Generate a really accurate map/plan of your grounds and house

[d000hg]

Slightly related to the other thread, but the place we're moving to in the country has about 1/2 acre attached. It has the potential to be incredible but right now is overgrown to the extent I can't easily get a mental picture of how it fits together especially with elevation changes... what I could see from the living room if there wasn't a thicket outside, etc.

Also, I want to figure out the exact positioning of the house in 3D in relation to the land. The house is on a slope and has a cellar in one corner but I can't work out where the ground level is from inside, which is an issue as I'd like to put a drain in.

What I'd really like is a 3D model of the grounds and house. Which presents two problems... 1)what to put the data into 2)how to get the data. Ideally I'd like to map the elevation of the garden at resolution of about 1 foot into a heightmap or something.

It's partly a fun geeky project as well as being useful, so all sorts of ways to approach this are welcome. For instance I have no idea if GPS is accurate at this scale, or I should use a theodolite+wellies or a drone with laser range-finder or...

[filthy1980]

I've used Autodesk's Homestyler recently to do floor plans and generate 3D walkthroughs, I found the simplest to use with good results

unfortunately I got an email last night saying Autodesk are discontinuing Homestyler, but their email recommended a number of other tools, I've pasted the email below, you may find it helpful . . .


Dear Autodesk® Homestyler Community,

Thank you for being a part of the Autodesk® Homestyler community of designers and decorators. Over the past few years, we have enjoyed giving you a platform to express your home decorating and design ideas. However, Autodesk has recently made a decision to retire the Autodesk® Homestyler family of products in order to focus on strategic core design solutions, help accelerate Autodesk’s business model transition, and streamline our offerings.

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[malvolio]

Get googling. There are tools out there that convert contour maps to 3d plots, so perhaps start with the largest scale OS map and go from there?

[woohoo]

I was thinking of mapping the house with my roomba and a kinect - alternatively you could look at this...

3D Scanning Entire Rooms with a Kinect | Hackaday

You did say it's geeky that you are after.

[d000hg]

Get googling. There are tools out there that convert contour maps to 3d plots, so perhaps start with the largest scale OS map and go from there?

The best OS map I can find (online at least) shows the entire plot about 4cm long on my screen and doesn't include contour info. I came across some free downloads but I don't really want to install software and download 1Gb+ just to see if it has the kind of scale needed. https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/ope...ts.html#TERR50

Also wouldn't any really high resolution map be based on aerial data and therefore might be messed up by trees? I'm working on the assumption I'll need to gather the data myself.

[d000hg]

I was thinking of mapping the house with my roomba and a kinect - alternatively you could look at this...

3D Scanning Entire Rooms with a Kinect | Hackaday

You did say it's geeky that you are after.

That kind of idea is certainly of interest although getting rooms measured is easy with a laser measure... it's how the rooms fit together in 3D space taking risers/stairs/walls into account which is more tricky, and I assume that kind of thing can't do? I sup[pose you can easily measure each room and manually figure it out wehre each room is in relation to each other room and in theory from a single accurate reference point you can then anchor the house relative to the surrounding landscape once you have a heightmap. Sounds pretty error prone though You'd feel stupid to drill a hole through the cellar wall and find it came out a foot underground

[woohoo]

That kind of idea is certainly of interest although getting rooms measured is easy with a laser measure... it's how the rooms fit together in 3D space taking risers/stairs/walls into account which is more tricky, and I assume that kind of thing can't do? I sup[pose you can easily measure each room and manually figure it out wehre each room is in relation to each other room and in theory from a single accurate reference point you can then anchor the house relative to the surrounding landscape once you have a heightmap. Sounds pretty error prone though You'd feel stupid to drill a hole through the cellar wall and find it came out a foot underground

tbh I missed the part in your original post about wanting to drill for the drain. I just got excited that someone else may be as weird as me and want an exact map of their house.

I really can't think of a reliable way of using this tech to be able to accurately drill between spaces.

[vetran]

Slightly related to the other thread, but the place we're moving to in the country has about 1/2 acre attached. It has the potential to be incredible but right now is overgrown to the extent I can't easily get a mental picture of how it fits together especially with elevation changes... what I could see from the living room if there wasn't a thicket outside, etc.

Also, I want to figure out the exact positioning of the house in 3D in relation to the land. The house is on a slope and has a cellar in one corner but I can't work out where the ground level is from inside, which is an issue as I'd like to put a drain in.

What I'd really like is a 3D model of the grounds and house. Which presents two problems... 1)what to put the data into 2)how to get the data. Ideally I'd like to map the elevation of the garden at resolution of about 1 foot into a heightmap or something.

It's partly a fun geeky project as well as being useful, so all sorts of ways to approach this are welcome. For instance I have no idea if GPS is accurate at this scale, or I should use a theodolite+wellies or a drone with laser range-finder or...

sometimes the simple ways are the best

https://www.amazon.co.uk/METRE-WATER.../dp/B00TIM1488

secure level at one high point inside.

find lowest level outside and make static point. Put Mrs inside and call her on the mobile. keep your end low & covered.

You can measure 10cm variations make up a couple of 1.5m stands with 10cm variations and move it around the garden. Be mapped in an hour or two.

[d000hg]

sometimes the simple ways are the best

https://www.amazon.co.uk/METRE-WATER.../dp/B00TIM1488

secure level at one high point inside.

find lowest level outside and make static point. Put Mrs inside and call her on the mobile. keep your end low & covered.

You can measure 10cm variations make up a couple of 1.5m stands with 10cm variations and move it around the garden. Be mapped in an hour or two.

Totally forgot about those. Good call although for mapping you need an accurate way to get your x/y. Though this is easier.

If I got this right, this thing would let you measure relative heights of rooms with no windows. e.g. wife stands outside with one end at 1 foot at ground level, I walk into the house with the other end and find if this is higher or lower than the cellar ceiling?

[vetran]

Totally forgot about those. Good call although for mapping you need an accurate way to get your x/y. Though this is easier.

If I got this right, this thing would let you measure relative heights of rooms with no windows. e.g. wife stands outside with one end at 1 foot at ground level, I walk into the house with the other end and find if this is higher or lower than the cellar ceiling?

yes within a millimetre. The key thing will be the water will be at the same height at each end, you have 10cm play.

To get accurate X-Y outside I use this stuff called string you poke wooden pegs in the ground and put 2 pieces of string in parallel, use a stick with 2 notches in it to make sure they are the same distance apart.

Depends how fine detail you need. You could use a Theodolite or a scanner outside but once you have your reference point you can get the levels exact.