LiDAR News

Nuclear Underwater Laser Scanner

lidar — Tue, 21 May 2013 02:15:42 +0000

Newton Research Labs has developed an underwater laser scanner. The NM200UW Nuclear Underwater Laser Scanner is meant to operate in vessel. It was recently used successfully at Nine Mile Point 1, one of the oldest reactors in the United States, to inspect the steam dryer assembly and support brackets.

The unit has an impressive spec sheet including an accuracy of +/-.0004 in. or better.

LiDAR Pulse Densities

lidar — Sun, 19 May 2013 14:17:10 +0000

The folks at Watershed Sciences have created an outstanding white paper entitled, “LiDAR Pulse Densities Comparison”. This is an important topic that is not well understood, even by the highly experienced.

Great job of explaining a complex subject.

Google Glass Review – Wink, Wink

lidar — Sun, 19 May 2013 11:28:39 +0000

The Saturday Night Live folks tested Google Glass. Here is there review.

Situational Awareness RFI at the Tactical Level

lidar — Sat, 18 May 2013 11:27:09 +0000

Michael Raphael from Direct Dimensions provided this heads up about a DARPA Request for Information – RFI as follows:

“To help address these challenges, DARPA has issued a Request for Information (RFI) about technologies that can help lead to digitization of dismounted squads. By digitization, DARPA means collecting sensor data that would provide much more detailed and actionable real-time information about a squad’s condition, surroundings and adversaries. It is believed that digitization could provide squads of 9-13 members and their unmanned assets with enhanced tactical awareness and advantage up to a mile away, in both urban and open‐air environments.”

That’s quite a general request.

Hardware Compression of LiDAR Data

lidar — Fri, 17 May 2013 02:16:03 +0000

In this paper, a hardware accelerated compression of LIDAR data is presented. The compression and decompression of LIDAR data is performed by a dedicated FPGA-based circuit and interfaced to the computer via a PCI-E general bus. The hardware compressor consists of three modules: LIDAR data predictor, variable length coder, and arithmetic coder. Hardware compression is considerably faster than software compression, while it also alleviates the processor load.

Sounds very interesting.

Integrating Terrestrial LiDAR and Sonar Data

lidar — Thu, 16 May 2013 01:41:08 +0000

I had a very interesting meeting with the folks at H2H in Troy, New York today. They are definitely pushing the envelope of 3D data innovation.

Last week they used a survey vessel developed by iLinks that was equipped with a multibeam sonar and the Dynascan terrestrial scanner from MDL to document the as-found conditions of a number of locks on the Champlain Canal system. This connects the Hudson River with Lake Champlain.

The project was ideal for this setup. The volume to be documented was well defined and linear in shape. The beauty of this mobile mapping vessel is the systems integration that has been done. The IMU and GPS in the Dynascan are also used to locate the sonar sensor. All of the lever arm offsets are tightly calibrated.

The operation and post processing software is QINSy from QPS. This software was originally designed for hydrographic work and then adapted to support the Dynascan, so integrating the sonar was not that much of a challenge.

The resulting 3D data sets were very impressive and the analysis revealed significant areas where the concrete had spalled and was in need of repair. Prior to the use of this system divers had to hand inspect the surfaces in water where the visibility was less than one foot.

The coordinates were all calculated in state plane with negative values for below water elevation where needed. A very impressive, mature system.

LiDAR and Sonar

lidar — Wed, 15 May 2013 03:11:57 +0000

The field visit with H2H had to be postponed last week. I am working on a video that was taken of the field operation and I have a meeting scheduled to review the data on Wednesday afternoon. Stay tuned – the results are supposed to be outstanding.

Laser Scanning is Not a Luxury

lidar — Mon, 13 May 2013 21:34:48 +0000

I just came across this blog hosted by a contractor that is a leader in BIM and IPD – integrated project delivery, as well as VDC – virtual design and construction. For Tocci, located outside of Boston, Massachusetts to make this claim should not be taken lightly.

This message echoed a call I had earlier today from a friend at a civil survey firm telling me that the growth in their scanning business this year is coming from architects. Say what? Yes, that’s right it seems the architects are realizing that laser scanning is worth the investment, or as Tocci says, it’s not a luxury anymore.

When you go from “nice to have” to “must have” that is a game changer.

Basics of Using LiDAR Data

lidar — Sun, 12 May 2013 23:18:23 +0000

This is the Basics of Using LiDAR Data, Lecture 2 from the “Conservation Applications of LiDAR” series presented by the University of Minnesota. Lecture slides and further training materials are at z.umn.edu/lidar.

$99 LiDAR Design Project on Kickstarter

lidar — Sun, 12 May 2013 12:50:25 +0000

In a recent LiDAR News article by Fran Rabuck he refers to this Kickstarter project to develop a low cost LiDAR. The funding closed this past July. Does anyone have an update on the progress?

If you are not familiar with Kickstarter it’s a great opportunity to test market and even fund your start-up ideas.