LiDAR - 3D Laser Scanning
Light Detection and Ranging
What is LiDAR?
LiDAR or Light Detection and Ranging is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges. These light pulses, combined with other data recorded by the scanning instrument, generate precise, three-dimensional information about the environment and its characteristics.
LiDAR is the latest method to capture the physical environment and represent it in a 3-dimensional way such as a digital twin.
What can LiDAR be used for?
LiDAR can have many uses. From identifying floor line high and low points inside manufacturing plants to recreating realistic environments for video games.
As a drafting firm, our main use for LiDAR is to replace the traditional means of field measuring existing buildings. Before, a team of drafters would go out to a jobsite with a camera, tape measure, pen and paper to draw a rough sketch of the existing building floor plan, measure and mark down the dimensions, and gather hundreds of photos and then recreate the floor plan in CAD. The process is time-consuming and not very accurate. With LiDAR, 2 experienced technicians can go out to a jobsite and scan an entire building and gather more information in the same amount of time or less! Previously, if identifying length and width of a room, door and window size, and ceiling height were the task at hand, an individual measurement would need to be taken for each dimension needed. Now, one scan can gather all of that same information, faster, and more accurately than before.
