The VQ-680 is a compact airborne laser scanner optimized for urban mapping, forestry and power line survey applications – or wherever high-precision, high-accuracy surveying of complex environments are required. The scanner’s vertical design and small aperture dimensions enable a compact integration with digital cameras in combination with a gyro-stabilized mount, for installation into typical aircraft hatches.

The laser scanner module includes an innovative scanning mechanism that provides forward, nadir, and backward scan lines at +20 / +10 / 0 / -10 / -20 degrees in the flight direction. In combination with a wide horizontal field of view of 60 degrees, a regular point spacing for each viewing direction is generated, enabling exceptional coverage of vertical structures such as building facades as well as coverage at the bottom of narrow street canyons with little to no shadowing.

The operational envelope ranges from typical flying altitudes of 1000 m AGL at a pulse repetition rate of 2.4 MHz (~ 24 pts/m2 at 120 kts), up to 2300 m AGL at a PRR of 300 kHz for targets with reflectivity in excess of 20%.

Electrical interfaces comprise a power supply, time synchronization with PPS and NMEA data, a laser safety switch, and interfaces for connecting up to six high-resolution RGB/NIR cameras. Detachable handgrips improve user ergonomics when mounting to airborne platforms. Scan data is stored on an external PC via Gigabit Ethernet, which is also used for configuring and controlling the laser scanner via RiACQUIRE, RIEGL‘s versatile data acquisition software GUI, featuring real-time data visualization and remote control capabilities.