Yesterday I was fortunate enough to be able to visit the European LiDAR Mapping Forum (ELMF) in The Hague. For those who do not know what LiDAR is, it is a sensor that acquires high-quality (very dense) 3D data. If you would like to check out some of the data, what it looks like and play around with it a bit, here is a “get-started”. It is further explained on Wikipedia, to which you should give some money for using it on a daily basis, if you haven’t done so already. Back on-topic I believe it was quite a successful event, some 600 applicants joined in, which was above expectations I gathered from Alastair MacDonald‘s closing remarks.
Some interesting applications (to me)
Mandli’s examples of Mobile Mapping and quick high-quality 3D model creation, with the help of Mobile Mappers. Mobile Mappers are another example of a cool technology. These cars with LiDAR sensors mounted on them can collect 3D data at highway-speed. Awesome.
Topcon is collaborating with the company creating the Moto GP 10/11 game. This game uses a model of the Silverstone track gathered and created in about 2 hours using a Mobile Mapper. The conference was premiering some of the stunning 3D imagery created for the game.
Railtracks around Dover. To monitor land slides and land changes at the cliffs of Dover they showcased quarterly surveys of the area using Terrestial Laser Scanners.
Beyond understanding
Most of the rest of the talks were less practical of nature. This is not bad in any case. On the contrary I found these lectures very interesting. However for my studies and thesis it will probably not be of any importance. Although I now (claim to) understand why you should prefer Discrete Return over Full Waveform for most purposes.
Other things I just didn’t understand were all over the place. But it was very educational and interesting nonetheless.
One more example before I leave you. The Dutch branch of TerraImaging also had a stand there. They deliver AHN2 images (the Actual Elevation of the Netherlands version 2) data. Awesome detail. With an accuracy of 5cm they deliver Elevation Maps of areas in the Netherlands. Just don’t think that data comes without cost. There is a free online viewer though at the AHN website.
Accuracy of 5cm both horizontally and vertically? That is awesome indeed!
Great summary. FWIW: our competitor Grontmij is also capable of Mobile Mapping, a fact I discovered today.
Do you think this helps your thesis? I understand the data collection bit (which basically is what Lidar is about), but were there any nice visualisation tools, or conversion (3D -> GIS or 3D -> AR)?
No not really. That was a bit of a shame. Everybody suggested me to use their software, use ArcGIS to create TIN’s or buy their processed data. Which was basically what I already have been doing (apart from buying the data bit).
Did it help my thesis, I do not dare to say. Maybe unconciously it helped me to think 3D. There was a company (eurosense.com) who made thematic maps out of orthoimagery. Similar to a 3D Top25 map. Saves a lot of hassle. Other than that, I think I can make due with the data I have at my disposal.