At the Mainz University of Applied Sciences information day on April 18, 2026, Niklas Bockshecker and Prof. Dr. Martin Schlüter demonstrated the Mobile Mapper from the Institute for Spatial Information and Measurement Technology ( i3mainz).
Felix Burchert (left) and Luca Steinmann (right) preparing for a GNSS survey run. Photo: Martin Schlüter, CC BY SA 4.0
In short: A NION 3D camera from IDS Imaging is paired with GNSS receivers from u-blox. In conjunction with the high-precision GNSS correction data services SAPOS HEPS/GPPS, the 3D camera can be positioned with high accuracy more than twenty times per second while the vehicle is in motion. The setup is modular: A battery-powered PoE injector ensures that the system operates without a fixed power outlet and can be mounted either on a trailer hitch or on a tractor. SAPOS is provided by our partner, the Rhineland-Palatinate State Office for Surveying and Geobasis Information. Relevant preliminary studies on our GNSS workflows were successfully conducted by Felix Burchert, Janick Hammes, and Luca Steinmann as early as 2025.
In the summer semester of 2026, Prof. Dr. Florian Schill and Prof. Dr. Martin Schlüter will work with small groups of students in the Master’s program in Geoinformatics and Surveying on further approaches to vehicle-mounted mobile mapping. Machine learning and AI will enable the automated provision of the resulting geodata. A master’s thesis to be completed in early summer will aim to assess the condition of paths and roads; it will be carried out in coordination with the Rhineland-Palatinate Rural Service Centers.
