Reverse engineering and the creation of digital twins are advantageous for documenting, cataloging, and maintenance control tracking in the cultural heritage field. Digital copies of the objects into Building Information Models (BIM) add cultural interest to every artistic work. Low-cost 3D sensors, particularly structured-light scanners, have evolved towards multiple uses in the entertainment market but also as data acquisition and processing techniques for research purposes. Nowadays, with the development of structured-light data capture technologies, the geometry of objects can be recorded in high-resolution 3D datasets at a very low cost. On this basis, this research addresses a small artifact with geometric singularities that is representative of small museum objects. For this, the precision of two structured-light scanners is compared with that of the photogrammetric technique based on short-range image capture: a high-cost Artec Spider 3D scanner, and the low-cost Revopoint POP 3D scanner. Data capture accuracy is evaluated through a mathematical algorithm and point set segmentation to verify the spatial resolution. In addition, the precision of the 3D model is studied through a vector analysis in a BIM environment, an unprecedented analysis until now. The work evaluates the accuracy of the devices through algorithms and the study of point density at the submillimeter scale. Although the results of the 3D geometry may vary in a morphometric analysis depending on the device records, the results demonstrate similar accuracies in that submillimeter range. Photogrammetry achieved an accuracy of 0.70 mm versus the Artec Spider and 0.57 mm against the Revopoint POP 3D scanner.

The protection of heritage sites is one of the keys that our civilisation presents. That is why great efforts have been invested in order to protect and preserve movable and immovable property with a certain historical value, as is the case of archaeological sites scattered throughout the territory of southern Iberia (Spain) in the form of dolmens and negative structures dug into the ground, constituting a good sample of the megalithic culture in southern Spain. To study, manage and preserve these archaeological monuments, considered a set of cultural assets, various techniques and methodologies are required to facilitate the acquisition of three-dimensional geometric information. The Scan-to-BIM approach has become one of the most up-to-date work exponents to carry out these objectives. The appearance of LiDAR techniques, and recently their incorporation into smartphones through integrated sensors, is revolutionising the world of 3D scanning. However, the precision of these techniques is an issue that has yet to be addressed in the scientific community. That is why this research proposes a framework, through experimental measurement, comparison and knowledge of the limitations of this technology, to know the precision of the use of these smartphones, specifically the iPhone 13 Pro, as a measurement element to establish points of control with the aid of photogrammetry by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in archaeological sites. The results demonstrate a residual uncertainty of ±5 mm in the capture of GCPs from the mobile phone’s LiDAR light detection and ranging sensor, and there was a deviation of the measurements in a range between 0 and 28 m of distance between the GCPs of (0.021, 0.069) m.

Today, plans to protect historic buildings focus on managing architectural heritage sustainably. Technical teams, such as architects and restorers, use massive data acquisition techniques, so an identification mechanism is required to select geometrical similarity patters to support hypothesis that guarantee historical data. Moreover, computational methods are required to understand the role of organic shapes in historic buildings. This paper first describes an extensive review of the literature and then the algorithms and methods to compare and to detect similar geometrical elements and complex patterns in architecture and archaeology. For this purpose, two key aspects are considered: the metric standpoint and historical-graphical features of the 3D models, i.e., composition, techniques, styles, and historical-graphical documentary sources. Research implies testing several methodological lines to know the similarity degree of complex organic shapes in architectural details through statistical analysis, software to assess point clouds, and complex curve analysis. The results have shown that the three procedures can be compared and that the bases of the pillars of both the Cathedral of Seville and the churches in Carmona, Jerez, and Morón are very similar; however, the base of the pillar of the church in Carmona presents scalability variations.

The object of this research was to identify the list of climatological variables involved in the appearance of construction failures in the external walls of dwellings through the analysis of over one thousand cases. The data source used consisted of the judicial records of the Justice Administration, a source to which few researchers have access, given the dispersion of the data and the permissions required to access it. Once obtained, all situations pertaining to dwellings were read and annotated, until 100% of the cases were accounted for, and percentages of recurrence were calculated for each of the nine different types of failures that were described. A study was carried out by so-called strips of climatic location according to four climatological variables (situation, latitude, climate, and annual rainfall) that were sorted from largest to smallest to obtain the ranks of pathology concentration according to the resulting preponderance. Using these results, technicians will be able to identify the most problematic climate-geographical areas by determining the ranks of normalized frequencies, allowing them to take the necessary measures during the construction process. The lessons learned can be incorporated into maintenance plans to optimize preventive maintenance frequency and actions.

Today, plans to protect historic buildings focus on managing architectural heritage sustainably. Technical teams, such as architects and restorers, use massive data acquisition techniques, so an identification mechanism is required to select geometrical similarity patters to support hypothesis that guarantee historical data. Moreover, computational methods are required to understand the role of organic shapes in historic buildings. For this purpose, this paper establishes methodologies to strengthen the comparison and search of general complex shape patterns in architecture and archaeology