General information
In the DIMOTY project, a technology was realised that is able to produce a precise, realistic, georeferenced three-dimensional model of the infrastructures found through augmented reality representation.
Even in smaller realities there is a growing awareness that digital tools simplify the management of everyday problems, which impact on the management of field operations(e.g. network maintenance) and the management of economic resources.
The DIMOTY project is aimed at digitising field operations in all their phases, including planning, execution and closure. An extremely burdensome task for companies intervening on infrastructures is the realisation of surveys for the tracing of underground utilities, to be carried out during the design phase of the intervention.
This activity is necessary prior to any tampering with the subsoil, in order to give evidence of how the networks already present are configured, to avoid damaging the infrastructure under the road surface, and to prevent serious consequences both for the provision of the service and for the safety of the personnel involved in the work.
The availability of a three-dimensional model of the network makes it possible to streamline inspection processes, reduce personnel costs and have a digital replica of the network. Particularly interesting for utilities is also the possibility of having a "layered" datum of the network, multiscale and hierarchical, with acquisitions at different times of the excavation(before the excavation, when the excavation was open during installation, and when the excavation was closed), which allows the digitally reconstructed network to be archived together with the history of the work itself.
The physical model is in fact anything but static, and can change over time according to the intervention activities that are carried out. The possibility of archiving them makes it possible to have 'living' data that can represent the dynamism with which the network is maintained.
Arcoda srl of Trento has designed an innovative acquisition system consisting of a combined use of GNSS-RTK receiver and smartphone.
For the production of an accurate, georeferenced and correctly oriented 3D model, various methodologies based on photogrammetry and neural networkswere tested to identify the most suitable technology for the industrial context.
The solution met the objective of providing utility companies (companies that intervene on infrastructures, networks and plants) with an enabling technology that guarantees a centimetric level of accuracy, does not involve post-processing operations by the personnel responsible for processing the data, and minimises operator intervention in the system's use process, which intervenes only in the data acquisition phase.
The results of the project flowed into anapplication for mobile devices that allows the easy acquisition of three-dimensional models of areas of interest.
- Images of the site of interest, e.g. those of a road excavation for the laying of underground utilities, are acquiredusing the smartphone camera.
- The images of the scanned area, combined with the posing data from the camera and the precision coordinates obtained via the GPS receiver, are processed in the cloud to produce a precise, realistic, georeferenced and oriented three-dimensional model.
- The resulting model is made available to GIS systems used by companies working on infrastructure.
The acquired 3D model makes it possible to conduct a virtual inspection, exploring the network and taking precision measurements directly on the digital models.
In addition, the technology developed makes it possible to superimpose holograms of the network infrastructure in augmented reality with centimetre accuracy, even when the excavation is closed, onto the road surface using a smartphone.
Goals
To provide companies working in the infrastructure, network sector with an enabling technology that
- guarantees a centimetric level of accuracy,
- involves no post-processing by the personnel using that data
- minimises operator intervention in the data acquisition phase only.
Start date
13/06/2022
End date
13/03/2024