scholarly journals Dense point cloud acquisition with a low-cost Velodyne VLP-16

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Bula ◽  
Marc-Henri Derron ◽  
Grégoire Mariéthoz
Keyword(s):  
Point Cloud ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Abandoned Mines ◽  
Lidar System ◽  
Gnss Positioning ◽  
Dense Point ◽  
Slam Algorithm ◽  
Calibration Step ◽  
Cloud Density

Abstract. This study develops a method to acquire dense point clouds with a low-cost Velodyne VLP-16 lidar system, without using expensive GNSS positioning or IMU. Our setting consists in mounting the lidar on a motor to continuously change the scan direction, which leads to a significant increase in the point cloud density. A post-treatment reconstructs the position of each point accounting for the motor angle at the time of acquisition, and a calibration step accounts for inaccuracies in the hardware assemblage. The system is tested in indoors settings such as buildings and abandoned mines, but is also expected to give good results outdoors. It is also compared with a more expensive system based on IMU registration and a SLAM algorithm. The alignment between acquisitions with those two systems is within a distance of 2 cm.

scholarly journals Effects of LiDAR Point Density on Extraction of Traffic Signs: A Sensitivity Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 2673 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suliman Gargoum ◽  
Karim El-Basyouny
Keyword(s):  
Point Cloud ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Sensitivity Study ◽  
Angle Of Incidence ◽  
Traffic Signs ◽  
Detection Rates ◽  
Point Density ◽  
Dense Point ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Cloud Density

Datasets collected using light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology often consist of dense point clouds. However, the density of the point cloud could vary depending on several different factors including the capabilities of the data collection equipment, the conditions in which data are collected, and other features such as range and angle of incidence. Although variation in point density is expected to influence the quality of the information extracted from LiDAR, the extent to which changes in density could affect the extraction is unknown. Understanding such impacts is essential for agencies looking to adopt LiDAR technology and researchers looking to develop algorithms to extract information from LiDAR. This paper focuses specifically on understanding the impacts of point density on extracting traffic signs from LiDAR datasets. The densities of point clouds are first reduced using stratified random sampling; traffic signs are then extracted from those datasets at different levels of point density. The precision and accuracy of the detection process was assessed at the different levels of point cloud density and on four different highway segments. In general, it was found that for signs with large panels along the approach on which LiDAR data were collected, reducing the point cloud density by up to 70% of the original point cloud had minimal impacts on the sign detection rates. Results of this study provide practical guidance to transportation agencies interested in understanding the tradeoff in price, quality, and coverage, when acquiring LiDAR equipment for the inventory of traffic signs on their transportation networks.

scholarly journals DENOISING OF 3D POINT CLOUDS

2019 ◽  
Vol XLII-2/W17 ◽  
pp. 217-224
Author(s):  
E. Mugner ◽  
N. Seube
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Geometric Approach ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
Random Errors ◽  
Lidar System ◽  
Mobile Mapping ◽  
3D Point Clouds ◽  
Dense Point ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. A method to remove random errors from 3D point clouds is proposed. It is based on the estimation of a local geometric descriptor of each point. For mobile mapping LiDAR and airborne LiDAR, a combined standard mesurement uncertainty of the LiDAR system may supplement a geometric approach. Our method can be applied to any point cloud, acquired by a fixed, a mobile or an airborne LiDAR system. We present the principle of the method and some results from various LiDAR system mounted on UAVs. A comparison of a low-cost LiDAR system and a high-grade LiDAR system is performed on the same area, showing the benefits of applying our denoising algorithm to UAV LiDAR data. We also present the impact of denoising as a pre-processing tool for ground classification applications. Finaly, we also show some application of our denoising algorithm to dense point clouds produced by a photogrammetry software.

scholarly journals Dense point cloud acquisition with a low-cost Velodyne VLP-16

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 385-396
Author(s):  
Jason Bula ◽  
Marc-Henri Derron ◽  
Gregoire Mariethoz
Keyword(s):  
Point Cloud ◽  
Average Distance ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Abandoned Mines ◽  
Absolute Difference ◽  
Rotating Platform ◽  
Terrestrial Lidar ◽  
Cost System ◽  
Dense Point ◽  
Axis Correction

Abstract. This study develops a low-cost terrestrial lidar system (TLS) for dense point cloud acquisition. Our system consists of a VLP-16 lidar scanner produced by Velodyne, which we have placed on a motorized rotating platform. This allows us to continuously change the direction and densify the scan. Axis correction is performed in post-processing to obtain accurate scans. The system has been compared indoors with a high-cost system, showing an average absolute difference of ±2.5 cm. Stability tests demonstrated an average distance of ±2 cm between repeated scans with our system. The system has been tested in abandoned mines with promising results. It has a very low price (approximately USD 4000) and opens the door to measuring risky sectors where instrument loss is high but information valuable.

Registration and Fusion of UAV LiDAR System Sequence Images and Laser Point Clouds

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiayong Yu ◽  
Longchen Ma ◽  
Maoyi Tian, ◽  
Xiushan Lu
Keyword(s):  
Point Cloud ◽  
Image Data ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Optical Image ◽  
Point Cloud Data ◽  
Feature Points ◽  
Lidar System ◽  
Registration Accuracy ◽  
Cloud Data ◽  
Intensity Image

The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-mounted mobile LiDAR system (ULS) is widely used for geomatics owing to its efficient data acquisition and convenient operation. However, due to limited carrying capacity of a UAV, sensors integrated in the ULS should be small and lightweight, which results in decrease in the density of the collected scanning points. This affects registration between image data and point cloud data. To address this issue, the authors propose a method for registering and fusing ULS sequence images and laser point clouds, wherein they convert the problem of registering point cloud data and image data into a problem of matching feature points between the two images. First, a point cloud is selected to produce an intensity image. Subsequently, the corresponding feature points of the intensity image and the optical image are matched, and exterior orientation parameters are solved using a collinear equation based on image position and orientation. Finally, the sequence images are fused with the laser point cloud, based on the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) time index of the optical image, to generate a true color point cloud. The experimental results show the higher registration accuracy and fusion speed of the proposed method, thereby demonstrating its accuracy and effectiveness.

scholarly journals A Novel Vegetation Point Cloud Density Tree-Segmentation Model for Overlapping Crowns Using UAV LiDAR

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1442
Author(s):  
Kaisen Ma ◽  
Yujiu Xiong ◽  
Fugen Jiang ◽  
Song Chen ◽  
Hua Sun
Keyword(s):  
Point Cloud ◽  
Local Maximum ◽  
Window Size ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
High Density ◽  
Watershed Algorithm ◽  
Canopy Area ◽  
Individual Trees ◽  
Optimal Window ◽  
Cloud Density

Detecting and segmenting individual trees in forest ecosystems with high-density and overlapping crowns often results in bias due to the limitations of the commonly used canopy height model (CHM). To address such limitations, this paper proposes a new method to segment individual trees and extract tree structural parameters. The method involves the following key steps: (1) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-scanned, high-density laser point clouds were classified, and a vegetation point cloud density model (VPCDM) was established by analyzing the spatial density distribution of the classified vegetation point cloud in the plane projection; and (2) a local maximum algorithm with an optimal window size was used to detect tree seed points and to extract tree heights, and an improved watershed algorithm was used to extract the tree crowns. The proposed method was tested at three sites with different canopy coverage rates in a pine-dominated forest in northern China. The results showed that (1) the kappa coefficient between the proposed VPCDM and the commonly used CHM was 0.79, indicating that performance of the VPCDM is comparable to that of the CHM; (2) the local maximum algorithm with the optimal window size could be used to segment individual trees and obtain optimal single-tree segmentation accuracy and detection rate results; and (3) compared with the original watershed algorithm, the improved watershed algorithm significantly increased the accuracy of canopy area extraction. In conclusion, the proposed VPCDM may provide an innovative data segmentation model for light detection and ranging (LiDAR)-based high-density point clouds and enhance the accuracy of parameter extraction.

scholarly journals Estimating tree stem diameters and volume from smartphone photogrammetric point clouds

2019 ◽  
Vol 93 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Immacolata Marzulli ◽  
Pasi Raumonen ◽  
Roberto Greco ◽  
Manuela Persia ◽  
Patrizia Tartarino
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Laser Scanner ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Stem Volume ◽  
Forest Plot ◽  
3D Point Clouds ◽  
Dense Point ◽  
Minimum Number ◽  
Scale Point

Abstract Methods for the three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of forest trees have been suggested for data from active and passive sensors. Laser scanner technologies have become popular in the last few years, despite their high costs. Since the improvements in photogrammetric algorithms (e.g. structure from motion—SfM), photographs have become a new low-cost source of 3D point clouds. In this study, we use images captured by a smartphone camera to calculate dense point clouds of a forest plot using SfM. Eighteen point clouds were produced by changing the densification parameters (Image scale, Point density, Minimum number of matches) in order to investigate their influence on the quality of the point clouds produced. In order to estimate diameter at breast height (d.b.h.) and stem volumes, we developed an automatic method that extracts the stems from the point cloud and then models them with cylinders. The results show that Image scale is the most influential parameter in terms of identifying and extracting trees from the point clouds. The best performance with cylinder modelling from point clouds compared to field data had an RMSE of 1.9 cm and 0.094 m3, for d.b.h. and volume, respectively. Thus, for forest management and planning purposes, it is possible to use our photogrammetric and modelling methods to measure d.b.h., stem volume and possibly other forest inventory metrics, rapidly and without felling trees. The proposed methodology significantly reduces working time in the field, using ‘non-professional’ instruments and automating estimates of dendrometric parameters.

scholarly journals AUTOMATED DETECTION AND CLOSING OF HOLES IN AERIAL POINT CLOUDS USING AN UAS

2017 ◽  
Vol XLII-2/W6 ◽  
pp. 101-107
Author(s):  
T. Fiolka ◽  
F. Rouatbi ◽  
D. Bender
Keyword(s):  
Point Cloud ◽  
Ground Plane ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Current Approach ◽  
Automated Detection ◽  
Lidar System ◽  
3D Point Clouds ◽  
Terrain Models ◽  
3D Terrain ◽  
Flight Route

3D terrain models are an important instrument in areas like geology, agriculture and reconnaissance. Using an automated UAS with a line-based LiDAR can create terrain models fast and easily even from large areas. But the resulting point cloud may contain holes and therefore be incomplete. This might happen due to occlusions, a missed flight route due to wind or simply as a result of changes in the ground height which would alter the swath of the LiDAR system. This paper proposes a method to detect holes in 3D point clouds generated during the flight and adjust the course in order to close them. First, a grid-based search for holes in the horizontal ground plane is performed. Then a check for vertical holes mainly created by buildings walls is done. Due to occlusions and steep LiDAR angles, closing the vertical gaps may be difficult or even impossible. Therefore, the current approach deals with holes in the ground plane and only marks the vertical holes in such a way that the operator can decide on further actions regarding them. The aim is to efficiently create point clouds which can be used for the generation of complete 3D terrain models.

scholarly journals GEOREFERENCING AND REPROJECTION ERROR INVESTIGATION ON IMAGE BASED 3D DIGITIZATION AND MAPPING OF HISTORICAL BUILDINGS

2019 ◽  
Vol XLII-2/W11 ◽  
pp. 71-75
Author(s):  
C. Altuntas
Keyword(s):  
Point Cloud ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Cloud Model ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Control Points ◽  
Historical Buildings ◽  
Reprojection Error ◽  
Dense Point ◽  
Point Cloud Model

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Image based dense point cloud creation is easy and low-cost application for three dimensional digitization of small and large scale objects and surfaces. It is especially attractive method for cultural heritage documentation. Reprojection error on conjugate keypoints indicates accuracy of the model and keypoint localisation in this method. In addition, sequential registration of the images from large scale historical buildings creates big cumulative registration error. Thus, accuracy of the model should be increased with the control points or loop close imaging. The registration of point point cloud model into the georeference system is performed using control points. In this study historical Sultan Selim Mosque that was built in sixteen century by Great Architect Sinan was modelled via photogrammetric dense point cloud. The reprojection error and number of keypoints were evaluated for different base/length ratio. In addition, georeferencing accuracy was evaluated with many configuration of control points with loop and without loop closure imaging.</p>

scholarly journals INTEGRATING TERRESTRIAL LIDAR WITH POINT CLOUDS CREATED FROM UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE IMAGERY

2015 ◽  
Vol XL-1/W4 ◽  
pp. 97-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Leslar
Keyword(s):  
Point Cloud ◽  
Inertial Navigation System ◽  
Vertical Wall ◽  
Digital Camera ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Digital Photogrammetry ◽  
Lidar System ◽  
Terrestrial Lidar ◽  
Stereo Imagery ◽  
Aerial Vehicle

Using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for the purposes of conducting high-accuracy aerial surveying has become a hot topic over the last year. One of the most promising means of conducting such a survey involves integrating a high-resolution non-metric digital camera with the UAV and using the principals of digital photogrammetry to produce high-density colorized point clouds. Through the use of stereo imagery, precise and accurate horizontal positioning information can be produced without the need for integration with any type of inertial navigation system (INS). Of course, some form of ground control is needed to achieve this result. Terrestrial LiDAR, either static or mobile, provides the solution. Points extracted from Terrestrial LiDAR can be used as control in the digital photogrammetry solution required by the UAV. In return, the UAV is an affordable solution for filling in the shadows and occlusions typically experienced by Terrestrial LiDAR. In this paper, the accuracies of points derived from a commercially available UAV solution will be examined and compared to the accuracies achievable by a commercially available LIDAR solution. It was found that the LiDAR system produced a point cloud that was twice as accurate as the point cloud produced by the UAV’s photogrammetric solution. Both solutions gave results within a few centimetres of the control field. In addition the about of planar dispersion on the vertical wall surfaces in the UAV point cloud was found to be multiple times greater than that from the horizontal ground based UAV points or the LiDAR data.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document