Mobile Coordinate Scanner Registration Using Scanline Intersections
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing 3D scanning systems using movable structures provide lower data quality and require specialized personnel, are bulky, and can delay scanning in time-sensitive situations, while stationary scans face issues with objects blocking light beams, leading to incomplete scans.
Innovation Solution
A mobile scanning platform with integrated 2D and 3D scanners that simultaneously capture scans while moving, aligning them based on intersections and optimizing relative positions and orientations to generate complete 3D models.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple stationary scans are performed to obtain complete coverage, then scan completeness is improved, but scanning time and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from stationary scanning to dynamic mobile scanning. The scanner is mounted on a mobile platform that moves continuously through the environment, allowing scans to be captured during motion rather than requiring repeated stops at fixed locations. This dynamic approach maintains scan completeness while significantly reducing total scanning time.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile scanning system performs continuous scanning during platform movement without requiring interruptions or repositioning. The scanner continuously captures data as the platform moves through the environment, eliminating the time loss associated with stopping and repositioning between stationary scans, while maintaining complete environmental coverage.
2Reliability
If multiple stationary scans are performed to obtain complete coverage, then scan completeness is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the scanner with a mobile platform into an integrated mobile scanning system. This merging eliminates the need for separate stationary scanning operations and complex coordination between multiple scanning positions. The unified system achieves complete coverage through continuous movement and real-time data processing, reducing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile scanning system performs automatic alignment and registration of scan data during the scanning process itself. The system self-corrects for motion and automatically registers scans from different positions without requiring external intervention or complex post-processing, simplifying the overall operational complexity while maintaining complete environmental mapping.
3Measurement precision
If the cart is stopped at scan locations to perform measurements, then measurement precision is improved, but productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system is designed to perform accurate measurements during continuous platform movement rather than requiring stops. The scanning system captures precise data points while the platform moves through the environment, maintaining measurement accuracy through dynamic data capture and real-time alignment algorithms, thereby eliminating productivity losses from repeated stopping.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile scanning system maintains continuous measurement operations during platform movement. The scanner continuously captures and processes data without interruption, allowing the platform to move steadily through the environment at optimized speeds. This continuous operation maintains measurement precision through real-time data acquisition while maximizing scanning productivity by eliminating stop-start cycles.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables faster, high-quality scanning of environments with improved data alignment and registration, allowing for autonomous or semi-autonomous operation and reducing scanning time in complex scenarios.
Implementation Method 1
A TOF laser scanner is a scanner in which the distance to a target point is determined based on the speed of light in air between the scanner and a target point
Implementation Method 2
collecting the reflected or scattered light to determine the distance, two-angles (i.e., an azimuth and a zenith angle), and optionally a gray-scale value
Data Source
AI summary
An example method includes moving a base unit through an environment, the base unit comprising the first scanner and the second scanner. The method further includes capturing, by the first scanner, a first scan of the environment, the first scan comprising at least one first scanline. The method further includes capturing, by the second scanner, a second scan of the environment, the second scan comprising at least one second scanline, wherein the second scanner scans about a first axis at a first speed and scans about a second axis at a second speed. The method further includes determining, by a processing system, an intersection at an object surface between one of the at least one first scanline and one of the at least one second scanline. The method further includes aligning, by the processing system, the first scan and the second scan based at least in part on the intersection.