Safe and efficient railway surveying through drone-based laser scanning during ongoing operations
Bauwerks- und Brückenmonitoring // Structural and Bridge Monitoring
Digitale Zwillinge // Digital Twins
GNSS
Laserscanning und LiDAR // Laser Scanning and LiDAR
Reality Capturing // Extended Reality
Sensoren // Sensors
Unbemannte Systeme // Unmanned Systems
Ingenieurgeodäsie // Engineering Geodesy
LiDAR
About
The precise surveying of railway infrastructure under live operating conditions represents a significant challenge. Strict safety requirements, limited accessibility, and operational constraints considerably restrict conventional measurement methods.
The use of drone-based laser scanning provides an innovative and practical solution. UAV-based LiDAR data acquisition from outside hazardous areas significantly enhances personnel safety while enabling efficient capture of large track sections within short timeframes.
High absolute accuracies are achieved through the integration of kinematic UAV scan data with terrestrial laser scans. Georeferencing is performed via track survey control points, which are automatically detected and incorporated within the terrestrial datasets, ensuring a robust and consistent overall geometry.
The presented method combines safety, efficiency, and precision, offering substantial benefits for end users in the digital acquisition, analysis, and planning of railway infrastructure - even under real operating conditions.

