Scan-to-BIM for architectural heritage enhancement and preservation. Leading techniques and advanced automation processes

The digitisation of Architectural Heritage emerges as a pivotal and groundbreaking practice crucial for the preservation and enhancement of cultural assets. This significance becomes particularly pronounced in an era marked by profound transformations and challenges across multiple fields. By cutting-edge technologies within a scenario dominated by Artificial Intelligence, which disrupts established paradigms and approaches, this initiative aims to address the inherent challenges of long-term conservation. Simultaneously, it aspires to achieve the broader objective of ensuring enhanced access and a more enriched experience of historical monuments for both current and future generations, thereby safeguarding their unique identities. Heritage's vulnerability must be carefully weighed to strike a delicate balance between accessibility and contemporary interpretation on the one hand, and authenticity and integrity on the other. The hazards of digitisation, including the potential loss of stored information or intentional obsolescence, are closely related to this susceptibility as well as physical material modifications. The present thesis, born out of these critical considerations, adopts comprehensive and multidisciplinary approaches to delve into diverse themes converging within the realm of architectural survey and drawing for heritage virtualisation. Through extensive field research conducted in both Italy and Spain, the combined methodologies of various surveying techniques and technologies, including LiDAR and Photogrammetry, are thoroughly examined as foundational elements for the digital acquisition of historical monuments. The resulting data, presented as point clouds, images, and/or polygonal models, undergo a detailed processing and optimisation phase employing semi-automatic procedures. These procedures, primarily focusing on the semantic enrichment of architectural and structural components, are geared towards facilitating an in-depth analysis of the conservation status of the monument. This, in turn, translates into improved information management, providing crucial support for subsequent phases involved in constructing the replicated model of the architectural masterpiece. Moving beyond the survey activity, the investigation advances towards Heritage Building Information Modelling (HBIM) through the adoption of a Scan to BIM approach. The latter is seamlessly integrated into a unified protocol, streamlining data processing while ensuring adherence to health and safety regulations for the operator. This methodology enables a thorough analysis and faithful digitisation of the reproduced case studies, leveraging metric and geometric references guaranteed by the instrumentation used, as well as semantic segmentation and classification of data derived from the automations. The proposed processes of automation, designed to accelerate processing times, control operational costs, and enhance the precision and accuracy of results, are meticulously crafted. Simultaneously, due consideration is given to the experience and expertise of the operator involved in the activities, ensuring a thoughtful and conscious approach throughout all stages of the process.