HxMap: Simultaneous processing of airborne imagery & LiDAR data

Leica Geosystems机载传感器以及高质量和性能都共享另一个常见方面 - 他们使用HXMAP（统一的高性能多传感器工作流平台）来处理大量捕获的数据。HXMAP在最短的时间内提供了在大区域的快速数据处理更新。

For a deeper look into the versality and benefits of data processing with HxMap, Product Manager Felix Rohrbach explains the one-for-all software platform.

How does HxMap work?
徕卡HxMapoffers individual software modules based on customer’s processing needs. The modules intuitively guide you along a common processing workflow for LiDAR and image data. Data download, raw QC and data ingest are identical for LiDAR and imagery data sets throughout the pre-processing steps. Sensor-specific modules include further steps like aerial triangulation, radiometric adjustments and LiDAR point cloud registration. The modular approach of HxMap guides the users through the workflow step-by-step with only small variations between the processing of LiDAR and imagery data.

The final step of the HxMap workflow – product generation – allows to output a large number of products by the push of a button, such as:

• Referenced images

• Orthophotos

• colorized and uncolourised point clouds

• textured and untextured 3D city models

这些功能为大型倾斜项目，全国矫形器或激光映射以及小型工程项目奠定了基础，并与用于捕获数据的传感器模型独立提供了全部可扩展性。

HxMap is a key element of several Leica Geosystems solutions. Can you explain those solutions?
We refer to Airborne Reality Capture as the combination of data acquisition and data processing. At Leica Geosystems, we have created Airborne Reality Capture solutions bundling HxMap with appropriate airborne sensors for a particular application. This enables our users to reach the highest efficiency and full scalability of the processing infrastructure independently of which Leica Geosystems airborne sensor is used for a project.

RealCity是Leica CityMapper或CityMapper-2混合斜成像和LIDAR传感器与HXMAP的组合。该解决方案是3D城市建模应用的理想选择，并生产2D图像产品，LiDar Point Clouds和3D City Models。bob综合app下载

真实世界is the combination of theLeica DMC IIIframe camera sensor with HxMap. This pairing is best suited for large area imaging projects in 2D.

Realterraincombines HxMap with eitherLeica TerrainMapperand Leica ALS80 linear-mode LiDAR sensors orLeica SPL100single photon LiDAR sensor. This combination is designed for regional and national LiDAR mapping projects.

Within HxMap, there are several modules for specific applications. Can you expand on these modules?
HxMap can be personalized through the addition of modules to fit any user’s unique needs.

HXMAP提供商模块offers the user the essential functionality to load collected data, run ingest to pre-process, apply geo-referencing and then visualize the result to perform quality control. The provider module also includes the workflow manager, our main application that guides the user through the various processing steps. Data can either be loaded onto a map view or into a specific viewer module for further inspection.

HxMap Core Imaging Moduleoffers functionality essential to processing imagery datasets. A robust automated point matching generates required tie points between collected imagery across viewing directions. With aerial triangulation will use the measurements to optimize image orientations. HxMap provides multiple triangulation algorithms and a hierarchical process mode for oblique datasets that allows processing of even the largest mapping projects our customers have seen. HxMap triangulation also allows the user to directly apply any misalignment angle to the camera calibration.

HxMap Core LiDAR Modulecompletes the feature set with all functionality required for LiDAR data processing. A simple one-click LiDAR calibration calculates adjustments to the sensor parameters and outputs an updated project calibration for further processing. Line-to-line registration further improves the matching quality across the full project. At any time, the user can run the built-in QA-tool to evaluate data quality for a single line or the full project.

HxMap 3D Modeller Module补充以前的模块。3D建模算法将图像和LIDAR数据作为独立数据集或混合数据一起以3D构建几何形状而将其一起作为混合数据。HXMAP允许用户提供已知的建筑足迹，以生成建筑物或直接运行建筑物的生成，而无需任何事先信息。提供的数据集的其他信息，例如从图像数据计算出的点类或植被指数，用于进一步提高提取的建筑物的质量。

如何HxMap benefit the user?
HxMap is a fast, intuitive and efficient post-processing platform, enabling users to produce all known data products within one single common interface. This translates into

• Full scalability
  With HxMap being a unified processing workflow for airborne topographic LiDAR and imaging data, users can use the same processing infrastructure independently from the project deliverables, offering complete flexibility to scale the processing infrastructure when needed and produce all products. The modular functionality offers our customers the option to keep the initial investment low and scale up the infrastructure if needed, enabling the consistent use of their full processing capacity.

• Time and cost savings
  You and your staff only need to be proficient in one simple user interface to produce any known airborne data product, and your production workforce can process imagery and LiDAR data without additional training. Don’t waste time moving your data between software packages but benefit from one end-to-end workflow.

• 空前的数据吞吐量
  利用行业最快的数据吞吐量，并更有效地处理任何数量的数据。HXMAP已被尝试并测试以处理SPL100数据，该数据每秒捕获600万点，因此已知由非常大的数据集组成。

在当今领域，HXMAP可以帮助他们克服的用户面临哪些挑战？
回顾我开始的时候，很常见单个工作站处理环境。摄影测量法或LiDar专家将坐在其机器前，该机器将所有数据和软件在本地运行所有处理步骤所需的所有数据和软件。一旦启动，它就变成了等待游戏，直到该过程完成并可以启动下一步为止。

挑战1：数据量

Nowadays, any modern sensor will produce mega amounts of data. A rough rule-of-thumb for the original CityMapper was that 1 hour of data collection would produce 3TB of raw data. Even though the amount of data has multiplied throughout the past years, the delivery deadlines of our customers and their end customers have not changed. Despite the increased size, the data needs to be checked, processed and delivered in an acceptable time frame. Thanks to HxMap’s distributed processing capability, this is now possible.

挑战2：数据处理筒仓

转移到分布式处理也可以引入新的疼痛点。如果您同时操作图像和激光雷达传感器，则可能面临两个工作流程都需要进行尺度的现实。设置孤立的处理环境听起来很容易，但是一旦数据输入停止（例如，由于天气恶劣），就不会使您的资源全部能够全部容纳。得益于HXMAP的混合工作流，在一个组合的环境中设置了分布式处理，可以将其配置为无需数据类型的任何可用容量。

Challenge 3: Human workforce

The last challenge is refers to any of the workflow steps that cannot be handled by our processing cluster. Many of the quality control steps are still executed by humans as their expertise is required to assess if data matches the required quality. The first problem here is that with growing volume of data, more staff is needed to ensure throughput. Finding expert staff though is difficult and costly. HxMap addresses this by assisting the user to evaluate the quality of collected data through graphical representations and customer reports of quality indices that allow even the average user to assess data sets. The processing expert can become the team leader, who is only consulted in this critical edge cases.

There is a focus in today’s market on automation. How does HxMap support this next technology frontier?
专注于自动化是一个逻辑后果f the above challenges. Turning a previously manual task into an automated processing step allows us to not only run it on a single workstation, but also send it directly to our processing cluster. Besides saving time, money and effort on training, this now allows to scale the production step according to current workload and delivery timelines. HxMap already supports these benefits for processing tasks such as sensor calibration, automatic point matching, line-to-line registration, building generation and many more. All of these were previously tedious manual tasks that can now be run automatically within the HxMap workflow.

HXMAP将来将在哪里进行行业？
The recent trend of increasing numbers of pixels and points per project will continue. This is not only due to projects flown at higher resolution, but also due to the growth of Content as a Service (CaaS) initiatives such as the HxGN Content Program. While UAVs start covering the need for survey-grade small-scale data acquisitions, airborne surveying is moving towards regional, national or even continental acquisition.

寻找创新的方法来自动化处理步骤而不损害数据质量，这将是将手动工作变成可扩展和分配的作业的重要任务。混合数据的使用（例如由CityMapper传感器收集的）看起来有望通过合并多种传感器类型的信息来提高数据质量。我们的城市建模引擎是一个很好的例子，在该引擎中，LiDar和Imagery Technology的优势都用于有效地创建高质量的3D产品。bob综合app下载

除了使我们当前的工作流程更加高效外，我们还考虑扩大客户将能够在HXMAP中生成的产品范围。bob综合app下载bob体育报道六边形范围内的举措以及收购使我们获得了新技术的访问权，而我们的任务是将这些技术变成为客户的创新产品。bob综合app下载

Felix Rohrbach is the product manager for HxMap at Leica Geosystems.
With a decade of experience in the airborne mapping industry, he is responsible for the development and adoption of photogrammetry and LiDAR processing software.