Accuracy of a Novel Smartphone-Based Log Measurement App in the Prototyping Phase.

Abstract

Recently, the development of smartphone apps has resulted in a wide range of services being offered related to wood supply chain management, supporting decision-making and narrowing the digital divide in this business. This study examined the performance of Tree Scanner (TS)-a LiDAR-based smartphone app prototype integrating advanced algorithms-in estimating and providing instant data on log volume through direct digital measurement. Digital log measurements were conducted by two researchers, who each performed two repetitions; in addition to accuracy, measurement-time efficiency was also considered in this study. The results indicate strong agreement between the standard (manual) and digital measurement estimates, with an R² > 0.98 and a low RMSE (0.0668 m³), as well as intra- and inter-user consistency. Moreover, the app showed significant potential for productivity improvement (38%), with digital measurements taking a median time of 21 s per log compared to 29 s per log with manual measurements. Its ease of use and integration of several key functionalities-such as Bluetooth transfer, remote server services, automatic species identification, the provision of instant volume estimates, compatibility with RFID tags and wood anatomy checking devices, and the ability to document the geographic location of measurements-make the Tree Scanner app a useful tool for integration into wood traceability systems.