Leica Geosystems · lidar

Leica RTC360 3D Laser Scanner

The Leica RTC360 is a high-speed 3D terrestrial laser scanner producing dense point-cloud datasets with HDR imagery for as-built documentation, deformation monitoring and structural survey. The instrument captures up to 2 million points per second at 130 m range with 1.9 mm range noise at 10 m. The standout operational feature is automated pre-registration via the visual inertial system (VIS) — successive scan stations are automatically aligned in the field via Leica Cyclone FIELD 360 on a paired tablet, dramatically reducing the post-processing burden. The RTC360 is widely used by structural engineering, surveying and architectural-conservation practitioners in Australia and is an alternative to FARO Focus instruments at the high-throughput end of the LiDAR market.

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TRSC Application Commentary

TRSC uses the Leica RTC360 on engagements where field-time efficiency is critical and the project budget supports the higher per-scan cost compared to FARO Focus instruments. The automated pre-registration via VIS halves typical field time on multi-station scan projects (heritage building documentation, large facade surveys, multi-elevation scope) — a project that takes a full day with FARO Focus + manual registration is typically completed in a half-day with the RTC360. Two operational notes: first, the VIS pre-registration is reliable for closely-spaced station configurations (overlapping point-cloud coverage) but degrades in long-corridor or single-line scan geometries where successive stations have limited overlap — TRSC reverts to target-based registration for those geometries. Second, the same target-based registration discipline that applies to the FARO Focus applies to the RTC360 on heritage-deformation surveys: automatic registration tolerates small geometric inconsistencies and can absorb real deformation into the registration tolerance, so TRSC uses physical targets and forces target-based registration for any survey where deformation must be quantified. Recent deployment includes Boggo Road Lot 4 site scanning where the rapid VIS pre-registration enabled completion of the full site survey within a single mobilisation. The RTC360 is the alternative to the FARO Focus S350 in TRSC's instrument selection, with the choice driven by project geometry, scope, and budget per scan. The instrument's HDR imagery channel also produces a high-quality colourised point cloud that supports the architectural and heritage-conservation deliverables many of TRSC's client teams require alongside the engineering scope, so on heritage adaptive-reuse projects the RTC360 has become the preferred LiDAR instrument because the coloured cloud serves as both the engineering input and the heritage-architect's documentation source from a single capture session.

Enabled Investigations
  • Rapid heritage building as-built documentation
  • Multi-elevation facade deformation surveys
  • Large-scope BIM model production from existing assets
  • High-throughput multi-station scan campaigns
Frequently Asked Questions

Application questions about Leica RTC360 3D Laser Scanner

When does TRSC select the Leica RTC360 over the FARO Focus S350?
When project geometry favours field-time efficiency: large-scope multi-station surveys, rapid mobilisation requirements, and projects where the VIS pre-registration significantly reduces post-processing time. For long-duration engagements where multiple repeat surveys will be conducted from the same configuration, the FARO Focus often remains the more economical choice on a per-scan basis.
Does VIS pre-registration eliminate the need for targets?
For closely-spaced station configurations with good overlap, VIS pre-registration is reliable as the primary registration method. For long-corridor or low-overlap configurations, and for any heritage-deformation survey where automatic registration could absorb real deformation into the tolerance, TRSC uses physical targets and forces manual target-based registration.
How accurate is the registered point cloud?
Range noise is 1.9 mm at 10 m on the instrument. Project-scale registered accuracy depends on registration discipline, target placement and scan geometry; TRSC typical multi-station registered accuracy is ±3-5 mm absolute on a project-scale dataset, sufficient for engineering-design tolerance as-built documentation, BIM modelling and deformation surveys.
Relevant Services
Structural Investigation
Condition Assessment
Heritage Structural Engineering
Sources & Further Reading