General LIDAR scanning applications for iOS and Android

[Eugene Abramoff]

Hello,

I don't know if this has been posted or if a lot of people are aware of this, but I'm going to share anyway. If this is redundant or makes me look like I've been living under a rock for the past year, then feel free to delete/flag to delete this post.

I've been browsing the app store the other day and found that there is a variety of 3D scanning applications using LiDAR technology out there. They only work with fairly new devices, both Apple and Android, but I imagine it is relatively "cheap" if one was already in possession of a compatible device. I saw specifically "3D Scanner App" and it looks pretty cool. I'm not a modder myself, so I don't know if it is the best one or useful for scanning cars, parts and objects for AC modding, but if it is, hopefully it encourages more people to take up on some projects they wanted to make and share.

 

[McGherkin]

This is what I’ve been looking at. I don’t think it’ll be accurate enough to scan a full car in a useable state, but I reckon it’d be good enough to get the dimensions and proportions required to build a model from.

what we need is an app that builds and refines the model more as you keep scanning it for longer.

 

[NightEye87]

I reckon this is more in the lines of (stereo)photogrammetry rather than LIDAR.
It looks to be quite useful to get basic dimensions.

 

[Eugene Abramoff]

This is what I’ve been looking at. I don’t think it’ll be accurate enough to scan a full car in a useable state, but I reckon it’d be good enough to get the dimensions and proportions required to build a model from.

what we need is an app that builds and refines the model more as you keep scanning it for longer.

You mean something like this?

 

[Johnr777]

I reckon this is more in the lines of (stereo)photogrammetry rather than LIDAR.
It looks to be quite useful to get basic dimensions.

The existing iPad Pro and now the iPhone 12 do actually have a LiDAR sensor. Software limitation is the only thing I’d be concerned about.

 

[McGherkin]

You mean something like this?

The Lidar app I posted a video does a resolution of 2cm which isn't bad at all. It's probably a little more accurate than photogrammetry. That app you posted is dead though.

I think Johnr777 is right - the limitation I would say is how much data the phone can work with in one go, I'd imagine a full circuit scan would be very data heavy. But not impossible, I think.

 

[NightEye87]

The range of these mobile sensors is way too small for circuit scanning. But for cars or trackside objects it should be good.

The existing iPad Pro and now the iPhone 12 do actually have a LiDAR sensor. Software limitation is the only thing I’d be concerned about.

I assumed it was firing an array of (IR) dots and with its multiple cameras interpolate a 3D mesh to fit the grid. Much like how professional handheld 3D scanners work. In my head LIDAR is with lasers, although these days the word also applies to other light sources, so then yeah, it has LIDAR
Either way, very nice

 

[Ben Lee]

This is very interesting, probably the most interesting feature ive seen from an phone. Could you laser scan a car?

What Android phones have this lidar sensor?

 

[Johnr777]

This is very interesting, probably the most interesting feature ive seen from an phone. Could you laser scan a car?

What Android phones have this lidar sensor?

Yup, probably not as detailed as the pro scanners, but can be done.

The Galaxy S20 I believe has what they call... a "time of flight" sensor, which is essentially LiDAR.

 

[Ben O'Bro]

You mean something like this?

that's not available anymore
there's something with these 3D scan softwares, where no-one is giving you a capable software available on a PC.
It's all on mobile / online, cloud based, and eventually they disappear like they appeared. Much likely being bought by a bigger entity and so on.

 

[McGherkin]

Picked up my iPhone 12 Pro Max today. Straight away had a quick go at scanning the Volvo with laanlabs’ app.

Resolution is 5mm and whilst there are errors I think it’s actually not that bad. With time and effort (a few hours of scanning instead of 5 minutes!) you could get all you need to stitch together a pretty good model. It doesn’t like glass, which I was half expecting, the solution is fairly simple, a few bags of flour over the car would provide a much better surface for scanning which can simply be washed off after, although convincing someone to tip a few bags of flour over a priceless ex Le Mans car may be slightly more difficult. Regardless it seems to produce enough to get a good base to start with.

I’ll attach the files from the scan:

Dropbox - File Deleted - Simplify your life

www.dropbox.com

 

[Johnr777]

Picked up my iPhone 12 Pro Max today. Straight away had a quick go at scanning the Volvo with laanlabs’ app.
View attachment 419568
Resolution is 5mm and whilst there are errors I think it’s actually not that bad. With time and effort (a few hours of scanning instead of 5 minutes!) you could get all you need to stitch together a pretty good model. It doesn’t like glass, which I was half expecting, the solution is fairly simple, a few bags of flour over the car would provide a much better surface for scanning which can simply be washed off after, although convincing someone to tip a few bags of flour over a priceless ex Le Mans car may be slightly more difficult. Regardless it seems to produce enough to get a good base to start with.

I’ll attach the files from the scan:

Dropbox - File Deleted - Simplify your life

www.dropbox.com

oh wow, not bad for a quick scan!

 

[Rodger Davies]

I saw a video from Codemasters recently about how they are scanning cars to create the basic starter model now, but I hadn't for the life of me thought to look at that being possible with free apps - interesting

 

[Eugene Abramoff]

Picked up my iPhone 12 Pro Max today. Straight away had a quick go at scanning the Volvo with laanlabs’ app.
View attachment 419568
Resolution is 5mm and whilst there are errors I think it’s actually not that bad. With time and effort (a few hours of scanning instead of 5 minutes!) you could get all you need to stitch together a pretty good model. It doesn’t like glass, which I was half expecting, the solution is fairly simple, a few bags of flour over the car would provide a much better surface for scanning which can simply be washed off after, although convincing someone to tip a few bags of flour over a priceless ex Le Mans car may be slightly more difficult. Regardless it seems to produce enough to get a good base to start with.

I’ll attach the files from the scan:

Dropbox - File Deleted - Simplify your life

www.dropbox.com

This is really cool! So it does work alright

 

[NightEye87]

Picked up my iPhone 12 Pro Max today. Straight away had a quick go at scanning the Volvo with laanlabs’ app.
View attachment 419568
Resolution is 5mm and whilst there are errors I think it’s actually not that bad. With time and effort (a few hours of scanning instead of 5 minutes!) you could get all you need to stitch together a pretty good model. It doesn’t like glass, which I was half expecting, the solution is fairly simple, a few bags of flour over the car would provide a much better surface for scanning which can simply be washed off after, although convincing someone to tip a few bags of flour over a priceless ex Le Mans car may be slightly more difficult. Regardless it seems to produce enough to get a good base to start with.

I’ll attach the files from the scan:

Dropbox - File Deleted - Simplify your life

www.dropbox.com

There are scanning sprays on the market for professional 3D scans. It dissolves/evaporates without leaving residue (no idea how).

 

[Eugene Abramoff]

There are scanning sprays on the market for professional 3D scans. It dissolves/evaporates without leaving residue (no idea how).

Probably made out of money

 

[McGherkin]

Yeah I can’t imagine they’d be cheap!

 

[Emery]

Yeah I can’t imagine they’d be cheap!

$20-80 per spraycan. Helling makes the cheapest I could find in a quick google.

 

[McGherkin]

So this weekend I was at Watergate Bay, where we usually hold a hillclimb on closed roads. Awesome venue, long term I want to bring it to Assetto but I have like zero experience with Blender (I’m more used to Solidworks etc) and none of creating models for Assetto, grassfx and fancy CSP stuff etc. It’s a big learning curve for me and currently using Race Track Builder but I digress.

These scans are FAR from perfect, and are really test scans more than anything else, but it’s good to see how capable the LIDAR is on the iPhone.

First up, I just did a single pass walking along the edge of one of the roads. Captured all the roadside walls, a little of the road surface but, impressively, the elevation along the entire thing seems to have been captured very well indeed. You could certainly use it as a guide to go from when placing a road virtually. I did capture a tiny bit of the road when I got to the end closest to the foreground, but it was a very quick thing - that said it seems to have started capturing the elevation in that corner on the road very well too, so perhaps roads can be captured too. This first scan is nearly 2GB and it’s at a 2cm resolution.

Next up, a detailed high res of a wall. Scanning big stuff at this high resolution (5mm) can be very taxing, but for smaller objects like this you can do a great job.

Finally, a toilet block. Need a selfie stick or something to elevate the camera better for the roof, and you can see I didn’t really stick the camera up too close as, well… waving a phone camera through the doors of a public toilet doesn’t really give you a good image LOL. But certainly you have the basic dimensions of a building and with time and practice you could certainly cover enough of it to be useful for a game asset. Again you can see that the elevation between the upper and lower sections of the building and the path running alongside it are all captured

Really interesting data. I’m going to have to go back at some point and scan the area properly over a day or two at least, but it certainly seems to be a feasible method of capturing real life buildings, roads etc for use in Assetto.

 

[Eugene Abramoff]

So this weekend I was at Watergate Bay, where we usually hold a hillclimb on closed roads. Awesome venue, long term I want to bring it to Assetto but I have like zero experience with Blender (I’m more used to Solidworks etc) and none of creating models for Assetto, grassfx and fancy CSP stuff etc. It’s a big learning curve for me and currently using Race Track Builder but I digress.

These scans are FAR from perfect, and are really test scans more than anything else, but it’s good to see how capable the LIDAR is on the iPhone.

First up, I just did a single pass walking along the edge of one of the roads. Captured all the roadside walls, a little of the road surface but, impressively, the elevation along the entire thing seems to have been captured very well indeed. You could certainly use it as a guide to go from when placing a road virtually. I did capture a tiny bit of the road when I got to the end closest to the foreground, but it was a very quick thing - that said it seems to have started capturing the elevation in that corner on the road very well too, so perhaps roads can be captured too. This first scan is nearly 2GB and it’s at a 2cm resolution.
View attachment 504449
View attachment 504447
Next up, a detailed high res of a wall. Scanning big stuff at this high resolution (5mm) can be very taxing, but for smaller objects like this you can do a great job.
View attachment 504448
Finally, a toilet block. Need a selfie stick or something to elevate the camera better for the roof, and you can see I didn’t really stick the camera up too close as, well… waving a phone camera through the doors of a public toilet doesn’t really give you a good image LOL. But certainly you have the basic dimensions of a building and with time and practice you could certainly cover enough of it to be useful for a game asset. Again you can see that the elevation between the upper and lower sections of the building and the path running alongside it are all captured
View attachment 504450
View attachment 504451

Really interesting data. I’m going to have to go back at some point and scan the area properly over a day or two at least, but it certainly seems to be a feasible method of capturing real life buildings, roads etc for use in Assetto.

This is actually insane, I am surprised how capable it is indeed. I guess if you can get some satellite lidar data that people usually use for making tracks, combining it all with your scans, you can get an incredibly accurate representation of the stage. I wonder if it is useful for scanning the road surface?