Advanced reality capture: Fusing drone surveys and ground scans for high-quality 3DGS

This photorealistic model was created using the new Aerial-Ground Map Fusion feature in XGRIDS Lixel CyberColor - merging data from handheld scans and drone surveys into a unified Gaussian Splat.

The highly-detailed, colour-accurate 3D reconstruction of Ryhope Engines Museum consists of ground information collected with the XGRIDS Lixel K1 mobile laser scanner, along with DJI Matrice 4E aerial mapping data.

Combining both survey techniques, Aerial-Ground Map Fusion bolsters 3DGS outputs, enabling users to:

• Improve spatial accuracy.

• Fill blind spots and better capture roof-top details to create more complete 3D reconstructions.

• Enhance realism.

• Accelerate workflows and provide greater insights.

• Capture data in complex environments.

As such, it is a powerful tool for reality capture, beneficial for a cross-section of industries, including inspection, construction, real estate, gaming, AR and VR, and leisure and tourism.

The survey

The XGRIDS Lixel K1 is a compact handheld SLAM-based scanner, facilitating rapid on-the-go mapping.

It integrates two 48MP panoramic vision modules and a 360° LiDAR, enabling the creation of detailed, true-colour point clouds in real-time.

The handheld scan at Ryhope took a total of 30 minutes: Looping outside the building twice, followed by a detailed walk-through inside.

Meanwhile, the drone data was collected following XGRIDS capture guidance for Gaussian Splatting.

The drone surveys involved:

• Flying area missions above the building.

• Flew 30m above the ground, as an ortho flight collecting top-down imagery. XGRIDS recommends to conduct two flights perpendicular to each other to form a cross-hatch pattern.

• Flew at 70m above ground, using Smart Oblique. Again, two flights were conducted perpendicular to each other.

• This data was supplemented by takeoff and landing shots. These help tie the ground scan to the aerial photos.

• At all the corners of the building, the drone was taken off and the camera manually triggered every metre as it rose to the top-most height of 70m.

To use Aerial Ground Map Fusion, the K1 and M4E required an RTK fix.

Data processing

The data was processed through Lixel CyberColor studio - an advanced 3D modelling solution that offers efficient data compression, automated processing, and robust developer tools for immersive spatial computing applications.

It took 5 hours using our latest processing workstation, complete with AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D processor, NVIDIA 5090 and 128Gb of RAM.

XGRIDS has detailed PC requirements specifically for the addition of drone imagery into Gaussian Splat models.

The recommended configuration is as follows:

• Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X or an equivalent 16-core processor and above.

• Memory: 64GB DDR5 (96GB or 128GB recommended for larger datasets).

• GPU: NVIDIA RTX 3090 (RTX 4090 or 4090D recommended for optimal performance)

The subsequent fly-through video was produced in NUBIGON. This software suite also enables the creation of quirky videos, such as making the building's walls disappear to present an alternative way of seeing inside the property.

Combining 3DGS with NUBIGON provides eye-catching ways of presenting reality capture data.

To integrate XGRIDS-DJI solutions into your workflows, contact us and speak to our in-house surveying team.