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vertically. LIDAR has also been used at ground level to collect
even more detailed information about terrain topology.
The data returned by the LIDAR sensor provides location
data on an x-y-z axis, referred to as a point cloud.
In Iraq, the BuckEye system combines airborne LIDAR
technology with digital color camera imagery to provide
pictures to commanders and planners on the lay of the
land. LIDAR elevation data has supported improved battlefield
visualization, line-of-sight analysis and urban warfare
planning.
One example of the expanding use of LIDAR involves
CG2, a wholly owned subsidiary of Quantum3D, which
recently announced that the second phase of its LIDAR
Database Generation Process is nearly complete. The initiative
converts LIDAR scans into visual database terrain and
models, an activity that includes placement of natural and
manmade features, with little or no human interaction.
The effort is part of a Small Business Innovation Research
(SBIR) project Phase II sponsored by Naval Air Systems
Command (NAVAIR).
A key objective of this initiative is to minimize the
manual labor required to build simulation environments by processing
high-resolution LIDAR data. Using sophisticated automation
and process acceleration that leverages the latest GPU
technologies, the LIDAR Database Generation Process has been
successful in identifying trees, buildings, roads and the terrain
profile within the LIDAR point cloud, and then converting these
features into visual database components.
NAVAIR wanted Quantum3D to create a tool
that would facilitate the incorporation of LIDAR
data into simulation and training systems.
“What they asked us to do is to come up with a
solution that would use LIDAR data for simulation
and training,” said Sandra Vaquerizo, Quantum3D’s
director of business development. “We have
developed methods to pull multiple LIDAR scans
together into 3-D visualizations and to isolate
features such as buildings, trees and changes in
terrain.”
NEW BENEFITS
Quantum3D’s SBIR project is emblematic of the direction
LIDAR developments have been taking of late. Decreases in
costs have made LIDAR data ever easier to collect. The question
is what to do with the data once it has been collected. Using the
LIDAR data in simulation and training systems
is part of the growing trend to find new ways to
benefit from the technology.
“Point clouds are actually nothing but a pile of
x-y-z data,” said Oodi Menaker, marketing product
manager at Israel-based Tiltan Systems Engineering.
“The main challenge is to extract point cloud
data with which you can then work to describe the
ground, buildings, power lines, trees, power poles
and many other geographical features.”
That process could be done and has been
manually, but that process is very labor intensive,
explained Lisa Spencer, a senior research scientist
The power line is a presentation of LIDAR results, automatically processed by Tiltan Systems Engineering.
[Image courtesy of Tiltan Systems Engineering]
Sandra Vaquerizo
Svaquerizo@cq2.com
Lisa Spencer
lspencer@quantum3d.com
at Quantum3D. “The previous methods for building LIDAR
databases included consulting blueprints and photos to measure
the height of buildings in order to visualize them on a graphic
display,” she explained.
“The more modern systems tackle this through automatic
processing,” added Menaker. “We have automated the process
of transferring point clouds to geographical
features.”
The latest improvements in the ability to
depict precise features from LIDAR point-cloud
data involve advances in the software algorithms
used to process this information.
In the case of Quantum3D’s SBIR grant, the
initial object was to provide a mechanism to make
LIDAR data more usable to the simulation and
visualization community, Vaquerizo explained.
“The LIDAR data is converted into the standard
format for visualization called Open Flight,” she
said.
One of the problems associated with LIDAR
data is the way it is collected. “Data is collected over a period of
years, but terrain and cultural objects change,” said Vaquerizo.
“Data is often old and of low resolution. The LIDAR point cloud
data is collected in a more random fashion and doesn’t have a
gridded structure to it.”
One of Quantum3D’s accomplishments has
been to create a tool suite that allows the fusion
of LIDAR data from multiple reads and databases.
“We are able to align the scans in such a way
as to convert the contents of multiple random
point clouds to a representation of buildings and
terrain,” said Vaquerizo. “The output is in Open
Flight, which means that it is with any image generator
you have.”
The first phase of the Quantum3D SBIR
involved developing a product design that was
accepted by the Navy, while the second phase
involved building a working prototype. “We are
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