Processing of terrestrial laser scanning point cloud data for computational modelling of building facades

With the rapidly increasing availability of laser scanning data and the growing pressure to use it as the basis for computational models, there has been heighten interest in quickly, cost-effectively, and accurately processing the resulting point cloud data sets so that they are compatible for importation into computational models. This paper presents traditional strategies for solid model generation and examines in detail innovations and continuing limitations of recent patents, newly published research, and some currently available commercial programs for the transformation of laser scanning point cloud data into solid models appropriate for finite element method meshing and various meshing strategies particularly well-suited for point cloud data.