LIDAR sensors in Archaeology and Anthropology

Members of the Machine Vision Laboratory at The University of North Carolina Charlotte developed a low-cost 3D laser scanner to digitize features of archaeological and anthropological ruins. The basic components of their scanner included the AR4000-LIR with a line-scanner chassis and a 200 KHz PCI high speed interface card. Engineers at the University developed their own Linux-based drivers for the Acuity HSIF card.

According to their published paper "Design and Implementation of an Inexpensive LIDAR Scanning System with Applications in Archaeology", Willis, et al:

"The designed system was built in 2007 and has since been used in the field twice: (1) for scanning ruins and underground cisterns within Mayan cities near Merida, Mexico and (2) for scanning the ruins of a Crusader castle at Apollonia-Arsuf, located on the Mediterranean shore near Herzliya, Israel. Using this system in these vastly different environments has provided a number of useful insights or “best practices” on the use of inexpensive LIDAR sensors which are discussed in this paper. We also discuss a measurement model for the generated data and an efficient and easy-to-implement algorithm for polygonizing the measured 3D (x,y, z) data. Specific applications of the developed system to archaeological and anthropological problems are discussed."