On-Site 4-in-1 Alignment: Visualization and Interactive CAD Model Retrofitting Using UAV, LiDAR’s Point Cloud Data, and Video

Acquisition of 3D point cloud data (PCD) using a laser scanner and aligning it with a video frame is a new approach that is efficient for retrofitting comprehensive objects in heavy pipeline industrial facilities. This work contributes a generic framework for interactive retrofitting in a virtual environment and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based sensory setup design to acquire PCD. The framework adopts a 4-in-1 alignment using a point cloud registration algorithm for a pre-processed PCD alignment with the partial PCD, and a frame-by-frame registration method for video alignment. This work also proposes a virtual interactive retrofitting framework that uses pre-defined 3D computer-aided design models (CAD) with a customized graphical user interface (GUI) and visualization of a 4-in-1 aligned video scene from a UAV camera in a desktop environment. Trials were carried out using the proposed framework in a real environment at a water treatment facility. A qualitative and quantitative study was conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed generic framework from participants by adopting the appropriate questionnaire and retrofitting a task-oriented experiment. Overall, it was found that the proposed framework could be a solution for interactive 3D CAD model retrofitting on a combination of UAV sensory setup-acquired PCD and real-time video from the camera in heavy industrial facilities.