Mobile LiDAR Scanning — Wheel Loader, LHD & Excavator

OWL EYE · Mobile LiDAR scanning — by equipment class

Same sensor. Different machine. Gleicher Sensor. Andere Maschine. Ten sam sensor. Inna maszyna. Stesso sensore. Mezzo diverso. Même capteur. Machine différente. Mismo sensor. Distinta máquina. Mesmo sensor. Máquina diferente.

Mobile LiDAR scanning is the equipment side of our OWL EYE® MOBILE MAPPING solution — a single 3D-LiDAR + GNSS/SLAM kit that bolts on whatever machine actually moves the material at your site. The hardware is identical across vehicle classes; what changes is the mounting bracket and the positioning mode.

A wheel loader scan is our most common deployment — cab-roof clamp, RTK-GNSS outdoors, every drive between piles refreshes the yard model. LHD scans (load-haul-dump scoops) run pure SLAM underground, where there is no GPS, and stitch a continuously-updated drift and stope model as the operator works. Excavator scans pin a static survey reference from the boom or cab. Dump-truck LiDAR turns every haul cycle into a route-tracking pass.

One sensor family, one dashboard, one integration into your ERP or fleet system — across the full machine population.

„We don't sell a wheel-loader sensor and an excavator sensor and an underground sensor. We sell one mobile LiDAR kit that knows what machine it sits on."

Vehicle-mounted LiDAR in production on proFagus charcoal-yard loaders, K+S satellite-yard wheel loaders and inside the Sachtleben Minerals mining operation.

Vehicle classes

Three machines. Three modes. One LiDAR. Drei Maschinen. Drei Modi. Ein LiDAR. Trzy maszyny. Trzy tryby. Jeden LiDAR. Tre mezzi. Tre modalità. Un LiDAR. Trois machines. Trois modes. Un LiDAR. Tres máquinas. Tres modos. Un LiDAR. Três máquinas. Três modos. Um LiDAR.

Wheel-loader scan (5–50 t)

Cab-roof clamp, 12/24 V power, RTK-GNSS for centimetre-precise positioning outdoors. Caterpillar, Komatsu, Volvo, Liebherr, Hitachi — bracket fitted per model. Yard inventory refreshes itself every drive between piles.

LHD / scoop scan (underground)

Pure SLAM positioning — no sky, no GPS. The LiDAR builds drift, crosscut and stope geometry as the LHD hauls. Volumes per round, face advance, stope reconciliation and a live underground model back to the surface dashboard.

Excavator & dump-truck scan

Cab-mounted on the excavator for a stationary survey from the working platform; dump-truck mounted for haul-road tracking, bench-face mapping and load-cycle volume reconciliation. Both feed the same point-cloud pipeline.

Applications

Where vehicle-mounted LiDAR earns its keep. Wo fahrzeugmontiertes LiDAR sein Geld wert ist. Gdzie LiDAR montowany na pojazdach zarabia na siebie. Dove il LiDAR montato su mezzo rende. Là où le LiDAR embarqué fait ses preuves. Dónde se rentabiliza el LiDAR embarcado. Onde o LiDAR embarcado se paga.

Anywhere the survey budget is small but the operating fleet is large — from above-ground stockyards through underground mines to port and aggregate operations.

Above-ground mining Underground mining & LHD Port & bulk terminals Aggregates & quarries Wood & biomass yards Recycling & scrap Coal & coke handling Salt & potash warehouses

How it works

Mount. Position. Stream. Done. Montieren. Positionieren. Streamen. Fertig. Zamontuj. Pozycjonuj. Streamuj. Gotowe. Monta. Posiziona. Trasmetti. Fatto. Monter. Positionner. Diffuser. Fini. Montar. Posicionar. Transmitir. Listo. Montar. Posicionar. Transmitir. Pronto.

Bracket fitted to the machine, sensor clamped on, 12/24 V tapped from the cab. Outdoors the unit locks onto RTK-GNSS for centimetre-precise positioning; underground or indoors it switches to SLAM using the LiDAR itself. Point clouds stream live to the OWL EYE® cloud — yard model, drift model or haul route, depending on what the machine is doing.

FAQ

Mobile LiDAR scanning — answered. Mobiles LiDAR-Scanning — beantwortet. Mobilne skanowanie LiDAR — odpowiedzi. Scansione LiDAR mobile — le risposte. Scan LiDAR mobile — réponses. Escaneo LiDAR móvil — respondido. Escaneamento LiDAR móvel — respondido.

The vehicle-by-vehicle questions fleet, survey and mining engineers ask before specifying equipment-mounted LiDAR. For the solution view, see OWL EYE® MOBILE MAPPING.

OWL EYE® Mobile Mapping

How does Mobile Mapping work without a survey crew? ＋

 The 3D-LiDAR + GNSS/SLAM unit is bolted directly onto the cab roof of your wheel loader, excavator or dump truck. The machine works as normal — every drive between piles becomes a fresh measurement pass, and the system stitches the point clouds into a continuously-updated 3D yard model in the background.

Outdoors the unit uses RTK-GPS for centimeter-precise positioning. Indoors, where there is no GPS, it switches to SLAM (simultaneous localisation and mapping) using the LiDAR itself. Same hardware, same dashboard, no operator change in workflow.

Which vehicles can be equipped with OWL EYE® MOBILE MAPPING? ＋

 The standard kit (3D-LiDAR + GNSS + IMU + edge computer) is designed for wheel loaders and excavators in the 5-50 tonne class — Caterpillar, Komatsu, Volvo, Liebherr, Hitachi etc. We've also installed it on dump trucks, telehandlers and even a UTV for survey work.

The mounting bracket is custom per machine model; the rest of the hardware is identical across vehicle types. Power: standard 12 / 24 V from the cab — no extra battery needed.

How accurate is mobile mapping indoors without GPS? ＋

 Indoors the system switches from GNSS to SLAM (simultaneous localisation and mapping) using the LiDAR itself as the positioning reference. Typical drift is below 0.5% per 100 m of travel, which translates to a volume accuracy of ±2-3% across a normal warehouse.

With known ground-truth markers (e.g. corner targets in the storage building) we pin the SLAM solution to <0.1 m and reach the same ±1% as the outdoor RTK-GPS mode.

Which vehicles can OWL EYE® mobile LiDAR be mounted on? ＋

 The standard OWL EYE® mobile LiDAR kit (3D-LiDAR + GNSS + IMU + edge computer) is designed for the working fleet found at almost every bulk-material site. Most common: wheel loaders in the 5–50 t class (Caterpillar, Komatsu, Volvo, Liebherr, Hitachi) with the cab-roof clamp. Underground: LHD / load-haul-dump scoops (Sandvik, Epiroc, Caterpillar) running in pure SLAM mode where there is no GPS.

We have also installed the same kit on excavators for stationary survey work from the boom, on dump trucks for haul-road tracking and bench-face capture, and on telehandlers and UTVs for one-off campaigns. The mounting bracket is custom per machine model; the rest of the hardware is identical. Power: standard 12 / 24 V from the cab — no extra battery, no civil works, no rebuild.

How is wheel-loader scanning different from a stationary stockpile scan? ＋

 A stationary stockpile scan (our OWL EYE® STOCKPILE solution) uses fixed LiDAR sensors mounted on masts or walls. Field of view is constrained to what each sensor can see from its post — perfect for piles that stay in roughly the same place, but blind to whatever sits behind another pile or outside the cone.

A wheel-loader scan moves the sensor with the machine. Every drive between piles sweeps a new viewing angle, so the 3D yard model rebuilds itself from many vantage points — no shadowed zones, no fixed coverage geometry, no civil works for masts. The trade-off: the model updates on machine activity, not continuously. A loader sitting idle does not refresh its pile.

Most large yards run both: fixed sensors on the high-value primary piles (continuous, real-time), wheel-loader LiDAR for the rest of the site (full coverage, no civil works). Same dashboard, same ERP feed, same volume figures.