3D scans that recreate exact 3D models of actual objects are becoming fairly popular nowadays. Unfortunately, larger scale objects can not be scanned so easily. The idea of scanning such large scale objects is still a challenge that may teams of professionals are trying to overcome.
Rio de Janeiro’s 38-meter-tall “Christ the Redeemer” is one of the most iconic statues in the world. The statue weighs 635 metric tons (625 long, 700 short tons), and is located at the peak of the 700-metre (2,300 ft) Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park overlooking the city of Rio. As a symbol of Brazilian Christianity, the statue has become an icon for Rio de Janeiro and Brazil.
Should one want to make a replica from Rio’s iconic statue, a special 3D scanning tool would be necessary for this pursuit. The smart idea of using a drone came to an international team that has recently managed to 3D scan the entire statue.
The team of scientists from the NEXT Lab at PUC University of Rio de Janeiro together with 3D scanning company Pix4D, and drone manufacturer Aeryon considered using a single drone and made it fly around the whole statue. The flight lasted 190 minutes and generated 3,584 images. Of all these, 2,090 were used in putting together the 3D scan of Christ the Redeemer.
The 3D model is made up of 2.5 million imaginary triangles and has a point cloud consisting of 134.4 million individual points. As it would be normally impossible to 3D scan a statue as big as Christ the Redeemer on such a very high location, the team considers the project to be a great success. The combination of 3D scanning techniques and the use of drones proved to be a great idea indeed.
You can now enjoy having a real
Pix4D has experience with similar projects, back in 2013, when they managed to map the Matterhorn of the Alps. They used a drone as well, to gather 2,000 high-res photographs of the mountain in order to recreate the 3D model.
