Dense point cloud acquisition with a low-cost Velodyne VLP-16

Bula, Jason; Derron, Marc-Henri; Mariethoz, Gregoire

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-9-385-2020

Articles | Volume 9, issue 2

https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-9-385-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-9-385-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 9, issue 2

Research article

|

12 Oct 2020

Research article |

| 12 Oct 2020

Dense point cloud acquisition with a low-cost Velodyne VLP-16

Jason Bula, Marc-Henri Derron, and Gregoire Mariethoz

Model code and software

jason-bula/velodyne_tls: Dense point cloud Velodyne VLP-16 Jason Bula https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4060145

Video supplement

Mine de Baulmes VLP-16 velodyne Jason Bula https://vimeo.com/344063864

Scan lidar - Réclère Jason Bula https://vimeo.com/380239565

Milandre - Scan lidar Jason Bula https://vimeo.com/380040742

Rolex Learning Center Jason Bula https://vimeo.com/user52420841

Short summary

We developed a method to acquire dense point clouds with a low-cost Velodyne Puck lidar system, without using expensive Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning or IMU. We mounted the lidar on a motor to continuously change the scan direction, leading to a significant increase in the point cloud density. The system was compared with a more expensive system based on IMU registration and a SLAM algorithm. The alignment between acquisitions with those two systems is within 2 m.