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The power of the Cloud to supercharge point cloud processing

It would be best to remember the upload time to the server and costs for server-side storage and bandwidth if you are looking at a cloud server versus a desktop. However, most cloud storage is approximately equal to hard drives in terms of cost when you get into the specifics, and link speeds continue to grow in line with evolving technology. There is just an increase in data transmission time, and the cloud offers the undeniable advantage of global availability.

The power of the Cloud to supercharge point cloud processing 1

More interestingly, for certain projects, the cloud provides the ability to take point cloud processing to a completely different stage. Advanced point cloud processing software can concurrently register several scans, each is performed on your CPU on a separate thread. Up to 18 cores, or 36 lines, will pack cutting-edge hard drives. But the cloud will allow you to scale up this capability indefinitely. Theoretically, this allows the opportunity to perform the ‘coarse registration’ of a project of any scale simultaneously, exponentially decreasing registration times. It will often take longer with more scans to place the scans in order setting scan pairs). You will keep adding threads in the cloud.

The need for automated registration

It is possible to see the opportunities and advantages of cloud computing for the development and processing of point clouds, but they still need to be realized. Manual measures in conventional registration software at each level of alignment are one issue with supercharging the processing of point clouds in the ‘cloud.’ Accessing multi-thread processing is impractical, especially when using targetless scans. Manual inputs and cross-checks must be handled through that process.

This is evolving as well. Multi-stage vector analysis software, for instance, enables coarse registration to be separated into clearly defined phases. Rotational alignment can be accomplished independently with point clouds compressed into unique ‘vector spheres’ and quick 2D. This can speed up conventional hardware processing by 40 percent to 80 percent. More critically, it provides a robust method for registering targetless scans, enabling front-loading of manual inputs. Entry to ‘cloud-scaled’ multi-thread processing is a fact through this automation. Survey teams can process scan sets of almost any size in reasonably comparable amounts of time by combining this processing software with cloud capabilities and wide bandwidth packages.

Looking to the future

Point cloud processing and registration are the stumbling blocks to efficient point cloud formation. Technology has always come down to this. The ability to align scans using natural features has been around for some time, and it has just never been sufficiently successful. Advanced computing software such as ScanX will produce aligned datasets quicker and with less manual intervention by approaching scan alignment in three different phases and leveraging the scaling capabilities of the cloud. For projects that are still difficult to forecast, the reduced costs provide efficiencies that will open up point clouds and 3D surveys. The survey environment is shifting, and the cloud is a big part of the complex change.

Johnny J. Hernandez
I write about new gadgets and technology. I love trying out new tech products. And if it's good enough, I'll review it here. I'm a techie. I've been writing since 2004. I started Ntecha.com back in 2012.