USF and Phoenix Lidar: Building the Future of LiDAR Education and Smart City Planning
Lidar News readers are interested in how innovators are leveraging Phoenix LiDAR 3D technologies to solve a wide variety of problems, educate students and support academic research. Lidar News Founder Gene Roe has provided the following interview questions to Dr. Laura Harrison, Founding Director of Access 3D Lab at the University of South Florida (USF).
- Can you please provide a brief overview of your professional background and experience, particularly with 3D laser scanning/drone lidar technology, and/or a brief history of the growth of the university and its use of 3D technology? Please include an idea of the timelines.
My professional background might be a bit different from many people working in surveying and mapping: I’m trained as a Bronze Age archaeologist with experience excavating some of the first cities in Turkey and Greece (ca. 3,000-2,000 BCE). While I was working on my doctoral dissertation back in 2014, I spent a year living in Turkey, at an archaeological site that was located within an active coal mine. It was a race against the clock to learn everything I could about the ancient city before the heavy mining machinery came in and destroyed everything that was left. This kind of thing is more common than people might realize, and experiencing it firsthand got me interested in using digital technologies to preserve and protect heritage around the globe that is threatened by things like industrialization, urbanization, armed conflict.
My academic research in this area led me to a postdoctoral research position at the University of South Florida (USF) in 2016. By 2018 I became Founding Director of Access 3D Lab at USF where I oversee a range of 3D laser scanning research and teach hands-on, project-based courses and professional development workshops to cultivate skills in lidar and related technologies. The work goes far beyond my roots in archaeology and involves many fields and industries.
- Can you provide an inventory of some of the primary 3D surveying and mapping hardware and software that Access 3D Lab at the University of South Florida currently uses, as well as any other related products? Please include an idea of the timeline of purchases.
Access 3D Lab has always had a strong focus on documenting architectural and cultural heritage, which drove our initial core investments in terrestrial lidar technology. By 2018, we had two Faro Focus x330 terrestrial lidar scanners. We then added a Faro Focus s150 a year or two later. More recently, we purchased three new Faro Focus Premium terrestrial lidar scanners. It’s great to have so many scanners because it allows us to complete large, complex projects faster and train students more effectively and efficiently.
Last year, we were excited to invest in a Riegl Minivux-3 mobile/aerial scanner from Phoenix Lidar Systems, along with a mobile mount and an Inspired Flight IF1200A drone. This has revolutionized our capabilities in surveying, mapping, and urban planning.
Access 3D Lab is unique because we are an instrumentation hub for the USF campus and community – meaning that we go beyond surveying and mapping with lidar: we also have a whole range of close-range metrology instruments like the Faro ScanArm, Artec structured light scanners, and photogrammetry and 360 imaging equipment. With our latest investments in mobile and aerial lidar, we can now digitize anything from the size of a pea through an entire landscape, coastline, or urban district.
- What attracted you to the use of Phoenix LiDAR hardware and software in your lab? Did you look at other products? Why did you choose Phoenix?
Phoenix Lidar has perfected the art of integrating the many hardware components of lidar systems and tailoring them to different scales and contexts. In terms of software, they’ve done a great job of developing the Spatial Explorer Pro software program, with NavLab embedded, which makes it easy and intuitive to process the datasets. With these products, Phoenix LiDAR has done a lot to lower the barrier to entry for LiDAR technology. It’s rewarding to help students develop into early-career professionals by teaching LiDAR – it’s such a versatile and useful skill across so many growing industries.
I chose Phoenix LiDAR for several reasons. First and foremost, they use the highest-quality components, including the wonderful RIEGL scanners. They also have excellent customer service and the whole team is very responsive, knowledgeable, and helpful. During the purchasing process, they answered all my questions and provided real insight – together, this has made it so easy to integrate these new instruments, workflows, and projects into my lab’s repertoire.
- How did you integrate Phoenix LiDAR products into your university courses? What were some of the challenges with that? What were some of the best practices and lessons learned?
In 2024 I taught the nation’s first course in Mobile LiDAR Field Methods which was offered through the University of South Florida’s Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning program (MURP). MURP recently developed a Smart City Technology Certificate, and the mobile LiDAR field methods course is part of that certificate.
There are always many challenges when developing and teaching a new course! In Mobile Lidar Field Methods, the biggest challenge was that students came into the course knowing very little about mobile and aerial lidar and within the span of six weeks, the goal was for them to each independently complete a mobile lidar survey, process the data, and write up the results as if for a professional client. It’s a steep learning curve! I structured course assignments to incrementally check in and assess understanding – first with a route planning assignment then with a technical journal describing the hardware setup. This all factored into the final project writeup where students had to describe and justify their route, review overall project accuracy, and discuss how successful they were in mapping a feature of interest (e.g. power lines, buildings, specific roadways). It proved to be a great learning exercise and students walked away with a portfolio and lots of great stories to tell in future job interviews about the joys and frustrations of working with technology, problem solving, and teamwork.
Figure 1: USF students setting up the hardware for a mobile lidar survey.
- What do you see in the future for the use of Phoenix LiDAR’s 3D technology at your university? Is there an opportunity for new courses or programs?
I think there’s a huge pathway for lidar industry training at universities, although the cost of the technology can be sometimes be a barrier to entry. At Access 3D Lab, we are fortunate to have a 24-seat high-powered graphics classroom and of course our hardware from Phoenix LiDAR. As we look toward the future, we’re going to continue to focus on growing the MURP Smart City Certificate, which also includes a project-based course in Terrestrial LiDAR Field Methods.
The emphasis in the program is on the advanced applications of GIS, lidar technology, 3D modeling, and spatial analysis. It is designed for professionals in the fields of planning, information systems, spatial modeling, mapping, data management, and civil engineering.
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