The mobile 3D digitisation lab: Early validation of robotic multi-camera photogrammetry infrastructure

Australia’s cultural and scientific collections hold millions of artefacts that remain undigitised due to the prohibitive cost, time, and immobility of current 3D capture systems. To address these barriers, the Mobile 3D Digitisation Lab (M3DL) was developed under an Australian Research Council LIEF (Linkage, Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities) grant (LE250100024). In 2025, the research team developed a transportable, multi-camera photogrammetry system augmented with robotics and 3D sound capture capabilities. Designed to increase accessibility, the M3DL significantly reduces the time taken to digitise objects and provides vehicle-transportable equipment that allows for artefacts to be scanned in situ, whether in communities or on museum sites. This paper first addresses the contextual challenges and opportunities that led to the development of the M3DL, then details core architecture and build specifications, and presents results from early field trials. It concludes by discussing emerging issues in its deployment that will be useful to future similar developments in the accessibility, speed, and efficiency of 3D digitisation in the cultural preservation sector.