Concept to Commercialization of an Artifact for Evaluating Three-Dimensional Imaging Systems per ASTM E3125-17

The relative-range error test is one of several tests described in the ASTM E3125-2017 standard for performance evaluation of spherical coordinate three-dimensional (3D) imaging systems such as terrestrial laser scanners (TLS). We designed a new artifact, called the plate-sphere target, that allows the realization of the relative-range error tests quickly and efficiently without the need for alignment at each position of the test. Use of a simple planar/plate target requires careful alignment of the target at each position of the relative-range error test, which is labor-intensive and time-consuming. This new artifact significantly reduces the time required to perform the test, from a matter of about 2 h to less than 30 min while resulting in similar test uncertainty values. The plate-sphere target was conceived and initially developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), improved based on feedback from collaborators at the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada and TLS manufacturers, and commercialized by Bal-tec Inc. This new artifact will save users and manufacturers of TLSs considerable time and money.