High scale 3D modelling and orthophoto of curved masonries for a multipurpose representation, analysis and assessment

It is important nowadays to underline some relevant topics concerning the effective contribution of 3D high detailed products derived from innovation and integration of Geomatics technologies, allowing a remarkable development in descriptive metric capabilities, supporting and improving the material recording, representation, analysis and characterization about alteration of the constructive systems. Considering the relevance of the complex interdisciplinary research of these issues that move around the Cultural Heritage safeguard and due to its extreme vulnerability, these models must give a response to different problems. Primarily they has to provide complete models on which to pursue accurate morpho-dimensional documentation, and to base structural assessment, decay investigations, and consequently to underpin restoration practices and support operational workflow in CH assets monitoring. Some peculiarities of new methods for semi-automatic processing algorithms are thus evidenced, advantaging their proficiency to behave as tools for a more sustainable approach in the general process of preservation and protection. Specifically about the ancient masonries documentation, the chance of using digital products derived from very high scale models, as the detailed orthoimages projection and surfaces development offers many opportunities. Here, a late-medieval stratified dovecote tower in Verolengo (TO) with a particular trunk-conical shape had been analysed in order to reconstruct an identity and a historical and architectural framework, de facto not recognized yet. A 3D reconstruction by dense matching techniques will be presented, in the complex context that are the vertical high buildings, presenting one of the highest level of vulnerability. The importance of the 3D model availability, closely connected to dense radiometric information, has been particularly expressed in two main direction for the diagnosis both of volumetric structure assessment and the material characterization of the mixed masonries walls

A COMPARISON AMONG DIFFERENT OPTIMIZATION LEVELS IN 3D MULTI-SENSOR MODELS. A TEST CASE IN EMERGENCY CONTEXT: 2016 ITALIAN EARTHQUAKE

In sudden emergency contexts that affect urban centres and built heritage, the latest Geomatics technique solutions must enable the demands of damage documentation, risk assessment, management and data sharing as efficiently as possible, in relation to the danger condition, to the accessibility constraints of areas and to the tight deadlines needs. In recent times, Unmanned Vehicle System (UAV) equipped with cameras are more and more involved in aerial survey and reconnaissance missions, and they are behaving in a very cost-effective way in the direction of 3D documentation and preliminary damage assessment. More and more UAV equipment with low-cost sensors must become, in the future, suitable in every situation of documentation, but above all in damages and uncertainty frameworks. Rapidity in acquisition times and low-cost sensors are challenging marks, and they could be taken into consideration maybe with time spending processing. The paper will analyze and try to classify the information content in 3D aerial and terrestrial models and the importance of metric and non-metric withdrawable information that should be suitable for further uses, as the structural analysis one. The test area is an experience of Team Direct from Politecnico di Torino in centre Italy, where a strong earthquake occurred in August 2016. This study is carried out on a stand-alone damaged building in Pescara del Tronto (AP), with a multi-sensor 3D survey. The aim is to evaluate the contribution of terrestrial and aerial quick documentation by a SLAM based LiDAR and a camera equipped multirotor UAV, for a first reconnaissance inspection and modelling in terms of level of details, metric and non-metric information

OBLIQUE IMAGES AND DIRECT PHOTOGRAMMETRY WITH A FIXED WING PLATFORM: FIRST TEST AND RESULTS IN HIERAPOLIS OF PHRYGIA (TK)

Abstract. The complex archaeological site documentation benefits for a long time now from the aerial point of view and remote sensing methods. Moreover, the recent research on UAV photogrammetry platform equipment and flight planning actively contribute in this sense for a scaling improvement and cost-benefits balance. Frequently, the experiences on articulated topographic profiles in archaeological excavations require not only a multi-sensor approach but also and above all a multiscale one. According to this line, in a general time-cost ration framework, the geometric content of the generated DSMs should be complete of nadir and oblique point of view for the accurate 3D reconstruction of both upstanding buildings and excavations. In the same way, also the radiometric content closely depends on sensor payload quality and is strictly affected by excavation site condition, related to the site material and light. In this research, carried out in the impressive archaeological site of the ancient city of Hierapolis in Phrygia (Turkey) in the autumn 2019 campaign, the main goal was to evaluate and validate the overall performance of a novel UAV fix-wing ultralight platform with onboard GNSS receiver for RTK/PPK processing of cameras positioning and with the possibility of oblique images capturing. The expected contribute in terms of the acquisition, processing time, radiometric enhancement and geometry 3D reconstruction will be explored with preliminary test and outcomes, and with the results of the high-scale DSM and orthoimage generation of the complete Hierapolis site

Image-based models using crowdsourcing strategies

This paper aims to highlight the effectiveness of the collaboration between the modelling techniques that exploit the stereoscopic images of objects and the ability of the present-day technologies to generate images, both found in the web and gathered by other crowdsourcing techniques. Since nowadays the generation of models from images is a major low-cost resource, the whole strategy is aimed at obtaining benefits in the context of the documentation of Cultural Heritage (CH). Assuming that the documentation of CH is the basis of the protection and the conservation policies, the chances of finding images and using them to create 3D models is particularly effective when the assets in question are at risk in danger zones (wars or areas subject to natural disasters) or in areas that, for various reasons, are difficult to access. To demonstrate the advantage of using low-cost methods for the generation of 3D models of documentation with strategies that fall within the sphere of crowdsourcing, the case of the Vank cathedral modelling is presented. The Vank Cathedral in Isfahan in Iran is a building of the Safavid epoch (cent. XVII–XVIII) completely frescoed in the internal surfaces, where the architecture and especially the architectural decoration reach their peak. The experimental section of the paper also explores some aspects of usability of the digital output from the image-based modelling methods. The availability of orthophotos allows and facilitates the iconographic reading of the frescoes, adding to the radiometric data, there is the metric potentiality of reading the proportions and the compositions of the organisation of the frescoes. Furthermore, simplified and suitably schematised models can be even printed and can be used in a didactic environment, such as the knowledge dissemination intended by the museums and other cultural institutions

Fusion of 3D models derived from TLS and image-based techniques for CH enhanced documentation

Recognizing the various advantages offered by 3D new metric survey technologies in the Cultural Heritage documentation phase, this paper presents some tests of 3D model generation, using different methods, and their possible fusion. With the aim to define potentialities and problems deriving from integration or fusion of metric data acquired with different survey techniques, the elected test case is an outstanding Cultural Heritage item, presenting both widespread and specific complexities connected to the conservation of historical buildings. The site is the Staffarda Abbey, the most relevant evidence of medieval architecture in Piedmont. This application faced one of the most topical architectural issues consisting in the opportunity to study and analyze an object as a whole, from twice location of acquisition sensors, both the terrestrial and the aerial one. In particular, the work consists in the evaluation of chances deriving from a simple union or from the fusion of different 3D cloudmodels of the abbey, achieved by multi-sensor techniques. The aerial survey is based on a photogrammetric RPAS (Remotely piloted aircraft system) flight while the terrestrial acquisition have been fulfilled by laser scanning survey. Both techniques allowed to extract and process different point clouds and to generate consequent 3D continuous models which are characterized by different scale, that is to say different resolutions and diverse contents of details and precisions. Starting from these models, the proposed process, applied to a sample area of the building, aimed to test the generation of a unique 3Dmodel thorough a fusion of different sensor point clouds. Surely, the describing potential and the metric and thematic gains feasible by the final model exceeded those offered by the two detached models

ASSESSING TERRESTRIAL MMS 3D DATA FOR OUTDOOR MULTI-SCALE MODELLING

Mobile Mapping Systems (MMS) have recently benefited from the development of many fusion-based technologies with countless systems development based on cars, drones, trolley, wearable or portable mapping system. The scale of applicating range from the urban to the architectural scale. Recent solution are also based on visual or Lidar SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping), which substantially takes advantage of environmental features and techniques of continuous co-registration of the clouds, also in case of absence on GNSS positioning measurement. FARO Technology has recently developed the Swift, a fusion-based hybrid solution that integrates the sensors for 3D mapping in a trolley system configuration and recently, an external camera Panocam Theta Z1 is equipping the system enabling the possibility to associate radiometry to the acquired data. The working principle is the exploitation of a system of static and mobile configuration, using the so-called “anchor scans” co-registration as an hybrid intermediate solution between a typical static scan and a profilometers-based MMS point cloud. The co-registered clouds therefore yield a trajectory mode such as SLAM but benefit from the comparable range and density characteristics, according to user-customized settings, of static scans, with a duration of a few seconds per scan and a few minutes overall. In the present research the Swift System is tested in two different context and the assessment are conducted aimed at satisfying both the urban and the architectural scale instances in the direction of improving further evaluations

Alpine Complex Landscape Environment

Nell’ambito del programma triennale Torino e le Alpi (2014/2016), la Compagnia di San Paolo ha promosso un Bando di ricerca applicata per lo sviluppo economico e sociale dei territori alpini di Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta.Il bando ha inteso sostenere ricerche su politiche, modelli, progetti in Italia e all’estero e studiarne le condizioni per la trasferibilità/fattibilità in territorio montano, con soluzioni sperimentali, attraverso la selezione di buone pratiche, modelli operativi e idee originali, con forte carattere innovativo. Dei 153 progetti presentati 20 sono stati vincitori e finanziati tra cui La ricerca Alpine Landscape Environment (referente e coordinatore scientifico Daniele Regis) . La pubblicazione contiene l'abstract dei progetti presentati con link del report completo. La ricerca Alpine Cle ha inteso costituire un sistema transdisciplinare come modello per un’applicazione puntuale degli indirizzi del piano paesistico regionale Le discipline della Progettazione del paesaggio e architettonica (D. Regis) della cartografia e GIS (N. Spano) della valutazione economica dei progetti (C. Coscia) sono state interpellate attraverso processi congiunti di analisi per costruire scenari disviluppo sostenibile in particolare per la mobilità e infrastrutture per lo sviluppo con innovativi metodi di ricerca scientifica e modelli ad alta trasferibilità

MULTI-SOURCE 3D MODELS SUPPORTING ULTRASONIC TEST TO INVESTIGATE AN EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM IN BOLOGNA

The paper presents the workflow and the results of an ultrasonic 3D investigation and a 3D survey application aimed at the assessment of the internal integrity of an ancient sculpture. The work aimed at highlighting the ability of methods devoted to the 3D geometry acquisition of small objects when applied to diagnosis performed by geophysical investigation. In particular, two methods widely applied for small objects modelling are considered and compared, the digital Photogrammetry with the Structure from Motion (SFM) technique and hand-held 3D scanners. The study concludes with the aim to enhance the final graphical representation of the tomographic results and to subject the obtained results to a quantitative analysis. The survey is applied to the Egyptian naophorous statue of Amenmes and Reshpu, which dates to the reign of Ramses II (1279-1213 BC) or later and is now preserved in the Civic Archaeological Museum in Bologna. In order to evaluate the internal persistency of fractures and visible damages, a 3D Ultrasonic Tomographic Imaging (UTI) test has been performed and a multi-sensor survey (image and range based) was conducted, in order to evaluate the locations of the source and receiver points as accurate as possible The presented test allowed to evaluate the material characteristics, its porosity and degradation state, which particularly affect the lower part of the statue. More in general, the project demonstrated how solution coming from the field of 3D modelling of Cultural Heritage allow the application of 3D ultrasonic tomography also on objects with complex shapes, in addition to the improved representation of the obtained results

3D model generation using oblique images acquired by UAV

In recent years, many studies revealed the advantages of using airborne oblique images for obtaining improved 3D city models (including façades and building footprints). Here the acquisition and use of oblique images from a low cost and open source Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for the 3D high-level-of-detail reconstruction of historical architectures is evaluated. The critical issues of such acquisitions (flight planning strategies, ground control points distribution, etc.) are described. Several problems should be considered in the flight planning: best approach to cover the whole object with the minimum time of flight; visibility of vertical structures; occlusions due to the context; acquisition of all the parts of the objects (the closest and the farthest) with similar resolution; suitable camera inclination, and so on. In this paper a solution is proposed in order to acquire oblique images with one only flight. The data processing was realized using Structure-from-Motion-based approach for point cloud generation using dense image-matching algorithms implemented in an open source software. The achieved results are analysed considering some check points and some reference LiDAR data. The system was tested for surveying a historical architectonical complex: the “Sacro Monte di Varallo Sesia” in north-west of Italy. This study demonstrates that the use of oblique images acquired from a low cost UAV system and processed through an open source software is an effective methodology to survey cultural heritage, characterized by limited accessibility, need for detail and rapidity of the acquisition phase, and often reduced budgets

THE 4DILAN PROJECT (4TH DIMENSION IN LANDSCAPE AND ARTIFACTS ANALYSES)

The project is part of the wider application and subsequent spread of innovative digital technologies involving robotic systems. Modern society needs knowledge and investigation of the environment and of the related built landscape; therefore it increasingly requires new types of information. The goal can be achieved through the innovative integration of methods to set new analysis strategies for the knowledge of the built heritage and cultural landscape. The experimental cooperation between different disciplines and the related tools and techniques, which this work suggests for the analysis of the architectural heritage and the historical territory, are the following: - 3D metric survey techniques with active and passive sensors - the latter operating in both terrestrial mode and by aerial point of view. In some circumstances, beyond the use of terrestrial LiDAR, even the newest mobile mapping system using SLAM technology (simultaneous localization and mapping) has been tested. - Techniques of non-destructive investigation, such as geophysical analysis of the subsoil and built structures, in particular GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) techniques. - Historic and stratigraphic surveys carried out primarily through the study and interpretation of documentary sources, cartography and historical iconography, closely related to the existing data or latent material. The experience through the application of these techniques of investigation connected to the built spaces and to the manmade environments has been achieved with the aim of improving the ability to analyse the occurred transformations/layers over time and no longer directly readable or interpretable on manufactured evidence