A PC - BASED SOLUTION FOR COMPUTER AIDED PHOTOGRAMMETRIC 
MAPPING ON ANALOG STEREOPLOTTERS 
Dragan Mihajlovié, Zeljko Cvijetinovié 
Institute of Geodesy, Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Belgrade 
Bul. Revolucije 73, 11000 Belgrade, Yugoslavia 
Commission ll, Working Group 5 
KEY WORDS: Mapping, Automation, Acquisition, Restitution, Digitization, GIS 
ABSTRACT: 
The development of the computer aided photogrammetric restitution in Yugoslavia during last decade has been conditioned 
by the following facts: procurement of the analytical instruments was impossible; analog stereoplotters still in good operating 
condition are dominant; utilization of the PC technology is extensive. 
In such circumstances decision has been made at the Laboratory for Photogrammetry at Faculty of Civil Engineering in 
Belgrade to rely on the original, self-styled development of computer aided restitution based on instruments with mechanical 
construction and PC technology. The review of that development, the acquired experiences and the basic characteristics of 
the developed software are presented in the paper. All implemented solutions are completely in compliance with the modern 
  
software development, which means an open software that increasingly independent from the hardware. 
Special attention is paid to the significance of the original development concerning GIS/LIS development in Yugoslavia and 
education of personnel acquainted with digital technology. 
1. INTRODUCTION 
Appearance of IBM PC compatible computers in the last 
decade enabled revolutionary progress in development of 
computer aided mapping on analog photogrammetric 
instruments. That progress was encouraged by technical 
development of PC computers and by constant tendency to 
decrease prices of PC components. In the middle 80-ies 
photogrammetric practice in Yugoslavia had great interest 
in application of analytical photogrammetric methods, first of 
all in block aerotriangulation, followed by interest in 
numerical photogrammetric restitution, and finally in 
completely digital photogrammetric mapping. However, at 
that time, such needs could be satisfied only by 
procurement of new analytical instruments. 
Due to the economic difficulties, possibilities for significant 
renovation of the existing equipment with analytical 
instruments was simply out of question. Occasional 
procurements, that took place, did not significantly change 
situation in photogrammetric practice where analog 
instruments were dominant. Many of analog instruments 
were still in extremely good condition, so some 
compromised solutions were required. These solutions had 
to consider adaptation of the available instruments and 
possibly engagement of the existing photogrammetric 
operators in computer aided mapping. 
2. CHRONOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT OF 
COMPUTER AIDED PHOTOGRAMMETRIC 
MAPPING 
The first steps in the field of computer aided 
photogrammetric mapping were made in 1987, when under 
the leadership of the Laboratory for Photogrammetry, 
Faculty of Civil Engineering in Belgrade, the original 
software and hardware system, named PPC system, for 
support of numerical photogrammetric measurement on 
analog instruments was developed. The main PPC system 
components at the time included: 
e 8 bit PC XT encoder interface board (PPC board), 
e |BM PC XT computer with peripherals, 
e Software for computer aided orientation and numerical 
photogrammetric measurement called PPCSoft. 
Two years latter, in 1989, the system was extended with a 
new software package which enabled interactive computer 
support to measurement of independent models for block 
aerotriangulation. The package was also compatible with 
already developed PC software for block aerotriangulation 
adjustment using independent models. During the same 
year, the system was improved with 16-bit PC AT encoder 
interface board. 
In 1991, prototype of the software for digital 
photogrammetric mapping was developed at the 
Laboratory for Photogrammetry, Faculty of Civil Engineering 
244 
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXI, Part B2. Vienna 1996 
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