Help! My scan data has been ruined by unexpected movements...now I’m faced with costly rework

Thankfully, it doesn’t happen so much anymore, but when I first started scanning, there was no such thing as a laser scanner with a real-time dual-axis compensator, which meant that occasionally scans didn’t always come out as well as planned. Sometimes the data would look (quite) different to what was originally intended…

In fact, just as I was leaving my previous role to join Leica Geosystems, the original ScanStation was just entering the market. My first commercial job caused all sorts of “fun” onsite when it came to ensuring that the data was truly level and accurate, as I was using a scanner which didn’t have a dual-axis compensator – imagine that! Oh, how I longed to get my hands on one of those shiny “new” ScanStations.

But why? Well, the scanner I had been using wasn’t able to offer a user real-time feedback or corrections on the level of the instrument in the field, apart from looking at the physical bubble of course. Now imagine working with a >20kg instrument on a heavy-duty tripod in very wet turf… even with the best will in the world, there was always potential for the unit to sink, even slightly. On one particular set-up, I forgot to check the bubble at the end of the scan, and only when attempting to register the data in Cyclone did I see the problem – my wonky scan!

Revolutionising the market, the ScanStation was the first laser scanner to include in-field survey techniques (with a simple traverse routine). Using the same technology used in Leica’s Total Stations, data could be checked in real-time on a scan-line by scan-line basis and adjusted accordingly. To this day, through the ScanStation 2, C10, P20 and now the P16, P30 & P40, we continue to ensure data quality in the field, and as a result, these solutions continue to be trusted by surveyors.

Believe it or not, some scanners still don’t have this essential feature, and instead rely on a system of averaged results obtained during the rotation of a scan. Some other systems will simply notify you that movement has taken place after the scan is complete and not actively update the data to correct it. Which means your data could look like this... and you'd only know once you'd download and imported it.

So ask yourself this: what if you’re scanning in windy conditions? Or scanning in an area of high-vibration in which a tripod may alter its position slightly? What if someone walking past your set-up knocks into your tripod even ever so slightly? Are you confident you’ll still obtain accurate scan data? Would you have time or budget to revisit the site of this happens to you?

Find out how the Leica ScanStation P40 can compensate for unexpected movements by getting interactive & playing ScanVenture. Will you conquer the laser scanning challenges in all four levels and beat the top score? Start capturing ‘points’ today by clicking here.