Get Your Head in the Clouds

Geospatial applications are renowned devourers of information. As new technologies for capturing data are developed, the geospatial applications soon follow. It makes sense as we try to find better and cheaper methods of modeling our world. One of these technologies is LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging). LIDAR is becoming a common remote sensing technique. It sends out and measures the return of laser pulses to determine distances (as well as other information) in 3 dimensions to essentially generate a 3D view of the scanners environment. The resulting data is a very large group, or cloud of X, Y and Z values (along with other descriptive information depending on the equipment and technique). These point clouds have required specialized software to view and capture information.
Now, subscription AutoCAD Map 3D and Civil 3D users have some new tools available to work with these point clouds. The new Subscription Advantage Packs include tools for viewing and classifying Point Clouds. This can be incredibly useful to geospatial users. At a large private electric utility I used to work for, we used LIDAR as a method to survey electric transmission lines and surrounding vegetation. We were looking for trees that were growing into the lines and cause potential outages.

After installing the new Subscription Advantage packs in AutoCAD Map 3D, some new options become available. In the Task Pane’s Display Manager Tab, there is a new option in the Data menu – “Add Point Cloud Data.” Selecting this option opens a file select dialog prompting for an ISD file – a Point Cloud index, or data store file. You create the index from the new Point Cloud Manager.

 
Another new option is in the Tools menu – “Create Point Cloud Index.” This option opens the Point Cloud Manager.
From the Point Cloud Manager, we can add LIDAR data files to create a Point Cloud data store, merge them into groups, set coordinate systems, use filters to classify, create elevation ranges and even create spatial filters.
 

Adding the Point Cloud Data will create an entry in the Display Manager tab, and add a new Point Cloud ribbon giving us tools for stylization, exporting and creating surfaces. 

Keep in mind, these data sets are big, and will tax your system resources, so be prepared.
So, get your head in the clouds and check it out. The view is great.

I went to AU, and all I got was this caricature

Back to work today after several days at Autodesk University. I always find it time well spent – and yes, I did get a caricature done by an artist from TradeshowDraw.com – he was doing the sketches on a tablet PC using Autodesk’s SketchBook Pro as a way to demonstrate that product. I’m not sure about his capture of my cheeks, but he did say he was going to have some fun with it…

My caricature?

In reality, though, this year’s Autodesk University was, as I expected, a very productive use of my time. I was able to connect with some old friends and professional contacts, meet some new ones, and put faces with some of those folks I’ve only had phone or email (facebook, linkedin, etc) contact with.

I attended some really good workshops as well. A couple of highlights were seeing the SDSFIE model updates and tools for AutoCAD Map – these are essentially GIS standards adopted by the DOD for a common model (they call it Common Installation Picture) across the services. It is from an outgrowth of the old Tri-Services CADD group (now the CADBIM Technology Center) - I was involved in the Tri-Services standardization efforts was back in the 80s before there was a Tri-Services.  Back then working with CAD and GIS standards was like the Lewis and Clark expedition. The SDSFIE standards are pretty interesting, and to my mind would be a good model for municipalities as well. More on that later.

One of the other labs I enjoyed most gave me the chance to sit and work with the new AutoCAD Map Subscription Advantage Pack tools for working with point cloud data. Point Clouds are the result from LIDAR surveys that send out light waves in multiple directions and measure the time for the light to return from whatever is in its path. It’s kind of like a laser range finder in every direction. Point clouds are becoming more common as a way to survey existing information. At a utility company I used to work for, I was peripherally involved (working on related GIS data models) in a project using LIDAR to collect vegetation and electrical transmission data to identify potential interference. Not real exciting stuff on the surface, but when you look at how we did that work just a few years ago, it’s pretty amazing. I’ll add some details early next week on the new tools.

Welcome to CADsoft Consulting’s Geospatial blog!

We’re proud to announce the launch of the newest blog in the CADsoft family – Neatline — a Geospatial Conversation, hosted by Rick Chappell.