Digitalising the Spanish Royal Palace with laser scanning

Author:Maribel Pros

Democratisation of 3D laser scanning and reality capture increasingly means more industries can apply the technology in their daily work, including for example, restoration and preservation.

In Spain,patrimonio nacional是负责管理和保存西班牙国家拥有的一些遗址和历史建筑的政府机构。Patrimonio Nacional需要创建西班牙最具标志性建筑之一的准确3D模型：马德里的皇宫。目的是生成建筑物内部和外部现状的统一数字记录，从而增加了建筑开始时至1738年的现有记录。

占领宫殿的项目，该项目比150万游客in 2017 and has more than137,500 square metres，始于2018年夏。在公开招标之后，该项目被委托给跨国测量服务业务服务部Grupo ACRE。The proposal included the use of Leica Geosystems’ latest 3D laser scanning technology. In order to make the 3D model a reality, theLeica Scanstation P40terrestrial laser scanner was used in partnership with theleica BLK360, the world’s smallest and easiest to use imaging laser scanner.

Maximum detail in the most confined spaces

This ambitious project was divided in two phases and specifically designed to guarantee maximum precision and minimum disturbance to the space. In the first phase, onsite scan work was completed with the BLK360 and P40. A总共5300次扫描were taken,1,300 of which were captured by the BLK360 with an average of 40 scans per day。During the second phase, the data gathered by both devices was processed usingleica Cyclonesoftware, resulting in the final unified point cloud.

BLK360易于使用，尤其是在较小的空间中，这意味着使用P40进行较大数据收集的技术人员可以同时使用BLK360作为访问较小空间的补充。“This increased efficiency in our daily data collection by up to 25 per cent compared to using the P40 alone,”said Oscar Gonzalez, technical director at Grupo ACRE.

At a push of a single button, the BLK360 captured 360-degree High-dynamic-range imaging (HDR) and a每秒激光扫描360,000点。这在历史建筑（包括其楼梯）内最有限的空间中产生了极高的细节。

通过部署Leica Geosystems的扫描技术，以前未知的数据和信息现已发现 - 例如，在此处的确切数量和窗户数量280年历史的建筑。到目前为止，这仍然是一个谜，因为自初始建筑以来，空间经过逐步修改和改编，以适应多年来不同的皇家居民。

改变历史保护的未来

This project to produce an updated floor plan of the Royal Palace sets the standard and precedent for plans to digitalise more historical buildings across the country. Patrimonio Nacional now has a unified and millimetre-accurate floor plan of this historic building, not only to document its history, but also guide its upkeep and preservation in the future.

“Museo de La Real Armería,” ground floor of the Royal Palace. To obtain this level of detail 20 scans in different parts of the room were completed with the Leica P40.

1,217 scans were processed in Leica’s Cyclone software for delivery to Patrimonio Nacional. Above you can see the 97 outdoor scans completed across the courtyard and roof. In all, 817 P40 scans and 400 BLK360 scans were used to capture the Palace.