ITcon Vol. 21, pg. 204-217, http://www.itcon.org/2016/14

Laser scanning technology and BIM in construction management education

submitted:November 2015
revised:April 2016
published:July 2016
editor(s):Issa R.
authors:Hamzah A. Shanbari, Ph.D.
Rinker School of Construction Management, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. USA
hamzah.s@ufl.edu

Nathan M. Blinn, Ph.D. Student
Rinker School of Construction Management, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. USA
nblinn617@ufl.edu

R. Raymond Issa, Ph.D., Holland Professor
Rinker School of Construction Management, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. USA
raymond-issa@ufl.edu
summary:Laser scanning technology has emerged as a useful tool in documenting existing conditions of buildings. The main application for such documentation is to assess current as-built conditions of existing, mostly historical, buildings. The technology can also be used as an integral part of construction progress documentation in new projects. In order to equip students with knowledge on the latest technologies in the industry, laser scanning was introduced to students in a BIM course. Students were given a thorough demonstration on how the equipment functions. After that, several campus buildings’ exteriors were scanned. Students had the chance to see the scanning in action. More importantly, the generated point-clouds from the scanner were given to students as part of the final project. Five teams were formed and each team was given a set of floor plans, with minimal details, of an existing campus building. The teams were then asked to take measurements from the point-clouds and model the buildings in Autodesk Revit. The lack of marked elevation drawings did not prevent the teams from modeling the buildings fairly accurately. The point-clouds gave the students a large amount of information that were lacking in the provided documents. Even though the learning curve for navigating such point-clouds was a bit steep, the extracted information helped the students better understand the buildings’ envelopes and appreciate the real value of laser scanning technology.
keywords:Laser Scanning, Construction Management, Education, Virtual Design and Construction
full text: (PDF file, 1.024 MB)
citation:Shanbari H A, Blinn N M, Issa R R (2016). Laser scanning technology and BIM in construction management education, ITcon Vol. 21, Special issue 9th AiC BIM Academic Symposium & Job Task Analysis Review Conference, pg. 204-217, https://www.itcon.org/2016/14