Proposal

Emerging technologies, like 3D scanners, are increasingly used within architecture and its allied disciplines to collect data and analyze built environments. 3D scanning has become essential to geographers, geologists, engineers, criminologist as well as planners and architects for understanding complex human settlement patterns and environmental systems. The FARO Focus3D X 330 would provide greater portability and a straightforward interface to accurately scan and measure objects, buildings (interior and exterior), complex structures, accident sites, and large scale urban and environmental places. The new 3D scanner will provide a more advanced tool and techniques that support geospatial data analysis for current research and courses being taught in all curriculums. Procurement of a 3D scanner will raise the standards of our programs and enable us to target goals of the University's strategic plan. In particular, faculty will gain and graduates will leave with advanced skills that will put them at the forefront of their profession and increase their marketability within the workforce. As a learning-centered community, the 3D scanner will be strongly tied to the pedagogical and research goals of the collaborating faculty.

ARCHITECTURE 

Within the School of Architecture courses and research related to preservation, restoration, and urban and architectural design can be enhanced greatly through 3D scanning. Our goal is to train students and faculty in the use of 3D scanning technology and integrate it within the existing curriculum in the following ways.

Applications in Courses:

ARC 6305 – Introduction to Urban Design

ARC 6810 – Historic Building Documentation

Within these courses students will utilize the technology to document and analyze urban development or a building. Faculty will also utilize the 3D scanner to document great urban and architectural exemplars from travel and bring those places into the classroom for students to experience beyond photos and other 2D visualization.

ARC 5328 – Advanced Architectural Design 1

ARC 5352 – Comprehensive Design Project

These courses focus on urban issues in complex sites that are often difficult to document. Site documentation is a critical task, as it establishes the parameters within which students will develop solutions to the urban design problem being studied.  The FARO Focus 3d Scanner can facilitate the collection of site data, and will allow students to develop solutions that are based on more accurate context information.

Applications in Research:

Other applications of 3D scanning include:

·         Historic Preservation-emerging research will utilize the technology to scan historically valuable local building stock that is in danger of being demolished due to development pressures.

·         Documentation and Visualization of Complex Ecosystems—one faculty currently uses 3D scanning to document complex ecosystems and analyzes the data to produce biomimetic designs and processes to solve built environment issues.

·         Documentation of Environmental Conditions Relative to Climate Change.

ENGINEERING

Laser scanning has evolved as modern surveying equipment in the recent years due its potential to measure millions of point measurements in less than an hour. Therefore it is essential to train our students with this technology to stay competitive and successful. For that Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering (CEGE) department acquired a laser scanner in 2012. The usage of the scanner has expanded from Geomatics Engineering to five disciplines (Civil Engineering, Geomatics Engineering, Geology, Geography, Anthropology) in two years through courses Geomatics Engineering Design 1 SUR 4670, Geomatics Engineering Design 2 SUR 4672, Engineering and Construction Surveying SUR 3205, Civil Engineering Design courses CGN 4803C and CGN 4804C and Introduction to Terrestrial Laser Scanning SUR4150C. In addition, the scanner has been consistently used by undergraduate and graduate students of Engineering and Geosciences. Considering the high number of students as well as the increase in the need, an additional laser scanner will be highly beneficial for both engineering and other colleges such as architecture and Arts and Sciences.

LONGER RANGE APPLICATIONS OF 3D SCANNER

As STE(A)M programs, the School of Architecture and the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering are uniquely situated to utilize this equipment in innovative ways that will set us apart from our collateral programs in the region. While this equipment by itself might not distinguish our program from others, its use in concert with other hardware that we hope to acquire in the near future will allow more significant research in visualization and fabrication in architecture. We plan on seeking funding (in a separate application) for the following equipment:

·         Augmented Reality Goggles and Gloves

This equipment, used together with a 3D Scanner might allow students to document historical buildings and then virtually occupy the spaces of the building that might become lost to history. It might also be used to experience a project that is inserted into an environmental context that was documented by the scanner.

·         5-Axis CNC Router

This equipment, used together with a 3D Scanner might allow students to document architectural details of existing buildings (historical or contemporary), mechanical components, or site conditions at full scale and then fabricate that condition utilizing the router to study how that particular detail might work or how it might be better designed.

The acquisition of this additional equipment will enhance the usefulness of the 3D scanner and expand its applicability in future academic and research endeavors.