Exploiting low-cost 3D imagery for the purposes of detecting and analyzing pavement distresses

Road pavement conditions have significant impacts on safety, travel times, costs, and environmental effects. It is the responsibility of road agencies to ensure these conditions are kept in an acceptable state. To this end, agencies are tasked with implementing pavement management systems (PMSs) which effectively allocate resources towards maintenance and rehabilitation. These systems, however, require accurate data. Currently, most agencies rely on manual distress surveys and as a result, there is significant research into quick and low-cost pavement distress identification methods. Recent proposals have included the use of structure-from-motion techniques based on datasets from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and cameras, producing accurate 3D models and associated point clouds. The challenge with these datasets is then identifying and describing distresses. This paper focuses on utilizing images of pavement distresses in the city of Palermo, Italy produced by mobile phone cameras. The work aims at assessing the accuracy of using mobile phones for these surveys and also identifying strategies to segment generated 3D imagery by considering the use of algorithms for 3D Image segmentation to detect shapes from point clouds to enable measurement of physical parameters and severity assessment. Case studies are considered for pavement distresses defined by the measurement of the area affected such as different types of cracking and depressions. The use of mobile phones and the identification of these patterns on the 3D models provide further steps towards low-cost data acquisition and analysis for a PMS

Building with Drones: Accurate 3D Facade Reconstruction using MAVs

Automatic reconstruction of 3D models from images using multi-view Structure-from-Motion methods has been one of the most fruitful outcomes of computer vision. These advances combined with the growing popularity of Micro Aerial Vehicles as an autonomous imaging platform, have made 3D vision tools ubiquitous for large number of Architecture, Engineering and Construction applications among audiences, mostly unskilled in computer vision. However, to obtain high-resolution and accurate reconstructions from a large-scale object using SfM, there are many critical constraints on the quality of image data, which often become sources of inaccuracy as the current 3D reconstruction pipelines do not facilitate the users to determine the fidelity of input data during the image acquisition. In this paper, we present and advocate a closed-loop interactive approach that performs incremental reconstruction in real-time and gives users an online feedback about the quality parameters like Ground Sampling Distance (GSD), image redundancy, etc on a surface mesh. We also propose a novel multi-scale camera network design to prevent scene drift caused by incremental map building, and release the first multi-scale image sequence dataset as a benchmark. Further, we evaluate our system on real outdoor scenes, and show that our interactive pipeline combined with a multi-scale camera network approach provides compelling accuracy in multi-view reconstruction tasks when compared against the state-of-the-art methods.Comment: 8 Pages, 2015 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA '15), Seattle, WA, US

Documenting Bronze Age Akrotiri on Thera using laser scanning, image-based modelling and geophysical prospection

The excavated architecture of the exceptional prehistoric site of Akrotiri on the Greek island of Thera/Santorini is endangered by gradual decay, damage due to accidents, and seismic shocks, being located on an active volcano in an earthquake-prone area. Therefore, in 2013 and 2014 a digital documentation project has been conducted with support of the National Geographic Society in order to generate a detailed digital model of Akrotiri’s architecture using terrestrial laser scanning and image-based modeling. Additionally, non-invasive geophysical prospection has been tested in order to investigate its potential to explore and map yet buried archaeological remains. This article describes the project and the generated results

3D photogrammetric data modeling and optimization for multipurpose analysis and representation of Cultural Heritage assets

This research deals with the issues concerning the processing, managing, representation for further dissemination of the big amount of 3D data today achievable and storable with the modern geomatic techniques of 3D metric survey. In particular, this thesis is focused on the optimization process applied to 3D photogrammetric data of Cultural Heritage assets. Modern Geomatic techniques enable the acquisition and storage of a big amount of data, with high metric and radiometric accuracy and precision, also in the very close range field, and to process very detailed 3D textured models. Nowadays, the photogrammetric pipeline has well-established potentialities and it is considered one of the principal technique to produce, at low cost, detailed 3D textured models. The potentialities offered by high resolution and textured 3D models is today well-known and such representations are a powerful tool for many multidisciplinary purposes, at different scales and resolutions, from documentation, conservation and restoration to visualization and education. For example, their sub-millimetric precision makes them suitable for scientific studies applied to the geometry and materials (i.e. for structural and static tests, for planning restoration activities or for historical sources); their high fidelity to the real object and their navigability makes them optimal for web-based visualization and dissemination applications. Thanks to the improvement made in new visualization standard, they can be easily used as visualization interface linking different kinds of information in a highly intuitive way. Furthermore, many museums look today for more interactive exhibitions that may increase the visitors’ emotions and many recent applications make use of 3D contents (i.e. in virtual or augmented reality applications and through virtual museums). What all of these applications have to deal with concerns the issue deriving from the difficult of managing the big amount of data that have to be represented and navigated. Indeed, reality based models have very heavy file sizes (also tens of GB) that makes them difficult to be handled by common and portable devices, published on the internet or managed in real time applications. Even though recent advances produce more and more sophisticated and capable hardware and internet standards, empowering the ability to easily handle, visualize and share such contents, other researches aim at define a common pipeline for the generation and optimization of 3D models with a reduced number of polygons, however able to satisfy detailed radiometric and geometric requests. iii This thesis is inserted in this scenario and focuses on the 3D modeling process of photogrammetric data aimed at their easy sharing and visualization. In particular, this research tested a 3D models optimization, a process which aims at the generation of Low Polygons models, with very low byte file size, processed starting from the data of High Poly ones, that nevertheless offer a level of detail comparable to the original models. To do this, several tools borrowed from the game industry and game engine have been used. For this test, three case studies have been chosen, a modern sculpture of a contemporary Italian artist, a roman marble statue, preserved in the Civic Archaeological Museum of Torino, and the frieze of the Augustus arch preserved in the city of Susa (Piedmont- Italy). All the test cases have been surveyed by means of a close range photogrammetric acquisition and three high detailed 3D models have been generated by means of a Structure from Motion and image matching pipeline. On the final High Poly models generated, different optimization and decimation tools have been tested with the final aim to evaluate the quality of the information that can be extracted by the final optimized models, in comparison to those of the original High Polygon one. This study showed how tools borrowed from the Computer Graphic offer great potentialities also in the Cultural Heritage field. This application, in fact, may meet the needs of multipurpose and multiscale studies, using different levels of optimization, and this procedure could be applied to different kind of objects, with a variety of different sizes and shapes, also on multiscale and multisensor data, such as buildings, architectural complexes, data from UAV surveys and so on

Shaping the Future of Animation towards Role of 3D Simulation Technology in Animation Film and Television

The application of 3D simulation technology has revolutionized the field of animation film and television art, providing new possibilities and creative opportunities for visual storytelling. This research aims to explore the various aspects of applying 3D simulation technology in animation film and television art. It examines how 3D simulation technology enhances the creation of realistic characters, environments, and special effects, contributing to immersive and captivating storytelling experiences. The research also investigates the technical aspects of integrating 3D cloud simulation technology into the animation production pipeline, including modeling, texturing, rigging, and animation techniques. This paper explores the application of these optimization algorithms in the context of cloud-based 3D environments, focusing on enhancing the efficiency and performance of 3D simulations. Black Widow and Spider Monkey Optimization can be used to optimize the placement and distribution of 3D assets in cloud storage systems, improving data access and retrieval times. The algorithms can also optimize the scheduling of rendering tasks in cloud-based rendering pipelines, leading to more efficient and cost-effective rendering processes. The integration of 3D cloud environments and optimization algorithms enables real-time optimization and adaptation of 3D simulations. This allows for dynamic adjustments of simulation parameters based on changing conditions, resulting in improved accuracy and responsiveness. Moreover, it explores the impact of 3D cloud simulation technology on the artistic process, examining how it influences the artistic vision, aesthetics, and narrative possibilities in animation film and television. The research findings highlight the advantages and challenges of using 3D simulation technology in animation, shedding light on its potential future developments and its role in shaping the future of animation film and television art