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NaGeM* Research
*NaGeM: Navigation Geo-referencing Mapping
(NaGeM)
Plan:
• Founding technologies for evolving Geomatics in the areas of: – Navigation – Geo-referencing – Mapping
• Developing applications for managing resources and other uses, through contributing to the development of: – State-of-the-art systems – Methodologies – Efficient and accurate theoretical and informatics tools
Objective:
• Further the science, theory, and technologies of Geomatics and its application to resources management through innovative approaches by augmenting and furthering the advances in NaGeM science and technology
Focus:
• Open new frontiers in the areas of NaGeM for Geomatics through the implementation of the following directions:
– Develop new NaGeM systems and technologies – Create innovative tools to bridge the disconnect between theory and application – Develop new methodologies to better handle complex problems – Develop innovative solutions to resource management (and other) problems Linkage:
•
• NaGeM complements current UF Geomatics research and further position UF as Geomatics world leader PROJECTS
I.
Development of Compact Integrated Mapping System – CIMS
Objective
Develop affordable easy-deployable integrated mapping data acquisition system
Usage
- research-level mapping data acquisition unit - advance the integrated mapping technology through development of algorithms and methodologies - advance the navigation methodology of direct geo-referencing - advance the methodologies of navigation data integration - advance the methodologies of mapping data integration
Applications
- Fill-in-the-gap mapping - Emergency response - Environmental monitoring - Natural hazards management - Facility management - Corridor mapping - Civil aviation - Telecommunication
What CIMS is
not?
CIMS is not a full-scale photogrammetric system
for large-scale mapping projects, e.g. city mapping.
Rationale
Integrated mapping units are capable of providing three-dimensional spatial information directly from one source. The navigation sensor, e.g. GPS receiver, locates the system in 3D space. The orientation sensor, e.g. Inertial Measurement Unit, points the system in the right direction in space. The imaging sensor, e.g. a CCD camera, provides planimetric, texture, and other information of targets of interest. Whereas the ranging sensor, e.g. LiDAR, fixes the integrated system scale and provides the third dimension information, i.e. height or depth. CIMS can be thought of as a versatile mapping total station.
Research Philosophy - partner with the surveying and mapping and resource management and operation industry stakeholders - use existing technologies/methodologies as they are available – think as system/technology integrator (or think as an inteGrATOR!) - develop resource management application-oriented methodologies/technologies to improve/perfect system integration - solve basic research problems in the context of the integrated system - develop the tools others can use; document the development as much as possible - research-level development with an eye on synergistic relationship with the business for commercialization when ready for the benefit of the surveying and mapping and resource management and operation industry - use non-proprietary formats as much as possible; be reachable by others
Research Challenges
- access to sensors - sensor integration at the hardware and software levels - algorithm development - proof of concept / field testing
Sample Research
Topics
- Development of Compact Integrated Mapping System for Natural Resource Management Applications (NRM) - Calibration Methodologies for Integrated Mapping Systems (IMS) - Optimization of Direct Geo-referencing techniques for IMS - Optimizing IMS Data Fusion for Forestry Applications - etc.
Resources
The development of a CIMS system requires multi-disciplinary collaborative effort. Integration of components at the hardware and software levels requires electrical engineering and computer science and programming expertise. Development of methodologies and algorithms requires Geomatics and domain expert knowledge. Integrated Mapping technologies involve hardware and software components, see examples below:
Hardware
- position and navigation measurement unit, e.g. programmable GPS board or receiver (two with accessories) - orientation (attitude) measurement unit, e.g. tactical-grade inertial measuring unit - planimetric and texture imaging sensor, e.g. affordable non-metric digital camera - elevation determination sensor, e.g. affordable LiDAR unit - other application-oriented sensors, e.g. thermal camera - communication, power, and control unit, e.g. portable or notebook computer - testing field and/or lab facility
Software - integrated development environment, e.g. Matlab and/or C++ - GPS data dissemination - inertial data dissemination - GPS/Inertial navigation - image data processing - image geo-referencing - image rectification and mosaicing - LiDAR data dissemination - LiDAR geo-referencing - Digital Elevation Model generation - flight planning and management - sensor data processing - sensor calibration - system calibration and alignment - data visualization
Existing Resources
- vendor-specific data dissemination utilities, e.g. GPS and/or inertial and LiDAR - image rectification and mosaicing, DEM generation packages, e.g. pci Geomatica, Erdas Imagine, TerraScan - etc.
Must-have/develop
Resources
- sensor use agreement - sensor calibration schema - system calibration and alignment - etc.
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