Hexagon reaches new heights with launch of Leica BLK2FLY Autonomous Indoor Scanning

(Heerbrugg, Switzerland — August 29, 2023) Leica Geosystems, part of Hexagon, today announced a new capability for the Leica BLK2FLY: the ability to scan indoors, providing expanded coverage for complex scanning projects. The BLK2FLY now unlocks a new level of autonomy to build digital twins of entire structures, inside and outside.

The BLK2FLY can scan in areas without GNSS availability, opening reality capture opportunities in new settings and with new applications, including hazardous indoor areas like nuclear power plants. Increased performance of the autonomous navigation system heightens the sensor’s spatial awareness, allowing for obstacle avoidance in more confined spaces. This new capability relies upon advancements to Hexagon’s visual SLAM system, providing real-time spherical imaging that improves the BLK2FLY’s operating range to a radius of 1.5 meters.

“The BLK2FLY, with its advanced autonomous UAV-based scanning, redefined reality capture workflows for multiple industries, especially digital construction, architecture, historic preservation and utilities,” says Pascal Strupler, Business Director Autonomous Reality Capture at Hexagon’s Geosystems division. “Digital realities are a crucial component of those workflows, and now that the BLK2FLY is able to scan indoors, users can create complete, comprehensive digital twins of buildings and structures.”

The BLK2FLY complements Hexagon’s terrestrial and autonomous sensor portfolio, and when combined, they create complete coverage for any scanning project. Users can also take advantage of Reality Cloud Studio, powered by HxDR, Hexagon’s cloud application that enables uploading of data to the cloud from the field using a tablet or smartphone to register, mesh and create 3D models of their data from the field automatically.

The BLK2FLY’s new indoor scanning capabilities are a significant advancement in reality capture technology and are provided at no extra cost to all current and future BLK2FLY users. They are available via firmware update today.