3D激光扫描有助于避免发电厂中的冲突新装置

怀俄明州的一家燃煤电厂每小时生产2,110兆瓦的电力，从四个500英尺高的发电单元为整个地区的100万人提供服务。由于其对社区的重要性，该工厂在安装其新排放控制系统的安装中无法承受丝毫挫折，这是遵守EPA法规所必需的。

钢的僵局主导空间,许多of the key features of the emissions system had to be located above the steel support structure in the power plant. Joseph Gidcumb, project manager at the engineering firm that was entrusted with the challenge, knew that conflicts with existing structures were likely. The plant's as-is conditions would need to be captured with a high level of precision in order to pre-plan a flawless installation, fabricate the system, and ward off potential clashes with current structures. Measuring the installation area manually would be time consuming, and it would be virtually impossible to avoid inaccuracies that could expose the engineering team to a host of issues in the field. To mitigate problems with equipment function, the team would have to leave a cushion in tolerances and be prepared to fix issues as they arose while installing the system. Those changes, however, could delay the installation and run up the tab by hundreds of thousands of dollars. To complicate matters, the engineering firm would have to rent lifts to access some of the higher locations. And this, of course, would have introduced safety concerns and prompted the need for additional Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) training.

为什么激光扫描适合工作
Laser scanning was new to the engineering firm, so Gidcumb and his team needed reassurance that the data collected would be accurate and provide the necessary information.

"There's just a ton of steel in the plant, and they basically had to thread the needle through a 150 foot high structure," says Ryan Hacker, president of TruePoint Laser Scanning, who worked with the engineering firm on this project. "They were going to insert the new support structure down there. Besides using laser scanning, how else could they really know the installation was not going to clash with anything?"

Laser scanning was new to the engineering firm, so Gidcumb and his team needed reassurance that the data collected would be accurate and provide the necessary information. Because the virtual design group had not worked with point clouds before, they did not know what the data would look like, or exactly how they would use it. "Any engineering design firm gets pitched so many different new things and technologies that can do all this fabulous stuff," says Hacker. "They're understandably very skeptical about something they haven't used before."

Truepoint激光扫描的同伴确信，通过激光扫描创建的点云将无缝地适合工程公司的工作流程，并提供所需的所有细节。此外，激光扫描可以节省时间和金钱。基于Truepoint的信念，即激光扫描是最好的解决方案，并且数据收集的成本将降低，Gidcumb及其公司采取了信心的飞跃，并将激光扫描进行了测试。

从扫描和点云到冲突检测
在短短三天,两个技术人员完成了documentation, which included 48 scans.

The TruePoint Laser Scanning team used its Leica ScanStation C10 laser scanner for collecting data because its long-range capabilities, up to 300 meters, accommodated the height and distances required. In addition, they were confident the laser scanner would provide clean data and a smooth workflow. They set up targets that would stay in place as the technicians moved around the site, serving as landmarks for tying the final data to a coordinate system of the plant. Targets, which included an assortment of different types such as tripods, and magnetic bases that cling to railings or pipes, make it easier to register and stitch together the point cloud data into a comprehensive dataset. During the scanning process, technicians scanned each location, took photographs of the same scenes with the laser scanner, and also captured and labeled each of the targets.

在短短三天,两个技术人员完成了documentation, which included 48 scans. Hacker estimates that completing the same assignment using traditional measuring devices would have taken six people about three weeks, with far less data captured in the process. He notes that the cost savings add up quickly when considering the salaries, airfares, hotel expenses, and meals for the additional time and number of people who would have been required.

TruePoint Laser扫描将数据导入到Leica Cyclone软件中，注册了点云，并为工程师提供了Autodesk Format（PCGS）的文件，以用于其建模软件。此外，TruePoint为工程公司Leica Truviews提供了覆盖在点云数据之上的尺寸照片，可以在Leica Geosystems的免费Truview Panoramic查看器中查看，以提供该网站的视野。可以四处旋转Leica Truviews，以使工程师可以从不同角度看待点云，从而使他们更好地了解植物区域与彼此之间的关系，而不是看静态图片。他们还可以放大特定植物功能以收集数据以回答详细问题。

Since the engineering firm was based in a different state, Leica TruViews helped to familiarize them with the scan area and allowed them to return to the plant virtually as needed without traveling physically to the site. These virtual visits enabled them to provide a much faster turnaround on deliverables for the plant. In fact, within three days of receiving the point cloud data, the engineers had already found some major clashes. "We have discovered a few clashes with our structural steel which may not have ever been caught [otherwise]," says Gidcumb, "so I feel the service has already paid for itself."