Tag: ZEB-HORIZON

GeoSLAM launches ZEB Vision 4K panoramic camera
Colorization and immersive walkthroughs among major updates to geoSLAM solutions

The ZEB Vision 4K panoramic camera. (Photo: GeoSLAM)

GeoSLAM has launch the ZEB Vision 4K panoramic camera, which allows users to capture and process colorized data faster than previous company products.

The company also updated its Connect software platform. Both are designed to accompany GeoSLAM’s ZEB Horizon scanner.

With easy deployment via handheld or backpack, the ZEB Vision’s 4K resolution, 360° panoramic image capture and colorization capabilities add a new perspective to visualizing a point cloud. Images are captured simultaneously during a scan, without the need to stop and take photos.

With Connect software, data captured with the ZEB Vision can be easily colorized, without the need for third-party software.

Users can achieve greater understanding and visibility of the data capture environment with an immersive walkthrough, so they don’t have to be the person capturing the data to see it clearly.

“Being able to add context to data, through colorization and image capture, is invaluable, particularly for those working in the surveying, architecture and infrastructure sectors, where the extra details can make all the difference,” said Neil Slatcher, chief product officer, GeoSLAM.

“Our customers completely own the data and images they collect at no extra cost. We are working hard to make capturing geospatial data as easy as possible, from our walk and scan method of data collection to automated workflows. Teaming the ZEB Vision with our updated Connect software will simplify this process even further.”

Besides RGB colorization, new automation options for ZEB users include:
- Automatic Data Cleaning. A range of new data filters and classifiers within Connect 2.1 provides greater point-cloud clarity by removing outliers and other unwanted points such as people and vehicles.
- Measuring Tool. Distances between points within any dataset can be measured for quick and accurate analysis.
Existing GeoSLAM customers with a Care subscription can freely update to Connect 2.1; any new products shipped will come with the software, providing users will full ownership of their data.

A colorization dataset of GeoSLAM’s headquarters in Nottingham, UK, captured with a ZEB Vision camera. (Image: GeoSLAM)
June 4, 2022
GeoSLAM launches its latest software offering Connect 2.0 at Intergeo
The next-generation SLAM algorithm — GeoSLAM Beam — powers the new software

GeoSLAM has released a software update, Connect 2.0, at the Intergeo 2021 trade show. Intergeo is taking place this week in Hannover, Germany.

Connect 2.0 enables GeoSLAM scanners to achieve a higher level of accuracy compared to other SLAM-based mapping systems. Colorization from the new ZEB Vision panoramic camera provides even more visual context to a point cloud, as well as interactive “bubble” walkthroughs and measurements.

The update is powered with the next generation of GeoSLAM’s algorithm GeoSLAM Beam, which includes new filtering and georeferencing tools to help users get the best results from their datasets.

Connect 2.0 also simplifies data processing through a series of workflow scripts. This includes automatic data processing, stop-and-go georeferencing and stop-and-go alignment, all available as standard.

Screenshot: GeoSLAM

Connect 2.0 Features
- Intuitive interface – The Connect viewer is integrated into the main software interface, making it easy to view multiple point clouds simultaneously and measure the distance between data points.
- Change detection – Multiple point clouds can be compared, and any areas that have changed are automatically highlighted. Point clouds also can be compared with CAD models to track progress on a construction site or view changes between scans.
- Floor slices – Horizontal and vertical slices can be taken from any location within the point cloud. Horizontal floor slices can also be automatically taken at any given height above the floor.
- Environmental presets – Data is processed according to the environment it was captured in (indoor, outdoor, UAV or vehicle).
- Draw 4.0 – Draw projects can now be created automatically for any dataset.
GeoSLAM customers with a Care subscription will have full access to Connect 2.0. Any new product shipped starting today comes with both Connect and Hub software.

Real-time processing

GeoSLAM has also launched real-time SLAM processing through remote access. Using an API for remote data capture or automated robotic navigation, users can see the point cloud and trajectory in real time. The ZEB Revo RT can be used on and off a robotic platform.

Photo: GeoSLAM

ZEB Vision panoramic camera

The ZEB Vision 16MP panoramic camera is now available for pre-order. Suitable for any ZEB Horizon, the new camera provides better colorization, image walkthroughs and pointcloud measurements using optional Draw software.

Use on UAVs. Further updates mean that GeoSLAM customers can now take a ZEB Horizon from handheld to UAV usage to get a more complete picture of projects. ZEB Horizon is compatible with the DJI Matrice 300 UAV.
September 22, 2021
Seen & Heard: Ingenuity’s PNT hiccup, Avengers assemble!

“Seen & Heard” is a monthly feature of GPS World magazine, traveling the world to capture interesting and unusual news stories involving the GNSS/PNT industry.

Integrity sits safely on Mars following an in-flight anomaly. (Photo: NASA)

PNT Issue Rocks Ingenuity

The Mars drone Ingenuity uses an inertial measurement unit (IMU) to track position, velocity and attitude. The IMU works with the rotorcraft’s navigation camera, which feeds images into the system. About 54 seconds into Ingenuity’s sixth flight on May 22, a glitch in the pipeline of images delivered by the camera caused Ingenuity to buck. The glitch caused a single image to be lost, resulting in all later navigation images being delivered with inaccurate timestamps. Ingenuity’s navigation system attempted to correct itself due to “phantom errors,” but the copter still managed to land within 16 feet (5 meters) of its target location. The Perseverance rover snapped an image of its flying companion the next day. The timing vulnerability is being addressed.

The versatility of the ZEB-Horizon device enabled the Deep Time team to map the complex and challenging environment. (Photo: GeoSLAM)

Measuring Deep Time and Space

Geospatial 3D mapping specialist GeoSLAM provided the technology to scan one of Europe’s largest caves as part of the Deep Time isolation study. For 40 days, 15 participants set up camp in the Lombrives cave in southwestern France with no clocks or sunlight, and zero contact with the outside world. Conducted by the Human Adaptation Institute, the experiment aimed to gain insight into human adaptability to isolation. For their first task, the “deeptimers” used the ZEB-Horizon to conduct a digital scan of the 3-km Lombrives cave — a system consisting of both narrow passages and expansive chambers up to 70 meters in height, formed more than 125 million years ago.

Photo: Nearmap

Avengers Assemble!

On June 4, Disney unveiled its Avengers Campus at its California Adventure park. Aerial image provider Nearmap, which has been flying over Disneyland and California Adventure twice a year since 2014, shared a bird’s-eye view of the park’s new area, which replaced “A Bug’s Life.” Nearmap also shared images comparing the crowd size in 2019 before COVID-19 to the reopening limit of 25% capacity in April.

Photo: Geoscience Australia

Tasmania First

As part of the Positioning Australia program, Geoscience Australia is building new GNSS ground stations. The first new station was recently completed outside the town of Derby, Tasmania. This new station joins 10 existing stations in Tasmania, providing widely available GNSS-based precise positioning signals. To access the service, users can connect to a service provider offering a fully supported service with system integration; users with specialized equipment and the technical expertise to integrate GNSS positioning can connect directly to the station via Geoscience Australia’s GNSS Data Centre.

June 28, 2021
GeoSLAM tech put to test in Deep Time isolation experiment

The versatility of the ZEB Horizon device enabled the Deep Time team to map the complex and challenging environment. (Photo: GeoSLAM)

Geospatial 3D mapping specialist GeoSLAM provided the technology to scan one of Europe’s largest caves as a part of the Deep Time isolation study.

For 40 days, 15 participants set up camp in the Lombrives cave in southwestern France with no clocks or sunlight, and zero contact with the outside world. Conducted by the Human Adaptation Institute, the experiment aimed to explore the links between the human brain and time, in order to gain insight into the limits of human adaptability to isolation.

Throughout the mission, the “deeptimers” organized tasks to complete within the cave setting to help structure their days. Their first task was to conduct a recce of the location.

GeoSLAM technology was called upon to conduct a digital scan of the 3-km Lombrives cave — a cave system consisting of both narrow passages and expansive chambers up to 70 meters in height, formed more than 125 million years ago.

The handheld ZEB Horizon is put to the test by a Deep Time participant. (Photo: GeoSLAM)

The team used the lightweight ZEB Horizon device, which harnesses GeoSLAM’s unique SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) algorithm, putting to the test the device’s 100-m range capabilities. Its versatility and walk-and-scan method of data collection allowed the team the flexibility to crouch, crawl and scan the depths and narrow canals of the cave, including 90-m deep wells.

Traditional tripod-based systems used for digital mapping rely heavily on GPS to collect accurate data. SLAM technology however, overcomes this limitation by cutting out GPS altogether, enabling scans to be carried out in complex and enclosed spaces, including underground.

A Deep Time participant sets up GeoSLAM’s ZEB Horizon scanner. (Photo: GeoSLAM)

With low light levels, an ambient temperature of 10 degrees and humidity levels of 100 percent, the physical and psychological impacts the team experienced were documented on camera.

“We are thrilled to have been associated with the Human Adaption Institute on such an exciting and historic project,” said Tomas Blaha, GeoSLAM channel manager for Europe. “The handheld capabilities of the ZEB Horizon device provided easy-to-use technology for the members of the team with no professional surveying experience. The study tested the limits of human endurance in a challenging environment, and the same can be said of the technology to survey the Lombrives cave. Using traditional static and GPS-based scanners would have been impossible for this project, so we are delighted that the ZEB Horizon’s adaptability and ruggedness played its part in an historic piece of research.”

The 15 participants stand outside the Lombrives cave, France. (Photo: GeoSLAM)

May 18, 2021
Laser scan data improves response in active shooter simulation

A security technology firm reduced the time needed for public-safety personnel to engage a simulated active shooter by providing the team with site floorplans created from 3D laser scan data.

Before the exercise, the firm scanned the entire 112,000-square-foot building interior in just 2.5 hours with the GeoSLAM ZEB-HORIZON 3D mobile scanner.

“In the role-playing scenario staged at a mega-church, the off-duty police officers reached the shooter in up to 21 percent less time using a 2D floorplan generated from the laser scans,” said Robert W. Myers, CEO of Entropy Group LLC. “However, we expect engagement times to drop considerably by leveraging the 3D scan data to create virtual reality training simulations.”

Based in San Ramon, Calif., Entropy Group was established to save lives during active shooting incidents at schools and churches by providing law enforcement with the situational awareness information they need to reach perpetrators more quickly inside complex building spaces.

Handheld mapping. The firm uses the GeoSLAM ZEB-HORIZON handheld mapping device to capture 3D scans of school and church interiors, including small offices, classrooms and closets. The GeoSLAM software generates highly accurate 2D floorplans for use by responders, either hardcopy or digital, to navigate the interior of the building.

The same data set can also be used to create virtual environments where multiple officers train on computers to respond to attack scenarios in realistic, immersive 3D simulations of actual schools and churches in their jurisdictions.

“Eventually, we plan to utilize machine learning technology that will allow individual officers of first responder teams to be dispatched to specific locations within the facility in real time to quickly reach shooter engagement locations within the buildings,” Myers said.

The handheld ZEB-HORIZON laser scanner allows users to map interior and exterior spaces in 3D at walking speed. The lightweight device captures up to 300,000 points per second with an accuracy of 1-3 centimeters up to 100 meters from the user.

SLAM technology ensures points are tied to local coordinate systems even in interior spaces where GPS/GNSS coverage is poor. Large multi-room buildings that might take days to scan with a stationary scanner can be mapped in a few hours with the ZEB-HORIZON.

“Mobile laser scanning technology is the fastest and most cost-effective way to create the 2D and 3D building information tools public safety personnel need to prepare for a variety of emergency scenarios,” said Shelley Copsey, GeoSLAM CEO.

The GeoSLAM Hub software creates a fully integrated data collection and mapping workflow, enabling ZEB-HORIZON users to process, view, merge, edit and output 2D and 3D deliverables within minutes of data capture. Outputs include 2D floorplans, CAD, as well as an integrated workflow for the creation 3D building information models (BIMs).

Entropy Group is working directly with school districts and places of worship to provide scanning services and develop standardized procedures for the capture of 3D data inside their buildings. These reality capture data sets and derived 2D and 3D products will be provided to local public safety organizations for use in generating hardcopy and digital representations.

August 14, 2019