IGI News

CCNS-5 Firmware Update v1.3.7

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:00:00 +0200

A new CCNS-5 firmware release is available. We are grateful for your feedback as this enables us to bring the CCNS-5 to perfection. The firmware is available for free to all CCNS-5 operators, please update your CCNS-5 today.

New:

Attitude Deviation introduced for AEROcontrol sensors – When using a sensor system (or AEROcontrol standalone) the orientation deviation in role, pitch and track is shown in an info box. Deviation in role and pitch is done against zero degrees. Deviation in track is done related to planned track or true track (user setting). In the sensor properties thresholds can be set. If one of the thresholds is passed the info box is colored red in the background and the sensor info box one is filled with the deviation information. This info can then e.g. be used to detect problems with the mount.
Sensor System added - Generic Camera with AEROcontrol – this sensor system driver is used to command AEROcontrol (GNSS/IMU recording) along with optional mount controlling, combined with a generic camera. A new license is needed to use this system.

Changes:

UltraCam driver – Event numbers above 9999 are supported now.
Zoom detail editor more user friendly – The threshold sliders are illustrated now and show threshold values in cross indicator units / zoom levels.
Only top level projects are parsed from mission card – Do only export mission plannings to the top level of your mission card (sd-card).

Fixes:

UltraCam driver – Syncing UltraCam event numbers and CCNS-5 event numbers sometimes failed. This is fixed now. CCNS-5 overtakes the UC event number at the beginning of each line.
Polygons from planning are shown in map – When checking the export polygons check mark in the CCNS-5 export, the polygons are exported and shown in the map views. Depending on the zoom details, the polygons are shown or hidden.
Track deviation indicator – Depending on planned track (north or south) the track deviation indicator only showed turns to left. This is fixed now.
Data annotation for DigiCAM – When flying over 180W the indication of the position was not mapped to 180E. This is now fixed.

Please login to MyIGI, download the new release to update your CCNS-5.

Download CCNS-5 Firmware & CCNS-5 Configuration Software:
www.igi.eu/ccns-5-support.html

How to update the CCNS-5 firmware:
To update the firmware of your CCNS-5 please download the relevant firmware update file:
CCNS-5_firmware-update_v1.3.7.zip
Please unzip the file resulting in a folder containing the file structure:
firmware-update
->update.img
->update.meta

Copy the folder "firmware-update" with its context to a NTFS formatted SDcard
Insert the SDcard into the running CCNS-5 computer
Select "System-Info"
Select "Firmware-Update"
Press "Update"
Start the update by checking "yes" and confirming the update

The CCNS-5 will reboot and start the update progress.
The update will take about 10 minutes.

If you need any help with registration for MyIGI please contact us or register right now:
www.igi.eu/registration.html

If you have any further feedback, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Holding GPS Position Not a Dead Option

Mon, 06 May 2013 12:00:00 +0200

Dead reckoning has been used by aviators, marine vessels and surveyors as a navigation solution for centuries. This process of estimating a position by advancing a known position using course, speed, time and distance to be traveled can be a valuable tool when GPS is an issue. But, alone it is prone to error. As the saying goes "You're dead, if you don't reckon right."

Enter technology. Terrestrial Mobile LiDAR Scanning (TMLS) where advancements in GPS satellite navigation and inertial navigation systems provide accurate positioning it is still on the basis of the surveyor's dead reckoning. Dead reckoning implies estimation and inaccuracy; however the concept is a sound process when coupled with well control TMLS technology.

Dead reckoning, using the roll, pitch and yaw data from the IMU (inertial measurement unit), aids traditional GPS navigation via intelligent algorithms based on a vehicle's distance and directional changes during GPS signal interruption. When there is no GPS, the system relies on the IMU and DMI (distance measuring instrument) for short periods of time.

TMLS in challenging environments like inside a tunnel or an urban canyon where GPS reception is lost, or even worse--environments where GNSS signals are intermittent like overhead forestry canopies can be very challenging. Some of the issues include:
• Resulting trajectory lines can be compromised adding to the post processing time
• GPS antennas require intervisibility with GPS satellites
• Reflected GPS signals can create multi-path effects

"When you are talking PDOP (Positional Dilution of Precision) the only thing worse than no GPS is `hit and miss' GPS," said Michael Frecks, PLS and President/CEO of Terrametrix. "Of course, PDOP is improving with the introduction of more satellites and through the use of GLONASS but the key to GPS carrythrough, like the old surveyor days of dead reckoning is within the closely coupled GPS and IMU."

Dr. Graham Hunter, President of 3D Laser Mapping and one of the developers of the StreetMapper 360 technology said, "What is interesting about TLMS technology is that accuracy can be higher in tunnels with no GPS than in urban areas with intermittent GNSS."

GNSS multipath can cause large errors that are difficult to solve but significant reduction in accuracy arises when there is no GNSS signal when passing under a bridge or past a tall building. "In 2008, on a project in downtown Los Angeles we had very long periods of intermittent GPS signal and tremendous GNSS multipath due to the urban canyon environment, " explained Frecks. "This led to significant errors in the post processed trajectory line and hence the final scan data accuracy." Direct Inertial Aiding (DIA) technology has been developed by IGI to improve the accuracy in these conditions.

DIA works by configuring the IMU to send real-time positional information to the GNSS receiver. This is dead reckoning in real-time, where the accuracy over a short distance is high but there is a lot of drift in the long term. Without this information, every time the GNSS receiver has a signal interruption, the receiver loses track of its location (as we are in a moving vehicle). When the signals return (for example, after we come out from under a bridge), it takes typically 6 to 10 seconds for the GNSS receiver to calculate its current location. With DIA, the receiver knows its approximate current location and the solution to calculate its current location from GNSS signals is simpler so it takes about 1 second. This means that we gain 5 to 9 seconds of good quality GNSS positional data for every signal outage and this adds up to be a significant improvement for a typical urban survey.

In a tunnel survey, there are no GNSS signals for long periods, up to 15 minutes for example. In this situation, dead reckoning with the IMU data is used for a long period time and there will be significant drift in the data. "The smart stuff is that the characteristics of this drift are well defined and the errors can be modeled. With the right processing workflow and some control points, this can allow highly accurate results", said Dr. Hunter.

Terrametrix uses the precision on board navigation of the StreetMapper technology which includes a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver, a fiber optic gyro-based Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and the latest Direct Inertial Aiding (DIA) to assist in areas of poor or nonexistent GPS reception. StreetMapper 360 and StreetMapper Portable are the only systems on the market to offer highly accurate navigation, in areas of poor or non-existent GNSS.

The StreetMapper technology was used in two areas of concern for the South East Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA): a four tube 8,800' tunnel and a portion of the Airport Line under canopy from I-95 underpasses to the airport rail terminal. The purpose was to supplement areas where the airborne acquisition, performed by Robinson Arial Surveys, Inc, located in Hackettstown, NJ was not able to obtain coverage and to supplement traditional survey which proved too dangerous and timely along the 100 mile corridor route.

KS Engineering out of Philadelphia, PA set control which was established by conventional and GPS survey methods and placed on the state plane coordinate system. Track coordination of limited and restricted access required that scan data had to be acquired during the limited Night Owl schedule (1 am to 5 am) during a maximum of ten days. The use of existing infrastructure to mobilize the StreetMapper system also prevented possible conflict with Philadelphia International Airport. Terrametrix completed the acquisition in four days because of the speed of acquisition. Due to train schedules we were only allowed to track time on one tube of the tunnel per night. The collection took less than one hour per night.

All told the "dead reckoning" solution provided by the DIA IMU and GPS within the StreetMapper's high performance navigation system carried the data through almost 14 minutes in a GPS blackout environment. The final results after adjustment to control were an RMS error of 0.04'

"Having an accurate system like StreetMapper coupled with the surveying knowledge of how to approach the project in a critical environment like tunnels and streetscapes is a powerful combination," said Frecks a land surveyor for 35 years. Frecks is known for pushing the envelope with scanning applications from static to mobile. "You don't know what this technology can do until you push it beyond its limits. The work flow processes created exceptional results on this project."

The StreetMapper processing work flow had been simulated and tested in a real environment for over a year. Completion of 3 miles of tunnel data showed the power of the StreetMapper system.

"The tunnel tests have shown that StreetMapper can achieve better than 35cm positional error in a 2000m tunnel that takes about 2 minutes to drive. For a 500m tunnel, this shows that in these cases a positional error of better than 6 cm can be expected and this is all without control points which will further improve the accuracy" according to Dr. Graham Hunter, one of the developers of the StreetMapper system. For additional information see this paper by Dr. Graham.

The continued work in updated processes of tunnel scanning was seen with the successful completion of the SEPTA project containing 4 tracks and catenary wires. The project was part of a Positive Train Control (PTC) project and included a clash detection requirement as well.

The American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association describes Positive Train Control (PCT) as having four primary characteristics: train separation or collision avoidance, line speed enforcement, temporary speed restrictions, rail worker wayside safety.

Prior to the installation of PTC the Southeastern Pennsylvanian Transportation Authority (SEPTA) required a baseline survey of its commuter rail system to:
• Establish baselines for mainline and regional lines
• Evaluate SEPTA records and establish baseline equalities
• Determine ruling grades, track charts and geometry car data
• Map mile and half mile markers

The benefits of using mobile mapping systems, such as StreetMapper, for transportation projects are numerous. Speed and safety of data acquisition are high on the list as is the sheer volume of data that is captured in a single pass. A highly accurate virtual reconstruction of the environment can be created allowing for documentation of all visible features and elimination of field revisits. Whether by highway or by rail terrestrial mobile LiDAR scanning (TMLS) was the clear cut choice by SEPTA for their limited GPS high traffic areas.

Article was published on LiDAR News by Cyn René Whitfield.

A PDF of this article as it appeared in the magazine - complete with images - is available here.

StreetMapper Helps Improve Highway Safety

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 12:00:00 +0100

Dutch surveying company Geomaat has developed a unique method of measuring safety barrier heights on European roads. Using the mobile laser mapping system StreetMapper and automated feature extraction software, Geomaat can now process laser scanned point cloud to determine the height of the existing barrier. The software then automatically codes the georeferenced 3D model, green for acceptable and red for requiring attention.

Geomaat are also exploring the use of StreetMapper data to identify and record the locations of the miniscule detection wires located along the highway. Used to record traffic volumes, speeds and temperatures, for example, these provide essential intelligence for highways managers. In a similar development Geomaat is using the same point cloud data to calculate clearances and free heights along the highway prior to extensive resurfacing projects.

“The fundamental difference of using StreetMapper versus traditional surveying techniques for highways surveys, is that we can, and do, measure everything; quickly and with minimal disruption to other road users,” commented Jolle Jelle de Vries, Managing Director of Geomaat. “That means that when additional questions arise during the course of the project we already have the answers.”

“In addition to the highly accurate point cloud measurements StreetMapper also allows us to capture 360 degree georeferenced images,” continued de Vries. “These allow us to visualise the DTM, design, barriers etc in the real world context.”

These exciting developments are a result of extensive survey projects in the southern part of the Netherlands. Working on behalf of many of the civil construction companies awarded highways maintenance projects by the Dutch Road Administration Geomaat has surveyed more than 400 kilometres of road. Using StreetMapper Geomaat was able to complete the data capture element of the project within just four days, and within four weeks they had produced a DTM and complete pavement design with milling and asphalt figures. This compares to a project length in excess of 3 months for more traditional data capture and processing methodologies.

StreetMapper has been specifically designed for the rapid 3D mapping of highways, runways, railways, infrastructure and buildings. Using vehicle-mounted lasers offering a 360-degree field of view, StreetMapper enables high precision mapping to a range of 500 metres, a capacity of 1,100,000 measurements per second per sensor and recorded accuracies in independent real world projects of better than 10 millimetres.

Article was published on GISCafé.

IGI Software-Update-Day!

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0100

We are pleased to announce that new versions of our mission planning software IGIplan and our post-processing software AEROoffice/TERRAoffice are available.

IGIplan v1.4.1 & v1.5.0 released

IGIplan v1.4.1 is a backdated version to the 1st February 2011. This release offers many bug fixes and is free for users of IGIplan v1.4.0. Please updrade you version right now!

In addition IGIplan v1.5.0 offers:

Full support for the new CCNS-5 guidance & sensor management system
New Geoid GEOID09 and Geoid SAGEOID10 support
Many smaller new features and bug fixes. Please read the release notes for details.

AEROoffice v5.3d released

This new release offers the automatic recognition of Zero Velocity Updates (ZUPT). This automation will boost your processing time for mobile mapping applications.

In the picture on the lower right you can see the ZUPT recognition where the ground speed is zero. Also for StreetMapper Portable users there are now seven additional mounting angles available.

Additional notable new features and bugfixes are:

Support of our new IMU-m unit
New Geoid GEOID09 and Geoid SAGEOID10 support
Support for the Faro Focus^3D laser scanner
Support for the Specim Aisa hyper spectral scanner
Many smaller new features and bug fixes. Please read the AEROoffice/TERRAoffice release notes for details.

Availability
The software update is free for users with valid support contract. You can easily download it right now from MyIGI within our website.
If you need any help with your upgrade or support contract, please contact us.

Link to IGIplan v1.5.0:
www.igi.eu/igiplan-current-version.html

Link to AEROoffive v5.3d:
www.igi.eu/aerooffice-current-version.html

Link to TERRAoffive v5.3d:
www.igi.eu/terraoffice-current-version.html

Please give me your feedback through our contact form.

Best regards,
Philipp Grimm

StreetMapper Bridges the Highways Survey Gap

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 12:00:00 +0100

Six StreetMapper Systems to Japan

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 14:00:00 +0200

A Successful IGI User Meeting with Intergeo Product News

Thu, 18 Oct 2012 17:00:00 +0200

Taking place one day before Intergeo the IGI User Meeting has been hailed a success, attracting participants from around the globe. Delegates were provided with the perfect opportunity to network with specialist and get a very well start for the following Intergeo in Hannover.

“We have been more than happy with the turnout of the event,” commented Hubert Minten, CEO of IGI. “We offered a perfect mix of news in our technology, especially in front of Intergeo and discussions with our users about certain projects.” One delegate who attended the IGI User Meeting commented, “It was nice to present other suppliers, the whole package in front of Intergeo was perfectly organised and the presentations had great quality”.

During the IGI User Meeting delegates had hands-on presentations about our new mobile mapping system SAM – Static And Mobile, the new Penta DigiCAM housing and a complete overview of the new flight guidance & sensor management system CCNS-5.

Also two major steps in new IMU technology has been announced during Intergeo. The new, export free IGI IMU-IIf and IMU-m.

SAM is the new Static And Mobile LiDAR mapping system developed by IGI. By using up to two Faro Focus^3D high-speed laser scanners combined with a 360° panoramic camera and a precise and affordable GNSS/IMU system, SAM brings wheels to your scanners.

The all new designed Penta DigiCAM housing is now suitable for the GSM-3000, PAV-80 and PAV-30 stabilized mounts. The Penta DigiCAM is based on five DigiCAM modules, four of which are arranged oblique and one nadir. The system is optimal for quick capturing of geo-referenced nadir & oblique imagery within one flight.

Having seen the first results of a gyroplane aerial survey at the IGI User Meeting, the Calidus Aerial Survey gyroplane has been one of the attractions during Intergeo. IGI and AutoGyro are cooperating in equipping a gyroplane with CCNS-5 and different aerial sensors for affordable aerial survey missions. After a couple of complete test flights during this summer a complete turn-key solution is available from now on. Together, IGI and AutoGyro serve and support a superb global network consisting of more than 60 sales & support partners around the world.

AEROoffice & TERRAoffice v5.3c released

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 11:00:00 +0200

IGI, a leading guidance and navigation specialist, has recently announced a new minor release of its leading post-processing software AEROoffice & TERRAoffice - version 5.3c. Besides a couple of new functions as two new geoid models (GEOID09 & SAGEOID10), improvements for Microsoft UltraCam users this version incorporates two new sensor protocols: for the Specim Aisa - Airborne Hyperspectral Scanners and the Faro Focus 3D!
For further details, please have a look at the release notes (AEROoffice/TERRAoffice).

Link to AEROoffice v5.3c:
www.igi.eu/aerooffice-current-version.html

Link to TERRAoffice v5.3c:
www.igi.eu/terraoffice-current-version.html

Please give us your feedback through our contact form.

Rügens Küste wird aus der Luft vermessen

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:00:00 +0200

StreetMapper Aids Abnormal Load Navigation

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:35:00 +0200

Five StreetMapper’s take to the roads in Japan

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:00:00 +0200

StreetMapper Cuts Cost of Highway Surveying Projects by 50 Percent

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 10:00:00 +0100

Picture Perfect!

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 10:00:00 +0100

StreetMapper Laser Surveys Australia’s Coastal Highway

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:00:00 +0100

AEROoffice & TERRAoffice v5.3 released

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 12:00:00 +0200

IGI, a leading guidance and navigation specialist, has recently announced a new major release of its leading post-processing software AEROoffice & TERRAoffice - version 5.3. TERRAoffice is a branch of AEROoffice and corporates special features for StreetMapper & RailMapper users.

There are major improvements within this new version especially for processing data of urban areas. Please have a look at the screenshot below which shows the trajectories from TERRAoffice v5.2 (pink) and TERRAoffice v5.3 (green). Release v5.3 includes an improved handling of zero velocity intervalls and intervalls with poor GNSS conditions.

Also notable new and improved features:

DIA+ for SMU (with GLONASS and GPS)
For newer SMU AEROcontrol units, Direct Inertial Aiding is possible together with GPS and GLONASS.
This feature is available from AEROcontrol firmware 4.1.8... or later.

DMC-II support
Since firmware revision 3.81t the CCNS4 does support the DMC-II (appropriate DCI needed).

Zoom with mouse wheel for plot windows - For easy daily work it is now possible to zoom with the mouse wheel. Standard Wheel - Zoom X-axis; Wheel+SHIFT key - Zoom Y-axis.

Image footprint in local datum - The text file which comes along with the kml file now contains image corner coordinates in the local datum.

New plot feature - A new feature to monitor vibrations of the sensor system with full IMU data rate.

For further details, please have a look at the release notes (AEROoffice/TERRAoffice).

Availability
The software update is free for users with valid support contract. You can easily download it right now from MyIGI within IGI's website.
If you need any help with your upgrade or support contract, please contact IGI.

Link to AEROoffice v5.3:
www.igi.eu/aerooffice-current-version.html

Link to TERRAoffice v5.3:
www.igi.eu/terraoffice-current-version.html

Please give us your feedback through our contact form.

StreetMapper 3D Laser Survey of Japanese Earthquake Damage

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 12:00:00 +0200

StreetMapper Laser Surveying Takes to the Streets of Malaysia

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 10:00:00 +0200

Using StreetMapper to assess Sendai tsunami damage

Wed, 25 May 2011 14:00:00 +0200

Using LiteMapper data to prevent landslides

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 14:00:00 +0200

IGI Software-Update-Day!

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 12:00:00 +0100

we are pleased to announce that new versions of our mission planning software IGIplan and our post-processing software AEROoffice are available.

IGIplan v1.4.0 released
This significant update makes IGIplan more stable, powerful and useful. All new features are illustrated in new video tutorials!

Notable new and improved features:

Live GSD Classification - Colorization of DTM to determine areas where given data resolution is within your set constraints. This feature is supported for Digital Cameras (GSD), Analog Cameras (Scale) and LiDAR (dots/area). It features a snappy live calculation: The classification adapts interactively while you change the parameters of your planning!
Watch the video - www.igi.eu/igiplan.html
Area Propose DTM - Dynamically calculating of base-length and line distance in relation to the DTM in a given target area. This is similar to Block DTM, but respects a target area polygon.
Side Overlap Estimation - Calculation of side overlap, both segment-based and image-based.
(Re-)Sorting of line numbers - Tool allowing sorting line numbers automatically or by selection order.
WMS Support for NASA DTMs - The recently discontinued NASA DTM (SRTM) services are available again, now with a faster tiling algorithm supported by NASA. Added GDEM (Aster) DTM.
Coordinate System Editor - See the parameters of IGI provided coordinate systems and add self-defined systems with the new Coordinate System Editor. Systems edited with this editor can also be used in AEROoffice.
We recommend a Nvidia 3D graphic adapter for best performance

Please read the complete release notes:
www.igi.eu/igiplan-release-notes.html

All new features are explained in detail in our new video tutorials:
www.igi.eu/video-tutorials-since-v14x.html

AEROoffice v5.2a released
Our post-processing software keeps getting better. Download the AEROoffice v5.2a Software Update and get several requested new features.

Notable new features and bugfixes are:

Network Licensing Option
Enhanced Odometer Support
Bugfix launching Leverarm Measurement Tool

For further details, please have a look at the release notes.

Availability
The software update is free for users with valid support contract. You can easily download it right now from MyIGI within our website.
If you need any help with your upgrade or support contract, please contact us.

Link to IGIplan v1.4.0:
www.igi.eu/igiplan-current-version.html

Link to AEROoffive v5.2a:
www.igi.eu/aerooffice-current-version.html

Please give us your feedback through our contact form.