Survey configuration for terrestrial laser scanning

Despite the enormous popularity of terrestrial laser scanners in the field of geodesy and related sciences the vital task of viewpoint planning is mostly considered intuitively. In contrast to established acquisition techniques, such as tacheometry and classical photogrammetry, optimisation of the acquisition configuration cannot be conducted based on assumed object coordinates, as these would change in dependence to the chosen viewpoint. Hence, this article discusses on how laser scans can be simulated based on predefined viewpoints and a given 3D model. Afterwards the task of viewpoint planning is observed from two perspectives namely regarding the achievable precision in the field as well as from an economic point of view in the context of data acquisition.