Proposal

Narrative

3D Laser scanning is the process of mapping the vicinity by using laser based distance measurements. The derived distance measurements are converted to a 3D point cloud for various engineering, geological, architectural, forensic and 3D documentation applications. A laser scanner can collect several thousands of such 3D points in less than a second which drastically reduce the field time in above listed applications. After the data has been collected, it has to be further processed to create 3D data products that will be of interest to end users by using a point cloud processing software. Examples of such products and processes include, Mesh for 3D printing, fly through video, Building Information Modeling (BIM), cross sections, as-built survey, plant modeling, 3D structures diagram for Finite Element analysis, coastal erosion and change detection, emergency planning, etc. This proposal requests funding to acquire Leica HDS Scanning Software for data processing. As of now, the department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering has 3 laser scanners for 3D laser scanning. Among them, one Leica Scan Station II was donated by the industry. The laser scanner and the processing software have been incorporated in to several courses of undergraduate program of Civil and Geomatics Engineering and graduate program of Civil Engineering. The courses “Introduction to Terrestrial Laser Scanning” (SUR 4150C) and its graduate counterpart CEG 5304C (dual course) were created last year and attracted students from at least 6 disciplines namely Geomatics Engineering, Civil Engineering, Geology, Geography, Anthropology and Architecture. To our knowledge, this is the first undergraduate and graduate level course in the State that is fully dedicated to 3D laser scanning theory and applications. In addition, the laser scanners and the software have been used in the Civil and Geomatics engineering courses namely, Engineering and Construction Surveying SUR 3205 & SUR 3205L, Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering Design courses CGN 4803C & CGN 4804C and CGN 6930 Infrastructure. The equipment and software is also consistently used by both undergraduate and graduate students for research. In order to continue providing the hands on experience on this latest 3D laser scanning technology both equipment and software are required. The equipment need have been sufficiently fulfilled with two Leica Scan Station II (one was purchased in 2012 and the other was donated to us in summer 2015) and Velodyne HDL 32E scanners. However, the software to process the 3D laser scanning data has not been resolved. Without the software, the equipment of value more than $100,000 cannot be used to their potential. Hence, this proposal requests funding to acquire 8 licenses of Leica HDS Scanning Software for 3 years to continue providing state-of-the-art education to our students. After department matching of 20%, this proposal requests 80% of total cost $9000 for 3 years through this Technology Fee proposal. The requested support is $2400 for each year or $7200 for 3 years.

Facilities

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Hardware Requirements

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Software Requirements

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Personnel Costs

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Other Costs

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Timeline

The software will be installed immediately after it is funded.

Sustainability

N/A

Resource Matching

The department will match 20% of the total cost which is not more than $600 per year. Out of $9000 needed for 3 years, the department will match a maximum of $1800 in 3 years.

Implementing Organization

Technical Support Group of College of Engineering and Science will implement this project for students use immediately after the award.