German surveyors unlock new uses with SHINING 3D metrology

SEAD Mission 360° is a German surveying company specialized in terrestrial and large-format 3D scanning for real estate. After a growing demand for digital twins of everyday objects, SEAD consulted 3D Scan Academy about more versatile laser 3D scanning options. 3D Scan Academy recommended a combination of Shining 3D’s latest FreeScan and Transcan solutions for maximum adaptability.

SEAD Mission 360°: Pioneers in Surveying Technologies

German surveying company SEAD has pioneered the surveying field since 1932. It employs all the latest surveying methods and devices to serve its clients with state-of-the-art technology.

The company was, for example, the first in Western Germany to use terrestrial laser scanners (TLS) from FARO in 2012. A few years later, the team adopted aerial drone surveying technology ahead of its time. More recently, SEAD invested in cutting-edge mobile mapping solutions from NavVis.

To further focus on the latest 3D digitizing technologies, the company gave ground to SEAD Mission 360° in 2022. This ‘special task force’ specializes in 3D laser scanning, mobile mapping, scan-to-BIM, and aerial drone surveys. They’re mainly active in the real estate sector.

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From Real Estate to More Diverse Applications

After honing its portfolio of high-tech solutions for real estate and receiving increased demand for more diverse 3D scanning projects, the SEAD Mission 360° team started thinking forward.

What about extending the offer past the typical real estate applications and reaching for all everyday objects?

“Our next move was to merge two worlds, from the small-scale measurement of single objects to the measurement of large-scale objects, like the ones you see in industrial facilities or factories”, Sven related.

That’s why SEAD Mission 360° turned to the 3D Scan Academy, led by Lutz Volc. The 3D Scan Academy offers custom training and rental options for various 3D scanners. They thus have extensive experience using many kinds of 3D scanners from a variety of brands.

Eager to leverage this experience, Sven consulted Lutz about solutions to create precise, small-scale digital twins, and how they could merge this with the industrial and corporate world.

After honing its portfolio of high-tech solutions for real estate and receiving increased demand for more diverse 3D scanning projects, the SEAD Mission 360° team started thinking forward.

3D Scan Academy Recommends SHINING 3D Solutions

Early on, Lutz was quick to suggest SHINING 3D’s industrial metrology solutions. He chose these SHINING 3D products because “they are easy to learn, comply with modern requirements, [offer] a competitive price-to-performance ratio, and are very flexible in terms of applications.”

3D Scan Academy demonstrated SHINING 3D’s FreeScan lineup to Sven and the SEAD team. During the demos, the team was convinced by the products’ feel, quality, and performance. 3D Scan Academy recommended waiting for the then-upcoming FreeScan UE Pro to be released.

The FreeScan UE Pro 3D scanner can handle metal surfaces and complex details.

 
The FreeScan UE Pro indeed appeared to be the ideal solution for them, being “capable, with its high resolution, of scanning very small and delicate parts, while it is also able to digitize large objects, like entire vehicles,” expressed Lutz. “It has, through the means of photogrammetry, great potential to flexibly do large and complex scan jobs cleanly and fast,” he continued.

That’s precisely what SEAD was looking for, a flexible tool equipped with the latest technology to complete their offering of advanced 3D scanning services. Lutz added that the FreeScan UE Pro “can be used in several situations without the need to carry multiple scanners and thus always [provides] the perfect setup.”.

To complete the package, 3D Scan Academy also recommended the SHINING 3D Transcan C. Thanks to its 12MP cameras, the Transcan C is able to capture objects’ textures (colors) in addition to their geometry. SEAD can now generate high-quality, photorealistic digital twins.

SHINING 3D Transcan C

According to Lutz, the FreeScan UE Pro and Transcan C were the ideal duo for SEAD. One provides metrology-grade 3D models for engineering or inspection cases; the other provides colored 3D models for cases involving virtual displays.