Case Studies

Confined Industrial Inspection: Mobile LiDAR & 3D Digital Twin Integration

  • Sector: Heavy Industrial Asset Inspection

  • Problem: Facility engineering teams lacked accurate spatial verification for structural crane columns inside a dense, dark manufacturing facility. Outdated architectural drawings created high financial risk for upcoming retrofits and overhead equipment installations.

  • Methodology: Rapid walk-through deployment using a mobile SLAM handheld LiDAR scanner to generate a dense, millimetre-accurate 3D point cloud of the interior structure.

  • Challenge: Executing a high-accuracy spatial survey within a confined, low-light and feature-dense industrial plant while seamlessly aligning raw LiDAR scan data directly with a CAD model geometry.

  • Result: Delivered a complete, verified spatial dataset that eliminated installation trial-and-error. The engineering team gained exact clearance dimensions, preventing costly retrofits and structural clashes prior to equipment assembly.

  • Equipment: Handheld Mobile SLAM LiDAR Scanner

  • Deliverables: Cloud-hosted 3D Digital Twin incorporating an aligned, embedded CAD model of the crane column, complete with interactive point-to-point measurement and defect annotations.

Heritage Conservation: 3D Reality Capture of Kiplin Hall

  • Sector: Heritage & Conservation (Grade I Listed Asset)

  • Problem: Conservation architects required high-precision structural data for high-level stone masonry, turrets and lead roof work, but traditional scaffolding or physical access risked damaging fragile historic fabric and closing the active museum to visitors.

  • Methodology: Non-contact aerial photogrammetry survey using high-resolution RTK sensors to map the entire external building envelope, creating a spatial foundation for ongoing heritage restoration.

  • Challenge: Executing a complete reality capture survey over an active museum open to the public. Operation required strict pedestrian exclusion zones, controlled flight paths, and zero disruption to museum visitors or daily operations.

  • Result: Delivered a complete millimetre accurate 3D Digital Twin, allowing the conservation team to inspect high-level defects remotely while keeping the museum fully open to the public.

  • Equipment: DJI Matrice 4E (High-Resolution RTK Photogrammetry)

  • Deliverable: Millimetre-accurate interactive 3D digital twin complete with annotated structural defect tags, high-resolution condition registers and measured spatial data for ongoing conservation planning.

Thermal Ecological Survey: Pre-Harvest Wildlife Safeguarding

  • Sector: Ecological & Agricultural Survey

  • Problem: Ground-nesting species, such as the Grey Partridge, nest directly within standing crops during breeding season. Traditional ground-level visual checks across expansive acreage are practically impossible, leaving conservation-minded farmers facing unintentional wildlife mortality and harvest disruption.

  • Methodology: High-altitude aerial thermal scanning using a radiometric UAV platform. The aircraft executes systematic grid passes over fields prior to heavy machinery operation to capture subtle body-heat differentials beneath the crop canopy.

  • Challenge: High daytime ambient temperatures and solar radiation warm the soil and crops, masking animal heat signatures. To overcome solar loading, flights were conducted at night when the ground temperature drops enough to yield high-contrast thermal signatures.

  • Result: Substantial reduction to wildlife mortality during harvesting. The client received pinpoint GPS coordinates and visual field maps highlighting precise exclusion zones, allowing farm operators to safely navigate heavy machinery around active nesting sites without stopping overall harvest workflow.

  • Deliverables: Precision GPS target coordinates, radiometric thermal imagery, and annotated visual field maps for machinery routing.

  • Equipment: DJI Matrice 4TD (Radiometric Thermal & High-Res Optical).