Point cloud scans are a commodity that can be acquired with ease. It is used in a wide range of industries, including urban surveying and urban planning. Invented in the 1960вЂ™s, lidar scanning is today the most cost-effective method of capturing a reliable three-dimensional representation of any existing terrestrial environment. Lidar can capture not only geometrical features, but also surface colour, reflectivity and so on вЂ“ even the ocean floor. The scanner is typically attached to a drone, but can also be used from aircraft or the ground. And these surfaces can be combined into watertight bodies that can be 3D printed. Instead, the guide the generation of surfaces.

However, since points lack extension and simply represent mathematical positions in space, they cannot be 3D printed. The position of each point is very accurate. The lidar measures the return time of each laser pulse and translates their time differences to points in space.

They bounce off the environment and back into a sensor in the lidar. The lidar sends out millions of harmless laser pulses. Lidar works similarly to a radar, but uses light. These points are captured by a lidar scanner. A point cloud is a simply a collection of points in 3D space.

Digital terrain model of city