ARCHIMEDES3D - AN INTEGRATED SYSTEM FOR THE GENERATION OF 
ARCHITECTURAL ORTHOIMAGES 
Albert Wiedemann *, John Moré and Rüdiger Tauch 
FPK Ingenieur GmbH, Feurigstr. 54, 10827 Berlin, Germany - {A.Wiedemann, J.More, R.Tauch}@fpk.de 
Working Group VI 
KEY WORDS: Architecture, Cultural Heritage, Orthoimage, Documentation, Surveying, Scanning, Toolbox, Rectification 
ABSTRACT: 
A true ortho image and it’s appertaining digital surface model (DSM) provide most the of geometric information required for the 
documentation of a building façade. There are different techniques available to acquire the information requested to generate a DSM. 
In this paper we describe how a motorized and reflectorless total station controlled by the software package Archimedes3D can be 
used to determine the necessary information. Apart from a total station, a laptop and a digital camera are the only hardware 
components needed to complete these tasks. After establishing of the site covering reference system the total station is used to scan 
the surface of the object in a point density which can be adapted to the local requirements. The lower data rate of a total station 
compared to laser scanners can be compensated by maintaining intelligent control of the measurement process. 
1. MOTIVATION 
1.1 Introduction 
For the documentation of cultural heritage geometric and 
thematic information is required. There is a large variety of 
different techniques to acquire the high quality geometric 
information of cultural significant buildings. Among them are 
geodetic techniques, photogrammetry and laser scanners. Laser 
scanners and stereo photogrammetric equipment are expensive 
and requires skilled personnel for the usage. The application of 
such expensive equipment and personnel is only justifiable for 
large projects with big budgets. Most projects have very limited 
resources and most buildings do not demand the usage of laser 
scanners at the complete site. Single image photogrammetry and 
bundle photogrammetry are well suited for simple objects with 
a limited number of sharply defined geometric features. Tacheo- 
metry of the whole object might be a time consuming process, 
depending on its complexity. 
Figure 1. Image of an object 
Figure 2. Insufficient result from projective rectification - the 
balconies are dislocated. 
But a total station is required at each documentation site to 
provide the control network and good digital cameras become 
affordable. Therefore the idea was borne to combine a modem, 
motorized total station and a digital camera to derive digital 
orthoimages of architectural objects, primarily of facades. 
1.2 Architectural Orthoimages 
A true orthoimage and it’s appertaining digital surface model 
(DSM) provide most of the geometric and radiometric 
information required for the documentation of a building 
façade. The geometric quality of the orthoimage depends on the 
quality and density of the DSM. 
There are also different techniques to acquire the necessary 3D 
information for the generation of the DSM. Among this 
techniques are again laser scanning, 3D photogrammetry and 
tacheometry. 
Corresponding author. This is useful to know for communication with the appropriate person in cases with more than one author.