Digital Photogrammetric System Using Total Station with the Scanning Function

3D data capturing with laser scanner and digital photogrammetery has been established for 3D modeling with texture in civil engineering, architecture, industrial meteorology, cultural heritage etc. However there are several handicaps in those existing methods in developing inexpensive and handy 3D data capturing and processing at the site in terms of the weight, power supply, capturing and processing. Considering those problems involved in the existing methods, a digital terrestrial photogrammetric system using a total station with the scanning function has been developed by TOPCON Co, Ltd. called GPT-8200A which achieves long distance (up to 1.2 km) and geometrically constrained image matching and texture pasting at the site. Scanning of a total station in non-prism or prism-less mode can be performed with a motor drive with a constant pitch of angle each in horizontal and vertical direction, which will result in 3D coordinate measurement. The areas to be measured will be given in the stereo images taken by a digital camera which will be set up near the total station. Triangulation will be made with those control points, measured by the same total station. A 3D model will be generated with TIN model with 3D point clouds measured by the motor driven total station, strip by strip as the scanning proceeds. The texture will be pasted from the orthoimage which will be produced by image matching with geometrically constrained 3D point clouds using TOPCON PI-3000 software. The merit of this system against the existing photogrammetric system will be correctness of 3D measurement with higher accuracy even in low contrast scene areas. The merit against the existing laser scanning will be longer distance of 1.2 km at maximum as compared with about 300m in the case of laser scanner, and higher accuracy without noises as well as inexpensive cost, lighter weight and less power supply. This system will be applied to 2.5D surface models, such as very steep slopes, rocky cliffs, exposed mines, civil engineering structures etc.