A semi-automated approach to model architectural elements in Scan-to-BIM processes

In the last years, the AEC (Architecture, Engineering and Construction) domain has exponentially increased the use of BIM and HBIM models for several applications, such as planning renovation and restoration, building maintenance, cost managing, or structural/energetic retrofit design. However, obtaining detailed as-built BIM models is a demanding and time-consuming process. Especially in historical contexts, many different and complex architectural elements need to be carefully and manually modelled. Meshes or surfaces and NURBS or polylines, derived from 3D reality-based data, are recently used as a reference for the HBIM accurate modelling. This work proposes a comprehensive and novel semi-automated approach to reconstruct architectural elements through the Visual Programming Language (VPL) Dynamo software and a Boundary-Representation method (B-rep), starting from 3D surveying data and point clouds classification. A wide package of scripts provides solutions for modelling complex shapes and transferring the obtained 3D models into BIM Authoring tools for a complete reconstruction phase. The presented procedure, useful for different BIM or HBIM applications, proved to reduce the modelling time significantly

A SEMI-AUTOMATED APPROACH TO MODEL ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS IN SCAN-TO-BIM PROCESSES

In the last years, the AEC (Architecture, Engineering and Construction) domain has exponentially increased the use of BIM and HBIM models for several applications, such as planning renovation and restoration, building maintenance, cost managing, or structural/energetic retrofit design. However, obtaining detailed as-built BIM models is a demanding and time-consuming process. Especially in historical contexts, many different and complex architectural elements need to be carefully and manually modelled. Meshes or surfaces and NURBS or polylines, derived from 3D reality-based data, are recently used as a reference for the HBIM accurate modelling. This work proposes a comprehensive and novel semi-automated approach to reconstruct architectural elements through the Visual Programming Language (VPL) Dynamo software and a Boundary-Representation method (B-rep), starting from 3D surveying data and point clouds classification. A wide package of scripts provides solutions for modelling complex shapes and transferring the obtained 3D models into BIM Authoring tools for a complete reconstruction phase. The presented procedure, useful for different BIM or HBIM applications, proved to reduce the modelling time significantly

Procedural Reconstruction of 3D Indoor Models from Lidar Data Using Reversible Jump Markov Chain Monte Carlo

Automated reconstruction of Building Information Models (BIMs) from point clouds has been an intensive and challenging research topic for decades. Traditionally, 3D models of indoor environments are reconstructed purely by data-driven methods, which are susceptible to erroneous and incomplete data. Procedural-based methods such as the shape grammar are more robust to uncertainty and incompleteness of the data as they exploit the regularity and repetition of structural elements and architectural design principles in the reconstruction. Nevertheless, these methods are often limited to simple architectural styles: the so-called Manhattan design. In this paper, we propose a new method based on a combination of a shape grammar and a data-driven process for procedural modelling of indoor environments from a point cloud. The core idea behind the integration is to apply a stochastic process based on reversible jump Markov Chain Monte Carlo (rjMCMC) to guide the automated application of grammar rules in the derivation of a 3D indoor model. Experiments on synthetic and real data sets show the applicability of the method to efficiently generate 3D indoor models of both Manhattan and non-Manhattan environments with high accuracy, completeness, and correctness

Procedural Reconstruction of 3D Indoor Models from Lidar Data Using Reversible Jump Markov Chain Monte Carlo

Automated reconstruction of Building Information Models (BIMs) from point clouds has been an intensive and challenging research topic for decades. Traditionally, 3D models of indoor environments are reconstructed purely by data-driven methods, which are susceptible to erroneous and incomplete data. Procedural-based methods such as the shape grammar are more robust to uncertainty and incompleteness of the data as they exploit the regularity and repetition of structural elements and architectural design principles in the reconstruction. Nevertheless, these methods are often limited to simple architectural styles: the so-called Manhattan design. In this paper, we propose a new method based on a combination of a shape grammar and a data-driven process for procedural modelling of indoor environments from a point cloud. The core idea behind the integration is to apply a stochastic process based on reversible jump Markov Chain Monte Carlo (rjMCMC) to guide the automated application of grammar rules in the derivation of a 3D indoor model. Experiments on synthetic and real data sets show the applicability of the method to efficiently generate 3D indoor models of both Manhattan and non-Manhattan environments with high accuracy, completeness, and correctness