3D Laser Scanning to preserve Trafford's heritage

During this project Trafford parks' buildings and monuments were surveyed with the Z+F IMAGER 5006i precision 3D laser scanner.

Z+F UK has been involved recently in a 3D Laser scanning project carried out on behalf of Trafford Council in Manchester, England.

The IMAGER 5006i is an updated version of its predecessor, the IMAGER 5006 and boasts an improved minimum range of 0.4m and an extended maximum range of 79m.

It is now also more resilient to operating at extreme temperatures greatly improving productivity for the laser scanner user.

The IMAGER 5006i can operate at temperatures as low as -10degC or as high as +45degC.

When combined with the Z+F M-CAM The IMAGER 5006i is able to capture colour information in only 3.5 minutes per scan.

During this time 28 still colour images are captured.

The colour information can then be automatically mapped onto the laser scan data.

The M-CAM and IMAGER 5006i are provided to the user pre-calibrated.

The handling of the Z+F IMAGER 5006i is also now more flexible due to a Wi-Fi interface.

This allows the user to operate the Z+F IMAGER 5006i from any device capable of receiving a Wi-Fi signal.

Connectivity is improved over a longer range and set up time is decreased.

As a demonstration of the technology, Z+F UK brought The Z+F IMAGER 5006i to Longford Park, in Stretford, Manchester and scanned the historic ship'pon and bungalow buildings.

The data was then brought to the desktop via LFM.

Council architects commented on how LFM would enable them to investigate the condition of the structures over several years, while parks staff and the local 'Friends group' advised they would use the data to develop a web-based resource containing 3D images of the buildings.

Dave Sykes, park development officer, said: "Each scan takes only three minutes and, after only a quarter of an hour, I was looking at an image of the courtyard of the ship'pon building on a laptop".

Executive Councilor Jonathan Coupe said: "This equipment will provide us with valuable detail that can be of real use to council staff and the local community".

"This is a great example of what can be achieved by working in partnership with other locally based organisations".

The scanning technology has been used worldwide to record both modern and ancient architecture to provide detailed plans where the originals have been lost or never existed.

This technology has also been used in other fields such as Engineering and Forensics.

For revamp projects, laser scan data can be used to see whether a proposed design will fit with the existing site.

In Forensics, crime scene investigators are able to make accurate recordings of crime scenes that can be returned to time after time.

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