SBIR-STTR Award

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will examine the feasibility of developing an innovative motion video-based Photogrammetry Data Acquisition and Processing System for special areas of highway design and maintenance. To design and maintain transportation systems, three-dimensional data on specific areas are collected usually by means of aerial photography, manual surveys, and labor intensive data processing. The current aerial photography methods cannot effectively collect data on areas that may not be seen readily from an aerial position. These areas include bridges, rock face slopes, river banks, and tunnels. The goal of this project is to develop a portable, easy-to-use, motion video based system that uses close-range terrestrial photogrammetry techniques to accurately model areas not covered by aerial methods. In addition to a motion video camera, the hardware of the data acquisition system will consist of a Global Positioning System (GPS), encoders, and a laptop computer. A novel feature of the method is that the system will be tailored to the accuracy desired for different applications through the use of a mathematical model. The main research objectives focus on developing methods to obtain accurate camera position and orientation data, and to automatically identify and correspond 2D points between video images. The new system will offer significant labor and time savings in gathering photogrammetry, ground survey, and surface description data. CamSys, Inc. has extensive experience in producing and marketing automated measurement equipment for acquiring photogrammetry data, and has distinct capabilities needed to develop the proposed new system. Benefits of this new system will include innovative hardware-software methods to acquire and process video data to produce photogrammetry and surface description information for assessing the condition of bridges and tunnels, and modeling rock face slopes and river banks. The system will make the process of designing and maintaining transportation related systems more efficient and reliable. Additional commercial applications exist in industries such as transportation, construction, architecture, education, and entertainment.

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project will develop an innovative Photogrammetry Data Acquisition and Processing System for special areas of highway design. To design and maintain transportation systems, three-dimensional data on specific areas are collected by means of aerial photography, manual surveys, and labor intensive data processing. The current aerial photography methods, however, are not capable of collecting data on areas that may not be seen readily from an aerial position, such as bridges and rock faces. The goal of the proposed project is to develop a portable, easy-to-use, digital camera-based system that used close-range photogrammetry techniques to accurately model these areas. The proposed data acquisition system consists of a high resolution digital camera, total station, and a photogrammetry calibration target, as tested during the Phase I program. The feasibility of such a system was also demonstrated by a highway experiment conducted while receiving assistance from the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT). A novel feature of the proposed system is that it is tailored to the accuracy desired for different applications through the use of a mathematical model. The main research objectives focus on implementing, testing, and improving methods to obtain accurate camera position and orientation data, and developing an innovative method of automating 2D point correspondence in digital images. The new prototype system offers significant labor and time savings in gathering photogrammetry and ground survey data. Potential commercial applications of the research include assessing bridge condition, modeling rock faces, reproducing crime scenes and archeological objects