Underground cultural heritage is the term that is used to describe the numerous sites, both natural and man-made, that are located below the surface of the Earth and that can contribute to knowledge about the history of the planet. These sites can be found anywhere from a few hundred feet to several thousand feet below the surface. These locations may have an anthropological or an archaeological focus, depending on their characteristics. This article describes how a GeoSLAM Zeb Horizon scanner was utilized at a historical mine cmm services in Poland that featured multiple passageways and two levels of drifts, some of which were also flooded. The mine cmm inspection services was located in the country of Poland. In the early part of the 20th century, a CMM Inspection Companies mining operation was founded. In the context of this discussion, underground locations that either occur naturally or were made by humans can have historical significance, educational value, and functional value. Over the course of many centuries, the many different kinds of mining activities have had a significant influence on the development of architecture and construction. This influence has been passed down from generation to generation. This is becoming more widely known, as evidenced by the growing interest in converting defunct mines and the adits and drifts (entrances and passageways) that lead to them into museums and other types of tourist attractions around the world.

Adits and drifts are entrances and passageways that lead to mines. It is necessary to determine the movement of the rock mass that is located above the passageways, conduct deformation assessments, and investigate any and all other rock mass processes in order to protect the historical significance of the sites and ensure that future tourist attractions will be safe. This will ensure that the historical significance of the sites will be preserved. Because of all of this, the collection and management of a significant amount of data are required. It's possible that SLAM technology is the answer to the problem.

SLAM Technology

Over the course of a significant number of years, the technology known as simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) has developed to the point where it is now utilized in a wide variety of settings. It determines what it believes to be the most accurate estimate of its current location and uses that. New positional information is gathered at regular intervals of a few seconds, the features are aligned, and the estimation is continuously improved. It is essential for the Global Positioning System (GPS) to have the ability to detect and track satellites in order for it to perform its intended functions correctly. This suggests that it does not operate effectively below ground. SLAM is not affected by this issue because it operates within the space itself, recording the surroundings, and remembering the route. The capability of the scanner to recognize 3D features enables it to identify and record the location of the surveyor as it moves around a room or other area. This enables the scanner to track the surveyor's movement. The term "features" refers to any areas that have a distinct geometry, measure at least one meter in size, and are located no further than forty meters away from the device.

However, the manufacturer of the GeoSLAM Zeb Horizon claims that the device has a range of one hundred meters. In this context, the term "features" refers to any areas that have a distinct geometry, measure at least one meter in size, and are located no further than forty meters away from the device. The scans are then registered with one another by means of scan-to-scan registration in order to produce as the final result a registered three-dimensional point cloud. Because of this, there is no need for any further matching to be carried out. One of the most obvious advantages of SLAM technology is the increased speed with which a complete registered point cloud can be obtained. This is one of the reasons why this benefit is so prominent. The Riese, cmm inspection services which gets its name from the German word for huge, was one of the Germans' most ambitious endeavors in terms of mining and construction during World War II. Its name derives from the word for huge in German. It is not entirely clear whether it was given its name due to the number of people working on its construction, the amount of concrete that was planned to be used, or the magnitude of the infrastructure that was located nearby. All three possibilities are possible.

The largest section of the Riese is called the Wodarz Complex, and it is currently being run as an underground museum for the benefit of tourists. It is composed of a large number of straight passageways in addition to two levels of underground adits or drifts, some of which are submerged. It stretches for a distance of 3,000 meters. Consequently, making use of the scanner in this environment was going to be a very challenging endeavor to undertake.

Field-Based Observations and Measurements

This project included the utilization of a number of different surveying technologies in the field; in addition to performing measurements with the GeoSLAM Zeb Horizon handheld laser scanner, the team also performed terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) with a Faro Focus 3D, classical tacheometry, and GNSS (it should go without saying that all of this was done outside the adit).

It is recommended that certain preparations be made before precise measurements with a handheld laser scanner are taken, as this is best practice. Other preparatory steps include planning the loops and loop closures, ensuring that there are sufficient features for scan registration, and estimating the number of scans needed to register the entire area of interest. The process of closing the loops is extremely significant to the accuracy of the SLAM, and the more loops that are closed, the higher the level of accuracy achieved. Due to the fact that the Wodarz Complex is organized in the form of a grid, it was very easy to map out the loops that can be found on each level of the complex. Despite this, it was necessary to devise a strategy for the measurements as well as the loops that would be carried through each level. The surveyors completed a total of six loops, during which time they went through all of the adits, drifts, and levels. If a stationary scanner had been used instead, finishing the measurements would have taken a great deal more time; in fact, for a really large site, it would have probably taken as much as a week to finish.