Application of Terrestrial Laser Scanning for Shipbuilding

Recently, a laser scanner technology has been receiving more attention. Nowadays use of terrestrial laser scanners (TLS) is continuously increasing. This technique offers the possibility of measuring millions of points within short period of time. Thus, it is possible to record complete 3D objects efficiently. In this communication the process followed to model the hull and the deck of the ship will be described. To perform this process, a point definition from a terrestrial laser – scanner Faro LS 880 was used as information source. From this data, the commercial package software Geomagic Studio 8 has been used, to obtain the threedimensional model of two differentiated parts of the ship. The importance of this process lays on the fact that an inverse process has been followed: it is the model that has been obtained from the real ship. From these 3D models some series of analysis and verifications could be made, like diverse measurements, construction defects, determination of possible asymmetries, etc. even though these aren’t presented in this communication. Another remarkable objective of this project is to calculate the volume of the underbody. The waterline which indicates the level at which the ship floats in the water (thus it’s a line which separate underbody from dead works of the ship) helps us to obtain the 3D model of the underbody by means of Geomagic software and then to calculate its volume.