In this Engadget article they detail how the Smithsonian’s Digitization group, AKA the Laser Cowboys is/are making use of 3D laser scanning to preserve the collection. It’s a fascinating article about the work this 3 person group is doing with 3D technology.
Leica GeoSystems announced what they believe will be a revolutionary product – the first multistation. A survey instrument that combines a total station with GNSS, camera and scanning. The system includes very impressive and easy to understand software which seemed to me to be another major step forward.
It certainly is a step in the right direction in terms of more intelligent scanning. In fact it might make sense to take this “point and shoot” technology into the full blown scanners. It will be interesting to see what the surveyors think of this combination.
I just received a press release from Liz Lee at CyArk indicating that Tom Greaves, the co-founder of SPAR has left his position as the Executive Director of CyArk. Tom plans to return to the private sector.
Continuing with their innovation and creativity the marketing group at Hexagon has put together the most impressive use of live video from a conference that I have seen to date. Others may set up small interview stages, or walk around with a microphone and after the fact roll out video clips, but HxGN LIVE TV is available from the show flow soon after it is recorded.
Rather than reading what I think about the new mobile scanning solution or the MS50 multistation scroll down to the tenth video in the list on the right and you will see me interview two of the key Leica GeoSystems team as they discuss these important innovations. You will also find a wealth of additional information there. Minus the personal networking it’s almost as good as being there.
I am running out of superlatives to describe this event.
Hexagon and Leica GeoSystems are delivering on both the innovation and integration fronts at this year’s HxGN LIVE conference.
On the innovation front let’s start with the keynotes. The format, which was very conversational included a guest host who interviewed some of the division Presidents, great video and digital bracelets that created lighting effects. It was unlike any other conference opening I have attended. Kudos to the Hexagon corporate marketing team for creating an entirely new experience. It was fun, professional and highly informational.
On the product innovation front the two big Leica GeoSystems stories are the Pegasus:One which I highlighted yesterday and the Nova MS50 – the first “multistation” survey instrument. This product introduction included a toast including all of us in the audience – unreal.
The MS50 is a total station with intelligent scanning capabilities – finally. It also has GNSS connectivity and “imagery assistance”. Using a throwback to the old days one might call it the Swiss Army knife of survey instruments because it can literally do it all. It’s a truly impressive concept and implementation – kudos to all involved with what must have been an incredible engineering effort. Now we will see what the surveyors think.
On the integration front if you think back a couple of years to the acquisition of Intergraph the big question at the time was could Hexagon pull off the promised integration. Based on today’s keynotes the answer is an emphatic “you bet.” The senior management team provided numerous examples, like the integration of scanning into the marine ship building workflows and evidence that this is now happening in a very strategic way across all divisions including metrology.
It appears to me that Ola Rollen and his team have Hexagon well positioned for the future. One can only imagine what they are working on for next year.
From the laser scanning side the big news from HxGN LIVE’s pre-opening day was the display of a mobile mapping solution by Leica GeoSystems. The Leica Pegasus:One, as it is being called was being shown with the HDS 7000, but the brochure indicates that the system is compatible with a number of scanners including the P20.
The system is being positioned as a complete hardware and software solution. It is plug-and-play and does not require a dedicated vehicle. The system includes six 2 MB cameras positioned to capture a full 360 x 70 degree view.
I would expect to hear quite about this tomorrow as part of the GeoSystems keynote. Stay tuned.
NASA transferred operational control of the Landsat 8 satellite to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in a ceremony in Sioux Falls, S.D.on Thursday May 30, 2013.
The event marks the beginning of the satellite’s mission to extend an unparalleled four-decade record of monitoring Earth’s landscape from space. Landsat 8 is the latest in the Landsat series of remote-sensing satellites, which have been providing global coverage of landscape changes on Earth since 1972. The Landsat program is a joint effort between NASA and USGS.
NASA launched the satellite Feb. 11 as the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM). Since then, NASA mission engineers and scientists, with USGS collaboration, have been putting the satellite through its paces — steering it into its orbit, calibrating the detectors, and collecting test images. Now fully mission-certified, the satellite is under USGS operational control.
Kudos to all for making this happen given the times we are living in.
This appears to be an important paper from top researchers at the University of Calgary and the University of Houston comparing point-based and plane-based self-calibration (in terms of model identification and parameter correlation). The results of this research indicate that much of the knowledge from point-based self-calibration can be directly transferred to plane-based calibration and that the two calibration approaches are nearly equivalent.
One interesting finding was that “through simulated and real data, it has been demonstrated that having tilted scans in the network can improve the point-based self-calibration results, especially for hybrid scanners.”
Remember, you heard here it first. This may be the revolutionary news that Hexagon has been keeping us all on the edge of our seats about. It’s a new receiver that combines GPS, GLONASS and LOCATA to provide two satellite constellations and one terrestrial that delivers breakthrough performance at the project scale.
The OGC (Open Geospatial Consortium) CityGML SWG, the SIG 3D, and Technische Universität München will host a joint international workshop to gather requirements to guide the development of the next major version of CityGML (3.0). The workshop will take place on the 20th and 21st of June, 2013 in Munich, Germany. The organizations seek input from CityGML users, data producers, software manufacturers, and scientists working with or on CityGML.
This could be an excellent opportunity for LiDAR data providers to open the discussion with this important group of professionals who are setting the standards for 3D cities. If you have an interest could you please let us know.
Participation in the event is free of charge including coffee breaks and light lunch meals. Travel, accommodation, and the social evening event are at the expense of the participants.
