Indoor mapping
 

I am trying to find where i can find a completed, or kit of some kind to build either a robot or quadcopter mapping system to map indoor and outoor structures, I would like to be able to input scans into a cad software, so as to dimenson the scanned structures. I seen a sationary system in college used by engineers to map building interiors( I at in the room as it was mapped).
I seen this on youtube, but it is definatly outside my price range.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoyn32iyELs.:D

Re: Indoor mapping
 

What are you looking at doing with it? I work with GIS, so I know of several companies that do this.

Re: Indoor mapping
 

I just want to play around with the technology, like to map inside/outside my house or other peoples houses to assist in making home improvements, additions, etc. Mostly just hobby use.:D

Re: Indoor mapping
 

LiDAR sensors are EXPENSIVE, usually ranging in tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. Even laser rangefinders cost thousands. The most "affordable" ones I've ever seen are here:

http://www.robotshop.com/high-end-la...detectors.html

(something's wrong with hyper-linking for me...) Architectural LiDAR sensors are usually on the high end. That doesn't mean you can't "scan" something using other technology, such as photography. Software exists for making 3D scans using a Kinect (other than 123DCatch. Software for scanning larger things. I'll look around). *edit* There's also acoustic scanning, using 4 or so microphones... MIT level stuff, but really cool, nonetheless

Re: Indoor mapping
 

This is something I've found. (See its on the page in your link)
http://www.hokuyo-aut.jp/02sensor/07...s/utm-30lx-ew/

I found this link for building a laser range finder, https://sites.google.com/site/toddda...m_laser_ranger looks very neat. plannng on trying it soon. acoustic scanning sounds very interesting too. :D

Re: Indoor mapping
 

Accurate and low-cost 3D mapping can be obtained using the Microsoft Kinect. Search Kinect mapping online, and you will find hundreds of projects implemented on various robots. This sensor is extremely affordable in comparison to LIDAR (Kinects run at about $120), and was also provided free in the 2012 KOP if you still have it around. The Kinect is RGBD sensor, combining both color camera and IR depth feed, which makes it a useful tool for both mapping buildings or scanning objects into CAD in color.

One example of a simple mapping robot configuration using the Kinect would be to run the image processing on an onboard laptop (depending on your preferred programming language, you can look into various options such as the Mobile Robot Programming Toolkit, the Robot Operating System, or your FRC programming software) and use an Arduino microcontroller for input from other sensors and motor output. There are many other options, and some robots can be purchased as kits or fully assembled depending on your target price range. iRobot currently has a great mapping robot based on the Roomba for around $400, but price can vary greatly depending on the complexity of the robot and how much of the system you are willing to develop on your own.

*edit* If you are looking specifically for a quadcopter, take a look at the A.R. Parrot Drone.