The Mobile Mapper

Flash LiDAR from

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Andelin) — Fri, 16 Aug 2013 14:37:00 +0000

At the AUVSI conference in Washington DC I ran across this little gem.

Flash LiDAR

Spar Point Group - Leica debuts the ScanStation P20

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Andelin) — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 13:36:00 +0000

Truly a game changer! 1mil points per second...

Spar Point Group - Leica debuts the ScanStation P20

Modeling

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Andelin) — Mon, 28 May 2012 06:36:00 +0000

Watch "CityEngine, Lumion and SketchUp - CityLogo and Exhibition Space" on YouTube

Nevada DMV grants first self-driving car testing license to Google

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Andelin) — Tue, 08 May 2012 03:43:00 +0000

Nevada has been making a name for itself lately, becoming the first state to put in place rules and regulations for autonomous vehicles last February. It's now moved on to the next step, approving the first testing license under the new rules, and it's going straight to Google. Under the new laws, the self-driving car will be fitted with a special red license plate featuring an infinity symbol for easy recognition. While this is an important step, we're still a long way off from a autonomous automotive utopia: the vehicles require two passengers at all times, and the areas in which they can be driven is tightly regulated for the moment. Should Nevada's foray go well, however, there's little doubt other states will follow suit. Google certainly thinks so, at least, with the project lead recently stating that he anticipates the company's self-driving car system to be available "much sooner than the next decade."

Excerpted from Nevada DMV grants first self-driving car testing license to Google | The Verge http://mobile.theverge.com/2012/5/7/3006022/google-granted-first-self-driving-car-testing-license-nevada-dmv

City of Indianapolis announces Award of Sign and Pavement Inventory

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Andelin) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:44:00 +0000

Check out this interview with Kristi Grahl from POB at SPAR 2012.

Kristi interviews me on our being awarded one of the largest mobile LiDAR projects for for Sign and Pavement Inventories with the City of Indianapolis Department of Public Works. Our project will begin in less than an month and we will be collecting LiDAR data of nearly every street in the greater Indianapolis area. This will be a mammoth effort for our organization and is possible due in large part to an outstanding Advance Research and Design (ARAD) group within our organization. This group allows us to exploit the capabilities of our equipment beyond the restrictions or limitations of commercial off the shelf or COTS software. Couple this with an outstanding teams in: Survey, Infrastructure Management, Information Technology and Civil Works and we have an organization that can meet any challenge. Another key is local knowledge, management and participation, both within the organization and through our subcontracted partners.

Transportation Bill Kicked into the future again

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Andelin) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 01:10:00 +0000

From the PBS Blog. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2012/03/transportation-bill-extension-further-delays-long-term-solution.html

Transportation Bill Extension Further Delays Long-Term Solution

BY: LINDA J. SCOTT

Congress is poised to go home for a one-week recess after punting -- once again -- on a long-term transportation funding bill. The Senate on Thursday approved the temporary measure, a 90-day extension for funding road, rail and bridge construction, to avoid busting the March 31 renewal deadline. The extension heads to President Obama for his signature, but not without drama.

A few months ago, the House attempted to craft a $260 billion surface transportation bill that would build and repair roads, rails and infrastructure -- and create jobs. But House GOP leaders were unable to rally support from conservative members who see the bill as too costly. The Senate passed its own version of the bill, a $109 billion measure, with bipartisan support, and the president and Senate leadership urged the House to vote on that alternate plan.

But House leaders could not muster enough votes to pass any extension of the current funding, so the bill was pulled twice from the floor this week before finally passing the 90-day plan.

"We expect that after this 90-day extension, when we get back, we will move quickly to the highway bill," House Speaker John Boehner told reporters."We are working on putting the final touches on that bill and it will be ready when we get back. The 90-day extension was the most responsible way forward."

Senate Democrats did not see it that way, with Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York complaining of a "paralysis" in the House. Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana agreed: "This country doesn't need short-term extensions, it needs long-term answers."

This is eerily similar to the brinksmanship that occurred during debt limit negotiations last summer when both chambers pushed the nation to the edge of default -- and of the December battle over the passage of a payroll tax.

In other Congressional news, the House on Thursday passed a Republican blueprint for a budget, and the Senate failed to approve legislation that proposed ending subsidies for oil companies.

Google's latest map

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Andelin) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 04:53:00 +0000

Wind Map is way cool. I would add color by speed and make it thematic:-)

Even Nike has fun with Maps

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Andelin) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 06:10:00 +0000

Visualizing 1,000 Nike+ Runs in New York City - information aesthetics

UAS Equipped with LiDAR in the Prometheus Trailer

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Andelin) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 06:05:00 +0000

At 1:17 in the trailer we see Ridley Scott's idea of a small UAS equipped with LiDAR

Watch "Prometheus - Official FULL Trailer [HD]" on YouTube

Interesting

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Andelin) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 05:50:00 +0000

How scientists can manipulate us with games to gather data
VentureBeat • by Heather Kelly • 4 hours ago How scientists can manipulate us with games to gather data

Smartphones have turned us into an army of accidental data collectors, checking in at locations, taking photos, recording audio, even gauging network speeds wherever we go. This rich data can be used for research, but because people are creatures of habit, there are sometimes gaping blind spots.

“Flickr has thousands of photos of the front of the Lincoln Memorial. But who takes a picture of the back? Very few people,” said Fabian Bustamante, associate professor at Northwestern University, in a statement. He proposes “soft controlling” people into gathering information needed for research by using games or social networking apps. The apps would nudge people into completing a task at a specific location, then reward them with points or incentives.

Bustamante and his group at Northwestern University whipped up a location-based, augmented-reality Android game called Ghost Hunter to test the theory with students. In the game, a player wanders around her neighborhood looking for ghosts and other monsters, and when the ghouls are in range, the app switches to a live view with an overlay of cross-hairs. The player shoots the ghost and a photo of the location is uploaded.

Just playing the game was enough of an incentive to get participants to wander off their beaten-track, according to graduate student John P. Rula. Rula was the lead author of a paper on the project.

Full sets of crowdsourced photos can be used to do neat things like create 3D models of landmarks or buildings. Another possible use for this technology is tracking noise pollution. Mobile phones and tablets already have built-in microphones that can be used to measure ambient noise, but what would make you whip out your iPhone and hit a button right as the N train rumbles into the station? How about a reward such as the chance to win $5 at Starbucks, or something less tangible like killing a brains-hungry zombie for points?

There are already plenty of apps that reward you for “checking in” at a location, including Foursquare and Gowalla. Soft control functions could be easily integrated into existing apps with about 25 lines of additional code, according to the paper.

Researchers are quick to point out the idea isn’t to trick people into sharing information; all participants would be notified and their data anonymized when uploaded.

The idea may sound a bit odd at first — who would agree to be “soft controlled”? But many people are actually eager to become citizen scientists, as evidenced by the popularity of the SetiQuest Explorer app, which allows anyone to help monitor radio signals in space to help search for extraterrestrial life. Filed under: mobile, offBeat, VentureBeat

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As I sit in a board meeting multitasking...I came across this

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Andelin) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:47:00 +0000

The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time

HBR.org • by Tony Schwartz • 3 hours ago The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time

Why is it that between 25 and 50 per cent of people report feeling overwhelmed or burned out at work?

It's not just the number of hours we're working, but also the fact that we spend too many continuous hours juggling too many things at the same time.

What we've lost, above all, are stopping points, finish lines and boundaries. Technology has blurred them beyond recognition. Wherever we go, our work follows us, on our digital devices, ever insistent and intrusive. It's like an itch we can't resist scratching, even though scratching invariably makes it worse.

Tell the truth: Do you answer email during conference calls (and sometimes even during calls with one other person)? Do you bring your laptop to meetings and then pretend you're taking notes while you surf the net? Do you eat lunch at your desk? Do you make calls while you're driving, and even send the occasional text, even though you know you shouldn't?

The biggest cost — assuming you don't crash — is to your productivity. In part, that's a simple consequence of splitting your attention, so that you're partially engaged in multiple activities but rarely fully engaged in any one. In part, it's because when you switch away from a primary task to do something else, you're increasing the time it takes to finish that task by an average of 25 per cent.

But most insidiously, it's because if you're always doing something, you're relentlessly burning down your available reservoir of energy over the course of every day, so you have less available with every passing hour.

I know this from my own experience. I get two to three times as much writing accomplished when I focus without interruption for a designated period of time and then take a real break, away from my desk. The best way for an organization to fuel higher productivity and more innovative thinking is to strongly encourage finite periods of absorbed focus, as well as shorter periods of real renewal.

If you're a manager, here are three policies worth promoting:

1. Maintain meeting discipline. Schedule meetings for 45 minutes, rather than an hour or longer, so participants can stay focused, take time afterward to reflect on what's been discussed, and recover before the next obligation. Start all meetings at a precise time, end at a precise time, and insist that all digital devices be turned off throughout the meeting.

2. Stop demanding or expecting instant responsiveness at every moment of the day. It forces your people into reactive mode, fractures their attention, and makes it difficult for them to sustain attention on their priorities. Let them turn off their email at certain times. If it's urgent, you can call them — but that won't happen very often.

3. Encourage renewal. Create at least one time during the day when you encourage your people to stop working and take a break. Offer a midafternoon class in yoga, or meditation, organize a group walk or workout, or consider creating a renewal room where people can relax, or take a nap.

It's also up to individuals to set their own boundaries. Consider these three behaviors for yourself:

1. Do the most important thing first in the morning, preferably without interruption, for 60 to 90 minutes, with a clear start and stop time. If possible, work in a private space during this period, or with sound-reducing earphones. Finally, resist every impulse to distraction, knowing that you have a designated stopping point. The more absorbed you can get, the more productive you'll be. When you're done, take at least a few minutes to renew.

2. Establish regular, scheduled times to think more long term, creatively, or strategically. If you don't, you'll constantly succumb to the tyranny of the urgent. Also, find a different environment in which to do this activity — preferably one that's relaxed and conducive to open-ended thinking.

3. Take real and regular vacations. Real means that when you're off, you're truly disconnecting from work. Regular means several times a year if possible, even if some are only two or three days added to a weekend. The research strongly suggests that you'll be far healthier if you take all of your vacation time, and more productive overall.

A single principle lies at the heart of all these suggestions. When you're engaged at work, fully engage, for defined periods of time. When you're renewing, truly renew. Make waves. Stop living your life in the gray zone.

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Well DeLorme you've been beaten:-)

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Andelin) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 06:09:00 +0000

Giant globe display

Follow the link and click on the example.

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Andelin) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 03:57:00 +0000

Vintage 3-D GIFs

LAPD cracking down on UAV's

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Andelin) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:48:00 +0000

Anyone see the UAV at the XGames last week? They featured a Styrofoam glider with a GoCamera HD camera mounted on it. No gimble attachment so the image capture could not be directed, but hey're coming!

Just not to LA for real estate purposes:-)

Interesting article found on DIYDRRONES Where the California Association of Realtors (CAR) has been issued a warning from the LAPD on the use of Drones. Article source is helifreak

While attending a Doctoral piano recital...

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Andelin) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:15:00 +0000

Last night...I came across this article in the Music Hall. You never know where 3D mapping is going to show up. http://www.ntdaily.com/?p=60783

Way sweet landscape books.

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Andelin) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 05:27:00 +0000

The Great Wall : GUY LARAMEE

The end of LightSquared?

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Andelin) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 04:29:00 +0000

Federal agency recommends killing LightSquared LTE plans

Balloon mapping?:-)

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Andelin) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:15:00 +0000

How they do it.

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Andelin) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 03:35:00 +0000

Google Maps: Designing the Modern Atlas - Core77

Check out the first two items.

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Andelin) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 01:29:00 +0000

Watch "Technology coming up in 2012" on YouTube

Lovee me some aljezera!

Erin Brockovich talks the Ace Man about a new project with Google Maps

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Andelin) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 03:19:00 +0000

On the 12/20/11 Adam Corolla podcast his guest Erin Brockovich talks about a new project she is kicking off with the folks at Google. Using Google Maps (and Fusion Tables I would assume) they have partnered to created the Peoples Reporting Map. I great idea that allows people with any issue that they believe is is related to an environmental hazard that they had lived in at one time to report this issue based on location.

Brockovich says in the interview that most physicians report the location of an environmental issue based on the location that their patient is currently in.

Of course the problem with this is that as people live they move and only through clustering can the source of illness often be found. If for example a grade school is located next to a toxic and leaking oil field, and all of the children in a given class later develop cancer but they have spread all over the country in that time it is not likely that the source of the cancer will be linked back to that school. Noting that through social media high school friends are finding exactly such links Ms. Brockovich with the Help of Google is has created a tool to help bridge this divide. You can listen to the Podcast in it's entirety here.

If you are not a follower of the Ace Man you should give him a listen...He's Howard: minus the annoying, repetitive, and out of touch part. He Rush: minus the annoying, repetitive, and irrelevant part. He's Bill O'Riley: minus the Bill O'Riley part.

Hook a GeoSpatial Entrepreneur brother up on Kickstarter

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Andelin) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:30:00 +0000

A good friend is looking for funding on Kickstarter. His company GeoPIX Media, Inc. is attempting to bring UAV's and Photogrammetry together to deliver unique high res geo-referenced data to your desktop.

Dell and Nvidia...Why

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Andelin) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 19:25:00 +0000

Why does my Nvidia graphics card crash my Laptop?...Daily!

No the simple IT answer of "you should I avoid sites like Youtube and the beta version of Google maps using Open GL" is not acceptable. No...things should just work.

Dell I would expect this from. Nvidia, you're better than that. Get it together!

I will give Dell this though. When I log the complaint they will be out to fix or replace the board pronto.

Thanks Employer for being a big Dell customer:-)

VW and Mobile LiDAR

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Andelin) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 16:31:00 +0000

Sam over at SparPoint published their top ten news items in LiDAR this year. While browsing the site I noticed an article from Tom Greeves mentioning two of my favorite things, VW and Mobile LiDAR. I was hoping to see a new Scirocco rallied out with a pimped Faro built into the rear wing. Not so, but here's a cool article about what VW is doing with Mobile LiDAR. And here's a picture of a Rallied out Scirocco.

We live and work in the world of "now", we live and work in the cloud, we live and work in a world of kml.

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Andelin) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 16:04:00 +0000

In every photogrammetry department, there is that map on the wall. A color coded plot map of the weeks project divided up by model. Each person working on it either crosses out or colors in each model as they complete them. Project managers would occasionally swing through the department and gauge the status of their project with a quick review of this map I'm pretty sure this method of project management was created by the Corps of Engineers and scribe coated into Mylar as a rule somewhere. Well that worked great when projects were worked on in one location, but it starts to fall apart when multiple office are all working on the same project.

Frankly I'm amazed that this is still the default operating procedure with the technology we have at our disposal. Is it an ease of use issue like the calculator.Everyone originally thought the calculator program on the computer would eliminate the calculator, but in reality most people will still reach for the calculator out of convenience. Using traditional GIS (ESRI) to create and share a map editable by many would seem like the logical conclusion.

I think the IT side of GIS either over analyzes the problem or has too much invested in traditional GIS software (ESRI) to look for a simple solution.

We live and work in the world of "now", we live and work in the cloud, we live and work in a world of kml. I've been working with Google Docs and Fusion Tables looking for that project management tool available to all (or all whom I choose to share with). Fusion Tables was promising in importing kml's, creating and sharing the maps, but no luck in multi-person live editing. More recently I have found success with Google Maps and My Places, importing kml's, permission based access for multi person editing and/or viewing, live updating.

The only drawbacks so far, Google limits view window and therefore breaks the kml up by into pages and exporting the data entered by a team member back into a table is going to be a challenge...and that I fat fingered "level" as "leveo".

Also, you can see I highlighted in red an item "5,307 Views" in the first screen cap...Not sure how that number comes about or whom is looking at it this many times. However, I'm not afraid, the world will not end if Google is looking at things I created with their tools. Grow up people.