RPScan: Rapid Laser Interior Facility Plans

Two weeks ago, GEOHuntsville held a mini conference for emergency responders hosted by Chris Johnson of A Visual Edge, Inc., Joe Francica of Directions Magazine, and AEgis Technologies.  The conference covered work being done under “The Blueprint for Safety” (BfS), a pilot effort of GEO Huntsville to support local public safety agencies with geospatial technology in the event of area emergencies.

The goal of the pilot is to integrate existing and emerging geospatial technologies to improve multi-jurisdictional rapid response. One part of the system being used is a new on-demand, online, self-service toolset created by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s (NGA) Integrated Working Group – Readiness, Response, and Recovery (IWG-R3).  The pilot will also employ crowdsourcing, gamification, and RFID management while assembling all information in an Event Page to enhance information gathering and sharing during critical events.

RPScan

One emerging technology that I found especially interesting at the conference was from Robotic Paradigm Systems, LLC of Huntsville, Alabama. It is in the business of creating rapid facility layouts using a laser scanning system. I get excited when I see technology that addresses a need using an elegant approach that is simple, effective, and low cost while also having a “light footprint.” RPScan seems to be such a technology.

As you know, many laser scanning systems do a superb job building interior and exterior 3D models. Some systems produce such high-resolution 3D models that they look almost photorealistic, showing every minute detail. Those systems, by necessity, are also somewhat cumbersome and intrusive for the customer. The resultant models are also large and can be difficult to manage.

Robotic Paradigm Systems took a more pragmaticm user-oriented approach. The team there realized that many users, especially emergency responders, don’t need extremely detailed 3D models that are only available for a few facilities.  What they need are “good enough” 2D models of as many facilities as possible, as soon as possible.

RPScan Operation

That has been the driving force behind RPScan.  RPScan is a very light, wearable backpack with an elevated sensor that “sees” above most furniture and even people in a room. Many current 3D scanning systems require stationary equipment firmly mounted on a stand in the center of a room. By comparison, RPScan captures data as the operator simply walks through the rooms in a building.  The continuous data capture is displayed on a wrist-mounted display, so verification of complete data capture is available to the operator real time. RPScan quickly maps indoor spaces, providing data that is then used to create accurate dimensional floor plans.

Here the operator walks briskly through a church capturing 2D floor plan data.

The wrist-mounted screen shows the captured data as collected, thus providing continuous quality control.

RPScan is a lightweight and mobile system that can rapidly create accurate dimensional layouts of large complex facilities. It captures spatial data of occupied buildings at an approximate rate of 75,000 square feet per hour, with roughly two hours more needed to convert the raw data to CAD floor plans depending on conditions and desired CAD details. The hardware ergonomic design is also very comfortable and unobtrusive. Watch this RPScan video of a capture session to see it in operation.

Traditional 3D scanning systems typically use stationary hardware suites that are set up in a room. Frequently the operator has to work during off hours or ask occupants to leave the room during scanning. This stationary method of scanning is relatively easy since all measurements are captured from a fixed point and reference angle. By comparison, a mobile system, like RPScan, is more complicated because the location, position and attitude, are continuously changing during the capture process. To operate under these conditions, the system has to capture data while also accurately tracking and compensating for the equipment/operator movement. This is a proprietary feature of RPScan and the key to its efficient data-capture capability.

Since RPScan is capturing a horizontal “slice” of data, adjusting the height of the scanner provides several advantages. Fixing the scanner height above the heads of occupants, data capture can be done without the need to evacuate rooms. Building occupants can go about their business with minimal interruption. This is especially important in facilities like hospitals that cannot easily stop operations or move occupants. The operator can quickly and unobtrusively move from room to room with only minimal disruption. Conversely, lowering the scanner height permits the capture of cubical walls or fixed furnishings such as benches and pews. Furniture can remain in rooms because it’s not necessary to view all walls in their entirety. During post-processing, continuous walls are obvious in the laser images so conversion to architecture CAD models is fairly easy.

Real-Time Display

A unique feature of RPScan is that the 2D layout is continuously displayed on a touchscreen attached to the operator’s arm.  As the operator walks through the interior space, continuous data capture is displayed as the layout image is being assembled. This real-time rendered display is more than just a convenience. It is the key to complete data capture and quality control. During the scanning process, it’s important to see areas that haven’t been scanned or areas that may need to be scanned more thoroughly. Since scanning efforts typically involve onsite data collection followed by off-site post processing, seeing results immediately builds confidence that the visit to the facility has been thoroughly and properly detailed.  This minimizes the possibility of a return trip to recapture an area that may have been missed or poorly scanned.

Another valuable feature of RPScan is that it can simultaneously record linked audio and video during the entire capture process.  This linking of audio, video, and location is a powerful capability and could be used to enhance first responder pre-plans by permitting virtual walkthroughs.

Uses of 2D Data

The high cost of 3D scanning systems and software can become a barrier for use in many applications. Some users cannot justify the complexity and cost of high-end 3D data capture and modeling when a 2D model would suffice. Some examples where 2D data has proved effective include:

• Interior design
• Firefighter pre-plans
• Architectural firms (initial survey and proposal)
• Building remodel/renovation
• Real estate sales
• Homeland security (interior mapping, tactical response, rescue, recovery)
• In-store people tracking for marketing
• In-store marketing material placement
• Archeology
• Facility management 

Future Applications

There have been significant advancements in GPS, IMUs, RFIDs, and other micro-technologies embedded in mobile devices, but much of this new capability also needs a “base map” to register the tracked locations. Thanks to overhead and ground-level imagery assembled by national agencies, Google, and Microsoft, we have very rich data sets of our exterior world. However, to fully exploit indoor tracking technology, we will need equally robust building interior maps. Until we have BIM models of all buildings, I believe that 2D mapping will fill that void faster than other options. Robotic Paradigm Systems, with its RPScan system, seems well positioned to lead the indoor mapping effort.

For more information contact:

Tim Coddington
tim@emailRPS.com
(256) 694-3940

Lynn Coddington Gilbert
lynn@emailRPS.com
(678) 428-0935