From theory straight to practice: Under the guidance of Florian Schill and Martin Schlüter, the lecture hall was quickly swapped for the Laboratory for 3D Measurement Technology and Transportation Infrastructure located near Mainz University of Applied Sciences and the MEWA ARENA. The shared goal quickly brought the 13 master’s students together: their task was to integrate highly complex sensors into fully functional prototype mobile mappers.
Students in the “Kinematic Measurement Methods” module at work, Photo: Martin Schlüter, CC BY-SA 4.0
Joining forces, the small groups transformed a passenger car equipped with a rear rack and the AIGeo department’s measurement bus into rolling high-tech laboratories. Working in a coordinated effort, they installed the various sensors on the vehicles and took them out onto the road in quick succession:
- Profile scanners for a highly accurate 3D panoramic view
- Time-of-flight cameras and stereo cameras for a sharp view of road damage and traffic infrastructure
- GNSS & INS or, alternatively, four low-cost GNSS units operating in parallel as a stable foundation for positioning and time synchronization.
Team spirit was particularly evident when tackling tricky details. Whether it was sensor calibration or the synchronization of data streams—each small group overcame its challenges through dedication, collaboration, and teamwork.
Image on the left: Visualization of the signed deviations of the mobile mapping system’s point cloud relative to ALS reference data. Yellow-green areas indicate agreement with the reference.
Image on the right: Intensity representation of the mobile mapping point cloud. Blue indicates low intensity values, red indicates high intensity values.
The test runs in early June became a highlight of the module: When the systems they built themselves delivered verifiable 3D point clouds and precise data in real-world applications, the entire team was thrilled. A remarkable practical achievement that demonstrates what can be accomplished through true teamwork.
On behalf of all student participants, Niklas Bockshecker presented the projects as part of i3talks, the regular forum for all staff members at the Institute for Spatial Information and Measurement Technology ( i3mainz).
