High-Tech Pavement Markers Support Autonomous Driving in Tough Conditions

 High-Tech Pavement Markers Support Autonomous Driving in Tough Conditions, Remote Areas

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

June 20, 2023

Engineers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Western Michigan University have enabled raised pavement markers to transmit global positioning information that improves autonomous driving in remote areas or during inclement weather. The researchers embedded low-powered sensors within the markers that send information to passing cars about road shape even when obstructions reduce the reliability of vehicle cameras or light detection and ranging (LiDAR). The technology hands over some data processing from the car's software to infrastructure, saving electric vehicle battery power and broadening driving range. The researchers said electrical vehicle navigation systems use up to 90% less power when navigating with the sensor-equipped pavement markers, compared to leading camera and LiDAR-based autonomous driving technology.   ... ' 

Drone LiDAR

Driving Drone LiDAR

SMALLER, SAFER, AND EASY TO USE: EASYONE DRONE LIDAR

May 9, 2023 Leave a comment

Smaller, Safer, and Easy To Use: EasyOne Drone LiDAR

Company that Launched The World’s First Quadcopter Drone Announces The New Standard For Drone LiDAR,        May 9, 2023

Denver, CO- From the floor of Xponential, drone surveying pioneer Microdrones announced an entirely new drone platform built around the demands of geospatial professionals. Vivien Heriard-Dubreuil, CEO of Microdrones explains “We’re excited to announce this new drone platform that prioritizes three key areas: transportability, a simple control interface and ease of use.” 

EasyOne Drone LiDAR

Xponential participants crowded the Microdrones booth for a closer look. “This is EasyOne,” said Frank Darmayan, company CTO, as he pointed to the display. “It fits in a case that’s about two and a half feet long and a foot and a half wide and deep. The mdCockpit mission planning screen is fully integrated into the RC. All sensitive onboard electronics are designed, manufactured and assembled in Germany. It’s just as powerful and capable as our legacy systems but it’s even easier to use.”

EasyOne is an optimized and fully integrated drone system that will provide the lifting power to carry Microdrones LiDAR and photogrammetry surveying equipment. It improves upon the company’s legacy drones in three key areas:

EasyOne is Easier to Transport.

EasyOne features a significantly smaller operational form factor with the same payload capacity of the md4-1000 platform. In addition to a smaller operational form factor, the EasyOne packs down even smaller, fitting the drone, remote, charger, two batteries and the payload into a protective storage case that’s small and light enough to bring anywhere. 

EasyOne has an Improved RC Controller and mdCockpit Interface.

EasyOne will feature an entirely new controller design that provides an enhanced user interface and safety features.

Combined device and integrated remote control- the RC and tablet are one integrated control unit.

FPV available directly on the remote

EasyOne is easy to use. 

Heriard-Dubreuil explains, “We want to make it even easier for geospatial professionals to adopt this technology and make it a part of their daily work. We offer complete systems to plan flights, fly data collection in the field, process data and then visualize it for better decision making. You are getting a fully integrated package from one company; it includes the drone, RC, mdCockpit flight planning software, survey LiDAR+ imagery payload, LP360 data processing software, workflow, training, and support. EasyOne is the complete package.”

Vincent Legrand, Vice President of Global Sales adds, “Plus, as part of the EasyOne lineup customers can take advantage of the all-new Easy Replacement Program. Should you have an accident or problem in the field, this program gets you up and running with an EasyOne replacement in a timely manner.”  

True to its promise, Microdrones offers fully integrated systems and it launches the new aircraft platform with three fully integrated LiDAR sensor options to meet your needs. ... ' 

Metal Detecting from the Air

Recall a DOD project looking a a related problem.   Hope this does not become an issue in greater Europe.

Metal-Detecting Drone Could Autonomously Find Land Mines A drone with 5 degrees of freedom can safely detect buried objects from the air.  By Evan Ackerman 

Several stitched-together photographs of gray three-propellered drones with metal detectors hovering just above grass

This composite photo shows how a tricopter drone with a lidar and metal detector can fly around an obstacle close to the ground.

Metal detecting can be a fun hobby, or it can be a task to be completed in deadly earnest—if the buried treasure you’re searching for includes land mines and explosive remnants of war. This is an enormous, dangerous problem: Something like 12,000 square kilometers worldwide are essentially useless and uninhabitable because of the threat of buried explosives, and thousands and thousands of people are injured or killed every year.

While there are many different ways of detecting mines and explosives, none of them are particularly quick or easy. For obvious reasons, sending a human out into a minefield with a metal detector is not the safest way of doing things. So, instead, people send anything else that they possibly can, from machines that can smash through minefields with brute force to well-trained rats that take a more passive approach by sniffing out explosive chemicals.

Because the majority of mines are triggered by pressure or direct proximity, it may seem that a drone would be the ideal way to detect them nonexplosively. However, unless you’re only detecting over a perfectly flat surface (and perhaps not even then) your detector won’t be positioned ideally most of the time, and you might miss something, which is not a viable option for mine detection.

But now a novel combination of a metal detector and a drone with 5 degrees of freedom is under development at the Autonomous Systems Lab at ETH Zurich. It may provide a viable solution to remote land-mine detection, by using careful sensing and localization along with some twisting motors to keep the detector reliably close to the ground.  ...' 

Better LIDAR for Driving

Compact system could be better connected to smaller devices ...  like minidrones.

Compact, Non-Mechanical 3D LiDAR System Could Make Autonomous Driving Safer

Optica.org,  February 9, 2023

Researchers at Japan's Kyoto University have developed a palm-sized non-mechanical three-dimensional (3D) LiDAR system that combines the capabilities of conventional beam-scanning LiDAR systems and flash LiDAR to improve the safety of autonomous driving. Comprised of a dually modulated photonic-crystal laser (DM-PCSEL) and a time-of-flight camera, the system can measure the distance and automatically track the motion of poorly reflective objects. Said Kyoto University's Susumu Noda, "The DM-PCSEL integrates non-mechanical, electronically controlled beam scanning with flash illumination used in flash LiDAR to acquire a full 3D image with a single flash of light. This unique source allows us to achieve both flash and scanning illumination without any moving parts or bulky external optical elements, such as lenses and diffractive optical elements."

Full Article   

LIDAR and Trucking Safety

 HOW LIDAR TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES TRUCKING SAFETY   in LIDAR News

October 30, 2022 

Trucking is a lifeline between consumers and products. The logistics industry helps transit everything from essential items like medicine to Amazon prime products. Yet, one of the leading causes of mass-casualty highway accidents are those involving trucks and freighters. 

Though many truckers are highly trained, sometimes the negligence of other drivers in cars and other vehicles can result in an unavoidable disaster. Other factors, such as weather, truck maintenance, and road distractions are also commonly at play. 

LiDar technology can prevent accidents by enabling autonomous trucks and smart highways. Read on to discover how LiDAR technology is helping make transportation safer and more efficient. 

LiDAR Vision and Autonomous Trucks

LiDAR technology, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, uses laser technology to gather a 3D data model around a vehicle in real time. This data allows autonomous vehicles to sense their surroundings at all times by allowing them to “see” objects such as pedestrians, cars, and road construction. 

Since the blind-spots in trucks are much larger, big rigs require stronger perception sensors in greater quantities. The concept of “perception” as it pertains to LiDAR technology involves the ability to sense other vehicles, as well as lane markers, traffic lights and signs, accidents, and countless other road features. 

The main challenge when using LiDAR technology in trucking is ensuring that the driver has an ample Field of View for any range of potential hazards. Now, a mix of long-range and short-range 360-degree LiDAR sensors are mounted on the mirrors of vehicles, typically with careful attention needed for larger vehicles that are subject to higher-impact loads. 

The rollout of 5G will increase LiDAR technology’s latency, or processing speed, making the 3D data model even more accurate. This is one of the main reasons why 5G’s rollout is paving the way for fully autonomous vehicles. ... ' 

Researchers Use Lasers to Trick Autonomous Cars

Possible issue with lasers?

ACM TECHNEWS

Researchers Use Lasers to Trick Autonomous Cars

By Interesting Engineering

November 2, 2022

Researchers at the University of Florida, the University of Michigan, and Japan's University of Electro-Communications used a laser to trick autonomous vehicles' LiDAR systems to remove obstacles and pedestrians from view.

The laser mimicked LiDAR reflections received by the sensor, which made it view genuine reflections from real obstacles as nonexistent.

In test conditions of a laser attack using basic camera tracking software within 15 feet of the autonomous vehicle, the car failed to slow down near a pedestrian. The researchers said more advanced equipment could enable an attack to be executed from greater distances from the vehicle.

From Interesting Engineering

View Full Article     

Volvo to Install Lidar Sensors on All New Cars

 Good idea to get additional operational testing of Lidar in an entire fleet. 

ACM TECHNEWS

Volvo to Install Laser Sensors on New Cars

By Financial Times, September 29, 2022

While lidar systems are common in self-driving vehicles, few carmakers have installed them into regular road cars, in part because of the cost.

Volvo Cars will soon become the first automaker to install laser-based sensors across its entire fleet.

The LiDAR sensor to be included with the upcoming electric version of its XC90 sport utility vehicle, dubbed the EX90, could reduce collisions by 9% and accidents with injuries or fatalities by 20%, according to Volvo CEO Jim Rowan.

Rowan said the sensor from Luminar can see "a black tire on a black road at 120 meters ahead, or a pedestrian at 250 meters."

He added that Volvo plans to include similar LiDAR sensors in all future models.

Mercedes-Benz and BMW are among other automakers with plans to roll out LiDAR sensors in their vehicles.

From Financial Times

View Full Article   

Terranet: Laser Scanning

Interesting example: 

TERRANET – FIRST SAMPLE UNIT OF ITS LASER SCANNING..

September 30, 2022 

Terranet ready to produce the first sample unit of its laser scanning module

Terranet has completed its extensive development and simulation phase required to finalize the technical specs of its laser scanning unit for the automotive industry. The next step is to decide on a partner who will manufacture the A-sample*.

Over the past year, Terranet has made significant progress in the development of its lifesaving driver assistance solution BlincVision, which is based on the vision technology VoxelFlow exclusively licensed by Terranet. BlincVision consists of three main hardware units: laser scanner, vision sensor, and computing unit.

The extensive engineering and simulation work have resulted in an effective solution for accelerating and miniaturizing the laser scanner. Additionally, Terranet has been able to increase the scanner’s precision and detection range by, among other things, changing to another wavelength of the laser, modifying the number of emitted beams, and the shape and position of various lenses and micromechanical mirrors. The laser can now be classified as eye-safe according to the international standard IEC 60825-1, a key achievement and milestone on the way to a finished BlincVision product.

With the specifications for the laser scanner module determined, Terranet is ready to start production of an A-sample of the scanner. The work to determine the specifications for the other two modules proceeds in parallel according to plan. Functional prototypes for the complete BlincVision solution shall be ready in 2023.

“This is a result of hard work from the entire company. We have been laser focused on reaching our goal in regards of the scanner module development. Now we can put all our engineering power into the development of the other two modules,” says Terranet’s CTO Nihat Küçük.

“I’m incredibly proud of the team for all the progress made so far. With each day we are getting closer to a functional prototype of BlincVision that can be tested in vehicles. Our ambition is also to have BlincVision in self-driving vehicles. Next, we look forward to partnering with a supplier who will manufacture the sample of the scanner,” comments Magnus Andersson, CEO  .... ' 

Forestry Management Efforts at Purdue

More on Forestry and LiDAR, Purdue work there. integrated with AI.  Considerable detail.

Integration Leads to Leap in Tech for Forest Inventory, Management

Purdue University News,  Elizabeth K. Gardner, June 6, 2022

Purdue University researchers located, tallied, and measured more than 1,000 trees in just hours by combining aerial and ground-based mobile mapping sensors and systems. The project, part of Purdue's Digital Forestry Initiative, employs manned aircraft, unmanned aerial drones, and backpack-mounted systems that integrate cameras with light detection and ranging (LiDAR) units, along with sensors including global navigation satellite systems and inertial navigation systems. The researchers also created a machine learning algorithm to analyze the data. Purdue's Songlin Fei called the scheme "a groundbreaking development on our path to using technology for a quick, accurate inventory of the global forest ecosystem, which will improve our ability to prevent forest fires, detect disease, perform accurate carbon counting, and make informed forest management decisions."  ... 

Why Robots Need to See

 Sensors are important.  

Why Robots Need to See    By Robotics Business Review,  June 10, 2022

Most autonomous-vehicle manufacturers use high-end 3D LiDARs and additional sensors to help their vehicles glean enough data to fully understand their surroundings and operate safely. Yet in April 2019, Elon Musk famously said that LiDAR is a "fool's errand," opting for vision-based perception as the underlying information-gathering technology.

While there remains significant value in traditional sensor modalities such as LiDAR, Musk was correct in saying that cameras and computer vision should serve as the foundation of any mobile robot navigation system.  ...   

From Robotics Business Review

Market Overview of Stereoscopic Software Solutions

Currently looking at how Lidar is being used for geology oriented analyses.    Discovered this overview survey regarding stereo Mapping and analyses.  

MARKET OVERVIEW OF STEREOSCOPIC SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS

May 21, 2022 

Vendor-neutral and hardware-independent open-source compendium: Schneider Digital regularly publishes a global market overview of 3D-capable software solutions. Over 300 applications have already been tested for their 3D stereo functionality and certified for operation with 3D monitors or power walls.

Many users from the high-tech sectors of biochemistry / molecular research, geo-information (GIS, photogrammetry & LiDAR), medicine (CT, MRI & ultrasound) or construction (CAD, CAM & 3D printing) – often do not know which of the many software applications offered on the market are capable of stereoscopic visualization with spatial 3D-stereo and therefore true depth-perception, in contrast to the standard, flat and perspective, monoscopic representation.

After two years of intensive research and in cooperation with leading software manufacturers, the company Schneider Digital, recognized for its professional 4K/8K and VR/AR hardware solutions, has now published for the first time a global market overview of all 3D-stereo software solutions. More than 300 applications are currently listed and linked together with their creators in a monthly updated community-based database. Schneider Digital first checks the individual applications for their basic 3D-stereo functionality in order to then certify them individually for plug & play operation with its 3D monitors or the smart VR wall. The overview provides an open platform for users and software manufacturers, on which they can quickly and easily find stereoscopic software solutions tailored to their requirements: https://www.3d-pluraview.com/en/application-field  ....   '

Newly Powered LiDAR System

Note mention of piezoelectric method for powering Lidar.    Could be a big step.

LiDAR System Promises 3D Vision for Cameras, Cars, Bots

IEEE Spectrum, Mark Harris, April 21, 2022

New Lidar System Promises 3D Vision for Cameras, Cars, and Bots Piezoelectric effect harnessed for cheaper lidar  .... 

Stanford University researchers, working with a colleague at Sweden’s Chalmers University of Technology, have developed a novel light detection and ranging (LiDAR) system that taps the piezoelectric effect to capture three-dimensional data at potentially vastly less cost than current systems. The researchers coated thin-film lithium niobate with transparent electrodes in order to excite the crystal, generating an acoustic standing wave that modulates the intensity of laser light passing through it. They were able to execute a modulated time-of-flight calculation that captured distance data to objects in the scene, using less than a watt of power. Coupling the opto-acoustic modulator with a standard four-megapixel digital camera yielded a relatively high-resolution depth map of several metal targets, locating them to within a few centimeters.

Tiny Switches Give Solid-State LiDAR Record Resolution

Experimented with LiDar and asset analysis.

Tiny Switches Give Solid-State LiDAR Record Resolution

By Berkeley Engineering, March 11, 2022

A high-resolution light detection and ranging (LiDAR) chip developed by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) could pave the way for smaller, less-expensive LiDAR navigation systems.

The new LiDAR chip is based on a focal plane switch array, which can channel all available laser power through a single antenna at once.

The researchers also used microelectromechanical system (MEMS) switches that physically move the waveguides from one position to another; this allows 16,384 pixels to be placed on a 1-centimeter-square chip, with each pixel equivalent to 0.6 degrees of the array's 70-degree field of view.

A 360-degree view around a vehicle could be achieved by mounting several of these chips in a circular configuration.

Said UC Berkeley's Ming Wu, "There will be so many more potential applications once we shrink LiDAR to the size of a smartphone camera."

A solid-state LiDAR chip emitting laser light from an optical antenna connected to a tiny switch; reflected light is captured by the same antenna. Three-dimensional images are obtained by sequentially turning on the switches in the array.

From Berkeley Engineering

Hovermap for liDAR Innovation

Mapping with Lidar

LiDAR News by Gene Roe   

February 8, 2022 Leave a comment

Hovermap Wins Geo Week’s LiDAR Leader Outstanding Innovation Award

Emesent is proud to have their Hovermap LiDAR mapping and autonomy payload announced as the winner of the Geo Week LiDAR Leader Award for Outstanding Innovation.

“We’re honored to be recognized as an innovative leader in geospatial LiDAR technology,” said Dr Stefan Hrabar, Emesent CEO and Co-Founder.

Announced at the Geo Week Conference in Denver today (February 7, 2022), the LiDAR Leader Awards honor the achievements of individuals and teams working in the geospatial technology space. The Outstanding Innovation in LiDAR Award highlights excellence in innovations in this space.

“Having first launched Hovermap at Geo Week in 2019, our team is extremely proud to be acknowledged for the advances we’ve made in LiDAR-based SLAM mapping and autonomy since the launch. It’s been amazing to see the value our customers have enjoyed from scanning hazardous, GPS-denied environments that were previously inaccessible,” said Dr Hrabar.

Hovermap’s high quality, high resolution, colorized point clouds have enabled customers to derive new insights in mining, architecture, construction, engineering, forestry, and other verticals.

Hovermap was recognized for its advanced autonomy and mapping capabilities. When mounted on a drone, it provides safe, autonomous, beyond line of sight flight in challenging areas even without GPS.

Another key feature considered was Hovermap’s versatility. The plug and play capability allows users to easily detach it from a drone to perform walking, vehicle-mounted, or ground robot- based scans. This allows mapping practically any indoor or outdoor area quickly and easily. .... ' 

LIDAR on its Way Out?

Have been looking at smartphone loaded uses of LiDAR, So the question is useful.

Is LiDAR on its way out? The business case for saying goodbye

As automation proliferates, sensing is increasingly moving away from LiDAR.

Written by Greg Nichols, ContributorGreg Nichols

Among the deluge of robotics predictions you're bound to encounter this year, there's one you should pay particular attention to: The way robots "see" is fundamentally changing, and that's going to have a huge impact on the utility cost and proliferation of robotic systems.

Of course, it's a bit of a mischaracterization to talk about robots "seeing," or at least a reductive shorthand for a complex interplay of software and hardware that's allowing robots to do much more sophisticated sensing with much less costly equipment. Machine vision incorporates a variety of technologies and increasingly relies on software in the form of machine learning and AI to interpret and process data from 2D sensors that would have been unachievable even a short time ago.

With this increasing reliance on software comes an interesting shift away from highly specialized sensors like LiDAR, long a staple for robots operating in semi-structured and unstructured environments. Robotics experts marrying the relationship between humans and AI software are coming to find that LiDAR isn't actually necessary. Rather, machine vision is providing higher quality mapping\at a more affordable cost, especially when it comes to indoor robotics and automation.... ' 

Creating 3D Maps with a Backpack

Intriguing LIDAR example here.   Accuracy and use example?  Could have used this for mapping retail interiors during sales analysis.

Creating 3D Maps with a Backpack

University of Twente (Netherlands), K.W. Wesselink, November 23, 2021

At the University of Twente (UT) in the Netherlands, a researcher has developed a wearable mobile mapping system that can generate detailed three-dimensional (3D) maps of building interiors. The ITC-Backpack features three two-dimensional (2D) LIDAR scanners to record points on walls, ceilings, and floors, and an inertial measurement unit (IMU) to measure the backpack's accelerations and angular velocities over time. The researchers also developed a LIDAR-IMU-based simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithm that depends on planar structures in indoor environments. While he encountered some challenges in creating a three-dimensional map from 2D data points, UT's Samer Karam said he "developed a specific loop closure technique that makes the backpack system recognize the previously visited places and corrects the drift."

Autonomous Robot Water Taxies in Amsterdam

More autonomous Vehicles

Robot Taxi Boats Take to the Water in Amsterdam

ZDNet, Charlie Osborne, October 27, 2021

An autonomous boat taxi created by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions in The Netherlands is set for deployment in the canals of Amsterdam. The Roboat taxi is guided by a combination of LiDAR scans, digital map creation, object and obstacle detection, sensors, and cameras. Its engine’s propellers are ordered to follow specific paths and goal points based on GPS and continual scanning of the boat's environment. An object detection system is under constant review so when the system's algorithm flags something as "unknown," operators manually identify it. Additionally, the boat's cameras are able to scan QR codes to guide it to a docking station.  ... '

Qualcomm Smart Cities And Cepton

Cepton Joins Qualcomm Smart Cities Accelerator Program, Bringing Expertise in Smart Lidar Technologies for Higher Levels of Safety, Intelligence and Connectivity

Cepton announced its membership in the Qualcomm® Smart Cities Accelerator Program.

Bringing Expertise in Smart Lidar Technologies for Higher Levels of Safety, Intelligence and Connectivity

Cepton announced today its membership in the Qualcomm® Smart Cities Accelerator Program.  

The Qualcomm Smart Cities Accelerator Program brings technologies and companies together to collaborate, innovate, and accelerate the rollout of smart cities and smart connected spaces globally.  Cepton believes its presence in this ecosystem aligns with Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.’s vision of bringing efficient, safe, and advanced technology to fast-growing urban environments. With its membership, Cepton aims to advance the use of lidar-based solutions with ecosystem members of the Qualcomm Smart Cities Accelerator Program across smart cities and smart connected spaces.

Through the Qualcomm® IoT Services Suite, Cepton and one of its key partners in smart spaces, The Indoor Lab, plan to collaborate with Qualcomm Technologies in offering Smart Venues as a Service, utilizing a lidar-based crowd analytics system which adheres to the privacy concerns and optimizes the utilization of spaces. ... ' 

LIDAR News

Brought to my attention:

https://blog.lidarnews.com/

Welcome to the Lidar News blog page. We currently host “In the Scan“ – one of the world’s leading 3D laser scanning and lidar blogs with over 3000 posts over 9 years.

We are interested in your comments, and if you have a post or idea for a new blog please let us know – we might be interested in featuring it ... '

LIDAR and Digital Twins

Good thoughts on this aspect of constructing a model.

Using Drone LiDAR and Photogrammetry to Create a Digital Twin   (And an IOT for testing) 

Thompson Engineering used the mdLiDAR1000HR and mdMapper1000DG to survey the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park and create a digital twin.

Cody Floyd, Surveyor PIC at Thompson Engineering, pilots the mdMapper1000DG to collect photogrammetric data.

Rome, NY- In these 4 exciting new episodes of Down to Earth, Thompson Engineering, a proven leader in planning design, construction, and response solutions, utilizes drone Photogrammetry and LiDAR technology to survey, map, and create a digital twin of the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park to help with preservation and maintenance efforts. 

To see how they collected and processed the data to create both a digital twin and complete orthophoto of the park, CLICK HERE to watch NOW On-Demand.

“Down to Earth” is a reality series that shows how real surveyors collect data and turn it into real deliverables, despite challenging terrain, rough weather, and hidden dangers.   In this latest series, the crew journeys into Mobile, Alabama, where the USS Alabama Battleship is the anchor attraction at the Memorial Park which has welcomed generations of family members, veterans, and tourists. However, large structures, an active tourist site, and other challenges face the team at Thompson Engineering as they set out to survey the Mighty A. 

On these episodes of Down to Earth, Robert Chrismon, PLS and Marketing Manager at Microdrones, joins the Thompson Engineering team to observe these challenges, provide drone surveying expertise, and offer data processing support. Brad Busby, the Survey Team Lead at Thompson says, “Having Robert out there is great support since he’s a licensed surveyor. He can relate to us and understand what we’re talking about.”

Ross Kenney, NEI UAS Sales and Support Lead, pilots the mdLiDAR1000HR while Adam McCullough, Survey Technology Lead at Thompson Engineering observes at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park

In episode 1, Robert and the team from Thompson Engineering meet up with Ross Kenney, the UAS Sales and Support Lead from Navigation Electronics, Inc. (NEI), a distributor of Microdrones integrated systems, who’s excited to demonstrate the capabilities of the all new mdLiDAR1000HR. According to Kenney, “We’re going to be able to scan every nook and cranny of that ship.” That’s because the new mdLiDAR1000HR creates high resolution point clouds and provides increased coverage.

Episode 2 introduces Cody Floyd, Surveyor PIC at Thompson, who pilots the mdMapper1000DG to perform the photogrammetry mission. This will collect the data to create an orthophoto of the entire site and provide colorization for the LiDAR point cloud. Floyd, who also interned at the Park, explains the deliverables. “We’re here to do a survey of the Battleship Memorial Park to provide them with something they can use for future improvements and additions.” 

The third episode occurs at the Mobile office of Thompson Engineering where the team works through the process and visualize portion of the workflow. Jason Gibson, PLS for Thompson Engineering reviews the trajectory processing while working towards a final orthomosaic and then Robert Chrismon displays the digital twin of the USS Alabama in a LiDAR point cloud created in mdInfinity. Adam Mccullough, Survey Technology Lead at Thompson was excited to see the data. “To me the data speaks for itself. Just looking at the point cloud, you can see how dense and crisp it is around the buildings, the planes and all the cars in the parking lot.”

The final episode is a new segment featuring a round table discussion where the team reviews the project, shares their final thoughts and insights all while enjoying a cold beverage. Watch the entire series now and see how to create a digital twin with drone LiDAR.  .... '