3D method used to create full picture of ancient bronze carriage

A bronze chariot is on display in Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum.[Photo provided to China Daily]

BEIJING - Chinese researchers used point cloud data to measure and model an ancient bronze carriage.

The point cloud is a type of advanced digital scanning technique. The researchers used a three-dimensional scanning device and collected 51 gigabytes of point cloud data from the bronze carriage.

Such data collection offers the highest precision in three-dimensional laser scanning.

"The data will help us conduct further research including on digital restoration," said Ma Shengtao, the staff of the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum.

The researchers scanned each corner of the Qin Dynasty (221-207 B.C.) carriage. In order to protect the relic, the researchers avoided touching the vehicle.

The bronze carriage, located at the west of the mausoleum of Qinshihuang in Northwest China's Shaanxi province, was unearthed in December 1980. It has two wheels and weighs 1,241 kilograms. It was drawn by four horses.

The point cloud is expected to provide digital support in archaeology, high precision restoration and exhibition.

The Cultural Heritage Protection & Succession Information Technology Laboratory of Tianjin University and the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum, cooperated on the project starting from September 2016.

In future, they will apply industrial CT detection and hyperspectral analysis to present the ancient vehicles in Qinshihuang's mausoleum, according to Ma.