Low cost digital photogrammetry: From the extraction of point clouds by SFM technique to 3D mathematical modeling

The Structure From Motion (SFM) is a technique applied to a series of photographs of an object that returns a 3D reconstruction made up by points in the space (point clouds). This research aims at comparing the results of the SFM approach with the results of a 3D laser scanning in terms of density and accuracy of the model. The experience was conducted by detecting several architectural elements (walls and portals of historical buildings) both with a 3D laser scanner of the latest generation and an amateur photographic camera. The point clouds acquired by laser scanner and those acquired by the photo camera have been systematically compared. In particular we present the experience carried out on the "Don Diego Pappalardo Palace" site in Pedara (Catania, Sicily).