LRTK Cloud Usage: From Viewing Point Cloud Data to Measurements Using Only a Browser

Table of Contents

• What is LRTK Cloud?

• Uploading Point Cloud Data to LRTK Cloud

• How to View Point Cloud Data in a Browser

• How to Measure Point Cloud Data in a Browser

• Benefits and Use Cases of LRTK Cloud

• Simple Surveying Enabled by LRTK Cloud

• FAQ

Have you ever obtained 3D point cloud data on site only to struggle because "the data is too large to handle" or "I don't have the specialized software to view it"? LRTK Cloud solves those problems and is an innovative cloud service that enables viewing point cloud data and measuring distances and areas using only a browser.

In recent years, not only drones and laser scanners but also smartphones have made it easy to scan the surroundings in 3D and obtain "point cloud data." Point cloud data (point cloud) is 3D data that represents the shape of real space as a collection of many points. Each point contains X, Y, Z coordinate values indicating position (and sometimes color information), and the collection of points can record the shapes of terrain and structures in detail. Traditionally, using such 3D point clouds required expensive specialized software and high-performance PCs, but with LRTK Cloud you can view and share point cloud data in a web browser and measure distances, areas, and even volumes.

This article explains what LRTK Cloud is, how to use it from the basics, how to view and measure point cloud data in a browser, and the practical benefits of using it, in a way that's easy for beginners to understand. At the end, we also introduce simple surveying using LRTK. Let's take a closer look at how to use LRTK Cloud.

What is LRTK Cloud?

LRTK Cloud is a web service that allows you to manage and utilize high-precision 3D data acquired with the smartphone-linked surveying device LRTK Phone in the cloud. If you upload point cloud and positioning data from the field via the internet, you can view 3D point clouds and perform various measurements in a web browser without installing specialized software. It is also characterized by the ability to display multiple point cloud datasets and 3D models simultaneously and to check locations on a map. Because field-acquired data can be shared to the cloud immediately, you can grasp the situation remotely and verify necessary dimensions or perform analysis from afar. It is truly an innovative cloud service that allows you to complete everything from viewing point cloud data to measuring it using only a browser.

Uploading Point Cloud Data to LRTK Cloud

How do you import point cloud data acquired on site into LRTK Cloud? The procedure is very simple. First, perform point cloud scanning and positioning on site using the LRTK Phone (a GNSS receiver mounted on a smartphone) and the dedicated app. After data acquisition, as long as the smartphone can connect to the internet, simply tap the sync button in the app to upload the measurement data to the cloud. Large 3D datasets are automatically saved to the cloud, so they won't consume the smartphone's internal storage. Once the upload is complete, you can immediately view and use the cloud data from an office PC.

You can also upload additional data files from the LRTK Cloud web interface. For example, if you upload design drawings (CAD data) to the cloud, you can overlay them with point clouds for comparison. Photos taken on site and coordinate point information are also synced to the cloud, allowing you to centrally manage related materials.

How to View Point Cloud Data in a Browser

Once your data is uploaded to the cloud, let's display the point cloud in a web browser. Log in to LRTK Cloud from a PC or tablet browser and select the relevant project or data. When you open the point cloud data, a 3D viewer launches on the screen and the acquired point cloud is displayed in color. You can freely move the viewpoint with mouse drag or touch operations to observe the site from various angles. Zooming in and out is smooth, allowing you to check details closely.

You can also take advantage of the point cloud's location information to display maps or aerial photos as the viewer background. This lets you get an overhead sense of where the point cloud corresponds in the real world and confirm the overall site situation geographically.

The LRTK Cloud viewer can handle multiple datasets simultaneously. For example, you can overlay separately scanned point clouds or compare a design 3D model with the point cloud (since point clouds have absolute coordinates, they are automatically aligned in the correct positions). Additionally, if photos were taken at the same time as the point cloud acquisition, you can view those photos in the viewer. Clicking the camera icon in the point cloud lets you compare actual site photos with the 3D data, making it easier to understand fine details that are hard to identify in the point cloud alone.

In this way, LRTK Cloud enables intuitive 3D data viewing in a browser without specialized software, so you can inspect site conditions as if holding them in your hands. Even high-resolution point cloud data is optimized and displayed in the cloud, allowing comfortable operation regardless of your PC's specifications.

How to Measure Point Cloud Data in a Browser

On LRTK Cloud, you can do more than just view point cloud data—you can directly measure the necessary dimensions. Even without visiting the site, if you have the point cloud in the office you can immediately obtain lengths and areas you need. The main measurement functions are distance measurement, area measurement, volume measurement, and coordinate checking.

First, distance measurement finds the distance between two points on the point cloud. Click any two points you want to measure in the viewer to display the straight-line distance between them. This makes it easy to grasp dimensions of buildings or structures, spacing between distant objects, height differences, and so on.

Next, area measurement calculates the area of a region specified on the point cloud. By connecting multiple points to draw a polygon, the internal area is computed. You can accurately derive planar areas such as ground parcel areas or wall surface areas from point cloud data, and even surfaces that are normally difficult to measure—like sloped terrain—can be measured accurately.

Volume measurement is used to calculate the volume of fill or excavation in a specified region. When you specify the contour of the target area on the point cloud, the amount of material (volume) contained within that range is automatically calculated. This allows you to quickly compute volumes of fill or accumulated materials on construction sites, aiding earthwork management and verification of constructed shapes.

Additionally, the coordinate checking function lets you click any point in the point cloud to obtain the 3D coordinates of that point (latitude, longitude, elevation, or X, Y, Z values in the chosen coordinate system). For example, if you want to know the elevation or position of a specific point, you can get an accurate value right away from the point cloud data.

There is also a cloud-based function to extract arbitrary cross-sections from the point cloud and turn them into drawings. By specifying a section line in the viewer, you can generate a sectional drawing with elevation information and export it as CAD data (DXF format). This allows direct use of point cloud data for creating simple as-built drawings and reports.

All of these measurement functions can be performed easily in the browser, and results appear immediately on screen. There is no need to generate drawings in specialist CAD software or perform manual calculations. Even if you forgot to measure something on site, you can pick up the necessary dimensions later from the point cloud data in the cloud, saving you the trouble of returning to the site.

Benefits and Use Cases of LRTK Cloud

As described above, using LRTK Cloud makes working with 3D point cloud data dramatically easier. Finally, let's summarize those benefits and introduce use cases where it is helpful.

Ease and efficiency: Because it can be used from a browser without specialized software, anyone from the field to the office can operate it immediately. Uploading and sharing data is done in one tap, eliminating the hassle of exchanging files via email or USB. If one person uploads acquired data to the cloud on site, colleagues in the office can check it instantly, greatly reducing workflow time loss.

High-precision measurement: Point cloud data from LRTK Phone has centimeter-level positioning accuracy (cm level accuracy (half-inch accuracy)), and high-precision distance, area, and volume measurements can be performed in the cloud. Tasks such as volume calculations that previously required surveying specialists to spend a long time can be performed quickly by scanning on site and getting results with LRTK Cloud, enabling rapid decision-making.

Large data support: Because large datasets can be handled in the cloud, high-density point clouds and wide-area scan data pose no problem. You can view and analyze heavy point clouds without being dependent on your PC's specifications. With unlimited storage to accumulate data, you can easily retrieve and compare past site data even after time has passed.

Various use cases: LRTK Cloud is powerful for quality and progress control on civil engineering and construction sites. For example, recording daily excavation and fill volumes as point clouds and calculating volumes in the cloud streamlines process and progress management. In disaster site surveying, you can scan surrounding areas without sending people into hazardous zones and safely extract required dimensions in the cloud. For infrastructure inspection, periodically saving point clouds of structures and comparing them with past data in the cloud makes it easy to understand deterioration. Additionally, overlaying acquired point clouds with design models or drawings enables remote verification of whether constructed areas match the design.

Furthermore, 3D data stored in the cloud can be overlaid on the real scene on site using AR display functions in the LRTK app. This combination of cloud and AR lets you intuitively grasp discrepancies between design and as-built conditions on site, enabling smarter construction management.

These benefits help LRTK Cloud improve field productivity and speed up decision-making. From field staff to construction managers and designers, sharing the same 3D information in the cloud allows discussions that prevent misunderstandings and enable smooth collaboration.

Simple Surveying Enabled by LRTK Cloud

Traditionally, surveying required specialized qualifications and expensive equipment and took time and manpower to obtain results. However, with the advent of LRTK Cloud, a new form of surveying—what might be called "simple surveying"—has become a reality. By scanning the field with LRTK Phone and performing instant analysis in LRTK Cloud, anyone can obtain sufficiently accurate surveying results in a short time.

For example, if you want to check the width, length, or elevation differences of a small development site, you would previously have needed to hire a surveyor to measure with a total station. With LRTK, one person can walk around the site with a smartphone and acquire a 3D point cloud, then immediately determine distances and elevation differences in the cloud. Even for simple measurements that don't require full surveying drawings, LRTK Cloud allows you to obtain reliable numbers based on high-precision data, which is useful as a basis for on-site decisions.

Also, because data acquired by LRTK Cloud is saved as point clouds with absolute coordinates, it is easy to later compile formal drawings or reports if needed. In other words, LRTK provides flexibility from on-the-spot "rough surveying" to detailed analysis at a later date. Even in situations where surveying was previously omitted due to time or cost constraints, using LRTK Cloud enables decisions based on solid field data.

Thus, LRTK Cloud has made advanced surveying functions simple and available to anyone when needed. Non-experts can handle accurate 3D data, strongly supporting field DX (digital transformation). Please make use of LRTK Cloud, which completes everything from viewing to measuring point cloud data in a browser, for simple surveying in your daily work.

FAQ

Q: Do I need specialized software to use LRTK Cloud?

A: No, you do not. LRTK Cloud is a service that runs in a web browser, so you can use it without installing special software on your PC or tablet. It supports major web browsers and can be used without special configuration. As long as you have an internet connection, you can view and measure 3D point cloud data from anywhere.

Q: What do I need to use LRTK Cloud?

A: To make the most of LRTK Cloud, you need the LRTK Phone device for on-site data acquisition and a compatible smartphone (iOS) with the dedicated app. First, acquire point cloud and positioning data with LRTK Phone and sync it to the cloud so it can be accessed from a browser. The cloud features themselves can be viewed by anyone with a browser, so you can also share data with stakeholders via a sharing link.

Q: What kinds of measurements can be done in the cloud?

A: In addition to basic dimensional measurements such as distance, area, and volume, you can check point coordinate values and calculate elevation differences and slopes between two points. If you find a location you forgot to measure on site, as long as you have the point cloud data you can perform additional measurements in the cloud.

Q: How reliable are the measurement results?

A: Point cloud data acquired with LRTK Phone combines GNSS (satellite positioning) and photogrammetry and achieves approximately 1-2 cm (0.4-0.8 in) horizontal/planar accuracy and about 3 cm (1.2 in) in elevation accuracy. Therefore, distance, area, and volume measurements in the cloud can generally be trusted at the centimeter level. However, note that there are legal requirements under surveying laws if you intend to submit results as official survey outputs, so please consider the intended use accordingly.

Q: Can LRTK be used at sites without internet coverage?

A: Yes, data acquisition on site is possible even in offline environments. LRTK Phone uses satellite augmentation information and can provide high-precision positioning even in mountainous areas without cellular coverage. Acquired data is stored on the smartphone, so you don't need to be connected to the internet at the time. You can sync to the cloud later when you return to a location with Wi‑Fi or cellular coverage. Once uploaded, the data can be viewed and analyzed in the cloud from the office or other locations.

Q: Can multiple people view the same data on LRTK Cloud at the same time?

A: Yes. If users have permissions to access the same project, multiple users can view and measure the same point cloud data from their own devices. For example, a field worker and an office engineer can open the same data in their browsers and discuss it over the phone while checking it together. Having data in the cloud allows geographically separated teams to share 3D information in real time.

Q: Can point cloud data or measurement results be exported from LRTK Cloud?

A: Yes. Point cloud data stored in the cloud can be downloaded as needed. You can also save measurement results as screenshots or export section drawings generated from point clouds as DXF files, providing export functions to use acquired data and analysis results in internal documents or other software. Data acquired on site can be stored in LRTK Cloud while still being extracted to local environments for secondary use when required.

Q: Is the data in the cloud secure?

A: Yes. LRTK Cloud has measures in place to securely handle customer data. Communications are encrypted, and access permissions can be set per project so that only authorized users can view the data. Storing data in the cloud also reduces the risk of data loss due to device loss or failure. Backups are maintained on a reliable infrastructure, so you can use the service with confidence.