A History of Laser Scanning, Part 1:
Space and Defense Applications
Adam P. Spring
Abstract
This article presents the origins and evolution of midrange
terrestrial laser scanning (
TLS
), spanning primarily from the
1950s to the time of publication. Particular attention is given
to developments in hardware and software that document
the physical dimensions of a scene as a point cloud. These
developments include parameters for accuracy, repeatability,
and resolution in the midrange—millimeter and centimeter
levels when recording objects at building and landscape
scales up to a kilometer away. The article is split into two
parts: Part one starts with early space and defense applica-
tions, and part two examines the survey applications that
formed around
TLS
technologies in the 1990s. The origins of
midrange
TLS
, ironically, begin in space and defense ap-
plications, which shaped the development of sensors and
information processing via autonomous vehicles. Included
are planetary rovers, space shuttles, robots, and land vehicles
designed for relative navigation in hostile environments like
space and war zones. Key people in the midrange
TLS
commu-
nity were consulted throughout the 10-year period over which
this article was written. A multilingual and multidisciplinary
literature review—comprising media written or produced
in Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Italian,
and Russian—was also an integral part of this research.
Introduction
Midrange terrestrial laser scanning (
TLS
) developed out of
space and defense applications. As will be discussed in part
two, it evolved as a laser-based methodology that documents
an object or environment to a known scale of measurement.
Government agencies such as the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (
DARPA
) were a main source of funding for
midrange
TLS
from the 1960s to the 1990s, until the technol-
ogy was recognized as a valuable tool for industrial uses
during the period 1987–1998. Up to that point, midrange
TLS
provided an effective solution for the operation of unmanned
vehicles and robots in environments otherwise hazardous to
humans, such as war zones and space. It was primarily cre-
ated and refined for use in remote navigation systems from
the 1960s to the 1990s. Subsequent uses based on computer-
aided documentation, which were facilitated by industrial as
well as cultural-heritage (
CH
) applications, began in the late
1980s. Transitions into this world of survey and documenta-
tion were as much about changes in business cultures and
practices as they were about the available technologies in
place at the time.
Four phases of development for mid-range TLS are ex-
plored in both parts of this article. The first phase is the initial
technological development – where government agencies like
DARPA
and the National Aeronautics and Space Administra-
tion (
NASA
) started sensor-led initiatives. The second phase
seeded business cultures and technologies - via corporate phi-
lanthropy laws, technology transfer laws and further develop-
ments in microelectronics. The third phase is shaped by the
tripod based commercial systems that inspired this article,
along with non-profit corporations that came out of Califor-
nia. Phase four was still playing out at the time this article
was published. It is a period where remote navigation, mixed
reality applications and simultaneous and localized mapping
were transforming midrange
TLS
sensors into commodity
items. Where mobile phones, tablet based computing and car
based applications were clearly shaping future developments.
Time of flight (
ToF
) and phase-shift (
PS
) laser scanning in
phases one and two of the development cycle are predomi-
nantly focused on in part one of this article. This part ends
at the point where triangulation-based midrange
TLS
systems
(developed by Xin Chen and with the founding of Mensi in
1987 by Auguste D’Aligny and Michel Paramythioti) became
the gateway to industrial applications, which helped turn laser
scanners into survey instruments (see Figure 1b). It explores
initiatives funded by government agencies like
DARPA
,
NASA
,
and the European Space Agency (
ESA
); the partnerships formed
to develop solutions alongside emerging trends in computing;
and early user adoption outside of space- and defense-based
applications. It also lays the foundation for later discussions
outlined in part two. This includes midrange TLS as it is cur-
rently defined, as well as an exploration of the period where
technologies made the transition to commercial markets of use.
The Road to General Use
A road map of the development of midrange
TLS
is presented
in Figure 1a. It shows the applications, technological devel-
opments, and projects that were required to attain the broad
range of application that is now possible. For example, the
period of research and development dating back to the 1960s
was an era shaped by space and defense applications, where
the development cycle in place was driven by artificial intel-
ligence and robotics (Matthies 1999). The funding model that
sustained it was driven by government grants (Waldron and
McGhee 1986; Song and Waldron 1989; Everett 1995; Gleich-
man
et al.
1998; Matthies 1999; Roland and Shiman 2002).
Laser based sensors were developed to serve the interests of
departments like
DARPA
and later research programs like the
Strategic Computing Initiative (Roland and Shiman 2002).
Despite being overlooked or untold, this part of the story
of midrange
TLS
remains embedded in solutions used today.
For example, laser scanners know their position in relative
space because they were originally used for relative naviga-
tion in space-driven applications. The methodology can be
traced back to the Space Race, where it became part of the
NASA
Surveyor program (Matthies 1999). It was this initiative
that identified the need for more accurate sensors and sensing
in unmanned space exploration—for guidance systems that
could be used in vehicles like planetary rovers or dock-
ing space shuttles (Lewis and Johnston 1977; Waldron and
Remotely Interested LLC,
Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing
Vol. 86, No. 7, July 2020, pp. 419–429.
0099-1112/20/419–429
© 2020 American Society for Photogrammetry
and Remote Sensing
doi: 10.14358/PERS.86.7.419
PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
July 2020
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