3D laser scanning technology has been applied to volume measurement of objects in all walks of life because of its advantages such as high accuracy,high detection efficiency and nondestructive etc.In this paper,several optical principles of obtaining contour surface information by 3D laser scanning technology are summarized.The research progress of point cloud data acquisition,point cloud data preprocessing,3D reconstruction and volume calculation in 3D laser scanning volume measurement system is reviewed.The application status of 3D laser scanning volume measurement technology in various industries is summarized and analyzed.Finally,the challenges and future development trends of 3D laser scanning technology in irregular volume measurement are prospected.