Smart city 3D modeling with a total station and a smartphone

Abstract

Modern technology has radically altered documentation and has promised to do so again. Photographic and non-photographic documentation tools are combined into a single operation in which digital imaging technology is the mainstay. 3D support is still not popular among users involved in documenting the facades of modern buildings or important historical sites. This is a very important technique nowadays for (memorizing, preserving, restoring, and protecting) the facades of modern buildings or historical sites that need restoration and continuous follow-up. Cost and time play a vital role in the quick development of documentation strategies and tools to provide a true comparison between these methods. Surveyors can now complete projects with unprecedented precision because of advancements in hardware and software technology. For their daily activities, surveyors now rely on contemporary electronic instruments such as total stations and GPS. When conducting work, the surveyor always chooses the most appropriate equipment and the most cost-effective method of completing it. There are numerous microchips on the market nowadays. Surveyors can benefit from tools like GPS, complete bot stations, and digital levels. Over time, large, expensive survey equipment has been replaced with the smallest, most powerful equipment available. For example, the 3D ground laser is a highly expensive piece of equipment due to the high cost of the laser scanner. An alternative technology has been developed which is the use of the Total Station. The type is capable of scanning interfaces through a cloud of points based on the control point and back sight (B.S) and processing them by the software used to process the data acquired by the laser scanner. The 3D results of the output model from Total Station are compared with the model’s output from smartphone camera images after processing. In this paper, the interface is scanned, and its details will be mentioned in the case study.