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The integration of these objectives in the same group
implies two technical and conceptual choices. The first is
in the use of digital images obtained with a digital
camera, now commercially available with adequate
resolution. These images also allow automatic tasks and
software tools. Finally, they allow the total integration of
the process from the images to final results like 3D
visualisation in CAO-DAO 3D software.
This integration is made profitable to serve another
choice, more conceptual, which is founded on the idea of
a process guided by the information related to the field.
Concerning both architecture and archaeology, the goal is
to allow experts to use their knowledge to produce results
which ideally meet their wishes. The results can be
shown as documents, visual files, or as a body. For this
purpose a group of tools is given to experts to allow them
to express hypotheses related to their field of
investigation, hypotheses that lead to easier measurement
process, e.g. the creation of a body representing the
object in its field of investigation.
As a benefit of those choices the ARPENTEUR looks
like a tool developed for professional architects and
archaeologists with a reduced intervention of the
photogrammetry expert.
1.2 History of the project
ARPENTEUR is running on the WEB as a Java Applet.
The needed file (camera parameters, control points
coordinates and images) must be uploaded (by File
Transfer Protocol) on one of the ARPENTEUR's servers.
Two servers are available with ARPENTEUR Version
2.0 (presently in Strasbourg and in Marseille) reachable
from the main web site (http://www.arpenteur.net). The
user can create his own workspace during the login and
upload his data files. Several examples (from
architectural or aerial photogrammetry), details about the
configuration, help files and papers are available on the
ARPENTEUR web page.
Year |Version Java & Comments
plug-ins
May 1.0 J.D.K. First version presented
1998 1.1.5 at Hakodate
(ISPRS Comm. 5)
July 1.1 J.D.K. Version presented at
2000 1.1.8 CATCON
(ISPRS Amsterdam)
January 2.0 J.D.K. 1.3 | Image processing with
2001 hd. AT. J.A.I.
1.0.2 I-MAGE 3D modeling
method
End 3.0 J.D.K.1.3+ | XML for Document
2001 J.A.I. 1.1 Type Definition
Summer | 3.1 JDK.14 |v Bridge from
2002 + Photomodeler™
TAA. 1.1.1] V. *ML
generalization
Y . Special module
for amphora survey in
underwater photo-
grammetry context
Table 1. Evolution of ARPENTEUR since 1998
Abbreviations:
J.D.K.: Java Development Kit
J.A.L: Java Advanced Imaging
XML: Extensible Markup Language
We plan to upgrade both servers in Marseilles and Strasbourg
with the ultimate version of ARPENTEUR in Autumn 2002. It
will be possible, with this version to work with photographs
stored on the local hard disk.
1.3 Link with other software
Since ARPENTEUR version 3.0 (January 2002), XML has
been chosen to structure the photogrammetric orientation data
and to represent the measured data collected during the
plotting phase. The aim was to increase interoperability
between ARPENTEUR and other software packages. We think
that it is significant to propose an approach for standardisation.
More effective communication between these products will be
possible.
We made a bridge from PhotoModeler TM to ARPENTEUR in
order to upload photogrammetric data computed with this well
known software. We can import both calibrated cameras,
measured points and computed orientations. Of course this
bridge is completely dependent on the output file format of the
target software and can't be portable.
On the other hand, we can export 3D data relating the survey,
to VRML format, MicroStation (from Bentley) and POV-Ray.
The problem is always the same one: we use an internal format
and make several bridges to several visualization software
packages.
2. THE XML CHOICE
It is not reasonable to imagine to develop a bridge for all of
existing photogrammetric software packages.
From the photogrammetric point of view, we propose XML
data structure to represent the data. All photogrammetric data
in ARPENTEUR are stored in XML files. This is a convenient
way to share data with other applications for two family of
reasons:
- considering the heterogeneous data to manage in a
photogrammetric survey, a XML structuring is a good
opportunity to federate it in a single document.
- It is then possible to elaborate a request on the whole set
of data and write a simple and automatic publication in
HTML or PDF.
The XML document structure allows different kind of data
indexation:
- Intuitive way, by interactive navigation,
- Simple way as keyword research,
- Accurate way by request as we can do in a traditional
DBMS with SQL.
The second family of reasons is the intrinsic interoperability
structure of XML documents. The document structure is
described in a separate file that allows the user to seek in the
document and get only the relevant information.
As the number of software tools is continuously growing, the
photogrammetric field is still missing some common way to
provide simple and efficient way to exchange data. This lack
of standardisation leads to a waste of time, energy and
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