NavLive Adds Control Points to Handheld Scanner, Enhancing 3D Scan Accuracy and Verified Site Data
A new capability called Control Points is being added to NavLive, the handheld construction scanner that blends handheld LiDAR, AI processing, and instant Scan‑to‑Plan output. The update is designed to boost the accuracy and reliability of 3D scans by grounding them more firmly in real-world coordinates.
What Control Points does
- Teams can log survey markers in real time during a scan and import external ground-truth coordinates into the NavLive Portal.
- Scans can be aligned to real-world references using two methods:
1) A straightforward rigid alignment that moves the entire model into place without changing the point cloud data.
2) An optimized non-rigid alignment that fine-tunes the data so captured coordinates and imported coordinates align with higher precision.
Why this matters
Control Points helps reduce drift — the small, cumulative misalignments that occur when traversing large or intricate environments. By anchoring scans to known coordinates, multiple scans can be merged into a single, coherent coordinate frame, minimizing errors that could otherwise require repeat site visits.
New verification tools
The feature also includes visual verification tools that clearly indicate alignment quality and accuracy, making it easier to assess whether the data is grounded properly.
Industry perspective
“Precision is everything in construction and surveying,” says Chris Davison, CEO of NavLive. “Even minor drift can undermine downstream decisions.” Control Points offers a fast and dependable way to ground every scan to real-world truth, whether for quick alignment of a single capture or for integrating multiple datasets. It combines the speed of mobile LiDAR with the reliability of traditional survey methods, delivering data you can trust without slowing down the workflow from capture to final model.
Audience takeaway
If your project demands tight coordination between on-site measurements and digital models, this feature promises a more robust, streamlined workflow. It invites discussion on how real-time ground-truthing might impact your current surveying practices and whether the non-rigid alignment method could reveal subjects where rigid alignment falls short.
