Geospatial products distributor Aciel Geomatics has officially locally launched the Leica BLK360 imaging laser scanner – the world’s smallest and lightest image laser scanner.

Aciel Geomatics, the appointed distributor for Switzerland-based Leica Geosystems, launched the scanner at the geomatics industry’s yearly conference, the Geomatics Indaba, in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, in August.

The Leica BLK360 imaging laser scanner can be used by architecture, engineering and construction professionals in applications such as building construction, renovations and retrofitting, shop refurbishments, forensic scene documentation, design and as-built valua- tions, Aciel Geomatics sales representative Barend Bornman tells Engineering News, noting that the scanner is able to capture a digital three-dimensional (3D) model representation of virtually any subject in images and point cloud form.

The scanner weighs 1.1 kg and is 165 mm high and 100 mm in diameter. It can operate in temperatures from 5 ºC to more than 40 ºC, making it suitable for indoor and outdoor use. The scanner has a range precision of more than 4 mm at 15 m. Its range extends to 60 m.

Features of the BLK360 include a 150 MP spherical image generation capability, as well as 360 000 laser scan points a second.

In terms of specifications, the BLK360 has a light detection and ranging sensor, or LiDAR, an infrared sensor for thermal imaging, as well as 360º cameras, which perform spherical imaging with an LED flash and HDR support.

The wireless scanner has three resolutions: high, standard and fast, with a full-dome scan that can be completed in less than three minutes in standard resolution.

Bornman explains that, in order to simplify the use of the BLK360, Leica has teamed up with US multinational software corporation Autodesk to allow for the data to integrate seamlessly into Autodesk’s ReCap Pro software.

The BLK360 streams image and point cloud data to iPad, using the ReCap Pro mobile app, which filters and registers scanned data in real time. The software also registers multiple scans.

After capture, the ReCap Pro enables point cloud data transfer to several computer- aided design (CAD), built-in modelling, virtual reality and augmented reality applications.

The integration of BLK360 and Autodesk software further significantly streamlines the reality capture process, thereby opening this technology to nonsurveying customers.

Through the combination of the BLK360 and Autodesk ReCap Pro software, users have the advantage of speed, as they can conduct ‘on-the-fly’ image and cloud processing in the field, while having flexibility and portability of the small, lightweight scanner.

Users can also benefit from simplified data collection and cloud connectivity.

“If you’ve ever done the time-consuming fieldwork of measuring a space to create plans, or have had to draft the plans in CAD from someone else’s questionable measurements, you know the process could potentially be riddled with costly errors,” Bornman points out.

However, with the demand for accurate 3D models ever increasing, Leica has made it possible for the professional to be able to capture reality at an affordable price, Bornman concludes.