BLK360 Benchmark

Benchmark

Ensure you have read up on the limitations outlined in Principles of 3D Scanning:

Principles of 3D Scanning / Digital Reconstruction

As the BLK360 captures spatial data, it is more forgiving and consistent than something like photogrammetry as there is minimum amount of room for user error - your subject matter will either scan or just not be compatible.

Occlusion and Overlaps

Occlusion, the effect of one object in a 3-D space blocking another object from view, is one of the more important factors to work around. Due to the limited placement and positioning as the scanner can only capture what it can see.

Additionally, for the scans to align properly, the environment must allow for the scanner to be positioned so that each scan will have enough overlapping information. There are manual alignment tools if necessary though.

[A] consists of two scans with barely any overlap, while [B] uses a third scan to ensure enough overlap.

The optimum scanner range is 7-10 meters between scans. Usually this will allow for enough overlap, but working around occlusion might require more scans to help with alignment.

One common area where this is required is transitioning through doorways, it is recommended that a scan is taken right in the doorway to bridge the scans.

Resolution

The scanner operates by bouncing a laser to and from its sensor whilst spinning. Therefore, objects that are far away will have sparser scan data.

Positioning the scanner appropriately is therefore integral to capturing all the required data and at an appropriate resolution. Usually doing more scans at medium-quality is recommended over a singular high-quality scan.

Lighting/Environment

The Leica BLK360 does not require light to function, it will indiscriminately capture all geometry within its vision and range.

It does however depend on light for colour. The scanner uses a 360 photo taken at the start of each scan to colourise the final point cloud.

As it is a photo, any shadows will be mapped to the point cloud colour.

Any changes between the photo and the scan will also be captured.

The photo option can be disabled, rendering a grayscale point cloud. This can speed up the processing time if colour is not a concern.

Recommendation
Scan during overcast weather	Minimise shadows in the photo that will project onto the point cloud.
Scan during times without any dynamic environmental changes.	Scanning at dawn/dusk, or during unpredictable weather, or even sunny days with cloud movement should be avoided to ensure colour consistency across scans. Also avoid times with lots of pedestrian traffic.
Enable HDR Scanning	Can help with colour accuracy, goes hand-in-hand with an overcast day.

Transparent/Mirrored Surfaces

These surfaces will not be captured by the scanner.

Transparent surfaces will not be captured at all as light passes straight through.

Extremely reflective or mirrored surfaces will not be captured as a surface, instead, the reflections themselves will be converted into point cloud data. This can cause erroneous spatial mapping.

Recommendation
Mask or paint any reflective or transparent surfaces	Only recommended if the geometrical detail is absolutely required. Colour data will be based off the mask or paint used.