Drones and LIDAR in Geology – live demonstration

Carl Stevenson, University of Birmingham | 26 September 2022

Carl used a drone at Scar Cottage quarry in Triassic sandstone to capture images and spatial data which allowed him to construct the 3D interactive view of the rock face which you can view by clicking on the image below.

Scar Cottage Quarry - Drone produced view

 

Click the image to open an interactive 3D view of Scar Cottage quarry assembled in a tool called Sketchfab from the data obtained used a drone flying back and forth near the rock face.

Move around and zoom in and out using your mouse.

LIDAR produced view

 

Click the image to open an interactive 3D view of the quarry face produced using an app Polycam Capture and LIDAR sensor on an iPad.

LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) sensors have been fitted on iPhones since iPhone 12 Pro and recent iPad Pro models. Android devices do similar using ARCore technology and related apps.

LiDAR sensor on an iPhone 12 Pro