Preview
Leica BLK360 preview Sleek lines and ease of use mark the arrival of a new breed of 3D scanner from Leica Geosystems. Stephen Holmes finds a rare case of luxury Swiss design that can be used by architects and others — not just surveyors.
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mall, lightweight, black anodised aluminium, and with just a single button, the Leica Geosystems BLK360 is barely recognisable as a professional-grade 3D scanner. That button, however, unleashes its inner purpose — once pressed, three minutes later you have a full 3D scan of a room, in a combined laser, photogrammetry and heat-mapped model that is ready to be used instantly in Autodesk ReCap Pro from a partnered iPad. When giving AEC Magazine a demonstration of the new BLK360, Hexagon Geosystems CTO Burkhard Boeckem explained that its purpose is the ‘democratisation of reality capture’: allowing 32
everyone, not just surveyors, to collect scan data, increasing the impact that scan data can have on the design and engineering workflow. For the creation of the BLK360, Leica created a special group; evolving a competition design (brief: ‘It should not look like a scanner, but a timeless luxury item’) with its own design heritage, such as the Leica T2 theodolite; kitting it out via a trip ‘technology shopping’ through the vast innovation stores of its parent company Hexagon, before miniaturising the entire platform. From the pin-prick hole in the self-balancing mirror arm for noise cancellation, to the custom-built fold-flat tripod, Leica has gone about this project with a pains-
Autodesk University 2017 special edition
taking eye for detail, with each unit hand assembled at its Heerbrugg headquarters in Switzerland. It’s an eye-catching product, but it’s not lagging on the performance front. Leica states that its infrared scanner captures 360,000 points per second within a 60m range, while the HDR imaging is performed by a 15MP threecamera system that is calibrated for full spherical HDR imagery. According to Leica, this sets up a 3D point accuracy of 6mm at 10m, creeping to 8mm at 20m. The thermal camera integration is aimed at the AEC market and features a professional unit from infrared expert www.AECmag.com
