Structured vs. Unified & Unstructured Scan Data

This describes the difference between structured and unstructured/unified scan data and the requirement for R2S.

Structured Scans

The supplied point cloud data should be consolidated into a single file for the entire site or for each individual area (e.g. deck level, module). The point cloud must be aligned to the easting and northing coordinates and rotational orientation specified in the GA drawings

• The structured data includes every scan location, along with the corresponding panoramic (360) images, depth maps, and 3D point clouds generated through the registration process.\
• All scan locations are represented within a 3D space.
• Users can navigate to any scan position, view the associated panoramic image, and move seamlessly between scans.
• Each scan file has a large file size.

File formats for R2S

• (Structured) RCP: File format from Autodesk Recap
• (Structured) FLS: file format from Faro Scene projects.
• (Structured) E57: A standardised exchange format for terrestrial laser scanning data. Almost all point cloud software can export a structured e57 format.

Unified Scans

• Unified e57s can only been imported to R2S if panoramic (360) images and individual scanner positions are supplied seperately.
• Unified scans lose the structure of the point cloud
• Scan panoramic (360) images and scanner locations (XYZs) are not included
• Size of point cloud is a lot smaller