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reduces the necessary skill level of the
pilot, making the technology accessible
to a much broader user base.
Stefan’s team are also in the process
of making it possible to integrate
photographs taken by Hovermap into the
LiDAR map. Though still in development,
this capability will see information from
the LiDAR and the camera combined
with a high degree of accuracy. Because
Hovermap uses its onboard laser as
a positioning system (it is a far more
straightforward process to locate the
position of the camera in relation to the
laser, as opposed to a GPS satellite)
Hovermap is able to pinpoint where
an image was taken with far greater
accuracy than a system using a GPS.
“When you take a picture you will
know exactly where that picture was
captured from. If you have the 3D map
and an image, you will be able to project
the image information onto the map and
alternate between the two. So if you
click on the 3D view you’ll be able to
show up the 2D photographic images
that cover that point in space and if you
click on something in the image it will
show you where that feature is in the
3D space,” says Stefan.
The ability to combine this information
with such a high level of accuracy will
open up a range of possible applications
in construction, asset management,
mining and energy, agriculture and
even forensics.
“Police are interested in using this
for crime scene mapping, they’re
already using the hand held version
(called Zebedee) but part of what they
need to do when they collect evidence
is take photos. If there’s been a motor
accident for example you won’t see a
skid mark in the laser scans because
it’s just a difference in colour. But if
you’re capturing LiDAR and images at
the same time and you want to take a
measurement of how long that skid
mark was, because we’ve got the 3D
map and the images you could click
on the beginning and end of the
skid mark in the image and use
the associated 3D layer to take the
measurement,” says Stefan.
Queensland company V-TOL
Aerospace is collaborating with
CSIRO as its product testing and
commercialisation development partner
by exploring Hovermap applications,
while the payload’s immediate primary
uses include mapping vertical assets,
surveying and measuring variations on
large construction jobs, they believe
the roll on effect will soon be felt in the
small-medium business sector.
“We’ve actually migrated towards the
smaller end of town operating <20kg
UAVs because we think it’s going to be
a very big market. It’s already starting