Terrestrial laser scanning, which collects data based on the lidar measurement system, is considered one of the newer technologies for data collection in the field of geodesy. The scanning equipment is relatively expensive and the acquisition process itself, as well as further processing require a lot of technical knowledge, so laser scanning is only used for special tasks in the fields of geodesy, civil engineering, archaeology, architecture and the like. The development and miniaturisation of sensors and microprocessors enables the increasing accessibility of lidar measurement systems and brings laser scanning closer to a wider range of users. In 2020, Apple became the first company to integrate a lidar sensor system into its smart devices, making laser scanning accessible to laypeople for the first time. In this paper, we investigate how a low-cost laser scanner built into an Apple device compares to a professional geodetic terrestrial laser scanner. We are interested in the potential applicability of the former for geodetic tasks.
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