LiDAR Measuring Solution for Truckload Bulk Cargo Volume

How to accurately measure the volume of the truckload bulk goods at factories, docks, and other open areas? This has always been a technical problem. LiDAR measuring solution can be the best way to solve this technical problem.

A. Technical problems

Due to the irregularity of the bulk cargo in the scenes of earthwork transportation, raw material purchase, etc., accurate volume measurement has become a time-consuming and laborious task, however, volume measurement directly affects cost accounting. Some factors are making the volume measurement for truck bulk cargo difficult:

1. Measurement environment: most of the bulk cargo measurements are carried out outdoors, such as in factories, docks, and other open areas; where it needs to use gantry frame, L frame as support and the power supply is complicated;

2. Vehicle requirements: a. the vehicle volume is large, the maximum vehicle length is 16 meters; b. the loaded goods are bulk cargo, such as sand and sawdust, etc. and the volume of bulk cargo is often much larger than the volume of the vehicle carriage; c. the measuring process needs to output a large amount of vehicle data to the system software in real time.

3. Measurement accuracy: a. the accuracy of manual measurement is low and costly; b. the recognition and calculation by using camera image have large errors

B. Introduction to LiDAR Measuring Solution for Truck Bulk Cargo Volume

1. Use Neuvition’s high-resolution solid-state LiDAR to get the empty truck carriage’s size and record it in the system. It mainly measures the length, width, and height of the truck carriage, where the length and width are a fixed value and the height is the main variable factor in the subsequent volume measurement.

2. Use the combination of PTZ+LiDARs to measure the volume of the cargo, take the height of the carriage as a reference, and take the average height data difference obtained from the two LiDARs as the height of the cargo (this part is the key and difficult point of the volume measurement accuracy)

3. Transmit 3D structured data to the existing system, and the system calculates and outputs the final volume data.

4. The 3D image point cloud, the surface state, and the 3D space volume state can be saved as required, as proof of later review.

C. Steps of LiDAR Measuring Solution

Step 1: scan the length, width, and height of the empty truck and register it in the system

Use two sets of Neuvition high-resolution LiDAR to measure the body of the vehicle. 

LiDAR 1- positioning LiDAR, used to measure the parameters of the body, including the length of the vehicle body, the length of the carriage, and locate the moving track of the vehicle. 

LiDAR 2- measurement LiDAR, used to measure from the top of the vehicle, to get the 3D image of the vehicle. 

Principle of LiDAR Measuring Solution for Truck Bulk Cargo Volume: Through LiDAR 1’s positioning, the current moving track of the vehicle can be accurately located, and LiDAR 2 can measure the height graph of the top of the passing vehicle at the same time. The combination of LiDAR 1 and LiDAR 2 can construct a 3D image of the entire vehicle on the top.

Step 2: scan the truck fully loaded with cargo and measure the volume

Scan the fully-loaded truck, get the measurement data of the surface of the cargo, and generate 3D surface data of the cargo surface by comparing the 3D plan view of the empty truck and the fully-loaded truck. According to the truck carriage’s measured length and width information, through the calculation of the average cargo height or the computer digital integration method, the vehicle-mounted cargo volume can be accurately calculated. For the cargo > 5 cubic meters, the accuracy can reach more than 90%.

The picture below is one of the sections after 3D image processing. A large number of sections are assembled to form a 3D cargo image. The volume data is obtained after the computer digital integration of these sections.

D. Advantages of LiDAR Measuring Solution for Truck Bulk Cargo Volume

Why LiDAR measuring solution is considered a better method to measure truckload bulk cargo volume? Below are some advantages of the LiDAR measuring solution:

1. Higher measurement accuracy: 700 line resolution, 1.5 million dots per second per sector, 8.4 million dots per second, 6 detectors. The accuracy of ±5mm can greatly improve the measurement accuracy and the volume measurement accuracy.

2. Higher efficiency and stability: With a fixed field of view, the solid-state LiDAR can obtain three-dimensional data efficiently and stably. The 1550nm+MEMS LiDAR is suitable for severe weather and can penetrate dense fog, dust, and heavy rain. Another bonus of Neuvition LiDAR is data fusion of LiDAR and camera.

3. Higher performance cost ratio: Neuvition LiDAR is used as a sensor for three-dimensional data measurement. The measured data is transmitted to the existing system through the data interface without additional system maintenance and operation. Neuvition LiDAR measuring solution for truck bulk cargo volume will save costs and improves efficiency!