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。

钢的僵局占据了空间的主导地位，并且排放系统的许多关键特征必须位于发电厂的钢支撑结构上方。受到挑战的工程公司的项目经理约瑟夫·吉德布（Joseph Gidcumb）知道，可能与现有结构发生冲突。为了预先计划完美的安装，制造系统，并阻止潜在的与当前结构的冲突，需要以高度的精度来捕获该工厂的原样条件。手动测量安装区域会很耗时，几乎不可能避免不准确的情况，以使工程团队暴露于该领域的许多问题。为了减轻设备功能的问题，团队将不得不留下靠垫的公差，并准备在安装系统时解决问题。但是，这些更改可能会延迟安装，并将标签运行数十万美元。使事情复杂化，工程公司将不得不租用电梯才能进入一些更高的位置。当然，这将引入安全问题，并促使需要进行额外的职业安全与健康管理（OSHA）培训。

为什么激光扫描适合工作
激光扫描是新的工程公司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?"

激光扫描是新的工程公司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
In just three days, two technicians completed the 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.

In just three days, two technicians completed the 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."