3D Laser Scanner

The renovation and refurbishment market is rapidly expanding in the construction industry. The regeneration and transformation of cities from the industrial age (unsustainable) to the knowledge age (sustainable) is essentially a “whole life cycle ” process consisting of: planning, development, operation, reuse, and renewal. Advanced digital mapping technologies are enablers for effective e-planning, consultation, and communication of users ’ views during the planning, design, construction, and life cycle process of the built environment. Those technologies can be used to enhance productivity gains by promoting a free-flow of information between departments, divisions, offices, and sites, and between themselves, their contractors, and partners. Such is the case with the 3D laser scanner, which enables digital documentation of buildings, sites, and physical objects for reconstruction, and restoration. It also facilitates the creation of educational resources within the built environment, as well as the reconstruction of the built environment. The use of a 3D scanner in combination with a 3D printer provides the transformation of digital data from the captured CAD model back to a physical model in an appropriate scale- reverse prototyping. The use of these technologies act as key enablers of the creation of new approaches to the “Whole Life Cycle ” process within the built an