Carlson Point Cloud LiDAR Processing and CAD Feature Extraction Software

Carlson Point Cloud for LiDAR scanning and photogrammetry data

Carlson Point Cloud is CAD-based processing software for professionals who need to convert dense 3D point cloud data into practical survey, engineering and construction deliverables. It can work with data from terrestrial laser scanners, aerial LiDAR, drone photogrammetry and other point cloud sources, giving surveyors and engineers a direct route from captured 3D data to points, linework, surfaces, contours and finished CAD information.

The software is available in Basic and Advanced versions. Both provide the core tools required to view, clean, process and extract useful information from point clouds. Point Cloud Advanced expands the workflow with additional filters, transformations and automated feature extraction tools for projects where manually tracing every physical feature would take too much time.

Turn large point clouds into useful CAD data

A scanner or photogrammetry project can contain millions or even billions of measured points, but most survey and engineering projects ultimately require a much smaller set of useful features. Carlson Point Cloud is designed to bridge that gap.

Users can work within the cloud to identify surfaces, edges and site features and then create standard CAD entities from them. Points, breaklines, contours, profiles, cross-sections and surface models can be generated from the measured data and transferred into the normal CAD workflow for further design, drafting or analysis.

This makes the software particularly useful for survey companies that want to collect a site quickly with LiDAR or photogrammetry but still need to deliver conventional plans, terrain models and drawings to clients.

Work with terrestrial LiDAR aerial LiDAR and photogrammetry

Carlson Point Cloud is not limited to one scanner or one method of data collection. Point cloud information can come from terrestrial laser scanning, airborne or drone-based LiDAR, photogrammetry and other supported datasets.

The software supports common point cloud and geospatial data types including LAS, E57, DEM, GeoTIFF and RCP, as well as data from established scanning workflows. This is useful for organisations operating several sensors because data can be brought into a common processing environment instead of requiring a separate drafting workflow for every instrument.

For drone operators, a point cloud produced by a photogrammetry package can become the starting point for terrain modelling, feature extraction and CAD production. For terrestrial scanning teams, multiple scan positions can be registered and combined before the required survey information is extracted.

Register and combine multiple scans

Large sites are often captured from several scanner positions or separate datasets. Carlson Point Cloud includes tools for registering scans to local coordinates and consolidating multiple scans into a combined point cloud.

Clouds can be merged and viewed together so that different parts of a project can be processed as one site. This is particularly useful for topographic surveys, industrial sites, roads, buildings and other locations where a single scanner position cannot capture everything required.

Raster imagery can also be overlaid in 3D, giving operators additional visual information when reviewing the scan and identifying features.

Reduce cloud size and remove unwanted data

Dense point clouds contain a large amount of useful information, but they can also contain more detail than a particular deliverable requires. Carlson provides decimation and resampling tools that reduce the number of points while retaining the information needed for further processing.

Outlier and smoothing tools help reduce unwanted point cloud noise. In practical survey work, this can make large datasets easier to manage before surfaces or CAD features are created.

Bare-earth tools are available for separating the ground from features such as vegetation, buildings and vehicles. This is especially valuable when a surveyor needs a terrain model from an aerial LiDAR or photogrammetry dataset that also contains trees, structures and other above-ground objects.

Create terrain surfaces contours and breaklines

For topographic and civil engineering work, the final deliverable is often a terrain surface rather than the complete point cloud. Carlson Point Cloud provides tools for deriving surface information directly from the measured points.

Users can create TIN-based surface information, generate contours and produce 3D breaklines around significant changes in terrain. Automatic breakline tools can help identify surface zones where a sharp slope change needs to be retained in the final terrain model.

This is useful for roads, embankments, drainage features, excavation areas and other locations where simply connecting a regular selection of points would not properly represent the real shape of the ground.

Generate profiles and cross-sections from the point cloud

Profiles and cross-sections can be extracted directly from point cloud information. An alignment can be traced across the site and used to create sections through the measured data.

For civil engineers and surveyors, this can speed up work on roads, corridors, stockpiles, earthworks and other linear projects. Instead of manually selecting individual levels along every section, the required geometry can be derived from the dense survey information already available in the cloud.

Field-to-Finish from scanned data

Carlson’s Field-to-Finish workflow can also be used with Point Cloud data. Point descriptions and coding can be turned into symbols, linework and labels in CAD, using the same type of FLD definitions employed with GNSS or conventional total station survey data.

This can be valuable for survey businesses that already use Carlson for traditional field surveying. GNSS, total station and point cloud projects can follow a more consistent drafting workflow instead of requiring completely different office procedures for each collection technology.

Advanced feature extraction for faster drafting

Carlson Point Cloud Advanced adds automated feature-extraction capabilities intended to reduce repetitive tracing and drafting. Depending on the source data and feature type, the software can extract linework for items including kerbs, parking lines, paint stripes, sidewalks, building outlines, powerlines and colour edges.

Machine-learning-based tools can also use orthoimagery generated from photogrammetry or combined RGB and LiDAR workflows to identify selected features and assist with point-cloud classification.

On a car park, road corridor or built-up site, this can save considerable drafting time compared with manually tracing every kerb, road marking or building edge. The extracted geometry remains part of the CAD workflow, allowing the operator to inspect and edit the result before it becomes part of the final drawing.

Useful for drone surveying and aerial mapping

Drone surveying can produce extremely detailed point clouds quickly, but clients often require conventional outputs such as contours, spot heights, surfaces, sections and CAD drawings. Carlson Point Cloud provides the processing stage between the captured 3D dataset and those normal survey deliverables.

For photogrammetry projects, users can combine the point cloud with orthoimagery and use both sources while extracting features. This is useful for mapping roads, car parks, construction sites, quarries, industrial areas and land-development projects where visual and elevation information are both important.

Useful for terrestrial laser scanning

Terrestrial laser scanners are commonly used where a very dense representation of buildings, structures, roads or terrain is required. Carlson Point Cloud allows these large scans to be registered, merged and processed before only the necessary information is passed into CAD.

A surveyor can therefore use the scanner to capture more of the site in the field and decide later which points, edges, levels or sections are required for the final drawing. This can reduce the need to return to site simply because an additional profile or measurement was not anticipated during the initial survey.

Volume and earthwork applications

Point cloud data can also be used for surface and volume-related work. Once the relevant ground or material surface has been extracted, the data can support volume calculations and terrain comparison workflows.

This is relevant to earthworks contractors, quarries, stockpile surveys and construction projects where regular LiDAR or drone surveys are used to monitor changes in ground levels or material quantities.

Point Cloud Basic or Point Cloud Advanced

Point Cloud Basic covers the main point cloud manipulation workflow, including core filtering, drawing and export functions for linework, TINs, contours and other CAD information. It is suited to users who primarily need to clean point clouds and manually extract survey and surface information.

Point Cloud Advanced adds additional filters and transformations together with automated feature extraction and the creation of additional feature-type points and solids. It is aimed at users processing larger volumes of LiDAR or photogrammetry data where automation can reduce the amount of manual extraction required.

The right version therefore depends less on how the cloud was captured and more on what needs to be extracted from it and how much processing is performed on a regular basis.

Who uses Carlson Point Cloud?

Carlson Point Cloud is suited to land surveyors, engineering surveyors, civil engineers, drone mapping professionals, LiDAR specialists, construction survey teams, GIS professionals, mining and quarry operations and organisations that regularly need to convert 3D scan data into CAD-based deliverables.

For a land surveyor, it can be used to create conventional topographic information from a dense scan. A civil engineer can extract terrain, profiles and sections. A drone operator can turn a photogrammetric point cloud into CAD data, while a construction or quarry team can use surface information for earthworks and volume-related workflows.

A CAD based workflow

Carlson Point Cloud is part of Carlson’s CAD-based desktop software environment. The current Carlson desktop software release supports the Point Clouds module alongside other Carlson office modules, allowing extracted information to move into established Carlson surveying, civil engineering and construction workflows.

This is particularly useful for businesses that do not want the point cloud to remain isolated in specialist viewing software. Once the required geometry has been extracted, it can continue as standard CAD information for drafting, design, quantity work or delivery to a client.

Carlson Point Cloud from Global GPS Systems

Global GPS Systems can help determine whether Carlson Point Cloud Basic or Point Cloud Advanced is the better fit for your workflow. The choice depends on factors such as the type and size of point clouds you process, whether you work with drone or terrestrial LiDAR data and how much automated feature extraction you require.

Global GPS Systems can also help match the software to a wider surveying or 3D scanning workflow, including GNSS equipment, LiDAR scanners and other field systems used to collect the source data.