A Low-Cost Portable Lidar-based Mobile Mapping System on an Android Smartphone
The rapid advancement of the metaverse, digital twins, and robotics underscores the demand of low-cost, portable mapping systems for reality capture. Current mobile solutions, such as the Leica BLK2Go and lidar-equipped smartphones, either come at a high cost or are limited in range and accuracy. Le...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2025-07-01
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| Series: | ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences |
| Online Access: | https://isprs-annals.copernicus.org/articles/X-G-2025/375/2025/isprs-annals-X-G-2025-375-2025.pdf |
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| author | J. Huai Y. Shao Y. Zhang A. Yilmaz |
| author_facet | J. Huai Y. Shao Y. Zhang A. Yilmaz |
| author_sort | J. Huai |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The rapid advancement of the metaverse, digital twins, and robotics underscores the demand of low-cost, portable mapping systems for reality capture. Current mobile solutions, such as the Leica BLK2Go and lidar-equipped smartphones, either come at a high cost or are limited in range and accuracy. Leveraging the proliferation and technological evolution of mobile devices alongside recent advancements in lidar technology, we introduce a novel, low-cost, portable mobile mapping system. Our system integrates a lidar unit, an Android smartphone, and a GNSS-RTK stick. Running on the Android platform, it features lidar-inertial odometry built with the NDK, and logs data from the lidar, wide-angle camera, IMU, and GNSS. With a total bill of materials (BOM) cost under $2,000 and a weight of about 1 kilogram, the system achieves a good balance between affordability and portability. We detail the system’s design, multisensor calibration, synchronization, and evaluate its performance for 3D reconstruction, focusing on tracking and mapping accuracy. To further contribute to the community, the system’s design and software will be made open source. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-051429e4b0b84faa8bd3d25e86b262f9 |
| institution | Matheson Library |
| issn | 2194-9042 2194-9050 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-051429e4b0b84faa8bd3d25e86b262f92025-07-10T23:15:26ZengCopernicus PublicationsISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences2194-90422194-90502025-07-01X-G-202537538110.5194/isprs-annals-X-G-2025-375-2025A Low-Cost Portable Lidar-based Mobile Mapping System on an Android SmartphoneJ. Huai0Y. Shao1Y. Zhang2A. Yilmaz3State Key Lab of Surveying, Mapping, and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University, 129 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, Hubei, ChinaState Key Lab of Surveying, Mapping, and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University, 129 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, Hubei, ChinaSchool of Instrument Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Sipailou, Nanjing, 210096, Jiangsu, ChinaDept. of Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USAThe rapid advancement of the metaverse, digital twins, and robotics underscores the demand of low-cost, portable mapping systems for reality capture. Current mobile solutions, such as the Leica BLK2Go and lidar-equipped smartphones, either come at a high cost or are limited in range and accuracy. Leveraging the proliferation and technological evolution of mobile devices alongside recent advancements in lidar technology, we introduce a novel, low-cost, portable mobile mapping system. Our system integrates a lidar unit, an Android smartphone, and a GNSS-RTK stick. Running on the Android platform, it features lidar-inertial odometry built with the NDK, and logs data from the lidar, wide-angle camera, IMU, and GNSS. With a total bill of materials (BOM) cost under $2,000 and a weight of about 1 kilogram, the system achieves a good balance between affordability and portability. We detail the system’s design, multisensor calibration, synchronization, and evaluate its performance for 3D reconstruction, focusing on tracking and mapping accuracy. To further contribute to the community, the system’s design and software will be made open source.https://isprs-annals.copernicus.org/articles/X-G-2025/375/2025/isprs-annals-X-G-2025-375-2025.pdf |
| spellingShingle | J. Huai Y. Shao Y. Zhang A. Yilmaz A Low-Cost Portable Lidar-based Mobile Mapping System on an Android Smartphone ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences |
| title | A Low-Cost Portable Lidar-based Mobile Mapping System on an Android Smartphone |
| title_full | A Low-Cost Portable Lidar-based Mobile Mapping System on an Android Smartphone |
| title_fullStr | A Low-Cost Portable Lidar-based Mobile Mapping System on an Android Smartphone |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Low-Cost Portable Lidar-based Mobile Mapping System on an Android Smartphone |
| title_short | A Low-Cost Portable Lidar-based Mobile Mapping System on an Android Smartphone |
| title_sort | low cost portable lidar based mobile mapping system on an android smartphone |
| url | https://isprs-annals.copernicus.org/articles/X-G-2025/375/2025/isprs-annals-X-G-2025-375-2025.pdf |
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