Question: Can I use 3D laser scanning to create as-built drawings of a mechanical room?
Answer: Yes! 3D laser scanning services are especially good at capturing the piping, conduit, pumps, compressors, chillers, and other industrial equipment. When a mechanical room is thoroughly scanned, it is as if you have a miniature copy of the room right on your computer that you can use for taking measurements and planning upgrades or changes.
You may be wondering if the presence of people is a problem for 3D laser scanning. As a matter of fact, usually people in the room make no practical difference for generating the drawings. However it is generally good manners to try and stay out of the shots. It would be like the real estate agent being present in all of the digital twin walk through images. But the difference here is that when the laser scanning processing team creates a 3D CAD model, they can ignore the person scanning in the middle of the floor.
lighting: Not a factor
Is your mechanical room dark and dingy, or even pitch black? Here’s some good news – 3d laser scanning works great in the dark! The 3d laser scanner is the light source itself for the scanning, but the wavelength of laser light that modern scanners use is not visible to humans, so you would not see it. This hasn’t always been the case; older scanners projected a bright green beam that could be clearly seen in low light.
Laser scanning in tough environments
What about the harsh environmental conditions that may be present? Such as very high or low temperatures, water or humidity, or loud noise ? Well first we’ll point out that not all 3d laser scanners are equal. Arrival 3D uses laser scanners that are designed to be tough so that the presence of adverse environmental conditions will not cause the scan quality to suffer, or worse, ruin the scanner. Even if a scanner got rained on, it would work just fine and probably scan the raindrops too.
Amazing Versatility
But what about high ceilings, tunnels, crawl spaces, risers, shafts and other odd-shaped spaces? When comparing 3d laser scanning to something like Matterport, this is where the laser scanner really shines. The scanner has an extremely versatile range and can accurately measure objects that are either right in front of it or 200 ft away with virtually no degradation of quality. If the scanner is on a tripod, it can be collapsed with flattened legs to fit under a tight space or in a low ceiling height tunnel, or raised up on to a 15 ft tall tripod and inserted into a ceiling space that is not visible from the floor. A scanner can be mounted to a horizontal stand and extended out over the edge of a deep shaft, or even the edge of a roof. It can be turned upside down and lowered into a manhole. The versatility of this amazing instrument is remarkable.
Give us a call to discuss 3D laser scanning of your mechanical room!