Recently we were tasked with scanning Odawara Castle, a massive heritage site in Japan, including every detail from courtyards and buildings down to a drawbridge and individual rivets on castle gates.

Odawara Castle was built more than 500 years ago, with fortifications first erected during the Kamakura period—a time famous for the emergence of the samurai and Japan’s first shogun.

The site’s illustrious walls are steeped in history. Situated on a hill and surrounded by a moat, the castle has strong fortifications, so it was coveted and fought over for generations. Three sieges of Odawara took place from 1561–1590, and the structure changed hands (and shape) multiple times over the next century as different leaders left their stamp on the property.

The entry to Odawara Castle, captured with Artec Jet 3D mapping.

At times, the legacy of Odawara Castle has been difficult to protect. The entire site was shaken to its foundations by multiple earthquakes from 1703–1853, and the Meiji government of the late 19th century ordered that all feudal structures be destroyed, so it was mostly torn down.

In 1938, what remained of Odawara Castle was made a heritage site and slowly rebuilt. But over the years, it has remained a delicate piece of history in need of ongoing renovation. With this in mind, the Artec 3D support team—in Japan for a recent trade mission—opted to digitize the entire structure for future generations to enjoy using Artec Jet, Artec Ray II, and Artec Leo.

Artec Jet (dark blue), Artec Ray II (light blue), and Artec Leo (gray) point-cloud data were fused for high detail on every scale.

Capturing an entire castle in minutes

When they arrived at the castle, our engineers immediately understood the scale of the challenge they were embarking on. Once one of medieval Japan’s largest fortifications, the site’s outer defensive perimeter is a whopping nine kilometers long. Odawara Castle is also a national landmark open to visitors, so they didn’t have the facility all to themselves, either.

This meant that speed and subtlety were critical. It would’ve been entirely possible to capture the site with a tripod-mounted Ray II lidar by positioning it around different areas of the fort. But this would take a prohibitive amount of time—especially when you consider that double scans are required to remove moving objects. Using Artec Jet was a lot more straightforward.

Attaching the device to a backpack meant the castle could be scanned on foot. Walking the site, almost as a tourist would, was enough to capture the entire scene. Artec Jet’s remote app gave real-time feedback on scan progress, so the team didn’t leave any detail uncaptured. Compared to capture with shorter-range scanners, the time savings were enormous.

“Artec Jet scans in a linear fashion,” says Artec 3D scanning expert Keynan Tenenboim. “If it takes you two minutes to walk, it’ll take two minutes to scan—the complexity of the scene has little bearing. In the same time it took for Leo to scan two or three walls, Ray II scanned a building, and Jet digitized an entire castle. Adding in Ray II and Leo was great for areas with accessibility issues, capturing higher detail around the walls, gate, and courtyard.”

Artec Jet scan of the temple at the heart of Odawara Castle.

The dream team: Artec Jet, Ray II, and Leo

Natural objects like trees, rivers, and larger connecting spaces often offer valuable site context but don’t need to be captured with high accuracy. Artec Jet was perfect for picking up this sort of background information, generating a continuous point cloud, and connecting the site’s more interesting features, such as historic walls, ornate roofs, and courtyards around the castle.

Jet’s 300-meter range meant there was no need for ladders or scaffolding. The inner structure was captured from ground level without other visitors even noticing. Unlike Ray II, which scans from static viewpoints, Jet could also be maneuvered into difficult-to-reach areas. Both scanners are less accurate than Leo, but that’s why it’s best to combine datasets for peak results.

In this case, Ray II was deployed to scan the inner courtyard and gate, while Leo was used to pick up smaller details like the confined area behind the entrance. Handheld 3D scanning was also perfect for capturing a nearby medieval wall. As you can see from the scan below, fine details like tile patterns, lettering, and the wall’s internals were all captured in a single sweep.

“This was the perfect project for demonstrating the benefits of all three scanners,” says Tenenboim. “The main castle wouldn’t be a good fit for Leo, and it didn’t really fit Ray II. There was no good vantage point where we could see the facade from 100 meters away. Thanks to Jet’s range, we were able to scan from a ground level. OK, we could’ve improved roof capture by flying Jet on a drone, but this would require more site preparation.”

Fine details of an exterior wall captured just outside the castle with Artec Leo.

Heritage preservation with end-use potential

Once engineers had finished scanning, they sent data back to Artec’s Luxembourg headquarters via cloud sharing for processing in Artec Twins. Specifically designed to handle large datasets, Artec Twins software allows Artec Jet, Ray, and Leo scans to be merged—either into a unified point cloud, or a 3D mesh that can be measured and exported to industry platforms like Autodesk Revit.

In terms of applications, the resulting 3D point cloud would be perfect for building a virtual museum tour for visitors to virtually explore Odawara Castle. Regular data capture sessions would also enable site operators to monitor conditions over time. If a building’s traditional rooftop began to sag, for example, it would be possible to carry out rapid repairs.

Deployable in seven modes—by hand, backpack, pole, cage, robot, vehicle, or drone—Artec Jet adapts to any environment, enabling users to replace complicated multitool workflows. Clearly, Artec’s Odawara Castle scan is just the beginning. There are plenty more sites left to explore.

Fly-through of Odawara Castle

You can find out more about Artec Jet by contacting sales@artec3d.com.