An update on laser scanner technology.

With this, our second survey dedicated to 3-D Laser Scanners, there has been a few changes. Not to the focus of the survey, which is still on scanners of interest to the surveying profession, but changes to the laser scanner industry sector itself. The changes aren’t anything too radical, just a few things that make scanner technology better than ever.

“Scanners are starting to get smaller, both in weight and in size, faster with higher 3-D data acquisition rates, more accurate, and with ‘cleaner’ data, meaning not as much optical noise in the acquired point cloud data sets,” says Ray Lawson, president of Blue Ridge Metrology Inc. in Forest, Va., an experienced 3-D laser scanner user. “In addition, software is beginning to accept data sets from different scanner manufacturers and techniques for registering, that is, aligning 3-D data sets, making them easier to use.”

These improvements have made the scanning of surfaces of buildings, piping complexes, bridges and similar large-scale projects easier and faster than ever. Although the laser scanner industry is still fairly new and evolving, the categories of specifications listed have been designed to reflect practical points of interest to surveyors. We hope this survey will continue to help potential users determine important features and specifications needed to select a laser scanner.

Participating Laser Scanner Manufacturers

3rdTech Inc.
Contact: Doug Schiff
119 E. Franklin St., 3rd floor
Chapel Hill, NC 27514-0248
919/929-1903
E-mail: dbs@3rdtech.com
www.3rdtech.com

Cyra Technologies Inc.
Contact: Geoff Jacobs
8000 Capwell Dr.
Oakland, CA 94621
510/633-5000
E-mail: info@cyra.com
www.cyra.com

MetricVision Inc.
Contact: Jack Shry
8500 Cinder Bed Rd., Suite 150
Newington, VA 22122
703/550-2945
E-mail: sales@metricvision.com
www.metricvision.com

Optech Incorporated
Contact: Brad Ysseldyk
100 Wildcat Road
Toronto, Ontario M3J-2Z9
416/661-5904
E-mail: Imaging_sales@optech.on.ca
www.optech.on.ca

Riegl USA
Contact: Jim van Rens
7041 Grand National Drive, Suite 232
Orlando, FL 32819
407/248-9927
E-mail: info@rieglusa.com
www.rieglusa.com