CIPA 2003 XIX th International Symposium, 30 September-04 October, 2003, Antalya, Turkey 
4.5 Edge effects 
Edges. Results for edge detection and cylinder modeling are 
shown in table 5. For typical related point clouds see the 
uncondensed and updated version of this publication in the 
Internet (WWW, 2003). 
4.6 Influence of surface reflectivity 
The results of the experiments described in section 3.6 are 
shown in table 6. 
Type 
white 
90% 
white 
80% 
gray 
40% 
black 
8% 
metal 
paint 
alu 
foil 
blue 
foil 
orange 
cone 
Callidus(l) 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
© 
© 
© 
+7 
-10 
Callidus(2) 
0 
0 
+4 
+3 
0..-10 
0..-15 
+5 
-20 
Cyrax (1) 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 +10 
+22 
-40 
Cyrax (2) 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
+ 17 
-70 
S25 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
GS 100 
0 
0 
0 
+8 
0 
0 
n.a. u 
0 
Riegl Z210 
0 
0 
+ 13 
+3 
O 
© 
© 
0..-250 
0 
-100 
Table 6: Distance correction in mm due to different surface 
materials. Positive sign = Distance is measured too short as 
compared to white surface. 
J Scanner did not record any points on this surface 
4.7 Environmental conditions 
All tests were conducted under favorable conditions, predo 
minantly inside of buildings. 
4.8 Specifications and considerations besides accuracy 
When choosing between different laser scanners, accuracy is 
not the only fact that should be considered. Selling prices are 
important and may depend on different specifications. Support 
and warranty conditions differ considerably! It should be 
checked how often the instrument has to be calibrated, where 
this has to be accomplished, how long this will take and what 
kind of expenses (service contracts, transportation, fees) this 
will cause for the user. 
The quality of the included scanning software has to be 
considered, and it should be decided if modeling software has to 
be purchased separately from other companies (Boehler, Heinz, 
Marbs, Siebold, 2002). 
In the following tables the authors report some major 
advantages and disadvantages of scanner hardware and scann 
ing software. This is based on experience and subjective im 
pressions and not on systematic research. 
Type 
Callidus 
Very large field of view. 
Cyrax2500 
Good accuracy. Good software for registration. 
S25 
Very high accuracy for short ranges. 
GS 100 
Large field of view. 
Riegl Z210 
Very high ranges possible. 
Table 7. Major advantages of some laser scanners. 
Type 
Callidus 
Very poor vertical resolution (0.25°) 
Cyrax2500 
Small scanning window (40° x 40°) 
S25 
Does not work in sunlight. Not suited for long ranges. 
GS 100 
Large noise. 
Riegl Z210 
Poor accuracy. 
Table 8. Major disadvantages of some laser scanners. 
5. CONCLUSIONS 
Laser scanners show considerable errors under certain condit 
ions. Although the absolute accuracy is not of much importance 
in many applications, the resulting strain between neighboring 
points can be cumbersome when surfaces have to be modeled or 
when small details have to be detected. The results of our tests 
may help the producers to compare the performance of their 
instruments to those of their competitors. For the users this 
publication and the associated web site (WWW 2003) may help 
to select the appropriate instruments for their projects. 
6. OUTLOOK 
With the targets installed at FH Mainz, the authors are trying to 
test as many types of scanners as possible. Users and 
manufacturers are invited to have their instruments tested. 
Details can be found in the Internet (WWW, 2003). 
7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
We would like to thank all institutions who brought their 
scanners to Mainz for testing. The tests are part of a research 
project “More efficient documentation in architecture, cultural 
heritage conservation and archaeology using 3D scanners“ 
funded by the German Federal Government (BMBF) in its aFuE 
program (grant 170 26 02). 
8. REFERENCES 
Balzani, M., Pellegrinelli, A., Perfetti, N., Uccelli, F., 2001: 
A terrestrial 3D laser scanner: Accuracy tests. Proc. 18 th Int. 
Symp. CIPA 2001, pp. 445-453. 
Boehler, W., Heinz, G., Marbs, A., Siebold, M., 2002: 
3D scanning software: an introduction. Proc. of the CIPA WG6 
Int. Workshop on scanning for cultural heritage recording. 
http://www.isprs.org/commission5/workshop/ 
Boehler, W., Marbs, A., 2002: 3D Scanning instruments. Proc. 
of the CIPA WG6 Int. Workshop on scanning for cultural heri 
tage recording, http://www.isprs.org/commission5/workshop/ 
Johansson, M., 2002: Explorations into the behavior of three 
different high-resolution ground-based laser scanners in the 
built environment. Proc. of the CIPA WG6 Int. Workshop on 
scanning for cultural heritage recording. 
http://www.isprs.org/commission5/workshop/ 
Kern, F., 2003: Automatisierte Modellierung von 
Bauwerksgeometrien aus 3D-Laserscannerdaten. Geodätische 
Schriftenreihe der Technischen Universität Braunschweig, Nr. 
19, ISBN 3-926146-14-1 
Lichti, D.D., Stewart, M.P., Tsakiri, M., Snow, A.J., 2000: 
Calibration and testing of a terrestrial laser scanner. Int. Arch, 
of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Vol. XXXIII, Part B5, 
pp. 485-492. 
Lichti, D.D., Gordon, S.J., Stewart, M.P., Franke, J., Tsakiri, 
M., 2002: Comparison of digital photogrammetry and laser 
scanning. Proc. of the CIPA WG6 Int. Workshop on scanning 
for cultural heritage recording. 
http://www.isprs.org/commission5/workshop/ 
VDI/VDE Guideline , 2002: Optical 3-D measuring systems/ 
Optical systems based on area scanning. Beuth Verlag GmbH 
Berlin. 
WWW, 2003: http://scanning.fb-mainz.de and 
http://www.i3mainz.fh-mainz.de