CloudWorx 3.0 software brings "large point cloud" capability directly inside compatible CAD applications.

Following Leica Geosystems' launch of Cyclone 5.0 software in late 2003, the company announced its companion CloudWorx 3.0 application. Just as Cyclone 5.0 software enabled the efficient use of very large laser scan data sets in the company's specialized Cyclone application, CloudWorx 3.0 brings the same "large point cloud" capability directly inside compatible CAD applications.

Leica Geosystems HDS Inc. and Bentley are strategic partners, with Bentley distributing Bentley CloudWorx on an exclusive, worldwide basis.

The company's laser scanning (also known as High-Definition Surveying or HDS) products are used for conducting as-built, engineering, and detail geometric surveys within the AEC markets.

One of the main benefits of CloudWorx 3.0 will be for Leica and Bentley users who are eager to use the output from Leica's new HDS4500 laser scanner directly within MicroStation or AutoCAD-based applications. The HDS4500 is an ultra-high speed, phase-based laser scanner that inherently generates very large data sets in just minutes; data sets of >100 million points from multiple scans or even a single scan are not uncommon. Likewise, Leica Geosystems' new long-range, time-of-flight HDS3000 scanner is also capable of generating these types of large data sets, thanks to its maximum 360ºx270º field-of-view, high-density scanning, and true-color overlay features. By working with laser scan data directly within familiar CAD applications, users have a sharply reduced learning curve and can use their CAD application's rich tool set. Unlike other point cloud software, with CloudWorx 3.0 there is no need to first convert the scan data into an intermediate model for direct use in CAD. Likewise, by enabling the user to work directly with point cloud data instead of an intermediate model, the full accuracy of the raw data is preserved.

CloudWorx 3.0 will also enable CAD users to efficiently navigate through large point clouds thanks to two new features: "spatial indexing" of point cloud data and the management of multiple "limit boxes" to hide unwanted data.

Source: Leica Geosystems HDS Inc., May 20, 2004