Feature
Leica goes autonomous In years gone by, Leica Geosystems often appeared to be the most conservative of the point cloud technology developers. However, since the release of the BLK360 in 2016 the scanning giant has consistently surprised and innovated. 2021 does not disappoint by Martyn Day
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he concept of automated laser- accurate enough for basic interior cap- dense as a tripod-based traditional scanscan surveys has very much tures, Leica is obviously looking to inno- ner, but good enough for most applicabeen in the realms of science fic- vate and bring point cloud technology to tions, and very fast. tion. In the film Prometheus, the the masses in a portable form factor. It has Meanwhile Boston Dynamics unleashed astronauts launch flying, laser scanning never managed to keep up with demand. its SPOT robot. At AEC Magazine’s NXT balls to map the interior of the alien strucNext came the equally beautiful BLD 2019 event (nxtbld.com), R&D teams ture. While we are some way off that tech- BLK2GO, a handheld SLAM scanner. from a number of laser scanning firms nology, Leica flew in specifically to Geosystems has cleartry out their tripodly set itself on the path based scanners on Robots and drones will at first assist manual processes SPOT’s payload bay, to alchemising science until proven, but there is a sense of inevitability that fiction into science as they had not had fact. What happens this will revolutionise the speed at which site data can access before. Trimble when you combine was first out with be captured and relayed to those that need it mobile SLAM techSPOT for construction nology (Simultaneous with various payLocalisation and loads, but the scanner Mapping) with robots and drones? Using a dual axis LiDAR dome and an was for traditional static use. Looking back at Leica’s development array of 12 megapixel cameras, it capThis month Leica Geosystems path, it’s interesting to see how we got tured environments as you actively launched two autonomous variants of the here. The BLK360 was a surprise, low- walked through them, building point BLK2GO: BLK ARC, a laser scanning cost, small form factor laser scanner. With clouds as you went, at a rate of 420,000 module for SPOT, and BLK2FLY, a fully a product that is exquisitely designed and points per second. Not as accurate or as integrated LiDAR drone.
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September / October 2021
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02/10/2021 15:59
