IN Brief:
- Leica Geosystems has launched the RTC300, RTC500, and RTC700 terrestrial laser scanners.
- The new RTC series adds Livelink collaboration through Cyclone FIELD 360 and Hexagon GeoCloud.
- The scanners are designed to support faster field capture, data sharing, and construction verification.
Leica Geosystems, part of Hexagon, has launched a new RTC terrestrial laser scanner series aimed at improving field-to-office collaboration and site data capture.
The new range includes the RTC300, RTC500, and RTC700. Leica said the series has been developed to improve scanning accuracy, productivity, and real-time data workflows for construction, infrastructure, and surveying users.
A key feature of the launch is Livelink, a collaboration tool within Leica Cyclone FIELD 360 that streams scan data to Hexagon GeoCloud as it is captured. The system allows office-based teams to access field data during the survey process, while multiple scanners can contribute to a shared project environment.
The RTC series replaces the RTC360 and RTC360 LT, as well as the ScanStation P30, P40, and P50. Leica has positioned the new scanners as an upgradeable platform, giving users options across different performance levels while maintaining a common workflow.
Laser scanning has moved well beyond specialist measured-building surveys. On complex construction and infrastructure projects, scanning is now used for progress recording, quality assurance, installation verification, as-built documentation, asset records, and digital twin workflows. The next stage is less about capturing point-cloud data and more about getting reliable information into project decisions quickly enough to change outcomes.
Real-time collaboration addresses a familiar weakness in site data capture. Traditional scanning workflows often depend on teams returning to the office before missing coverage, registration issues, or data gaps are identified. When those problems are discovered after the field team has left site, repeat visits add cost and delay. Streaming data while capture is underway gives office teams the chance to review information earlier and direct further capture before the survey window closes.
That capability is particularly useful on infrastructure and large building projects, where access can be limited by possessions, safety controls, weather, trade sequencing, or client restrictions. A scan loses value if it reaches the design or commercial team too late to influence the next construction decision.
Survey and machine-control investment is already becoming embedded in major civils work, with contractors using advanced equipment on programmes such as the A9 dualling works to support precision, progress control, and field coordination. Leica’s launch sits within that same shift toward connected site information rather than isolated data capture.
The commercial case for scanning is increasingly linked to risk control. Accurate site data can support clash checks, progress claims, installation verification, tolerance records, asset information, and handover packs. It can also provide a stronger evidence trail where disputes arise over completed work, sequencing, or dimensional accuracy.
The challenge remains integration. Better hardware can improve capture, but the value depends on whether project teams have the data standards, review processes, and trained users to act on the information. Field-to-office workflows need to connect with design coordination, document control, quality management, and client reporting, rather than operating as a separate technical exercise.
Leica’s new RTC series gives scanning teams a faster route to shared data. Its construction value will rest on whether that speed can reduce revisits, improve verification, and produce more reliable records at handover.
