Evaluation of Methods for Robotic Mapping of Cultural Heritage Sites

In archaeological studies the use of new technologies has moved into focus in the past years creating new challenges such as the processing of the massive amounts of data. In this paper we present steps and processes for smart 3D modelling of environments by use of the mobile robot Irma3D. A robot that is equipped with multiple sensors, most importantly a photo camera and a laser scanner, enables the automation of most of the processes, including data acquisition and registration. The robot was tested in the Würzburg Residence. Methods for automatic 3D color reconstructions of cultural heritage sites are evaluated in this paper.