections of 3 mm and above because the error range was less than ±10%. However, the result obtained from the TLS were better than those obtained from the DC.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Omidalizarandi ◽  
Boris Kargoll ◽  
Jens-André Paffenholz ◽  
Ingo Neumann

Abstract In the last two decades, the integration of a terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) and digital photogrammetry, besides other sensors integration, has received considerable attention for deformation monitoring of natural or man-made structures. Typically, a TLS is used for an area-based deformation analysis. A high-resolution digital camera may be attached on top of the TLS to increase the accuracy and completeness of deformation analysis by optimally combining points or line features extracted both from three-dimensional (3D) point clouds and captured images at different epochs of time. For this purpose, the external calibration parameters between the TLS and digital camera needs to be determined precisely. The camera calibration and internal TLS calibration are commonly carried out in advance in the laboratory environments. The focus of this research is to highly accurately and robustly estimate the external calibration parameters between the fused sensors using signalised target points. The observables are the image measurements, the 3D point clouds, and the horizontal angle reading of a TLS. In addition, laser tracker observations are used for the purpose of validation. The functional models are determined based on the space resection in photogrammetry using the collinearity condition equations, the 3D Helmert transformation and the constraint equation, which are solved in a rigorous bundle adjustment procedure. Three different adjustment procedures are developed and implemented: (1) an expectation maximization (EM) algorithm to solve a Gauss-Helmert model (GHM) with grouped t-distributed random deviations, (2) a novel EM algorithm to solve a corresponding quasi-Gauss-Markov model (qGMM) with t-distributed pseudo-misclosures, and (3) a classical least-squares procedure to solve the GHM with variance components and outlier removal. The comparison of the results demonstrates the precise, reliable, accurate and robust estimation of the parameters in particular by the second and third procedures in comparison to the first one. In addition, the results show that the second procedure is computationally more efficient than the other two.


Author(s):  
Darius Popovas ◽  
Maria Chizhova ◽  
Denys Gorkovchuk ◽  
Julia Gorkovchuk ◽  
Mona Hess ◽  
...  

We are presenting a Terrestrial Laser Scanner simulator - a software device which could be a valuable educational tool for geomatics and engineering students. The main goal of the VirScan3D project is to cover engineering digitisation and will be solved through the development of a virtual system that allows users to create realistic data in the absence of a real measuring device in a modelled real life environment (digital twin). The prototype implementation of the virtual laser scanner is realised within a game engine, which allows for fast and easy 3D visualisation and navigation. Real life objects can be digitised, modelled and integrated into the simulator, thus creating a digital copy of a real world environment. Within this environment, the user can freely navigate and define suitable scanning positions/stations. At each scanning station a simulated scan is performed which is adapted to the technical specifications of a real scanner. The mathematical solution is based on 3D line intersection with the virtual 3D surface including noise and colour as well as an intensity simulation. As a result, 3D point clouds for each station are generated, which will be further processed for registration and modelling using standard software packages.


Author(s):  
K. R. Dayal ◽  
S. Raghavendra ◽  
H. Pande ◽  
P. S. Tiwari ◽  
I. Chauhan

In the recent past, several heritage structures have faced destruction due to both human-made incidents and natural calamities that have caused a great loss to the human race regarding its cultural achievements. In this context, the importance of documenting such structures to create a substantial database cannot be emphasised enough. The Clock Tower of Dehradun, India is one such structure. There is a lack of sufficient information in the digital domain, which justified the need to carry out this study. Thus, an attempt has been made to gauge the possibilities of using open source 3D tools such as VSfM to quickly and easily obtain point clouds of an object and assess its quality. The photographs were collected using consumer grade cameras with reasonable effort to ensure overlap. The sparse reconstruction and dense reconstruction were carried out to generate a 3D point cloud model of the tower. A terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) was also used to obtain a point cloud of the tower. The point clouds obtained from the two methods were analyzed to understand the quality of the information present; TLS acquired point cloud being a benchmark to assess the VSfM point cloud. They were compared to analyze the point density and subjected to a plane-fitting test for sample flat portions on the structure. The plane-fitting test revealed the <q>planarity</q> of the point clouds. A Gauss distribution fit yielded a standard deviation of 0.002 and 0.01 for TLS and VSfM, respectively. For more insight, comparisons with Agisoft Photoscan results were also made.


Author(s):  
G. Vassena ◽  
A. Clerici

The state of the art of 3D surveying technologies, if correctly applied, allows to obtain 3D coloured models of large open pit mines using different technologies as terrestrial laser scanner (TLS), with images, combined with UAV based digital photogrammetry. GNSS and/or total station are also currently used to geo reference the model. The University of Brescia has been realised a project to map in 3D an open pit mine located in Botticino, a famous location of marble extraction close to Brescia in North Italy. Terrestrial Laser Scanner 3D point clouds combined with RGB images and digital photogrammetry from UAV have been used to map a large part of the cave. By rigorous and well know procedures a 3D point cloud and mesh model have been obtained using an easy and rigorous approach. After the description of the combined mapping process, the paper describes the innovative process proposed for the daily/weekly update of the model itself. To realize this task a SLAM technology approach is described, using an innovative approach based on an innovative instrument capable to run an automatic localization process and real time on the field change detection analysis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 2494
Author(s):  
Gaël Kermarrec ◽  
Niklas Schild ◽  
Jan Hartmann

T-splines have recently been introduced to represent objects of arbitrary shapes using a smaller number of control points than the conventional non-uniform rational B-splines (NURBS) or B-spline representatizons in computer-aided design, computer graphics and reverse engineering. They are flexible in representing complex surface shapes and economic in terms of parameters as they enable local refinement. This property is a great advantage when dense, scattered and noisy point clouds are approximated using least squares fitting, such as those from a terrestrial laser scanner (TLS). Unfortunately, when it comes to assessing the goodness of fit of the surface approximation with a real dataset, only a noisy point cloud can be approximated: (i) a low root mean squared error (RMSE) can be linked with an overfitting, i.e., a fitting of the noise, and should be correspondingly avoided, and (ii) a high RMSE is synonymous with a lack of details. To address the challenge of judging the approximation, the reference surface should be entirely known: this can be solved by printing a mathematically defined T-splines reference surface in three dimensions (3D) and modeling the artefacts induced by the 3D printing. Once scanned under different configurations, it is possible to assess the goodness of fit of the approximation for a noisy and potentially gappy point cloud and compare it with the traditional but less flexible NURBS. The advantages of T-splines local refinement open the door for further applications within a geodetic context such as rigorous statistical testing of deformation. Two different scans from a slightly deformed object were approximated; we found that more than 40% of the computational time could be saved without affecting the goodness of fit of the surface approximation by using the same mesh for the two epochs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Gaël Kermarrec ◽  
Niklas Schild ◽  
Jan Hartmann

Terrestrial laser scanners (TLS) capture a large number of 3D points rapidly, with high precision and spatial resolution. These scanners are used for applications as diverse as modeling architectural or engineering structures, but also high-resolution mapping of terrain. The noise of the observations cannot be assumed to be strictly corresponding to white noise: besides being heteroscedastic, correlations between observations are likely to appear due to the high scanning rate. Unfortunately, if the variance can sometimes be modeled based on physical or empirical considerations, the latter are more often neglected. Trustworthy knowledge is, however, mandatory to avoid the overestimation of the precision of the point cloud and, potentially, the non-detection of deformation between scans recorded at different epochs using statistical testing strategies. The TLS point clouds can be approximated with parametric surfaces, such as planes, using the Gauss–Helmert model, or the newly introduced T-splines surfaces. In both cases, the goal is to minimize the squared distance between the observations and the approximated surfaces in order to estimate parameters, such as normal vector or control points. In this contribution, we will show how the residuals of the surface approximation can be used to derive the correlation structure of the noise of the observations. We will estimate the correlation parameters using the Whittle maximum likelihood and use comparable simulations and real data to validate our methodology. Using the least-squares adjustment as a “filter of the geometry” paves the way for the determination of a correlation model for many sensors recording 3D point clouds.


2019 ◽  
Vol 93 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Immacolata Marzulli ◽  
Pasi Raumonen ◽  
Roberto Greco ◽  
Manuela Persia ◽  
Patrizia Tartarino

Abstract Methods for the three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of forest trees have been suggested for data from active and passive sensors. Laser scanner technologies have become popular in the last few years, despite their high costs. Since the improvements in photogrammetric algorithms (e.g. structure from motion—SfM), photographs have become a new low-cost source of 3D point clouds. In this study, we use images captured by a smartphone camera to calculate dense point clouds of a forest plot using SfM. Eighteen point clouds were produced by changing the densification parameters (Image scale, Point density, Minimum number of matches) in order to investigate their influence on the quality of the point clouds produced. In order to estimate diameter at breast height (d.b.h.) and stem volumes, we developed an automatic method that extracts the stems from the point cloud and then models them with cylinders. The results show that Image scale is the most influential parameter in terms of identifying and extracting trees from the point clouds. The best performance with cylinder modelling from point clouds compared to field data had an RMSE of 1.9 cm and 0.094 m3, for d.b.h. and volume, respectively. Thus, for forest management and planning purposes, it is possible to use our photogrammetric and modelling methods to measure d.b.h., stem volume and possibly other forest inventory metrics, rapidly and without felling trees. The proposed methodology significantly reduces working time in the field, using ‘non-professional’ instruments and automating estimates of dendrometric parameters.


2019 ◽  
Vol 154 ◽  
pp. 59-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.D. Lichti ◽  
C.L. Glennie ◽  
K. Al-Durgham ◽  
A. Jahraus ◽  
J. Steward

Author(s):  
Shenglian lu ◽  
Guo Li ◽  
Jian Wang

Tree skeleton could be useful to agronomy researchers because the skeleton describes the shape and topological structure of a tree. The phenomenon of organs’ mutual occlusion in fruit tree canopy is usually very serious, this should result in a large amount of data missing in directed laser scanning 3D point clouds from a fruit tree. However, traditional approaches can be ineffective and problematic in extracting the tree skeleton correctly when the tree point clouds contain occlusions and missing points. To overcome this limitation, we present a method for accurate and fast extracting the skeleton of fruit tree from laser scanner measured 3D point clouds. The proposed method selects the start point and endpoint of a branch from the point clouds by user’s manual interaction, then a backward searching is used to find a path from the 3D point cloud with a radius parameter as a restriction. The experimental results in several kinds of fruit trees demonstrate that our method can extract the skeleton of a leafy fruit tree with highly accuracy.


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