[Therion] Turning LIDAR point clouds into cave maps

[Bill Gee]

Hello everyone -

This is probably more of a general practices question than something 
specific to Therion.  Among the group there is likely to be some 
experience with this.  I hope at minimum someone can guide me to a place 
for further learning.

A few years ago Apple released a very high-end smartphone which has a 
LIDAR feature (iPhone 12 Pro).  There are a few more models now which 
have it.  I have heard of some people using this to create cave maps. 
There is much I do not understand.

Has anyone in the group taken the point cloud from an Apple LIDAR scan 
and turned it into a Therion cave map?  If so, I am very interested in 
the details of the process.

The biggest issue I see is this:  How does the iPhone know where it is? 
There is no GPS in a cave.  GPS is not accurate enough even if it did 
work.  Inertial navigation also has big problems dealing with a cave 
environment.

There are many other issues, but I think that is the big one.

Thanks!

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Bill Gee