Based in Newcastle in the UK, Digital Surveys is a company which, over the last six years, has transformed itself from a traditional survey organisation into a specialist 3D laser scanning bureau. It operates in several sectors
including oil & gas, architectural, heritage and processing/manufacturing. The company is 100% focused on 3D laser scanning, 3D modelling, 3D inspections and, most recently, visualisation and virtual reality tours.
Profile
Ben Bennett, CTO, of Digital Surveys, explains his company’s use of iSTAR:
“I was presenting at SPAR International in 2010 and met the NCTech guys there. We followed them for a while, watching the evolution of the product as it was something in which we were very interested. We obtained an iSTAR from NCTech to trial on a couple of projects, including mapping caves used by Neanderthal Man in Gibraltar, and as a result of the success of these projects we purchased an iSTAR. It’s a great addition to our other gear.
“We’ve had good support from NCTech when required. Really, the only support we have needed was when our guys had the initial training and, subsequently, for software updates.
“The deciding factor in buying iSTAR was the fact that we’d bought
a Surphaser scanner which has no camera functionality so, knowing its capability, it was a ‘no-brainer’ to buy the iSTAR to go with it. The two combine fantastically. The Surphaser is pretty much the best scan data you can get and combined with iSTAR you get incredible data.”
Faster workflow and scanner compatibility
“We have three different scanners each of which is fitted with a bracket on to which we mount the iSTAR and it works well with all of them. We have a Leica P20, a Faro Focus3D and the Surphaser. The first two scanners have cameras built in but the quality is pretty poor and they don’t do high-dynamic range images, and the Surphaser has no camera. The iSTAR provides a much better quality image – high dynamic range images – and is much faster in taking images. “Doing a normal scan takes about five minutes and then taking photos with an in-built camera takes about another five. If you are using the iSTAR it takes seconds – it’s a much faster workflow on site – and the size and portability of iSTAR makes it nice and easy to use. The speed and ease of use is great and it does what it says – gets really nice images, really quickly. Using ISTAR we can quote for very cost effective site work as we are spending less time in the field.”
Automatic batching
“iSTAR and ColourCloud are very simple and straightforward to use. The only issue we have is with some of the different file formats – you have to export a file in one format and then convert to another to get it into the right format – but that is more down to the scanners than the ColourCloud software.”
“One of the most useful features is the ability to batch everything up. If you are using ColourCloud you can drop all your scans in one
folder and your images in another and it automatically batches these up – it’s a very automated process. iSTAR and ColourCloud produce
much better quality results for clients to look at. There is a markedly improved quality to the data. In the past you’d have a lot of blown out images, the contrast would be not very good, and the image would have a mishmash of colours. iSTAR and ColourCloud produce very nicely balanced colours and nice colour datasets.”
In action – Scanning World Heritage Sites
“As one of the trials of iSTAR we scanned caves on Gibraltar as part of a World Heritage project. Gorham’s Cave complex is one of the last known remaining habitats of Neanderthal Man and we needed good quality images in low light. We were about 50 metres into the cave complex crawling on hands and knees and we just used some small LED lights and the iSTAR images were really good.”
“We’ve found that in low light situations, where you would not normally get any images at all with a scanner, iSTAR ones come out great.”
“On the back of that work we got a second project, to scan the RRS Discovery, the last traditional wooden three-masted ship to be built in Britain, which is famous for transporting Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton on their first, successful journey to the Antarctic. “We were lucky to be able to use iSTAR on two such important and interesting projects, which really showed its capabilities.”
“We did a laser scan, created a model and then used the images from the iSTAR to texture the model. We got some fantastic images that
we were able to use to produce virtual tours and panoramic tours of the sites. We also came up with some innovative ways of using the images to colour the models rather than a point cloud.”
“In a different sector we’ve recently done a large chemical processing plant in Billingham.”
“There were lots of changes in colour and reflective materials. We got really nice scan data with our lasers and combined these with the iSTAR to get a fantastic colour overlay of quite a complicated working environment. We got a really nice data set at the end.”
New area developing – 3D visualisation
“Recently, we’ve started building 3D models and putting these into games engines. We’ve found we can use the iSTAR’s HDR images to light the environments and it works really, really well. It captures the existing conditions in ways you could not do normally. Gamification is a growth area for training and we are producing some impressive walk-rounds.”
“We are using Unreal Engine 4 and we can light the scenes using the images from the iSTAR, projecting all the reflections that you would have in the real environment into the scene. We are developing models for health and safety training in the oil & gas sector and also disaster management training in this industry, too, simulating oil rig environments, for example.”
“Currently, we are developing a workflow where we are taking the iSTAR images and painting these directly on to a 3D model using software called MARI. It’s for texturing 3D scenes, producing great results, and we will be using iSTAR even more in future.” For further information about iSTAR or NCTech software visit
