BUILDING A DIGITAL CLOSE RANGE THREE DIMENSIONAL MEASURING SYSTEM FOR LESS THAN £5000

The use of CCD cameras for digital photogrammetry has only slowly been taken up by the photogrammetric community. However, the pace of change is quickening with better understanding and cheaper equipment. Recently a decision was made to start some research into close range three dimensional digital measurement. The overall objective was to develop a low cost system for the automated measurement of small industrial objects. This shorter contribution describes the initial stages of this work.     

Developing an optimized texture mapping for photorealistic 3D buildings

Texture mapping generates photorealistic representations of three‐dimensional (3D) geometric objects and enhances the spatial perception of areas of interest. Over the past two decades, even though various approaches for 3D urban models have been investigated, their use has been limited because of the lack of spatial accuracy, details, and the complex processes. It is difficult to maintain highly detailed texture information without using a hybrid of aerial image and ground‐based imaging techniques, which are costly. Furthermore, it is hard to develop a fully automated process for 3D urban mapping that achieves high spatial accuracy. With regard to the issues, this research aims to develop a semi‐automated process for 3D building models that would help image‐based approaches. It helps acquire qualified texture information and improve the appearance of building façades in a large city. In particular, this research first investigates an optimal overlap of consecutive aerial images that generates sufficient information to texture each façade, thus making this process more cost‐effective. Second, this research develops an application to semi‐automatically build 3D buildings and textured 3D buildings. The application is developed in C++. The textured 3D building models are quantitatively and qualitatively assessed to determine the usability of the semi‐automated process.     

Virtual Cities From Digital Imagery

Increasing interest is being expressed in the use of virtual cities for many fields of application, ranging from planning and simulation to business, advertising and the games industry. Currently, the extraction of buildings from imagery is costly. However, recent developments in digital photogrammetry aim to produce more rapid and efficient methods of modelling three dimensional objects in urban environments. This paper presents a semi-automatic system for the extraction of buildings from digital aerial imagery with the aid of volumetric primitives. The user is supported by automated tools, for example matching tools, in order to reach the necessary efficiency. With an extraction time of about 20 s per building primitive, this method is competitive in terms of the performance of classical photogrammetric procedures, and also offers additional features for analysis, texture mapping and Internet applications.     

Pavement Deformation Monitoring in a Rolling Load Facility

This paper describes work undertaken to measure deformation of a pavement within the Newcastle University Rolling Load Facility (NUROLF). Precise three dimensional measurements of the pavement have been produced from stereo-imagery taken with diVerent cameras, using both analytical and digital photogrammetric instrumentation. The photogrammetric measurements, and those from the existing system consisting of an array of linear voltage displacement transducers, have been compared with measurements produced using a digital level. Encouraging results have been achieved and photogrammetry has been shown to be capable of producing a similar accuracy to the existing system. There are many advantages associated with a photogrammetric survey but attempts to establish a permanent, automated photogrammetric system for the rolling load facility at a reasonable cost have so far been unsuccessful. It is anticipated that, with the falling cost of high resolution digital sensors, such a system will soon be possible.     

Automated Digital Photogrammetry on a Shoestring

A system capable of automatically deriving the three dimensional co-ordinates of well defined binarized targets is described. Significantly, the system comprises cheap "off the shelf" hardware and software, requiring a minimum of development. Comparative tests using imagery obtained with a Hasselblad semi-metric camera and a 35 mm SLR camera are presented. By means of automated sub-pixel measurement, the results achieved are equivalent to those undertaken through manual target measurement using a first order analytical plotter.     

The Development of Camera Calibration Methods and Models

Correction for image distortion in cameras has been an important topic for as long as users have wanted to faithfully reproduce or use observed information. Initially the main application was mapping. While this task continues today, other applications also require precise calibration of cameras, such as close range three dimensional measurement and many two dimensional measurement tasks. In the past, the cameras used were few in number and highly expensive whereas today a typical large industrial company will have many inexpensive cameras being used for highly important measurement tasks. Cameras are used more today than they ever were but the golden age of camera calibration for aerial mapping is now well in the past. This paper considers some of the key developments and attempts to put them into perspective. In particular the driving forces behind each improvement have been highlighted.     

树模型的三维可视化研究

树的表达无论是在3DGIS，VRGIS还是在3DCM中，都是一个难点问题。与一般实体对象不同的是，树明显具有分形空间特征，因此用常规简单的建模方法很难表达一颗树。现在分形算法常用来生成树模型，具有逼真的可视效果，但所产生的数据量对于GIS环境来说太大，可视化困难；另外，用树的图像替代树模型也是一种常用的方法，但在近视点视觉效果差，同时也没有表达出树木所固有的空间特征。本文作者提出一种方法，使用LOD技术，将树的分形模型与其图像替代模型两者结合起来，初步解决树模型在GIS中的可视化问题，可达到逼真、高速的可视效果。     

Photogrammetric Capabilities of the Kodak DC40, DCS420 and DCS460 Digital Cameras

The aim of this study is to assess the impact of sensor size and resolution of different digital camera sensors upon the accuracy and precision of three dimensional data derived by photogrammetry. Kodak DC40, DCS420 and DCS460 digital cameras were used to produce digital images of retroreflective targets in a 4 m three dimensional test field. The image locations of the targeted points were automatically measured using an off the shelf image processing software package. Two different sub-pixel measurement approaches were examined: centre of gravity and weighted mean. From the automated sub-pixel measurement of the targeted points, results indicate that the high resolution DCS460 camera produces optimum results using either the weighted mean or centre of gravity approaches. Although this was perhaps expected, the far lower resolution DC40 camera performed better than was originally anticipated, suggesting potential for the cheaper DC40 for many applications.     

Digital Photogrammetry and Microscope Photographs

The feasibility of applying commercial digital photogrammetric software to the measurement of small objects photographed through an optical microscope has been examined. The objects, about 20 mm across, were photographed using a 35 mm film camera (at the lowest magnification setting of the Olympus microscope) giving photographs at a scale of 2:1. The photographs were then scanned before processing with the VirtuoZo digital photogrammetric system. Various problems needed to be overcome, some due to the limited options available with the highly automated digital system which was not designed for such measurement tasks. The unusual image scales, the uncommon pixel sizes and the unconventional and uncertain imaging geometry, all impeded immediate photogrammetric implementation. Photographic problems with the microscope were also faced, as with all microscope photogrammetry. Creating control points and independently assessing the accuracy of results at these scales were also difficult operations, but an analytical plotter was utilized for both these purposes and to verify the imaging geometry. Once such problems were overcome, image matching proceeded well and an accurate DTM could be created successfully, provided that a suitably textured object was chosen.     

A Test Environment for Location-Based Services Applications

Location‐Based Services (LBS) are the delivery of information to mobile devices customised to location and context of the user. Some research has focused on data content, while other studies have emphasised the role of multimedia communication. However, very few objective tests have been carried out concerning usage and behaviour. In this paper, a conceptual model and a LBS test environment are presented which aim to study the behaviour and interaction between environments, individuals and mobile devices. The test environment was created, for this purpose, with three main components: urban VR models that allow individuals to ‘walk around’ at street level, a mobile device as information source which simulates LBS applications, and software for recording participant actions and reactions within the test environment. Multi‐source data were collected regarding movement tracking, information accessed through mobile device and participant observations using a combination of automated and semi‐automated methods. A case study on pedestrian wayfinding in urban settings is presented. This illustrates how the test environment can be used for LBS applications and how the data collected can be analysed. The research presented in this paper provides a novel approach in studying and understanding the interaction between environments, individuals and mobile devices.     

测量机器人自动化垂直度与圆轴度检测系统研究

介绍了基于智能型全站仪的手持移动设备程序的开发环境与方法,研究了基于测量机器人的垂直度和圆轴度运动检测系统,该测量系统提供金跟踪、半跟踪和全手动三种测量模式。利用该系统进行测量可以对运动设备进行全自动化测量,集数据采集与数据处理系统于一体,实时直观提供数据分析结果供用户使用。笔者在深入研究了系统框架和系统开发方法后,基于WindowsMobile系统,在．NET平台运用C#编程语言实现了自动化垂直度与圆轴度数据采集与数据处理。     

Advances in techniques to formulate the watertight concept for cadastre

The world’s rising urban density expansion has resulted in a proliferation of attempts to efficiently use space and a higher level of spatial complexity in metropolitan areas. 3D geospatial data models are increasingly being embraced to facilitate communicating the spatial dimensions of complex built environments in different applications. For example, the use of 3D models in land administration systems has been recognized as a good approach for communicating the spatial complexity of legal spaces within multi‐storey buildings. The spatial extent of legal space—to which rights, restrictions and responsibilities relate in a 3D digital cadastre—needs to be accurately defined and geometrically closed; watertight. Therefore, this study aims to address the challenges regarding checking the closure of diverse 3D legal spaces and engage several techniques to formulate the watertight concept for cadastre. The research’s methodology is built on a 3D polyhedral surface using a half‐edge data structure. A primitive check is employed to assess the spatial consistency of lower‐dimensional primitives of 3D objects. Subsequently, advanced closure checks ensure the closure of volumetric legal spaces represented by 2‐manifold and non‐2‐manifold data models. The article concludes that, by adopting the proposed approaches, the internal spatial consistency of legal spaces in urban land administration will be certified.     

High Resolution Still Video Camera for Industrial Photogrammetry

Still video cameras are easy to handle, portable, digital image acquisition devices for close range photogrammetry. They allow fast object recording without being connected to a computer. As an example of the new camera type, the high resolution Kodak DCS200 is presented in this paper, combined with the DPA digital photogrammetric station used for image measurement and object reconstruction. The performance of this three dimensional measurement system is illustrated by calibration results as well as applications to high precision dimensional inspection in industry.     

Hybrid of Shape Grammar and Morphing for Procedural Modeling of 3D Caves

Procedural modeling of three‐dimensional shapes plays a significant role in many areas nowadays. Methods based on the automation of the modeling process offer a variety of three‐dimensional structures, saving time and money. Geometry synthesis is currently used in many fields including digital cinema, electronic entertainment and simulation. There is a need to replace designers' work with intelligent automated algorithms, especially in the case of terrain modeling. This article addresses the problem of modeling virtual caves and tunnels and presents alternative solutions in the form of a hybrid system. The innovative approach combines two independent methods well known in computer graphics: shape grammars and shape morphing for modeling three‐dimensional geometry. In the modeling process, it is possible to obtain the characteristics of 3D structures with non‐spherical mesh topology. The objects and their transformations are described by functions, while production grammars define the geometry modeling process. The scene graph can be expanded by classic productions and optimized by morphing productions. Obtained shapes can be freely deformed in subsequent productions. The system offers control over the process of modeling and the resulting structure can be rendered up to a high level of realism. We also propose some measures that can be used to verify the modeling results: coefficients indicating the degree of convexity of three‐dimensional model topology based on the structure of inequality, the volume of the model, surface model and the number of model elements.     

两种BRDF室外测量方法的RGM模拟对比与误差分析

目标物的反射特性,无论是在遥感模型还是在遥感反演中都扮演着重要的角色,因此选用正确的自然条件下目标物反射特性的测量方法是遥感定量分析的基础.长期以来在自然条件下(即太阳直射光和天空漫射光同时存在)测量目标物的反射特性时,可以获得BRF(Bidirectional Reflectance Factor)作为目标反射特性的描述,但这样获得的BRF与辐射环境有关.为了消除辐射环境的影响,获得真正能够反映目标物的反射特性的BRDF(Bidirectional Reflectance.Distribution Function),前人提出了一些野外测量的方法.本文在此基础上,利用计算机模拟的辐射度(Radiosity)模型在真实场景基础上模拟BRF值,分析测量方法中存在的系统误差受观测条件影响的大小,比较了测量方法的优劣,提出了野外测量时选择测量方法的基本原则.     

SOME ASPECTS OF HEIGHT EXTRACTION FROM SPOT IMAGERY

Military systems are becoming far more demanding in their requirement for geographical information. Military Survey must be able to support these requirements and consequently undertake a continuous evaluation of new potential sources and exploitation systems. In considering SPOT data, both the improved spatial resolution and the three dimensional capability afforded by the system must be investigated. Military Survey, together with universities and industry, is conducting trials on the accuracy and detail obtainable from both film and digital data. This paper will consider the three dimensional geometric fidelity of SPOT data using three different systems. The first exploits the data as a stereopair of diapositives using an analytical plotter. The second is a hybrid system in that the stereoscopic digital data are loaded into an image processing workstation which projects a stereo-image onto a split screen. This is then treated as “hardcopy” and is interactively exploited by a conventional stereoscope. The third system is completely digital in that height extraction is undertaken within a digital environment incorporating autocorrelation routines. Overall system errors of 10 m to 12 m (σ) were recorded for each exploitation system. Digital elevation model accuracies varied depending upon terrain type and image contrast.     

TDR三维工业测量系统的开发与研究

ＴＤＲ三维工业测量系统是以全站仪及双微棱镜片测杆为基本手段而开发的一个测量系统。本文介绍了它的组成,工作原理,数据处理的数学模型及其计算机实现。通过若干个应用实例,证明该系统简单,实用,能够满足工业测量所要求的灵活、实时等特殊要求,尤其适合于对隐蔽点和不易立棱镜点的观测。     

地学可视化探讨

提出了关于地学可视化的研究框架。地学可视化包括地图可视化、地理信息系统（ Ｇ Ｉ Ｓ） 可视化及其在专业应用领域的可视化。地图可视化与 Ｇ Ｉ Ｓ可视化是地学可视化理论和技术的２ 个基础部分。地学多维图解是从非可视化角度提出的,关于图的地学知识表达、获取及其图的地学问题解的求证原理和方法,是地学可视化的高一级发展阶段。地图可视化中的信息表达交流模型和地理视觉认知决策模型的研究,将从理论上促进地学多维图解模型的进一步发展。基于虚拟现实技术和计算机网络技术的虚拟地理环境是地学可视化、地学多维图解理论和技术发展的最后集成系统。     

三维可视化工程设计的研究

首先提出利用正射影像及其立体匹配片组成的立体正射影像对作为建立地形三维立体模型的基础，并介绍了立体匹配片的原理，接着实现了两种类型立体匹配片的制作和镶嵌，利用镶嵌之后的正射影像及立体匹配片可以构建大范围地形的三维立体模型，从而建立三维工程设计平台应用于工程设计，并对该平台的量测性能进行了测试，最后介绍了该技术在输电线路设计、交通线路设计等具体工程设计领域的实际应用。