Although laser scanning ideas and hardware solutions are well-known to experts in the field, there is still a large area for optimization. Especially, if long-range and high-resolution scanning is considered, the smallest defects in optical quality should be perfected. On the other hand, the simplicity, reliability, and finally the cost of the solution plays an important role, too. In this paper, a very simple but efficient method of optical correction is presented. It is dedicated to laser scanners operating from inside cylindrical glass domes. Such covers normally introduce aberrations into both the laser beam and receiving optics. If these effects are uncorrected, the laser scanner performance is degraded both in terms of angular resolution and maximum range of operation. It may not be critical for short-range scanning applications; however, if more challenging concepts are considered, this issue becomes crucial. The proposed method does not require sophisticated optical solutions based on aspheric or freeform components, which are frequently used for similar purposes in imaging-through-dome correction but is based on a simple cylindrical refractive correction plate.

Terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) is a new class of survey instruments to capture spatial data developed rapidly. A perfect facility in the oil industry does not exist. As facilities age, oil and gas companies often need to revamp their plants to make sure the facilities still meet their specifications. Due to the complexity of an oil plant site, there are difficulties in revamping, having all dimensions and geometric properties, getting through narrow spaces between pipes and having the description label of each object within a facility site. So it is needed to develop an accurate observations technique to overcome these difficulties. TLS could be an unconventional solution as it accurately measures the coordinates identifying the position of each object within the oil plant and provide highly detailed 3D models. This paper investigates creating 3D model for Ras Gharib oil plant in Egypt and determining the geometric properties of oil plant equipment (tank, vessels, pipes . . . etc.) using TLS observations and modeling by CADWORX program. The modeling involves an analysis of several scans of the oil plant. All the processes to convert the observed points cloud into a 3D model are described. The geometric properties for tanks, vessels and pipes (radius, center coordinates, height and consequently oil volume) are also calculated and presented. The results provide a significant improvement in observing and modeling of an oil plant and prove that the TLS is the most effective choice for generating a representative 3D model required for oil plant revamping.

Using a lower-cost laser scanner for generating accuracy in 3D point-cloud has been a concern because of economic issues; therefore, this study aims to create a 3D point cloud of a target object using a low-cost 2D laser scanner, Hokuyo UTM 30LX. The experiment was carried out in November 2019 with 16 single scans from 8 different viewpoints to capture the surface information of a structure object with many intricate details. The device was attached to a rail, and it could move with stable velocity thanks to an adjustable speed motor. The corresponding 16 point-clouds were generated by using the R language. Then, they were combined one by one to make a completed 3D point cloud in the united coordinate system. The resulted point cloud consisted of 1.4 million points with high accuracy (RMSE = 1:5 cm) is suitable for visualizing and assessing the target object thanks to high dense point-cloud data. Both small details and characters on the object surface can be recognized directly from the point cloud. This result confirms the ability of generated the accuracy point cloud from the low-cost 2D laser scanner Hokuyo UTM 30LX for 3D visualizing or indirectly evaluating the current situation of the target object.