Automatic creation and enrichment of 3D models for pipe systems by co-registration of laser-scanned point clouds and photos

Abstract: An information-rich digital model for pipe systems is valuable for facility management and maintenance. Pipe systems in existing facilities can be captured for example using laser scanning equipment or cameras, providing point clouds or images. While these two data sources can provide diverse information, it is not straightforward to register one with the other. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to automatically create and enrich geometric models for pipe systems by co-registering laser-scanned point clouds and photos. Data from two separate sources are collected to test our method. Subsequently, a photogrammetric point cloud is reconstructed to establish a mapping between all 2D images and the laser-scanned 3D point cloud. State-of-the-art computer vision methods are applied to enrich the raw 2D and 3D datasets. Finally, we use the mapping to merge the processed datasets into one combined, information-rich model.