RAPID DATA CAPTURE OF THE REAL WORLD-INTO A 3-D CAD MODEL

摘要

3 Dimensional (3-D) CAD is widely used in many nuclear applications for new design and also modification of existing design. It represents information in a format that can be visualised easily and which can be linked seamlessly to a 3-D simulation software package. In regulatory environment such as the Nuclear Industry the accuracy of 3-D CAD is important and needs to be updated regularly. Often original information takes the form of drawings and it is a painfully time consuming process to update these to 3-D CAD. Even where the original design was represented in 3-D CAD it may not always have been updated regularly in line with changes. Surveying methods have existed for many years based on the use of theodolites and photogrammetry. These techniques have produced accurate models but the data capture has been slow. This has limited their use in nuclear applications up to now due to issues such as dose, lighting, accessibility etc. UK Robotics has recently introduced a laser scanner "SceneModeller" and software package "Architect" in conjunction with its partners K2T based in Pittsburgh and Zoller & Frohlich in Germany. UK Robotics have worked with a British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) client to scan and model a five-storey building at the BNFL Sellafield site. The building contains process plant and human access time was limited to 10 minutes per day in certain parts due to radiation levels. The use of the UK Robotics system provided an accurate cost-effective model of the building under significant working constraints which from a dose committment to the workforce was as low as practicable (ALARP).