Startup Builds Laser Scanning Construction Robot

Posted on February 25, 2020 by lidar
Photo of Boston Startup Builds Laser Scanning Robot

Boston Startup Builds Laser Scanning Robot

It will probably be some time before buildings are erected by robots. But a Boston startup called RCML has built a robot that’s designed to make sure that the humans who are still building them get it right.

From an article in the Boston Globe by Hiawatha Bray.

The robot is named called Oliver, a four-wheeled mobile robot prototype that uses a 3-D laser scanner to take superaccurate maps of the structure as it is going up. These maps will ensure every door, air vent, and light fixture is exactly where the architect wanted it. Such scanners have become routine on big construction jobs, but they’re set up by technicians who then stand around waiting for the scanning to to finish. Those folks have better things to do. Oliver doesn’t. Continue reading →

Posted in 3D Modeling, AI, artifical perception, artificial intelligence, Autonomous vehicles, BIM, Business Development, Construction, driverless vehicles, Indoor Mapping, Infrastructure, Inspection, Laser Scanning, Lidar, machine learning, point clouds, Research, Robots, Safety, Sensors, Software, Surveying, Young Geospatial Professional | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

3D Scanning and Printing Rare Classic Car Parts

Posted on February 24, 2020 by lidar
photo of 3D Scanning and Printing Classic Car Parts

3D Scanning and Printing Classic Car Parts

Need a clutch release lever for your Vauxhall Corsa? Not a problem. There are hundreds of suppliers ready to service your enquiry and it should be with you tomorrow. Cost: about £16. Porsche is now using 3D scanning and printing to produce rare parts.

From an article in Autocar by John Evans.

But what if you need one for your Porsche 959, an extremely rare car, parts for which you’re unlikely to get online, never mind over the counter? Until a year or so ago you would have had to get one specially made at great expense but, since 2018, Porsche has been able to produce the part on demand and at reasonable cost using 3D printing and, specifically, a process called selective laser melting. Continue reading →

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Autonomous Outdoor Parking Valet Service Uses Lidar

Posted on February 23, 2020 by lidar
Photo of Autonomous Outdoor Parking Valet Uses Lidar

Autonomous Outdoor Parking Valet Uses Lidar

Stan, a fully autonomous outdoor parking valet, is now operational at select airports in Europe. The robot uses GNSS, LiDAR and cameras to move cars into storage places with requisite centimeter-level accuracy, including transition from outdoor to indoor.

I have a lot of questions about this idea.

From an article in Inside Unmanned Systems.

A Trimble BX992 multi-frequency GNSS rover receiver with precise heading capability rides inside the robot and two antennas Trimble AV59 GNSS Antennas atop its head, with maximum separation between them. To attain the centimeter-level localization, a Trimble BX992 base and a Trimble Zephyr Antenna stand at the drop-off cabins where customers drop off their cars. The Trimble BX992 base broadcasts RTK corrections over a WiFi link to the robots. Continue reading →

Posted in artifical perception, artificial intelligence, Autonomous vehicles, Business Development, Consumer, driverless vehicles, GNSS, GPS, Laser Scanning, Lidar, machine learning, Mapping, Research, Robots, Sensors, SLAM, Technology, Young Geospatial Professional | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

SPIE Proposes Automotive Lidar BenchmarkingTests

Posted on February 22, 2020 by lidar
Photo of SPIE to Benchmark Automotive Lidars

SPIE to Benchmark Automotive Lidars

Working with experts like you, SPIE is helping to establish standard tests to benchmark automotive LiDAR performance. Please comment on this draft in the text field below. Or download the PDF and send comments via email to LidarTest@spie.org so that Paul McManamon and his team can revise, update, and improve the LiDAR test plan.

Purpose: To develop standard benchmarking tests for auto lidar performance, and to employ these tests on available auto lidars. Continue reading →

Posted in artifical perception, artificial intelligence, Autonomous vehicles, Certifications, computer vision, Conferences, driverless vehicles, Government, Hardware, Laser Scanning, Lidar, Orgs, Research, Sensors, Standards, Technology, The Industry, Uncategorized, Young Geospatial Professional | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Developing a 3DEP Partnership – Lessons Learned

Posted on February 21, 2020 by lidar
graphic of Developing a 3DEP Partnerhsip

Developing a 3DEP Partnerhsip

To encourage geospatial data collection and foster information sharing, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) launched the 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) three years ago. 3DEP is a valuable tool, but many state and local agencies may be unaware of the program, unsure of how to build partnerships to meet their needs, or fully understand the process.

The 3DEP initiative is designed to identify elevation data gaps, foster partnerships among groups that have common geospatial needs and project scopes, help minimize costs and improve the impact of a project. It addresses the growing needs for high- quality topographic data and a wide range of other 3-D representations of the country’s natural and constructed features, leveraging high-quality light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data.

This article provides a recap from a real world experience of a Nature Conservancy spatial analyst, Jim DePasquale who put together a successful team that leveraged 3DEP to acquire lidar data for Alaska’s Prince of Wales island. Here are some of the lessons learned: Continue reading →

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Rail Infrastructure in Dubai 3D Modeled with Drones

Posted on February 20, 2020 by lidar
photo of Rail Infrastructure Mapped with Drones in Dubai

Rail Infrastructure Mapped with Drones in Dubai

The use of drones in the inspection and evaluation of rail infrastructure is improving and has become part of a rapidly maturing industry. The technology as well as its associated data analysis capabilities have been significantly expanding each year.

From an article in Construction Week Online by Anup Oommen.

In fact, the Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) revealed its intention to start a trial-run of drones to begin inspecting 14km of Dubai Metro tunnels on both the red and the green lines in January 2020. Continue reading →

Posted in 3D Modeling, airborne LiDAR, GIS, Government, Infrastructure, Inspection, Laser Scanning, Lidar, Mapping, Mobile LiDAR, Safety, Surveying, UAS, UAVs, Visualization, Young Geospatial Professional | Leave a comment

NASCAR is Laser Scanning Cars to Confirm Specs

Posted on February 19, 2020 by lidar
Photo of NASCAR Uses Laser Scanning to Check Dimensions

NASCAR Uses Laser Scanning to Check Dimensions

For those who did not see the end of the Daytona 500 on Monday night this photo does not begin to show what happened to Ryan Newman who was leading the race at the time. To insure that teams are meeting the three dimensional car body requirements NASCAR is using laser scanning to quickly validate the car set ups. See the video below.

In the nearly two decades since Dale Earnhardt died in a crash in the Daytona 500, new tools and technology have come around to prevent further tragedies in racing — and possibly saved Ryan Newman’s life. Continue reading →

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Lyft Passengers Highly Rate Self-Driving Car Experience

Posted on February 18, 2020 by lidar
Photo of Lyft Riders Highly Rate Aptiv's Self Driving Cars

Lyft Riders Highly Rate Aptiv’s Self Driving Cars

On the one hand Lyft passengers have logged more than 100,000 rides in Aptiv’s self-driving cars the headline in Venture Beat reads. The problem is these are not truly self-driving. There are full controls and a driver. True, they do negotiate streets on their own using a combination of lidar, cameras and radars, but this is why this industry needs to not just publish standards they need to adopt them.

It’s been roughly two years since Lyft partnered with Dublin, Ireland-based Aptiv (formerly Delphi) to launch a fleet of autonomous vehicles on the former’s ride-sharing network. A product of Aptiv’s mobility and services group, the vehicles became available to the Las Vegas public beginning May 2018 on an opt-in basis. They hit 5,000 rides in August 2018 — in a matter of months. By May 2019, Aptiv’s self-driving BMW 5 series cars equipped with lidar sensors, cameras, radars, and cameras had given 50,000 Lyft passenger rides. (That last number was up from 25,000 in December 2018.) Continue reading →

Posted in AI, artifical perception, Autonomous vehicles, Business Development, driverless vehicles, Lidar, Research, Safety, Sensors, solid state lidar, The Industry, Young Geospatial Professional | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Measuring Snow Depth in Colorado with Lidar

Posted on February 17, 2020 by lidar
map of Measuring Snow Depth in Colorado

Measuring Snow Depth in Colorado

Research Associate Blake Osborn with the Colorado Water Center/CSU Extension Service explained the various methods used for measuring snow depth in Colorado and how they function at the annual Agriculture Conference at Ski-Hi in Monte Vista Feb. 4.

From an article in Center Post Dispatch by Teressa L. Benns.

Osborn was introduced by Extension Agent and Director Marvin Reynolds. He began by noting that currently the state is doing experimental work in the Rio Grande Watershed and the San Juans. Snow comes through the Valley when the jet stream pulls moisture in from the Pacific Ocean, bringing cool temperatures with slow release.

The mountains are just “a big water reservoir” he said. Federal agencies, including the National Aeronautics and Space Association (NASA), the National Conservation Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) measure snow primarily from December through the following March. Continue reading →

Posted in 3D Modeling, Agriculture, airborne LiDAR, atmospheric, Data, Environmental, Lidar, Mapping, point clouds, remote sensing, Research, topography, Weather, Young Geospatial Professional | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

3D Bioprinting Organs Based on Microscopic Imaging

Posted on February 16, 2020 by lidar
Image of eye 3D Bioprinting of Organs with Cellular Accuracy

3D Bioprinting of Organs with Cellular Accuracy

This is incredible. For the first time, researchers managed to make intact human organs transparent. Using microscopic imaging they could reveal underlying complex structures of the see-through organs at the cellular level. Resulting organ maps can serve as templates for 3D bioprinting technologies. In the future, this could lead to the creation of on demand artificial organs for many patients in need. The findings published in Cell joined forces from Helmholtz Zentrum München, Ludwig Maximilians University Munich (LMU), and Technical University of Munich (TUM).

From an article in The Daily Star.

In biomedical research, seeing is believing. Deciphering the structural complexity of human organs has always been a major challenge due to the lack of technologies to image them at the cellular level. Recent developments in tissue clearing allowed researchers to obtain first cellular views of intact transparent mouse organs in 3D. These methods, however, were not applicable to human organs. Continue reading →

Posted in 3D Modeling, 3D Printing, AI, artifical perception, artificial intelligence, computer vision, Consumer, Data, medical, Research, Sensors, Software, Technology, Young Geospatial Professional | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment