INTRODUCTION 
This paper is an update of an earlier review (Brown (1974)) entitled: 
Evolution, Application and Potential of the Bundle Method of Photogrammetric 
Triangulation presented two years ago to the Symposium in Stuttgart sponsored 
by Commission III of ISP. Because of its rather great length, the review was 
not published in full in the Proceedings of the Symposium but is available on 
request from DBA Systems. In the present paper the highlights of the develop- 
ment of the bundle method will first be addressed. This will be followed by a 
review of some recent applications of the bundle method at DBA, the results of 
which may prove to have significant impact on future design of aerial mapping 
cameras. Finally, the writer shall put forward some personal opinions on 
certain aspects of the likely future development of the bundle method. 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE BUNDLE METHOD 
By 1960 the foundations of the modern bundle method had been laid. 
It had been shown in Brown (1958), (1959) that the general normal equations 
for the adjustment of an unrestricted block generated by any combination of 
unbiased photogrammetric measurements (plate coordinates) or parameters 
(elements of exterior orientation or coordinates of ground control) is of the 
basic form 
N + W N 5 C We 
(1) ilm. 
NT N+W 5 We 
in which for a block of m photos containing » measured points in object space 
6 7 6mxl vector of corrections to elements of exterior orientation 
(0,0,K, XC. VO, z0y. 
ó 7 3"xl vector of corrections to coordinates of object points 
(3,Y,2); 
W = 6mx6m inverse of covariance matrix of elements of exterior 
orientation; 
W 7 3nx3n inverse covariance matrix of coordinates of object 
points; 
me 
H 
6Axl vector of discrepancies between apriori (or observed) 
values of elements of exterior orientation and corre- 
sponding values used in linearization of projective equations; 
€ = 3nxl vector of discrepancies between apriori (or observed) 
values of coordinates of measured object points and corre- 
sponding values used in linearization of projective equations; 
N,N,N,&,& = contributions to normal equations resulting solely from 
measured plate coordinates of images. 
For moderate to large photogrammetric blocks the feasibility of a practical 
numerical solution was shown in the above references to hinge on the assumption 
=}