Flying laser scanner: one of 2022’s best inventions
World's first fully integrated autonomous LiDAR UAV
Earlier this month, TIME magazine released a list of this year’s top 200 inventions. Among them was Leica Geosystems’ BLK2FLY, an autonomous, flying laser scanner. It looks like a drone, but it’s not required to be piloted by an operator, using radar sensors, cameras and GPS in order to navigate an area and take accurate scans from the air.
Key highlights
- World’s first fully integrated autonomous LiDAR UAV
- LiDAR using a two-axis, spherical scanner
- 5 on-board cameras for full dome vision
- Identifies and avoids obstacles autonomously
“It takes less than 10 minutes to create a model of a New York City high-rise,” says Burkhard, Boeckem, chief technology officer of Hexagon, which owns Leica Geosystems. The UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) is well suited for capturing building exteriors, structures and environments, which it does by creating 3D point clouds while flying. It was designed with ease of use in mind: set-up simply involves unfolding it, turning it on and starting the scanning process from a tablet.
It is also possible to pilot the UAV, through simple controls in an app, which requires no previous UAV experience. This comes with the feature of a live camera feed, and sending the UAV to scan autonomously is just as easy: the tap-to-scan feature lets a user send the BLK2FLY to scan a new area by tapping anywhere on the 3D view in the app.
“The BLK2FLY makes it easy to get your data into your preferred software and to share your scans with others. It also works seamlessly with other Leica Geosystems sensors and software. You can directly upload your data to HxDR with automatic conversion to OBJ and cloud-based visualisation, and also allow others to access and work with your data, including data download, via HxDR. Or transfer your data to Leica Cyclone REGISTER 360 with USB-C or WLAN for scan-to-BIM workflows.”
Some other innovative features that support the BLK2FLY’s autonomous scanning ability include its full dome LiDAR sensor, which captures 3D point clouds in all directions. The autonomous flight maintains the ideal scanning distance, which is in part achieved by its omnidirectional radar and LiDAR, resulting in accurate obstacle avoidance. It also features a hot-swap battery system, where it will return to the operator mid-scan for new batteries when needed and then return to the scan. At only 2.6kg, it’s light and portable, and it comes in a transportation case that fits all accessories.