Nottingham, UK, 20 January 2009 - Canada's highways are set to benefit
from new 3D laser mapping technology following the announcement that
Calgary-based Airborne Imaging has successfully tested a revolutionary
Anglo-German vehicle-mounted mobile laser mapper.
StreetMapper 360, which is being supplied by UK-based 3D Laser Mapping, has been specifically designed for the rapid 3D mapping of highways, infrastructure and buildings using vehicle mounted lasers. Travelling at normal road speeds, StreetMapper 360 offers a 360-degree field of view with high precision mapping to a range of 300 metres.
Airborne Imaging is a multidisciplinary geospatial data provider and has selected StreetMapper 360 to demonstrate the potential for mobile mapping on Canada's highways. As part of an evaluation programme to test new technology for the collection of various road geometry information Airborne Imaging completed a rigorous field trial of the StreetMapper 360 system delivering highly accurate 3D models of the highway and related assets to Alberta's Infrastructure and Transportation (INFTRA) service.
StreetMapper 360 captures every detail along the highway corridor including barriers, gulleys and overhead wires, surveyors can create highly accurate 3D computer models for new scheme planning, maintenance, wide load route assessment and post-incident investigations.
"Using StreetMapper 360 we were able to survey a stretch of Highway 53 to the east of Ponoka in just 15 minutes," commented Marhlen Caverhill, Manager Business Development, of Airborne Imaging. "The resulting data was independently cross checked against various points along the vehicles trajectory and processed to produce more than 5 million georeferenced points. From this point cloud data we can create a number of different products and databases included Digital Terrain Models (DTMs), Highways Surveys, Road Geometry (Horizontal and Vertical) and Asset Management Locations."
Alberta has 30,000 kilometres of Provincial Highway System. To support planning, design and programming of work activities on this system, INFTRA has developed the Transportation Infrastructure Management System (TIMS). To provide data for the various TIMS applications, the Integrated Data Collection Program has been developed to capture IRI, Rut, horizontal and vertical geometry, pavement cross-fall, and digital videologs. This is done on annual basis and has been ongoing for 5 years. The recent evaluation of mobile mapping for this programme may pave the way for the collection of additional data and increased survey cycles.
"The advantages of StreetMapper 360 over traditional surveying techniques are clear; speed, accuracy and safety, and we are confident that StreetMapper 360 has a significant role to play mapping the highways of Canada," concluded Caverhill.
StreetMapper, the result of a joint venture between 3D Laser Mapping, German guidance and navigation specialist IGI mbH and technology company Riegl. The system employs the latest laser scanning technology for improved field performance and accuracy, precision navigation including a solution for reduced GPS coverage in urban areas, combined with a flexible, modular configuration and increased ease of use and deployment.
Mobile Technology Feature - Top 10 Business Apps for Android - Android has become one of the most popular mobile operating systems
in the world due to advanced software, competitive manufacturers, and an
app market that is filled with exciting and useful applications. Read
on for this fine Top 10 List compiled by tech writer, Blake Sanders
The Really Big List of Mapping, Geo location Mobile developer resources, APIs and Tools - The Mobile Ecosystem... no question that mobile is huge and
the opportunity for developers, in particular, geo developers! There's
loads of developer resources on the web so to help the developer,
here's a listing of just some of the fine dev resources, blogs,
toolsets and more to consider when developing or porting your app to a
smartphone or Tablet.
ArcGIS.com Mashup Tutorial with Flickr and Foursquare data-
Here's a simple "how to" tutorial on working with the free ArcGIS.com
to easily import KML or RSS data from Flickr and foursquare into ArcGIS
to create your own custom map mashup. ArcGIS.com has some recent
updates including support for KML, be sure to check it out!
Most Users of Free Photo Apps Say Adding Cool Effects is Most Useful - Adding cool effects
to photos was rated as the most useful thing by more than halfof
consumers surveyed using free online photography services, according to
CatchFree a free
online service that helps people find the best free mobile and web applications
to perform useful tasks.
Amazon Kindle Fire Tablet Up Close - No Replacement for the iPad But Pretty Darned Sweet - As could be
expected, speculation and blogging is rampant with many stories and
pseudo "reviews" coming out, many of them touting the next "iPad
killer".
Mobile Developer Resource - MapQuest & The Mobile Worker - Facility management companies, surveyors, multi-level marketing,
insurance claims, pipeline companies, water utilities; all have field
workers who would benefit from mobile applications. Not only checking in
to work sites, but keeping a record of the work done
Flickr GPS Photo Tag Tip - Here's a tip for Flickr users who want to share their GPS information
with their photos. note, in order to do this you'll need to be
capturing photos using a GPS-enabled or GPS-aware camera (see you're
smartphone hardware settings to ensure that GPS or location sharing is
turned "ON)".
Mobile data usage in Canada to triple between 2010 and 2012 - Some interesting, yet not terribly surprising, numbers on mobile
usage coming out of Canada. According to a report summarized on
Techvibes, mobile usage is soaring, in particular, the smartphone
segment
Social Location Directory
Do you have a location-aware application, social location service or other location-sensitive service that you'd like to share with us? Please browse this growing directory of Social location Services and feel free to leave a link to your favorite service! See the Directory HERE
Suggested Reading
The Underground Guide To The iPhone:
The iPhone is – if I may say so – one of the greatest mobile
revolutions of the past decade. More and more, mobile phones seem to
materialize out of our wildest dreams. Because of the tight integration
of third-party applications, you can do nearly everything with your
device — be it gaming, working, fooling around, and of course phoning.
Good Mobile Messaging: Executives and professional field forces spend an increasing amount of time on the road tending to business.
Mobile Apps - Native or Web?:
You probably have a plan to build a mobile app, but you've struggled
with the basic question - Should I build it using open web standards
such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, or should I build it as a native app
for the devices I want to target?
iBike Coach App- a new “Always On” feature always gathers data
Nike+ GPS App- for sports tracking, recording and sharing
Featured Events
Content & Apps for Automotive Europe 2012 (18-19 April, Germany)
will give you key insights on how in-vehicle connectivity is being
revolutionised as OEMs integrate dynamic content to stay relevant
throughout the vehicle life cycle.
Location Intelligence for Enterprise - Europe 2012, January 16-17, London Hear from Google, Jones Lang LaSalle, Tesco, Willis, Oracle,
ESRI, Microsoft, PBBI and many more as they debate the best strategies
for business models and integration.
Consumer Telematics Show 2012 (Jan 9, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, USA) is the most prestigious and
dynamic consumer telematics focused meeting for the automotive industry.
Held in Las Vegas on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES),
this year's senior-level speakers will include General Motors, Audi,
Toyota, Panasonic, Continental, Hughes Telematics, Gartner, KIA,
Mercedes-Benz and many more
Esri Dev Summit - The
Esri Developer Summit (DevSummit) brings together developers and GIS
professionals from all over the globe. March 26-29, 2012, Palm Springs,
CA
