Acquisition Team at Aerial Images is Focus of “I Am ASI”

Posted on April 18, 2019 by lidar

In anticipation of another busy flying season, this month we focus our “I Am ASI, We Are Geospatial” spotlight on a very important department of ASI – our acquisition team.

Photo of Operator on Acquisition Team

Acquisition Team

This team, made up of several highly trained and experienced survey pilots and sensor operators, is the backbone to Aerial Services, Inc. Every project is different and requires specific accuracy standards.

ASI excels at meeting and exceeding those standards and it all starts with proper flight planning and acquisition. If these steps aren’t performed properly, it will have a major affect on overall accuracy of the deliverables not to mention make life difficult for your production teams.

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Posted in 3D Modeling, airborne LiDAR, Business Development, Full waveform, GIS, Hydrographic LiDAR, Lidar, Mapping, Photogrammetry, remote sensing | Tagged | Leave a comment

ICESat-2 Laser Scanning Satellite Needs Your Data

Posted on April 17, 2019 by lidar

I guess this one belongs in the crowd sourced data folder. NASA is looking for volunteers to help ground truth and calibrate their laser scanning satellite ICESat-2 by measuring tree heights with your smart phone.

Image of ICESat-2 Launched

ICESat-2 Launched

NASA launched a laser-powered planetary scanning satellite last year, and you can help the project along with a smartphone and a few minutes of your time. ICESat-2 measures elevation from orbit as part of NASA’s climate research, but the agency would like some data from the ground to verify those readings. So, it’s rolled out a new tool in the GLOBE Observer app for iPhone and Android.

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Posted in 3D Modeling, Data, Forestry, GIS, Government, Laser Scanning, Lidar, Mapping, point clouds, remote sensing, Research, satellites, topography | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Notre Dame Cathedral was 3D Laser Scanned in 2005

Posted on April 16, 2019 by lidar

Andrew Tallon, a leader in the study of Gothic architecture began scanning the Notre Dame Cathedral in 2001. Although Professor Tallon has passed, that rich, 3D data has just taken on much greater importance as a result of the devastating fire yesterday.

photo of Notre Dame Cathedral Ablaze

Notre Dame Cathedral Ablaze wptv.com

Tallon was an early pioneer in the use of 3D laser scanning to better understand the design, construction and longevity of Gothic cathedrals. He used his first scanner, the Cyrax to begin his study of Notre Dame in the early 2,000’s. By 2005 he had moved up to the Leica HDS 3000 which he used to continue his now critically important documentation of this great building.

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Posted in 3D Modeling, art, BIM, cultural heritage, Data, Historic Preservation, Indoor Mapping, Laser Scanning, point clouds, Research | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

3D Elevation Program Updates Webinar From the USGS

Posted on April 16, 2019 by lidar

A number of presentations, including those from the USGS on the status of the 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) had to be cancelled at the recent ILMF conference.

point cloud of capital 3D Elevation Program - USGS

3D Elevation Program – USGS

A webinar has been scheduled for April 24, 2019 at 11 AM EDT, in which three (3) USGS representatives will deliver their presentations that had to be cancelled due to the recent federal government shutdown.

Since the USGS is such a critical component of the commercial lidar industry, ILMF believes that helping their representatives share regular program updates with the commercial community is important. These presentations will provide an update of the ongoing 3D Elevation Program (3DEP), the strategic data acquisition plan for 3DEP, and changes to the USGS Lidar Base Specification review and approval process.

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Posted in 3D Modeling, Agriculture, Conferences, Data, GIS, Government, Lidar, Mapping, Open Source, point clouds, Quality, remote sensing, Research, topography | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

GPS Declassified – From Smart Bombs to Smart Phones

Posted on April 14, 2019 by lidar

Richard Easton contacted me yesterday to compliment Paul Ceruzzi on his work in “GPS” and to encourage me to read his book “GPS Declassified: From Smart Bombs to Smart Phones. That is another one for the list.

GPS Declassified - Dad used to tinker with the Vanguard 1 on our dining room table. I’m wearing the red coat with it shortly before its launch in March 1958.

GPS Declassified – Dad used to tinker with the Vanguard 1 on our dining room table. I’m wearing the red coat with it shortly before its launch in March 1958.

Here’s a guest post from Richard Easton providing incredible background.

I became interested in the history of GPS in 2005. My father, Roger Easton, designed many satellites including the Vanguard 1, helped design two space tracking systems (Minitrack and the Naval Space Surveillance System), co-wrote the proposal for what became Project Vanguard, and started Timation (TIMe navigATION) which combined with Project 621B became GPS in 1973.

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Posted in Data, Digital Transformation, geodetic, Geomatics, GNSS, Government, GPS, Mapping, military, Research, satellites, Technology, The Industry | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

GPS by Paul E. Ceruzzi Explains the Entire Story

Posted on April 11, 2019 by lidar

The roots of GPS extend further back in time than the 1960’s and 70’s. Having accurate clocks and using objects in the sky to navigate are hundreds of years old.

Diagram of GPS Constellation

GPS Constellation

If you are in the geomatics business and like to read, than GPS by Paul E. Ceruzzi is another title that I am recommending as a must read assuming you want to learn about the detailed history of satellite navigation.

As Ceruzzi points out when GPS first took form in the early 1970’s (although the first components of what would become GPS were orbited in the late 1960’s) its creators were focused on satisfying the following criteria: availability, coverage, accuracy, user equipment and usability.

What’s missing? How about navigation? As Ceruzzi points out, many inventions end up being used in ways their creators never imagined. GPS certainly fits into that category.

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Posted in 3D Modeling, atmospheric, driverless vehicles, geodetic, Geomatics, GNSS, Government, GPS, military, Research, satellites, Sensors, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wayve Critics Do Not Believe That Less is More

Posted on April 11, 2019 by lidar

A recent blog post introducing Wayve’s claims to need only a camera, GPS tracker and a powerful computer have the Wayve critics speaking out.

Photo of vehicle Wayve Critics Weigh In

Wayve Critics Weigh In

From an article in Mashable by Sasha Lekach

Why weigh down a self-driving car with a lot of sensors, HD maps, and equipment when you don’t have to?

That’s the philosophy of British startup Wayve. It claims it only needs a camera, GPS tracker, and a powerful computer to be able to drive anywhere autonomously.

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Posted in 3D Modeling, AI, artifical perception, artificial intelligence, Autonomous vehicles, computer vision, Deep Learning, driverless vehicles, Feature Extraction, GPS, Laser Scanning, Lidar, machine learning, Mapping, Research, Sensors, Software, Technology | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Top 5 Questions You Should Ask Your Customers

Posted on April 9, 2019 by lidar

The COO at Survey Monkey, Leela Srinivasan reached out to her network to uncover the Top 5 Questions one should ask their customers. Challenge yourself – see how many you can guess before reading on.

Photo of person asking Top 5 Questions

Top 5 Questions

From an article in the Survey Monkey eNewsletter.

It’s a good thing you’re curious, since the road to growth and innovation is paved with customer feedback. The best marketers and business leaders I know are customer-obsessed, and in a world of countless opportunities to measure, benchmark and act on feedback from employees, customers, partners, and more, that obsession is only growing.

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Posted in Admin, Business Development, Conferences, Marketing, Research, The Industry | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Mobile Lidar Trajectory Reconstruction – A Game Changer

Posted on April 8, 2019 by lidar
Mobile Lidar Point Cloud

Mobile Lidar Point Cloud

This is the abstract for an article entitled, “An Efficient Framework for Mobile Lidar Trajectory Reconstruction and Mo-norvana Segmentation.”

Mobile laser scanning (MLS, or mobile lidar) is a 3-D data acquisition technique that has been widely used in a variety of applications in recent years due to its high accuracy and efficiency. However, given the large data volume and complexity of the point clouds, processing MLS data can be still challenging with respect to effectiveness, efficiency, and versatility.

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Posted in 3D Modeling, Data, Feature Extraction, Laser Scanning, Lidar, Mapping, Mobile LiDAR, point clouds, Software, Standards | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Wayve is Using Deep Learning to Drive Like a Human

Posted on April 6, 2019 by lidar

This is a must read. Wayve postures that humans have a remarkable ability to learn to drive quickly and can obtain a licence to drive across a whole country after tens of hours of practice.

Logo for Wayve Uses Deep Learning

Wayve Uses Deep Learning

From a press release by Wayve.

But after 10 years of commercial self-driving car development, over 10 million autonomous miles and $5B per year spent, we still do not have commercial self-driving vehicles on our roads. To turn what is currently a fantasy into a reality, we need to take a different approach.

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Posted in 3D Modeling, AI, artifical perception, artificial intelligence, Autonomous vehicles, computer vision, Consumer, Deep Learning, driverless vehicles, machine learning, Mapping, Research, Sensors, Technology | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment