Continuing Down the Path of 3D Preservation: An Expansion into 3D Laser Scanning

    My name is Trevor Colaneri and I am an MA student pursuing a Public History degree at UCF and my research interest are in preserving artifacts in 3D. This past fall I completed my internship with FPAN’s East Central office where I learned the photogrammetric process and applied this to a set of six unprovenienced artifacts from the Sanford Museum with the goal of not only creating 3D models, but printing these artifacts on FDM and SLA printers to have a comparison between printing processes. I used only low-cost methods in order to achieve these to, in part, enter the field on my own dime, and advocate for the increasing low-cost movement within the field. This internship culminated in my presentation at the virtual SHA conference which was also my first entry into the field of conferences.

    This internship for the spring semester is under the direction of Dr. Lori Walters who focuses on the use of terrestrial laser scanners to preserve buildings in 3D. The skills I hope the gain from this internship include the technical skills required to work with terrestrial laser scanners and process the data that comes from them. There is also the potential to work with a handheld structured light scanner as well. This internship will expand my knowledge on the use of 3D scanning technologies to allow me to expand my toolbox in the field of 3D preservation.

    My initial understanding of scanning technologies is this: photogrammetry is a great all around tool that can capture objects drastically different in size but lacks the accuracy of the other methods, the terrestrial laser scanner excels at the accuracy of its data but can only capture objects around the size of most buildings and is not intended for small objects, and the handled structured light scanner which fits nestled between the two with its ability to capture furniture sized objects. With the wide breadth of this internship’s available tools, a comparative approach is a possible avenue to explore as it will not only help me in having an understanding of each methods output but help others as well.

    The internship has tentatively set out a few different goals to accomplish, the scanning a statue on UCF’s campus as an initial test of photogrammetry and laser scanning, followed up by a scan of a structure here in the greater Orlando area such as church in Altamont, and finally scanning the Sugar Mill in New Smyrna. These goals can change in the coming weeks but their concepts behind the approach remains the same. Something local and easy, followed by a structure in the local area, and smaller location that will flex the capabilities of the different scanning methods.

    This internship will function differently to most traditional internships I have done in the past due to COVID-19 restrictions and is planned to start later in the spring semester and continue into the summer to ensure the safety of all participants and as such the blog posts regarding this project will be on an irregular schedule until later into the semester.