1. Laser Scanning: From Field to Revit
Erik Birzulis & Gregg Franz
Landair Surveys
Insert Company
logo
2. Agenda
• Introduction
• Laser scanning: what and how
• Recap: the middleman (example project
Adelaide Brickworks)
• Importing and then working in Revit
• Plug-Ins for modelling (example project
Queensland quarry)
• Case studies
4. Total Station vs Laser Scanner
Laser Scanner 1 hour fieldTotal Station 4 hour. Office 4 hours
5. Total Station vs Laser Scanner
Office 4 hours from laser scanning data
6. Why Use a Laser Scanner
• Rapid data collection = minimal site disruption
• Save money. All visible features measured first time,
call backs almost eliminated
• Minimise your risk
• Design with confidence
• (get a complete photographic record as bonus)
36. Plug-Ins for Modelling
Do you need to model?
• Dimensioning
• Presentation
• Clash Detection
• Visualisation
If modelling try:
• Clearedge Edgewise
• Imaginit Scan to BIM
• Leica Cloudworx for Revit
44. Conclusion
• Many benefits of using point clouds
• Point cloud data via Recap into Revit
• Segment data
• Data management
• Do you need to model?
• Model using just Revit or plug ins
About us: EB + Landair Surveys
Questions to audience:
Who here has spent ages using a disto and tape measure to get existing conditions information into Revit?
Who has had to go back to site to get more information at a later date or to work out where the inevitable misclose is?
Has anyone used surveyors to capture existing conditions information?
What are some of the issues that you may have had with the existing conditions information? How did you get the data into Revit?
Has anyone used a point cloud before?
There are many different types of laser scanners: terrestrial, airborne, mobile and handheld.
Terrestrial laser scanners (the focus of my presentation) measure points with 3d coordinates and an intensity. Some scanners can also colourise the points to give them true colours.
SHOW SCANNER and START SCANNING
The scanner is set up on a tripod and it systematically sweeps the area of interest until it has a complete picture of the visible space.
Like a traditional surveying total station, for each point, the scanner measures one slope distance and a horizontal and vertical angle. The collection of the points measured is called a point cloud.
There are 2 main types of scanners used in surveying: Time of flight and phase shift.
Generally shorter range scanners are quicker and more precise, some can measure up to one million points per second. Range of about 50-300 metres.
Long range scanners can scan up to several km but are slower in the order of 50-100 thousand points per second.
DISCUSS PHOTOS
Once one scan is completed, the scanner is moved to the next location and the process repeated
Rapid, story about hotel 4am starts done in 3 days before 8:00am, weeks using traditional
Save money, story about John Fawkner Hospital, initially only walls needed, then 2D plant info, then 3D plant info
Minimise risk Unknown Unknowns Donald Rumsfeld
Design with confidence- offsite fabrication….
Complete photographic record…
Floor/ ceiling deflections. Wall verticalities also available
Rapid, internals only before 9:00am exams
Look at all the visible features measured
Design with confidence
This shows detail from one scan station, but need many scan stations to get a complete survey due to line of sight limitations and range limitations
Registration is the process of stitching the individual scans together
This is an example of a laser scanning target.
Sphere of known dimensions, software calculates the centre of sphere and so stitches adjoining scans together
Other types of targets: checkerboards, existing features – these don’t work as well.
With any target you need to ensure you get enough scan points onto the target to determine the geometric shape of the target.
Targets are most accurate
Can also use existing features to manually stitch together or some software thinks it can register scans together automatically with no targets. We have done studies with this and not very accurate
Georeferencing refers to getting the point cloud onto a datum. Need to use some traditional surveying.
Using traditional surveying instruments allows for QA. Very important! Lots of black box stuff!
I am going to run through an example project we completed at Adelaide Brickworks to show how we can get laser scanning data into Revit.
Project details
3 days in field to measure everything!
2 days office processing of scan data
1 day Revit modelling
Start video
People getting in way!
Targets moved???
Need QA
Backing up anecdote
Revit takes RCP or RCS files
The scan data is either exported to a RCP file directly from Registration Software or is exported as a point cloud and imported into Recap
We recommend you go via free software RECAP
Autodesk's Point Cloud Engine, introduced for 2014. Significantly better then pre 2014 product.
Is the basis for getting point clouds into Autodesk AEC products such as 3DS, Navi, ACAD, Revit
Its Free (unless you want Premium Features) and more importantly, its quite useful.
Recap can be used to perform some general editing on the scan data such as deleting traffic that is in the way.
It’s Clipping Box and Region Segmentation tools are good however the more segmenting you perform the slower the software becomes.
For this project we segmented the data into 7 boxes.
Larger projects are broken up into regions such as by Floor Level or by zones.
We try to have regions that are about 500Mb in size to enable better project management, especially with regard to computing power.
New project
Import all the files you need
Once imported we need to index the files. This may take a long time (overnight) depending on the number of scans
Once you have created your regions in Recap, export each region individually as a RCP file; (in Revit 2017 you can export just one RCP file and it will maintain the regions).
We recommend the steps to follow to import the RCP files to Revit are:
Go to Insert: Point Cloud
Find the first RCP file you wish to link
For positioning choose Auto - Origin to Origin
Click Open
Repeat for remaining RCP files.
If your RCP files are on a different coordinate system from your Revit model, then you will have to manually move and rotate the scan data using standard Revit tools. Make sure you document the transformations you used.
Reminder: Store the point cloud files locally!!!
West end floors and trusses match the levels set, but on east side………
Note differences in Truss Heights & Undulating Floor
For the trusses in this project we used the Model in place component tool to model the trusses
As you know massing tools enable you to model smooth corners, curved walls, curved holes in walls. Massing can also be used to create slanted walls
Final Revit model
Field survey time 3 days including connecting the survey to MGA and AHD, QA checks, tight access to get into base of chimney
Point Cloud processing 2 days in office
Revit modelling 1 day
VIDEO hospital floor
John Fawkner Private Hospital is a 147 bed major surgical, medical and emergency hospital. 5 wings and 7 floors
Discuss project, 20 long days on site, 20 days scan office processing, Revit modelling 0.5 day only pipes in a plant room on next video
VIDEO plant room
Discuss project, how many days on site, office processing, Revit modelling
VIDEO
3 days on site surveying 1.5 days processing scan data
Discuss project, how many days on site, office processing, Revit modelling
Once you have the point cloud in Revit, you are able to model from the point cloud in a similar way to a linked CAD file or a scaled image or PDF.
NOTE you don’t need to model everything, the point cloud can be used for dimensioning, presentation, clash detection or visualisation.
There are also software programmes that allow you to model elements prior to importing into Revit or sitting inside Revit. Some examples are:
If you are modelling how far do you model? For example do you model only a window penetration or the frame as well. Do you need mortar lines in a brick wall? Do you need every ceiling panel in a reflected ceiling plan?
There are no standards for the level of detail required so you need to be clear at the quoting stage what you will be producing.
Crusher Plant south of Brisbane, replace some equipment inside this building
We use specific software (Edgewise) to extract structural elements automatically and semi automatically.
Edgewise can dramatically reduce modelling time. This is then exported to a native Revit file.
1.5 days scanning 1 day scan processing
Clearedge 2 days
Revit 30 minutes
Other than beams and columns can also assist greatly in modelling walls, ducts, pipes, floors
Example of modelling specification pipes are modelled if they have a minimum diameter of 25 mm.
Penetrations are modelled to nominal dimensions for major wall openings such as windows, doors, and large mechanical elements
An example accuracy specification for walls may be +/- 5 cm for BIM measured 1 meter above the floor.
The resulting accuracy can be determined by picking some samples and calculate the deviation as discussed previously for QA
LOD is great, very generally speaking. Not really very helpful for defining amount to model from laser scanning point clouds.
A better way is to listing all the items specifically This way all parties know what is expected