How to process scan data

21 april 2022

Leica Infinity allows you to process data from total stations, digital levels, GNSS sensors and now even scanners.

You probably want to know how to use your Leica RTC360 or Leica BLK360 scanner data in Leica Infinity? Look no further. This article is the guide you need. If you prefer to watch a tutorial video to guide you through the software, go to the end of this page.

The Leica RTC360 is a high-performance 3D laser scanner that is portable, highly automated, intuitive and designed for maximum productivity. Thanks to the VIS links and Leica Field 360 support, mobile app users get the pre-registered point cloud in real-time and right after importing it into the point cloud processing software.
The Leica BLK360 is an easy-to-use and extremely portable laser scanner thanks to the single-push-of-one-button approach. This device enables the capture of full-colour panoramic images overlaid with a high-accuracy point cloud.

Import and visualise scan data in the project

Select Import on the ribbon to import the RTC360 or BLK360 data. In the Import window, highlight the scan or dedicated project file. The import settings offer to perform the Auto Cloud routine and detect Black & White Targets. The Auto Cloud process attempts to align the setups and joins them using cloud-to-cloud.

To view the imported data, open the Register Tool from the Point Clouds tab. Leica Infinity offers a few different data views:

The Site Map view is a 2D top-down view. It gives an overview of the scan setup existing in the project and makes it easy for you to organise them.

Image 1: Site Map view

The Scan Group view is the 3D view, in which you can see point clouds, the links, targets and scanner stations. In this view, you can zoom, rotate and pan as in the graphical view to overview the imported data. The view is only available if the project holds a Scan Group.

Image 2: Scan Group view

The Scan Setup view is the singular setup view. Use this view to mark user targets.

Image 3: Scan Setup view

Manage links

Links are graphically represented by lines and shown between two scan setups to symbolise that they have been joined. Links can be:

Imported: Leica Infinity can import RTC360 links: Field360 and VIS
Created during import
- By the Match Targets routine when using Black & White Targets
- By the Auto Cloud
Manually run by the user with the Match Targets routine in the Register Tool
Created with the Join routine in the Visual Alignment in the Register Tool

If the links created on the imported data are not correct, it's easy to delete them:

Select the unwanted links in the Register Information Navigator and select Delete from the context menu. Unlinked setups will be moved to Available Setups in the Scan Group Navigator.

You may choose to lock a link to prevent the link being affected (the setups will not be moved with respect to each other ) by global optimisation.

Registration Using Targets: Targets Labelling

You can easily add a new user target that was not extracted during the import routine:

Select the Scan Setup for which you want to add a target and open the Scan Setup view. In the Scan Setup view, open the New User Target Tool from the Register Strip, navigate to the target location and use a single left mouse click to define the target centre. In the Create New User Target window, define the name for the new target.

Image 2: Defining a new target in the Scan View

Registration Using Targets: Match Targets

To automatically align setups, a minimum of three matching targets between setups is required. To match targets, select Setups in the Scan Group Navigator and select Match Targets from the Register Strip. If there are no matching labels yet, the Match Targets routine attempts to align the setups by target geometry. Once you align the setups using targets, they join using cloud-to-cloud. Newly created links are shown in the Scan Group view and in the Links tab of the Register Information Inspector.

Registration Using Visual Alignment

The Visual Alignment view displays two selected setups in different colours to align and join. The visual alignment offers a top view to shift & rotate in the X &Y Axis and a side view to shift & tilt on the Z-Axis. To move the active setup in the top view, left-click the mouse. The best practice to align scans is to look for a specific feature, like the corner of a building and try to match it as best as possible. To rotate the setup, press the left button of your mouse while holding the Shift key. Wherever you click first, this will be your rotation point and the further away you move the mouse from the first point, the easier it gets to rotate the scan.

Image 2: Two scans in the visual alignment top view

The next step is to check the alignment on the Z-axis. Select Side view from the Register Strip. Left-click the mouse on the active setup to move the setup, and align it along the Z-axis. To tilt the setup around the view axis, press the left button of your mouse while holding the Shift key. Use front/back/left/right views for better visualisation, to be found in the Register strip.

Image 2: Two scans in the visual alignment side view

Once the setups are visually correct, you can join them. Select Join from the Register Strip.

Join uses the overlapping points between setups to join them through cloud-to-cloud. This means, global optimisation is performed on the scan group. If it detects setups that can also be joined, you are notified and asked to or not to proceed with this additional step.

In case there is not enough overlap between setups to create a valid link and optimise it, a user-defined link is created. The user-defined link has a lock state as default.

Assign control points to targets

In Leica Infinity, you can assign control points in three different views. In the Site Map and Scan Group view, all targets from all scans belonging to the Scan Group are available. In the Scan Setup view, only targets from the current active setup are available. There are also two easy ways to assign controls: manually by selecting the target points or automated by Auto Assign Control points when the Target ID’s are matching.

Apply control points to targets

Once the controls are assigned, you can apply them to the scan group. Simply select Apply Control Points from the Register Strip. The transformation is computed, and relevant error information for each point is reported in the Control Points subtab of the Register Information Inspector.

Optimise & Store Scan Group

When the required links between setups are created, the Scan Group can be optimised. To do this, select Optimise from the Register Strip. Once the optimisation process is finalised, the Unified Point Cloud (UPC) can be stored. The number of points contained within the UPC is controlled by defined settings Max. Number of Points Created.

Stored UPC can be visualised in the graphical view.