EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL SURVEYING OF A CONSTRUCTION 
USING LOW-COST EQUIPMENT 
Prof. M. Eng. Mario Cardiol 1 
Prof. Dr. -Ing. Jurgen Philips 2 
'Professor of the Department of Cartography, National University of Litoral 
Pasaje Suarez 2631 - 3000 - Santa Fe - Argentina 
mgardiol@gmx.net 
-Professor of the Department of Civil Engineering, Federal University of Santa Catarina 
Rua Itaborai 104 - 88034-550 - Florianopolis - Brazil 
Philips@ecv.ufsc.br 
KEYS WORDS: Low-cost Equipment, External and Internal Surveying, Precision 
ABSTRACT 
This work presents the results of an investigation carried out with the aims of analyzing the precision reached in a external and inter 
nal photogrammetric surveying of a construction with low-cost equipment. Different areas in the construction were defined accord 
ing to size, form and distribution and then a topographical polygonal was carried out to join and relate the control points of the differ 
ent areas. The photographic surveying was carried out with a digital camera Olympus Camedia C-820L and for the photogrammetric 
restitution the software Photomodeler was used. Then a comparison of the coordinates obtained in the topographical surveying and 
the photogrammetric prosecution was carried out. The precision achieved in the different internal areas was of 11 mm. In the external 
area the precision value was different, one error being in the photographic surveying when an appropriate photographic covering 
could not be achieved. This experience allowed us to determine the limit of precision of the method and equipment used, and in this 
way settle more clearly the possible architectural applications of this procedure. 
1. INTRODUCTION 
The precision in photogrammetric work is directly linked to a precision level in the location of control points. An external and inter 
nal photogrammetric surveying of a construction can be achieved in two ways: as an addition of the different parts surveyed or as a 
global surveying of a construction. 
In the case of global surveying, adequate planning on the location and topographic surveying of external and internal control points 
will be required, for this will have an homogeneous influence on precision in the whole construction. 
MONTI et al. (1999), highlight problems in the restoration planning of palace Della Ragione in Italy, during which the surveying was 
complex due to the distribution of internal room and complex architectonic elements (structural and ornamental). 
Therefore, an investigation was proposed with the aim of analyzing the precision reached in an external and internal photogrammet 
ric surveying of a construction using low cost equipment. It was developed during a pos-graduation course on Civil Engineering in 
Federal University of Santa Catarina (Brazil). 
2. OBJECTIVES 
This work aims at developing a photogrammetric surveying 
method applied to the outside and inside of a construction, so 
as to obtain a homogeneous precision between the internal 
and external geometry of a construction. 
3. STUDY OF AREAS 
The campus of Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) 
is located in Florianopolis, capital city of the State of Santa 
Catarina (Brazil). Among the several buildings of the cam 
pus, that in which the course on civil engineering was being 
lectured was chosen. 
The construction is a two-storey building, which includes 
two lateral and one union blocks. Four areas of study were 
delimited: 
Figure 1: Localization of study areas 
Proceedings 18 th International Symposium CIPA 2001 
Potsdam (Germany), September 18 - 21, 2001