(3D Imaging) Point Cloud

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_cloud

A point cloud is a set of data points in space. The points may represent a 3D shape or object. Each point position has its set of Cartesian coordinates (X, Y, Z).[1] Point clouds are generally produced by 3D scanners or by photogrammetry software, which measure many points on the external surfaces of objects around them. As the output of 3D scanning processes, point clouds are used for many purposes, including to create 3D CAD models for manufactured parts, for metrology and quality inspection, and for a multitude of visualization, animation, rendering and mass customization applications.

==> collect data for modelling, well suits the historical attempts to transform most physical assets into digital ones.

Here is a wonderfully made commercial pitch:

pointcloud

their academically published product:

A universal 3D imaging sensor on a silicon photonics platform | Nature

What Are Point Clouds, And How Are They Used? - dronegenuity

==> a brief intro, if you prefer words over videos and pictures, go for the second intro article; this one does have a focus on (drone facilitated) photogrammetry, though:

You may have heard of a “point cloud” before, but perhaps not really known what the term meant. Watch our video below to understand exactly what a point cloud is, how they are created, and how they are being used in different industries.

https://youtu.be/yXCkyuo8bcshttps://youtu.be/yXCkyuo8bcs Like this video? Consider subscribing to our YouTube channel for more like it.

Point Clouds Defined

Point clouds are essentially the simplest form of 3D models. They are collections of individual points plotted in 3D space.

Each point contains several measurements, including its coordinates along the X, Y, and Z-axes, and sometimes additional data such as a color value, which is stored in RGB format, and luminance value, which determines how bright the point is.

How are they created? 

Point clouds are created by performing a scan of an object or structure. Scans are completed by using either a laser scanner or through a process called photogrammetry.

Laser Scanners

Laser scanners work by sending out pulses of light to the surface of an object and measuring how long it takes each pulse to reflect back and hit the scanner. These measurements are used to determine the exact position of points on the object, and these points then create a point cloud.

Photogrammetry

Photogrammetry is the process of creating measurements from pictures. It uses photos of an object taken at different locations to triangulate points on the object and plot these points in 3D space. You can use virtually any camera for this process, and again the end result is a point cloud.

==> instead of going through lengthy processes such as the stereo-matching algorithms, we can simply geo-tag (3 fp32: altitude, longitude and laptitude) these photoes.

https://youtu.be/Blr3suSQt-Qhttps://youtu.be/Blr3suSQt-QLike this video? Consider subscribing to our YouTube channel for more like it.

 ==> a 60%~70% overlap between images are necessary, which can usually be handled by drone controlling softwares; so are the desired circling fly-paths of drone as shown above.

So, how are point clouds being used?

The primary purpose of a point cloud is to create a 3D model. The point cloud itself can be experienced as a 3D model, but often the point data is first converted into a polygon mesh because most 3D software programs work with polygons.

3D Surface Conversion

Point clouds can either be directly rendered and inspected or converted into models using various shapes and patterns.

CAD Models

CAD, or Computer Aided Design, is the term used to describe the process of using computers to create, analyze, or optimize digital models and has been widely used in construction and design since its rise to prominence in the 1960s. Today’s CAD applications, designed by companies such as Autodesk, Dassault Systems, Siemens PLM Software, and PTC, offer advanced rendering and animation capabilities enabling engineers to better visualize their product designs. 4D BIM, also known as construction sequencing, is a type of virtual construction engineering simulation that helps engineers visualize the project by combining 3D models with the project schedule.

Polygon Mesh

Polygon Meshes are comprised of simple polygons and elements such as vertices, edges, faces, polygons and are used to digitally reconstruct the surfaces (not volume) of objects. 

Triangle Mesh

A triangle mesh is a type of polygon mesh comprised of triangles connected by common edges or corners.  Components of triangle meshes include vertices, edges, and triangles.

NURBS Surface Models

The Acronym, NURBS, stands for Non-Uniform Rational Basis Spline

==> 

What is a spline and what does it do?

The spline bends a sheet of rubber that passes through the input points while minimizing the total curvature of the surface. It fits a mathematical function to a specified number of nearest input points while passing through the sample points.

==>

and is a mathematical model used for producing and displaying curves and surfaces. The mathematical complexity of NURBS is often simplified by user-friendly tools found in 3D modeling & animation programs such as Autodesk.

3D Models

The accurate 3D models formed by point clouds are used in a variety of ways across different industries. In the architecture industry, 3D models created by laser scans help produce as-built drawings and models, which capture the current condition and layout of buildings. The accuracy of the 3D models means they can be used for measuring distance, area, and volume which is beneficial for construction and restoration projects.

Point clouds and 3D models are also popular in manufacturing. Parts and components can be scanned and turned into 3D models, which can then be brought into CAD programs for refining and manipulating the design of the object.

People choose to use point clouds because of the Point Cloud Library, which is an open-source project. The point cloud library is an open-source framework that includes algorithms and tools for manipulating and refining your point cloud data. 

Poing clouds are relatively universal forms of capturing and storing 3D models and have a variety of use cases across different industries. 

What are point clouds? 5 easy facts that explain point clouds

Point clouds are datasets that represent objects or space. These points represent the X, Y, and Z geometric coordinates of a single point on an underlying sampled surface. Point clouds are a means of collating a large number of single spatial measurements into a dataset that can then represent a whole. When colour information is present, the point cloud becomes 4D.    

Point clouds are most commonly generated using 3D laser scanners and LiDAR (light detection and ranging) technology and techniques. Here, each point represents a single laser scan measurement. These scans are then stitched together, creating a complete capture of a scene, using a process called ‘registration’. Conversely, point clouds can be synthetically generated from a computer program.

To understand how and why point clouds are generated, then used to measure physical spaces, we have put together a simple list of 5 facts that will help you understand point cloud technology.

Fact 1:  Points are easy

Using individual, unrelated points is a key to point clouds usefulness. Point clouds are relatively easy to edit, display and to filter, and free software exists to do so. A computer does not have to care about scale or rotation of points, only the position and maybe colour. This makes them a fantastic way to store huge amounts of detailed data.

Point clouds are also a non-intrusive way to measure building or object properties. Sites such as hospitals, schools, and sporting venues don't have to be shut down in order to be measured. Instead, those measurements can be taken after closing time – during downtime or out of hours. Those measurements are also far more precise and detailed than anything survey technology is capable of otherwise producing. Before point clouds, 3D surveys more or less did not occur.

Fact 2: There are many many point cloud formats

There are hundreds of available file formats for 3D modelling. This can create a headache where interoperability is concerned. Different scanners produce raw data in multiple formats. Different processing software can accept some of these file types, and each piece of software has different exporting capabilities.  

Output formats are also determined by what you want to do with the data, and who needs it. If you wanted to store the data away for the next 20 years, you’ll probably be best storing the point cloud as an ASCII file, this stores the point cloud as a basic, generic set of XYZ co-ordinates that you can even open in a text document as a last resort. But be wary that ASCII removes any colour or vector information from the point cloud and can make it difficult to get back into software packages.

Fact 3: There is a point cloud library

The wide-ranging use of point clouds mean that no one software company or organisation can own the whole process. To reflect this, the Point Cloud Library (or PCL) was set up as a large scale, open project for 2D/3D image and point cloud processing. The PCL framework contains numerous algorithms including filtering, feature estimation, surface reconstruction, registration, model fitting and segmentation.

PCL is open source software. It is free for commercial and research use.  It is cross-platform, and has been successfully compiled and deployed on Linux, MacOS, Windows, and Android/iOS.

To simplify development, PCL splits into a series of smaller code libraries, that can be compiled separately. This modularity is important for distributing PCL on platforms with reduced computational or size constraints.

Fact 4: Point clouds takes time

The key factor in acquiring point cloud data is the access/visibility to scanned surfaces. In most cases, point clouds are obtained by visible access to real objects. This means that simply to cover all scanning positions takes time.

Aligning laser scans taken from all these scanning positions can also be a problem. You can attempt to align scans on site by setting and moving targets, or you can produce many more overlapping targetless scans and carry out the manually intensive job of combining and cross-checking scans in front of a computer back at the office. Traditionally, any time saved in the field by avoiding target placement has been more than paid for with time spent in the office.

For example, a 130 scan point cloud dataset of a medium-sized building could take nearly 25 hours to process. Those scans may have only taken a day to collect, but manual involvement in processing means that the registration of that point cloud dataset can take around 3 days to carry out, and potentially longer if manual correction is necessary.  A 28-scan dataset using traditional methods would typically take 4 hours to complete. The missing link for the development of practical targetless registration is automated processing software.

Fact 5: Point clouds are evolving

Point clouds are becoming more relevant in a wide range of application areas. Data availability, accuracy, density, and size of 3D point clouds are forecast to vastly increase within the next years. Developments in technology will push scanners and point clouds to realise this potential.

Point cloud processing incorporating machine learning algorithms and vector analysis will greatly increase the speed and diminish the need for manual involvement in scan alignment.  

Most existing registration solutions work by identifying features such as artificial targets, planes, lines in each scan. Those objects are then used as references to align overlapping scans. However, advances in machine learning now mean that “natural features” in a scanned environment can be used instead as “virtual” references. There can be millions of such natural features identified in a typical scan leading to faster alignment and better accuracy.

Using these techniques, the efficiency of point cloud processing have already been improved by as much as  40%-80% in some cases.  For example, the 28-scan dataset highlighted earlier would now take around one hour to complete rather than four. The cost savings generated by these new techniques open up opportunities for yet more novel point cloud applications. With new people are already entering the market as point cloud producers and users, the future looks bright.