The Mobile Mapper

LAPD cracking down on UAV's

2012-01-30T12:48:00.003-06:00

Anyone see the UAV at the XGames last week? They featured a Styrofoam glider with a GoCamera HD camera mounted on it. No gimble attachment so the image capture could not be directed, but hey're coming!

Just not to LA for real estate purposes:-)

Interesting article found on DIYDRRONES Where the California Association of Realtors (CAR) has been issued a warning from the LAPD on the use of Drones. Article source is helifreak

While attending a Doctoral piano recital...

2012-01-18T15:15:00.000-06:00

Last night...I came across this article in the Music Hall. You never know where 3D mapping is going to show up. http://www.ntdaily.com/?p=60783

Way sweet landscape books.

2012-01-13T23:27:00.001-06:00

The Great Wall : GUY LARAMEE

The end of LightSquared?

2012-01-13T22:29:00.001-06:00

Federal agency recommends killing LightSquared LTE plans

Balloon mapping?:-)

2012-01-12T16:15:00.001-06:00

How they do it.

2012-01-10T21:35:00.001-06:00

Google Maps: Designing the Modern Atlas - Core77

Check out the first two items.

2012-01-01T19:29:00.001-06:00

Watch "Technology coming up in 2012" on YouTube

Lovee me some aljezera!

Erin Brockovich talks the Ace Man about a new project with Google Maps

2011-12-29T21:19:00.003-06:00

On the 12/20/11 Adam Corolla podcast his guest Erin Brockovich talks about a new project she is kicking off with the folks at Google. Using Google Maps (and Fusion Tables I would assume) they have partnered to created the Peoples Reporting Map. I great idea that allows people with any issue that they believe is is related to an environmental hazard that they had lived in at one time to report this issue based on location.

Brockovich says in the interview that most physicians report the location of an environmental issue based on the location that their patient is currently in.

Of course the problem with this is that as people live they move and only through clustering can the source of illness often be found. If for example a grade school is located next to a toxic and leaking oil field, and all of the children in a given class later develop cancer but they have spread all over the country in that time it is not likely that the source of the cancer will be linked back to that school. Noting that through social media high school friends are finding exactly such links Ms. Brockovich with the Help of Google is has created a tool to help bridge this divide. You can listen to the Podcast in it's entirety here.

If you are not a follower of the Ace Man you should give him a listen...He's Howard: minus the annoying, repetitive, and out of touch part. He Rush: minus the annoying, repetitive, and irrelevant part. He's Bill O'Riley: minus the Bill O'Riley part.

Hook a GeoSpatial Entrepreneur brother up on Kickstarter

2011-12-28T16:30:00.000-06:00

A good friend is looking for funding on Kickstarter. His company GeoPIX Media, Inc. is attempting to bring UAV's and Photogrammetry together to deliver unique high res geo-referenced data to your desktop.

Dell and Nvidia...Why

2011-12-28T13:25:00.001-06:00

Why does my Nvidia graphics card crash my Laptop?...Daily!

No the simple IT answer of "you should I avoid sites like Youtube and the beta version of Google maps using Open GL" is not acceptable. No...things should just work.

Dell I would expect this from. Nvidia, you're better than that. Get it together!

I will give Dell this though. When I log the complaint they will be out to fix or replace the board pronto.

Thanks Employer for being a big Dell customer:-)

VW and Mobile LiDAR

2011-12-28T10:31:00.001-06:00

Sam over at SparPoint published their top ten news items in LiDAR this year. While browsing the site I noticed an article from Tom Greeves mentioning two of my favorite things, VW and Mobile LiDAR. I was hoping to see a new Scirocco rallied out with a pimped Faro built into the rear wing. Not so, but here's a cool article about what VW is doing with Mobile LiDAR. And here's a picture of a Rallied out Scirocco.

We live and work in the world of "now", we live and work in the cloud, we live and work in a world of kml.

2011-12-28T10:04:00.002-06:00

In every photogrammetry department, there is that map on the wall. A color coded plot map of the weeks project divided up by model. Each person working on it either crosses out or colors in each model as they complete them. Project managers would occasionally swing through the department and gauge the status of their project with a quick review of this map I'm pretty sure this method of project management was created by the Corps of Engineers and scribe coated into Mylar as a rule somewhere. Well that worked great when projects were worked on in one location, but it starts to fall apart when multiple office are all working on the same project.

Frankly I'm amazed that this is still the default operating procedure with the technology we have at our disposal. Is it an ease of use issue like the calculator.Everyone originally thought the calculator program on the computer would eliminate the calculator, but in reality most people will still reach for the calculator out of convenience. Using traditional GIS (ESRI) to create and share a map editable by many would seem like the logical conclusion.

I think the IT side of GIS either over analyzes the problem or has too much invested in traditional GIS software (ESRI) to look for a simple solution.

We live and work in the world of "now", we live and work in the cloud, we live and work in a world of kml. I've been working with Google Docs and Fusion Tables looking for that project management tool available to all (or all whom I choose to share with). Fusion Tables was promising in importing kml's, creating and sharing the maps, but no luck in multi-person live editing. More recently I have found success with Google Maps and My Places, importing kml's, permission based access for multi person editing and/or viewing, live updating.

The only drawbacks so far, Google limits view window and therefore breaks the kml up by into pages and exporting the data entered by a team member back into a table is going to be a challenge...and that I fat fingered "level" as "leveo".

Also, you can see I highlighted in red an item "5,307 Views" in the first screen cap...Not sure how that number comes about or whom is looking at it this many times. However, I'm not afraid, the world will not end if Google is looking at things I created with their tools. Grow up people.

Travel trends down says FHWA

2011-12-27T22:58:00.001-06:00

October 2011 Traffic Volume Trends - TVT - Travel Monitoring - Policy Information - FHWA

Hey Google/Android team

2011-12-26T20:20:00.001-06:00

Solve the f*¢king Vimeo problem already. I understand YouTube is your thing and I have my page there as well but, there are plenty of HD videos we would also like to see on Vimeo. How about you just buy Vimeo and move on.

Cycling design news

2011-12-26T20:14:00.001-06:00

Core77 2011 Year in Review: The Cycling Movement Gains Momentum - Core77

Drones in use over the ocean

2011-12-24T23:10:00.001-06:00

Sea Shepherd says drones find, photograph Japan's whaling fleet

Way cool art

2011-12-24T22:55:00.001-06:00

The Amazing Photo Manipulations of Erik Johansson

Comments on the LiDAR for Data Efficiency Report

2011-12-23T09:41:00.004-06:00

Page 40: The uncertainty in thehigh feature extraction cost presented ambiguity in the cost benefit analysis.Realistic feature extraction productivity data is not available. The cost / benefit analysis isbased on estimates given by services providers and DOT users. The feature extractionproductivity fluctuates greatly depending on the software, user skill level, feature requirement,and geographical location.

Nottrue. The uncertainty is more likely because every (survey grade) participant employed in this test with theexception Eagle mapping (Not Mobile LiDAR) EarthMine (Not LiDAR), Mandli (mapping grade) Is either a Manufacturer, or in the business of Fractional Ownership and/or Rental. Not one US based Professional services firm (that owns a surveygrade mobile LiDAR system) participated in this study.

Most likely because they have madethis investment and disagree with the philosophy of bigger government purchasingexpensive equipment with taxpayer money and competing with them. Since no one remembers the Yellow Pages, will call it "The Google test": If it can be found in a Google search, then the government should pursuethese services through contracting, freeing government resources and funds for things that are inherently governmental in nature (Law enforcement, education...).

AntiMap App

2011-12-21T00:03:00.001-06:00

AntiMap | Creative toolset for recording & visualising data

AntiMap is an open source toolset that lets you record movements with your iPhone or Android phone. Originally developed as a way for snowboarders to record their movements and play the data back like a video game, the toolset was generalized for all outdoor activities.

Simply collect data with your mobile, and then use one of the simple visualizations to see your data or do whatever else you want with it. It's your data. You get latitude, longitude, compass direction, speed, distance, and time, along with an optional input field to mark significant spots.

Good article, Employers are you listening?

2011-12-10T16:22:00.001-06:00

You can’t dictate which tools your employees use

5 Things I hate about Andriod (on my XOOM) in no order

2011-12-10T15:39:00.001-06:00

1. No Vimeo support

2. No Drag & Drop of images from Google applications to Google applications (Picassa to Blogger)

3. Screen timeout kills unsaved text (Blogger)

4. Ability to disable Pinch to Zoom globally

5. Volume could go higher, always seems just a bit low.

Why MAPPS cares about QBS explained to me by a friend

2011-12-10T15:19:00.001-06:00

I was discussing MAPPS with a friend and he was explaining the angst some other groups/associations in geospatial my have towards MAPPS. He is often asked by these folks why MAPPS? What are they doing for us other than getting in our way with things like procurement? He (my friend) then bring up Qualifications Based Selection) QBS the legal form of procurement for professional services. Well QBS doesn't really do anything for me they say, To which my friend replies: Look at it this way, how would you personally like to go to a job interview with a group of other folks that are interviewing for the same job. The interview goes well and you are perfectly skilled for the position with plenty of glowing references. Weeks later you find out that the position was given to a person that didn't meet the advertised skills with poor references, but he could do one thing you couldn't do. He could accept the lowest salary offered.

Who benefits from a scenario like this? It's the same when you are selecting a professional services firm. Why would anyone choose lesser qualified candiate to perform such valuable services such as those found in our world of geospatial? Yet it happens more often that not.

Fry's has your UAV at a reduced price.

2011-12-10T13:04:00.001-06:00

$151.99 and a little FAA waiver and you're in business. Then you should probably join MAPPS.

From Google Maps, A Success Story: Pedal to property.

2011-12-06T23:22:00.001-06:00

Pedal to find your dream home with Google Maps

Comments on LiDAR Data Efficiency Notes

2011-12-06T15:47:00.001-06:00

Sowe now know that TopCon (pg 25) and Trimble (pg 28) will rent systems and therates. GeoDigital on the other hand would like to sell you fractional ownership...Which even the report states is not a very feasible scenario.

Are you a manufacturer or service provider?

The road down this path is fraught with manufacturers who though they could act as both a manufacturer and service provider.

Those of you in the profession considering purchasing one of these systems noted above should seriously re-consider given that they will be directly competing with you as well

This is also occurring on the software provider side of the equation.

Samsungs incredible flexible screen technology

2011-12-06T00:14:00.001-06:00

The Future of Mobile According to Samsung? Flexible, Resizable AMOLED Displays [Video]

WSDOT Report on LiDAR Data Efficiency

2011-12-05T10:16:00.001-06:00

Interesting Report from UC Davis for WSDOT on LiDAR Data Efficiency. Costs comparisons are also included for acquisition by a professional service provider, rental by the DOT and purchase by the DOT.

This is a very well written and detailed report, as I read through it I will share my comments as a professional service provider.

Email is right behind snail mail in the death march!

2011-12-04T00:23:00.001-06:00

Many places i've worked including the current place seem to have this love affair with controlling communication to the point of hindering it. The world is moving faster than corporate IT departments can handle them. Why are we still tied to Microsoft and exchange...ugghh! Gmail a cloud based alternative has been around for years and its packed with features that far exceed the boat anchor of exchange. We'll in reality email is dad anyway...it was choked out by spam, overuse and corporate IT depts disrupting access. How many of your teens use txting over email? Or are video chatting or tweeting?

There are many times when I cannot wait for a computer to boot to read an email, or fuss with trying to read one on my smartphone, but I can read and respond to a txt message in almost no time, or better yet talk to someone. Smart phones are still phones aren't they?

Anyway heres a interesting article about a visionary business owner that's ready to purge his business of email. I'm with ya buddy!

Email in the enterprise: entering its twilight at 40?

Improved experience at what cost?

2011-12-03T23:52:00.001-06:00

I don't think that Samsung has Carrier IQ on the Samsung charge...Because my experience never improves with the phone. It just sucks all the time:-)

You have to turn off all the features: Wifi, Network, Bluetooth, Background updates, Background sync, and GPS to get half a days battery out of it. Oh and just leave the GPS off...cause it rarely works.

So at least with Samsung...I get no improved experience from Carrier IQ's snooping and in return they get to know everything I do with my phone.

Hey Carrier IQ which finger am I holding up:-)

Carrier IQ: What it is, what it isn't, and what you need to know

Would Oakley brand thiers as iJackets?

2011-12-03T23:23:00.001-06:00

Megane Smartphone Stand by Nendo

Keyboard for the tablet

2011-12-03T16:57:00.001-06:00

We'll I love my Xoom Android tablet and I find myself reading a lot more than I thought I would. In turn I end up wanting to comment on more things than ever. To do that I need a keyboard because no matter how much you like the working with a tablet evntually you will want a keyboard to speed things up.

I purchased a Logitech tablet keyboard. It's very nice the keys have a good feel and the size is just right. This particular model is bluetooth and powered by 3 AAA batteries. It's case also acts as a stand for your tablet.

Th only thing that I might enjoy better is a case that holds both the tablet and the keyboard. However that would make for a small keyboard. Not sure it's worh the trade...we'll see.

You want what?

2011-12-03T00:35:00.001-06:00

I found an interesting article fom t design blog that talks about the problem of squeezing ideas or creative skills down to alist of deliverables . The Big Think: Breaking The Deliverables Habit

Pretty cool Sketch up plug in.

2011-11-30T23:42:00.001-06:00

SITEOPS: Conceptual design for land development

Finally a mobile optimized layout.

2011-11-30T13:45:00.001-06:00

I've been waiting for the option...but I just can't keep up with all of the changes from "the Google". Finally the blog is optimized for mobile as well. Now if I could just beef up the content!

No Highway Bill This Year

2011-11-30T13:27:00.001-06:00

Mica: Surface bill won’t surface until next year
by Kathryn A. Wolfe, CQ Roll Call Staff
With floor time dwindling before the end of the year, the surface transportation bill will be shelved until next year, John L. Mica said Wednesday.

At a speech at the University of Virginia, Mica, chairman of the House T&I Committee, said the bill will be up in January or the beginning of February. "That gives us plenty of time" before the March 31st deadline, Mica said. "This system works best sort of at the end with a little pressure. You’ve got to have a deadline. It’s like high school students, they put off the paper until the last minute and then they do an all nighter."

Earlier this week, T&I had been tentatively planning to roll out its surface transportation draft on Dec. 5, with a markup to follow soon after that, and then floor time the following week, to comport with House Speaker John A. Boehner's promise to complete the bill by year's end.
But the realities of the calendar became clear almost immediately after those plans were floated, and the House leadership began walking back from earlier guarantees of floor time, which threw those plans into disarray.

Today the House GOP leadership put out the word to members that the surface transportation bill won't be getting floor time until next year, according to lobbyists familiar with the matter. With floor time no longer a sure bet, the committee won't be releasing its draft, or moving to a markup, this year.

Official Google Mobile Blog: Go indoors with Google Maps 6.0 for Android

2011-11-29T14:04:00.000-06:00

Official Google Mobile Blog: Go indoors with Google Maps 6.0 for Android: Google Maps for mobile had its sixth birthday earlier this month and we’re celebrating by releasing the next generation of Google Maps for A...

Cool little android app

2011-11-27T12:26:00.001-06:00

found a neat little android app that creates panoramic images. it allows you to view the panoramic images in compass mode which is really neat.
Taken with Photaf for Android

Ah this is a challenge

2011-11-19T22:47:00.001-06:00

Minimum Reflectivity - Welcome

Woolpert awarded Mobile Lidar project with WisDOT

2011-11-17T12:41:00.001-06:00

Crews are onsite and rapidly collecting data for what's is currently the largest mobile LiDAR project for WisDOT. Details to follow.

MAPPS Fall Policy Conference

2011-11-17T12:20:00.001-06:00

MAPPS Fall Policy http://4sq.com/tUsbpT

Work break

2011-11-09T20:19:00.001-06:00

If you're in Dallas on a Wednesday night, Plucker's is the place to be for trivia night:-). Put down that lidar data and come on out.

Everywhere

2011-10-21T00:35:00.001-05:00

Crazy busy week. ACEC NCDOT for a presentation on I-30 with the man himself.Mr Mark Eder. Then to Indy for a meeting in Terre Haute with Sanjay Patel of VS Engineering. Tomorrow a presentation in Farmers Branch on Asset Inventories with our Mobile System. Oh and next week...Texas GIS Conference!

Transportation Veteran :-)

2011-09-27T11:15:00.004-05:00

Wow words become text quickly! Love it!

LiDAR News post

Eric Andelin with Woolpert at IHEEP

2011-09-15T10:25:00.001-05:00

Eric is Ptesenting on...oh wait that's me. Gotta go!

Mo Harmon with HNTB

2011-09-15T08:38:00.001-05:00

Speaks about HNTB's Tru Viz program.

Dean Wilkerson TxDOT

2011-09-14T10:40:00.001-05:00

Dean presents asset management with TxDOT. Dubbed OneDOT the project was created to pull multiple groups within different TxDOT departments together and consolidate information. Sound like GIS?

Atlis Geo & AECOM Photogrammetry

2011-09-13T13:24:00.001-05:00

Atlis Geo talks about aerial photogrammetry as a viable option for transportation. They are using a 90 mega pix Dimac camera now an optech product. AECOM talks about pro(oh)jects in Northern Canada using photogrammetry.

How cool is LiDAR:-)

2011-09-13T09:15:00.001-05:00

@ 50% of the presentations at IHEEP this year are about LiDAR; Aerial, Mobile, Terrestrial. How to ingest, extract, and store point cloud data.

Way cool stuff!

Off to the great Northwest for IHEEP

2011-09-12T05:40:00.001-05:00

Anyone going to IHEEP this week stop by and see my presentation on our I-30 LiDAR project also featured in this months POB.

Spar Point Group - Head in the Point Clouds - Great press for mobile scanning in West Virginia

2011-09-04T10:10:00.000-05:00

Spar Point Group - Head in the Point Clouds - Great press for mobile scanning in West Virginia

I wanted to re-publish this article as it shows visionary promise within our municipalities. This rich dataset being provided by Michael Baker (I would assume at this point alreadsy provide) will be the basis for many future projects. Projects like these are where Mobile LiDAR shines, whatever the purpose for the original acquisition (signs, reflecticity, utilities, pavement...) many additional items can be "culled" from the cloud as needs arise. In most cases without the additional cost of another mobilization.

2011-08-24T15:43:00.003-05:00

Woolpert Upgrades to the Optech Lynx M1 Mobile Mapper.

Full Story

2011-08-24T14:04:00.001-05:00

Just In: Helicopter LiDAR Dataset

A sample of some helicopter data for a TxDOT project FM 664. My good friend Bobby Tuck of Tuck Mapping Solutions teamed with us to acquire this LiDAR data. In addition ortho imagery was captured and these data sets will be used to extract features.

Bobby Tuck recently participated in a test I set up for TxDOT to showcase and compare the capabilities of Static, Mobile and Helicopter based LiDAR systems. Other participants included: Surveying and mapping, REY Engineers, and Aerial Data Service. The test case I-30, (right in front of our Dallas office) was then presented along with results to the TxDOT Surveyors Conference earlier this year and was very well received. Our FM 664 project is one of the many that have surfaced as a result of our Woolperts efforts to satisfy the needs of our client TxDOT with innovative solutions. For more information contact me:-)

2011-08-23T17:26:00.000-05:00

$5000 for an entire city. Wow!

This article is just scary.

IMHO classic case over overselling capabilities and underestimating feature extraction costs.

2011-08-16T14:08:00.004-05:00

LiDAR World Conspiracy.

Watching the latest video from Sam Pfeifle from SPAR I couldn't shake the feeling that Sam has a Doppelganger running about. It took me a while to figure it out, but i finally did! Sam Pfeifle is Dan Le Sac! or is Dan Le Sac really Sam Pfeifle? See for yourself:-)

Video Link

While Sam's videos may be more informative, he could drop some beats like Dan Le Sac to spice them up a bit!

2011-08-10T13:18:00.000-05:00

Woolpert First to Base Digital Sensors in Texas Woolpert announced today it has stationed one of its Cessna 404 Titan aircraft at the Mesquite Metro Airport in Mesquite, Texas.

The aircraft is equipped with a state-of-the-art Leica LiDAR system and a large-format digital camera and is the first to be based in Texas.

“With the opening of our Dallas office earlier this year, we quickly realized the opportunity and need for large-format digital acquisition capabilities in Texas,” said Jeff Lovin, Woolpert senior vice president and director of geospatial services. “Therefore, we felt it imperative to base an aircraft in the state to meet our clients’ needs. We are proud to be the first to do so in the Lone Star State.”Woolpert established its Dallas operation through an acquisition earlier this year to support the Texas market and strengthen its western presence.About WoolpertWoolpert, ranked by Engineering News-Record as a top national design firm, provides professional design, geospatial and infrastructure services to clients in the public and private sectors. Founded in 1911, Woolpert’s innovative design approach and commitment to the creative application of technology have grown the firm into a leader in the consulting industry. With more than 650 professionals in 22 offices located throughout the U.S., Woolpert’s collaborative and multidisciplinary approach is driven by great people, great clients and great projects. For more information on Woolpert, visit Woolpert’s website. To see how Woolpert has contributed to the advancement of the industry as the firm celebrates 100 years in business, visit the 100-year site. For insight on industry trends and emerging topics, visit our Thought Leaders blog.

2011-08-09T14:54:00.001-05:00

Light Squared vs GPS in Five Minutes. Thanks Sam of Spar Point!

2011-08-09T10:03:00.000-05:00

Woolpert's Mobile LiDAR Vehicle at Arlington airport for a photo shoot and some scanning. Keeping runway downtime to a minimum is every airport operators preference and Mobile LiDAR is an exceptional tool for airport survey work due to it's ability to complete a full runway scan in minutes. On this project existing lighting and directional markers were inventoried along with establishing an accurate model of the runway surface.

2011-08-07T22:59:00.001-05:00

Brian Bailey formerly of Optech shows off his new ride. MoLi short for Mobile LiDAR is SSi's New Reigl LiDAR vehicle and it's rocking the Utah Mountains.

If you ever need a Mobile LiDAR project completed here in the US...Call Woolpert first:-) Just Kidding SSi is an experienced surveying and LiDAR firm based out of Michigan but working worldwide. Give Brian Bailey a call.

MAPPS Summer Conference begins

2011-06-27T08:08:00.000-05:00

Very nice day in Lake George NY. Great to see all my peers and discuss events, activities and the current state of affairs within the Geospatial profession!

More to follow during the week:-)

MAPPS Summer Program

2011-06-01T15:44:00.000-05:00

Apple on Southpark. This Location Gate stuff is getting funny.

2011-04-28T10:53:00.002-05:00

HUMANCENTiPAD
Tags: SOUTH
PARK Kyle Broflovski,Eric Cartman,more...

ASPRS at the Harley Museum

2011-04-26T14:23:00.001-05:00

Who is in. I got's my leather vest and am having more patches sewn on this week!

Geospatial Professionals all!

Wow...I really gotta keep this thing up to date

2011-04-26T14:17:00.000-05:00

Greetings all,

Recently the Dallas office of Bohannan-Hustom was acquired by Woolpert. My role remains the same as General Manager of the Dallas office. Our staff has transitioned well and we are all excited about the opportunity we have as part of the Woolpert team.

Google is ready to go to the next level!

2011-04-26T14:03:00.002-05:00

Long time gone. Update on my activities over last summer.

2011-01-17T15:23:00.000-06:00

Thought I'd add a couple of pics to the Riegl MMS on it's maiden voyage in Dallas. We were fortunate to work with R.E.Y. Engineers on project in Fort Worth, TX. They had just taken shipment of the system and I believe this was one of the first jobs completed with the Riegl VMX 250 in the U.S. The man behind the purchase of this system for R.E.Y. is Jim Brainard. Jim and I served in the ARMY as Topographic Surveyors some 20+ years ago. Crazy how our path cross again some 20 years later.

The MMS System ran well (with a few out of the box hiccups) and produced very nice data. Thanks to the guys over at R.E.Y. Engineers and the folks at Riegl for working with us on a successful project.

MAPPS Blog: Call to Action: "Privacy" Regulations Threaten Geospatial Profession

2010-12-30T15:43:00.000-06:00

MAPPS Blog: Call to Action: "Privacy" Regulations Threaten Geospatial Profession

Trimble MMS at ESRI UC

2010-07-14T10:11:00.000-05:00

New role for me.

2010-06-10T09:11:00.000-05:00

Greetings all,

Thought I'd update my followers while manning a base station on a mobile collect.
As you may know I have accepted a position with Bohannan Huston as the operations manager of the Dallas office. I left ADS on good terms and have every intention of working with ADS on acquisition and sub contracting opportunities. At Bohannan Huston I will continue to work with Mobile and terrestrial LiDAR data. And on this blog i will keep you up to date on these activities.

Did I mention I was in Hawaii for this latest project?

back from thge dark side of the moon.

2010-06-09T10:55:00.000-05:00

greetings all, ive been without iphone forr a month. on dorid now, but going back to iphone this week. nothing wrong with google os, everything wrong with motorola smart phone. i will be more active on this site next week. lots of cool stuff coming up.

ADS Lynx up and running in Hawaii

2010-03-07T23:15:00.000-06:00

Not often do you get asked to mobilize to Hawaii. So when you do...make the most of it. ADS mobilized our LYNX Mobile Mapper to Oahu last week. We spent the weekend targeting the route, and installing and testing the system. The rest of this week we scan. Good thing we work at night, Hawaii has some congested roads.

More projects completed in Jan

2010-01-30T16:42:00.000-06:00

The LYNX mobile mapper is rock'n in the utilities sector for Jan 2010.
Stay tuned for another project flyer featuring these projects.

TXDOT Transportation Forum was All About the Future!

2010-01-11T13:17:00.000-06:00

Well, we definitely heard a lot about the future of motoring. We did not hear much about TXDOT's plans for spending and how it relates to all of us contractors.

We did hear that TXDOT has finally started a Rail Transportation Department, and that light rail, high speed rail and the like are going to be getting more attention in the coming years.

Last year it was gloom and doom. This year "the Future". Something in the middle is still missing, but hopefully we will all be busy filling it in this year.

Texas Transportation Forum 2010

2010-01-07T08:41:00.000-06:00

Looking forward to seeing what TXDOT has in store for us this year!

Adolf Hitler Furious at ESRI Software

2009-12-30T12:53:00.001-06:00

Too Funny

Earthmine and Aerometric enter into agreement

2009-12-30T09:43:00.000-06:00

Here's a new press release I found earlier this week. While the earthmine system is not currently a high accuracy system (it may be in the works, with Aerometric's involvement) It does rapidly collect data using a proprietary technology developed if I remember correctly by JPL. Where it fits into mobile mapping at this point is similar to Google street view, with the added benefit of geospatial awareness. Users can make point to point measurements, determine distances on top the images. In addition with a spatial DB running they can locate buildings, businesses, pick up addresses or phone #'s and such. Very cool stuff.

Release:

BERKELEY, CA and SHEBOYGAN, WI – December 8, 2009 – earthmine incorporated and Aero-Metric, Inc. today announced a strategic alliance designed to bring terrestrial and aerial remote sensing products to the professional mapping market in the United States. Aero-Metric, a leading U.S. aerial mapping company with offices in 12 states, has become an earthmine Project Partner, offering the value-added resale of earthmine’s street-level 3D data, software and services. earthmine and Aero-Metric’s collaboration will provide customers throughout the Unites States tightly integrated aerial and street-level data sets for a wide variety of asset inventory and conditional assessment applications, as well as advanced 2D and 3D geospatial products and solutions.

Read the full story

GEOCUE Acquires QCOHERENT Software, LLC.

2009-12-14T15:05:00.000-06:00

For Immediate Release
Contact: Ashley Love
Phone: 256-461-8289 l E-mail: alove@geocue.com
GEOCUE CORPORATION ACQUIRES QCOHERENT SOFTWARE, LLC
Huntsville, AL - GeoCue Corporation of Huntsville, Alabama announced today that it has acquired QCoherent™ Software, LLC of Colorado Springs, Colorado for cash and other considerations. The transaction closed on 10 December 2009.

GeoCue Corporation develops the GeoCue® line of geospatial integration software and provides integration services centered on its product offering. In addition, GeoCue has a LIDAR vertical business unit that provides end-to-end laser scanning production software integration and technical support.

GeoCue is also the North American Sales and Support center for Terrasolid OY of Finland. Terrasolid is the world’s leading supplier of production LIDAR software tools.

QCoherent Software, LLC (www.qcoherent.com) produces LP360, the world’s leading LIDAR analysis tools for the ESRI® ArcGIS® environment. In addition to these end-user LIDAR tools, QCoherent also produces LIDAR Server, the first web server aimed specifically at LIDAR dataset visualization, Quality Control and LIDAR data delivery.

QCoherent will be maintained as a wholly owned subsidiary of GeoCue Corporation and will continue its focus on the ArcGIS community, LIDAR QC tools and LIDAR web server technology.

GeoCue Corporation (www.geocue.com) is a software development and consulting services company specializing in geospatial production management solutions and creating tools for improving geospatially organized processes.

ESRI and ArcGIS are registered trademarks of Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.

On the Right Track - Cover Story - Point of Beginning

2009-12-01T19:30:00.000-06:00

On the Right Track - Cover Story - Point of Beginning

Editor’s Points: The next peak. - Columns from our latest issue - Point of Beginning

2009-12-01T19:25:00.000-06:00

Editor’s Points: The next peak. - Columns from our latest issue - Point of Beginning

Local Municipality gets it.

2009-11-11T19:40:00.000-06:00

Great meeting with another local municipality this week. Can't get into details yet cause we do have competition these days. Regardless, more an more folks are realizing the value of mobile LiDAR data...and that's good for all of us!

Tulsa's very own Drillerman

2009-10-30T16:29:00.002-05:00

During our city wide collect we caught a giant.

Motorcyclist caught in scan

2009-10-29T13:53:00.002-05:00

While scanning a project in Kansas earlier we passed guy on a motorcycle. When tweaking the point cloud data we came up with this pic. Pretty cool!

This was one of my favorite twisty roads in JoCo to ride when i lived there. Now here I am participating in it's destruction...progress is going to make it a nice easy graded straight road so that soccer moms and football dads can cart their kinds safely while sipping a Starbucks Coffee and texting on their iPhones.

Mobile Mapping Panel at the MAPPS Winter Meeting

2009-10-23T14:50:00.003-05:00

MAPPS has announced it's preliminary program for this winters meeting in Hawaii, and mobile mapping is one of the hot topics. We will have representatives from the three manufacturers (Optech, TerraPoint, and Riegl), from the owners (David Evans Associates, Michael Baker, and SAM), and end users (HNTB, BHI, and AutoDesk). The format will be a panel discussion moderated by Myself and Lewis Graham of GeoCue.

More info can be found here.

http://www.mapps.org/events/MAPPS_2010Winter_SessionsSynopsis_101909.pdf

If you are interested in finding out more about MAPPS, go here.

http://www.mapps.org/about/index.cfm

If you are interested in joining the MAPPS organization and reaping the benefits of membership go here.

http://www.mapps.org/join/index.cfm

Welcome to more new LYNX owners

2009-10-23T14:46:00.002-05:00

If I had not mentioned it yet, welcome to McKim & Creed out of Florida the fourth LYNX V200 owners to join the revolution.

And even more recently a big welcome to Sanborn out of Colorado as the fifth LYNX V200 owner.

Rumor has it there's a sixth as well, but they have not announced just yet.

ADS LYNX update

2009-10-18T11:55:00.005-05:00

Been offline for a while. So I thought i'd update everyone. The LYNX has been busy scanning in OK and TX lately. Currently we are in the process of collecting the majority of the streets in the Tulsa area. This is an exciting project...having seen the accuracies we've been able to achieve and the interest we've been getting from our local engineering firms.

This image is from a collect in Indiana. the bridge is going to be demo'd and replaced.

Entering New Markets an article from Lewis Graham with GeoCue

2009-10-09T17:54:00.001-05:00

Entering New Markets

For this article, I am stealing directly from a recent article by Guido Jouret, Chief Technology Officer of Cisco Systems. In this article, Mr. Jouret discussed the criteria for evaluating entries from contestants in the Cisco I-Prize competition. This competition invited anyone to submit ideas for new markets suitable for entry by Cisco. I was struck by the simplicity and applicability to any business of the primary judging criteria:

1. Does it address a real pain point?

2. Will it appeal to a big enough market?

3. Is the timing right?

4. If we pursue the idea, will we be good at it?

5. Can we exploit the opportunity for the long term or would this market commoditize so quickly that we wouldn’t be able to stay profitable?

I would add a sixth rule: “Is it in alignment with our strategic plan and, if not, can our plan be reasonably expanded to include this new business?”

I would strongly advise than any new business endeavor or serious expansion of an existing operation be subjected to similar criteria. The last (my added rule) should be considered first. Far too often I see companies who react to market opportunities without giving adequate consideration to the impact on the current plan. The result is often a dilution of resources that had initially been dedicated to a well conceived forward march. Of course, as I have often pointed out in the past, strategic plans are not cast in stone; they must accommodate changing market conditions and sometimes even be totally revamped.

We could look at Mobile Mapping in terms of these criteria. The question of strategy can only be answered by the company contemplating entering this market. You must ensure that entering the business will be reasonably rational within a modified strategic plan. If you cannot make this work, full stop!

Mobile Mapping definitely addresses several pain points when applied to the appropriate market. For example, it clearly solves the low data resolution and overhead obstruction problems of performing highway and rail surveys from airborne platforms. The appeal and market size questions are often very tough to answer. Most folks entering a new market attempt to address these via “market surveys.” Unfortunately, this often requires more knowledge by your would-be customers than is frequently available (who knew they needed an iPhone?). In these circumstances it might be better to do a replacement cost analysis—are data obtained from mobile mappers less expensive than current sources or do they provide measurable better products than existing methods?

The fourth point is critically important. It is easy to say “we can do anything we set our minds on” but the real point here is can you do it better than your competitors both from the execution and profitability points of view?

The final point is the bane of our industry. We tend to race to the bottom on pricing before we even figure out how to do the job! There is no doubt in my mind that certain aspects of mobile mapping will rapidly become commoditized. Thus the question here is do you offer a product (easily commoditized) or a service (a bit more difficult to commoditize)?

Mobile mapping is just a useful example, The checklist criteria can be very helpful when considering any new endeavor.

Best Regards,

Lewis

Another collection video

2009-10-06T15:54:00.001-05:00

New ADS LYNX Mobile Mapper video

2009-09-29T18:35:00.003-05:00

AREMA

2009-09-22T08:57:00.002-05:00

At the AREMA Conference in Chicago.

All the LYNX owners are here: SAM, McKim & Creed and ADS. Michael Baker could not make it, but I hear they just completed a rail collect making them the second company to prove mobile LiDAR for rail projects.

Everyone at the conference is excited about the mobile data being shown in Optech's booth. SAM has done a great job putting together an animation from the point cloud data we collected at the port of Muskogee, last year.

SAM has their system here and are giving demo's outside of the hotel. It's a very nice setup. I hear they have a Hy-Rail ready to go as well. I should go upstairs and see if the system is installed on the Hy-Rail.

McKim & Creed are taking delivery of theirs in a week or so I think.

Powerlines collected at intersection

2009-09-08T10:57:00.003-05:00

Here's an example of some powerlines collected recently during a city wide intersection project.

Tulsa SAME Conference

2009-09-02T09:09:00.002-05:00

Anyone in the Tulsa area, join us at the Tulsa SAME conference. The Mobile Mapper will be there. Come out and ask for a tour.

Ever wonder how to calibrate mobile LiDAR

2009-08-30T21:12:00.003-05:00

Here's a link to a one of the videos from TerraSolid.

It shows one way to calibrate mobile LiDAR.

http://www.terrasolid.fi/en/animations#page:3

Rail tunnel collect press release

2009-08-21T10:54:00.003-05:00

We've added some images from the Rail Tunnel Collect and a Press Release on our website.

In addition a portion of the data is being made available for download ( with terms and conditions of course). Check it out!

https://sites.google.com/a/aerialdata.com/lynx/

or get our press release(s) in PDF format here.

https://sites.google.com/a/aerialdata.com/lynx/Home/press-release

Everytrail App

2009-08-16T09:36:00.004-05:00

I forgot this one, but it's one of my favorites and very useful for site visits and planning.

Everytrail. I originally installed it to track my training rides, but then started using it on trips and for site visits.

iPhone Apps

2009-08-16T08:51:00.004-05:00

It's amazing the Apps that are out there for us iPhone owners. Do you remember wanting a car with GPS NAV. Do you have that car with the NAV system that runs on DVD's. Look at the new App from Navigon AG, it provides turn by turn directions and everything else from your phone. Sure it's $69.95 or something, but ask anyone who owns an iPhone if they still use the SAT NAV system in their car. Don't get me wrong there is a free NAV tool with the iPhone, Google Maps. As a road warrior I can tell you when I roll into town and need a Starbucks or Chipotle or am looking for the nearest velodrome I turn to my Google Maps App to find one.

Funny note on the gen gap. My wife asked my daughter to look someone up the other day.

Daughter: Where do you want me to look.

Wife: White pages.

Daughter: What's that?

Remember wanting SAT radio in your car and paying that hefty subscription fee? Sat radio was supposed to be commercial free. Yesterday I counted 10 minutes of commercials between Opie & Anthony and Ron & Fez . Sorry guys, not worth it. I've switched to Pandora and will be cancelling my SAT radio service.

I think they really should just make a docking area on the dash these days to put your iPhone in. I'm sure some kid out there is writing an App to feul your car.

Now if they could just make an App where you could talk into the iPhone rather than type in text all the time...wait a minute.

DOP Definition and planning tools

2009-08-16T08:22:00.004-05:00

I'll defer to wiki for a more precise definition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilution_of_precision_(GPS)

Here's a link to a great planning tool. For those of us that don't already have mission planning software on our laptops.

http://www.trimble.com/planningsoftware.shtml

Weekend and Work

2009-08-15T17:56:00.004-05:00

Always with the work. On Thursday of Last week we scanned both DFW and LUV fields terminals. PDOP was excellent during the Love Field collect which is the one we were really after. We were picking up 12 or more satellites for most of the run. Why is that important? Because every time you lose lock on the satellites due to obstructions, overhead signs and what not, especially in a mobile application, Good PDOP will help you re-acquire rapidly. When you're mobile this is very important. While we have a back up with the DMI and the IMU will carry the point cloud for some time, nothing beats good PDOP to keep the data tight.

Our Love Field collect was between 2:00 and 3:00pm. DFW was between 3:30 and 5:00 and as you can see from the graph PDOP blew out around 4:00, and in that jungle of a terminal area we are not expecting spectacular results.

What makes the Love collect really cool is that we are mapping this area photogrammetrically for one of our clients. We should have a good comparison between the mobile collact and conventional mapping. For our client they get the added bonus of visualization and an immersve view of the project.

More later.

MAPPS considering a session on social networking

2009-08-12T11:07:00.004-05:00

Just an FYI to all of you that might be making the trip to Hawaii in Jan for the MAPPS meeting. We are working on a session about the use of social networks: What they are (you already know if you're reading this), what's popular, what they can be used for, etiquette, pros and cons, etc...

What a world we live in. When my dad passed away 24 years ago, we had just built our own apple computer, yes you could build knock off's back then. There was no DOS, or hard drives or word processing suites. 15 years ago when we had our first child, I carried a cell phone that I could not put in my pocket (I think Sprint still sells them). 10 years ago there was no Google Earth. 3 years ago there was no iPhone, or apps to go with it. Those of you who still don't have an iPhone will eventually have to drink the kool aid.

Has myspace come and gone? How long will facebook and twitter reign?

4cm RMS accuracy through a tunnel

2009-08-11T17:34:00.008-05:00

ADS prides itself on being ahead of the technology curve and first in proving new technologies. As a result of our relationship with Optech (the leader in LiDAR technology), ADS was first to receive and collect data with the LYNX V200 Mobile LiDAR system.

Recently we were given the opportunity to collect data on a stretch of rail that included a 1700' long tunnel with a 25' drop in elevation. A base station was set up and 7 targets were set to control the project, one target on each end and 5 down the center of the tunnel. LiDAR data was collected under optimal PDOP conditions and control was surveyed in a few days later. No DMI was used and GPS was only available outside the tunnel. The IMU held the sensor strips togther. Data was then processed and constraind the ground. The result: 4cm RMS absolute accuracy. Read more on our website: aerialdata.com/lynx/

Transmission Lines

2009-08-11T09:55:00.003-05:00

Why are people still amazed when we change views in the point cloud? Just because it's scanned from the ground does not mean you can't rotate in space. Here is an example, the same transmission structure from multiple views. Note the detail and # of laser points on the wire.

Transmission Lines

2009-08-11T09:14:00.005-05:00

Recently we had the opportunity to collect some transmission lines with the ADS LYNX mobile mapper. Here is a pic of the vehicle on site and another of the data.