Powerful high-definition scanning documentation to support restoration and maintenance.

Our national, state, and local historical buildings, statues, and monuments need to be maintained and often restored. Most are unique architecturally. Therefore, 360 degree imagery and 3D documentation of existing conditions is required before restoration so that there is a permanent record of the building or artifact.

On historical preservation projects, several useful digital survey deliverables can be provided, including:

• 3D point cloud that will serve as an archivable, digital survey record of an existing structure.
• 2D Floor plans, exterior elevations, and sections produced from the point cloud.
• Building information models of historic facilities.

The bottom line is that the 3D point cloud can be used to provide a wide variety of documentation to support the restoration and maintenance of historic structures.

Utilizing industry standards for 3D laser scanning applications in healthcare facilities.

3D laser scanning applications in the sterile environment of a hospital is a process that requires following strict infection control procedures.

Infection control procedures are usually initiated in hospital areas where patient or operating rooms are located. They are also required in rooms housing assets like sterilization units. The procedures involved enclosing our work space within floor-to-ceiling containment carts prior to removing ceiling tiles to access the plenum and begin scanning. The overall objective is to capture the 3D scans without letting any contaminant from the plenum space or our clothing drop into sterile environments.

Working in a live environment also presents its own set of challenges. Sunstone has project managers who are skillful at working with hospital staff to schedule scanning time windows in ways that minimize disruption.

Dynamic 3D laser scanning solutions for dynamic environments.

Industrial and manufacturing facilities are very dynamic spaces and so their laser scanning solutions must be dynamic as well. In industrial and manufacturing facilities, materials and products need to flow through factories with great efficiency to keep costs down and productivity up. That's one of reasons factory owners are forever re-optimizing their floor layouts—moving things around, removing old equipment, adding new equipment, etc. Over time, all these changes can lead to a poor understanding of what is actually on the factory floor, where these assets are located, and how much space they consume in three dimensions.

When scanning a manufacturing facility, the goal is to use laser scanning solutions to create a 3D reality capture of the facility and its contents. Once the point cloud model is turned over to the client, they can bring it into a solution like the Autodesk Factory Design Suite and use it as a backdrop to help place equipment and create new, more highly efficient product flows.

In some cases, a more specific task is required such as scanning the intended path of incoming equipment to its final position. By creating a reality capture, it can help clients accurately calculate 3D space constraints and clearances. We can then model the extents of the new equipment and virtually move it through the path in the point cloud model to find clashes and interferences, minimizing costs and greatly reducing downtime on the line.

Accurate measurements—even in crawl spaces and above ceiling tiles.

One of the biggest challenges in an existing building renovation is accurate documentation of the building MEP systems. 3D scanning can be a vital part of this process. If you even have blueprints, it's likely that you'll find that the existing systems were not built as originally designed. And it's not easy getting accurate measurements in crawl spaces or above ceiling tiles.

3D scanning helps MEP engineers overcome these challenges with Scan-to-BIM Services. One advantage of 3D laser scanners is that they can fit into small spaces where people can't go. 3D laser scanning quickly and accurately captures infrastructure located in hard to reach plenum spaces, including visible structural, MEP, and HVAC system elements. Today's advanced point cloud post processing software then allows everyone to “connect the dots” between what the scanner could see and what was hidden to create a complete and accurate engineering MEP as-built point cloud model. In comparatively more open spaces like mechanical rooms, 3D laser scanning is similarly the fastest, most precise method of collecting as-built pipe and equipment information as point clouds that are accurate within 2mm to 5mm.

Automated feature extraction software tools can be used to model elements like pipes and ducts and convert them to BIM object families. When converted to a BIM, the point cloud model allows engineers to quickly access and analyze as-built conditions prior to commencing the design process. If a retrofit has already been designed, we can use the new as-built BIM to conduct 3D clash analyses so problems can be resolved before construction begins, saving both time and money.