When a road is repaired, it is easy to conduct a survey on a road condition of the road at the time of start of repair. An orthoimage creation method of the present invention includes: a coordinate acquisition step of acquiring three-dimensional coordinates for a plurality of feature points; a photographing step of photographing, by a camera 3, a plurality of photographed images such that each of the plurality of feature points is included in at least two of the photographed images; and an orthoimage creation step of creating an orthoimage with a ground pixel size of 5 mm or less on the basis of the three-dimensional coordinates of each of the feature points acquired in the coordinate acquisition step, and the plurality of photographed images photographed in the photographing step.

The invention relates to a method of creating a map of a navigation region of a vehicle, the method comprising: traveling along a path, predefined by a track guidance marking present in the navigation region, with the vehicle; determining distances of the vehicle from objects possibly present in an environment of the path; and creating the map based on the track guidance marking and on the distances. The invention further relates to a method of determining a pose of a vehicle in a navigation region, the method comprising: determining a position of the vehicle relative to a track guidance marking present in the navigation region; determining distances of the vehicle from objects possibly present in an environment of the vehicle; and determining the pose based on the position, on the distances, and on a map. The invention further relates to a corresponding mapping apparatus and to a corresponding localization apparatus.

Systems, methods, and apparatus for tracking location of an inspection robot are disclosed. An example apparatus for tracking inspection data may include an inspection chassis having a plurality of inspection sensors configured to interrogate an inspection surface, a first drive module and a second drive module, both coupled to the inspection chassis. The first and second drive module may each include a passive encoder wheel and a non-contact sensor positioned in proximity to the passive encoder wheel, wherein the non-contact sensor provides a movement value corresponding to the first passive encoder wheel. An inspection position circuit may determine a relative position of the inspection chassis in response to the movement values from the first and second drive modules.

Example embodiments of the described technology provide apparatus and methods for measuring slope angles of surfaces. An example apparatus for measuring a slope angle of a surface may comprise a first laser and a second laser. The first and second lasers may be separated from one another and may be configured to emit parallel light beams towards the surface. The apparatus may also comprise at least one image sensor operable to capture images of the light beams scattered from the surface. The apparatus may also comprise at least one lens positioned to collect the light beams scattered from the surface and focus the scattered light beams onto the at least one image sensor. A controller may be configured to switch one of the first laser and the second laser off to avoid optical interference or cross-talk of the light beams emitted from both the first and second lasers at the at least one image sensor. Additionally, or alternatively, beams emitted by one or both of the lasers may be conditioned to avoid optical interference or cross-talk.

An inspection robot incudes a robot body, at least two sensors, a drive module, a stability assist device and an actuator. The at least two sensors are positioned to interrogate an inspection surface and are communicatively coupled to the robot body. The drive module includes at least two wheels that engage the inspection surface. The drive module is coupled to the robot body. The stability assist device is coupled to at least one of the robot body or the drive module. The actuator is coupled to the stability assist device at a first end, and coupled to one of the drive module or the robot body at a second end. The actuator is structured to selectively move the stability assist device between a first position and a second position. The first position includes a stored position. The second position includes a deployed position.

A measurement apparatus (100) mountable on a movable apparatus (700) includes a first imaging device (130-1) configured to capture an image in a first image capture direction, the first image capture direction having a first angle with respect to a direction of travel of the movable apparatus (700), and a second imaging device (130-2) disposed next to the first imaging device (130-1) configured to capture an image in a second image capture direction, the second image capture direction having a second angle with respect to the direction of travel of the movable apparatus (700). The first imaging device (130-1) and the second imaging device (130-2) are disposed to overlap at least partially a first imaging range of the first imaging device (130-1) and a second imaging range of the second imaging device (130-2). At least one of the first image capture direction of the first imaging device (130-1) and the second image capture direction of the second imaging device (130-2) is set at a given angle with respect to a width dimension of the movable apparatus (700).

There is disclosed a mobile pavement surface scanning system and method, In an embodiment, the system comprises one or more stereoscopic image capturing devices synchronised with one or more light sources mounted on the platform for illuminating a pavement surface, mounted on a mobile survey platform that provides a trigger mechanism to capture sequential image pairs of the illuminated pavement surface and a movement sensor that continuously measures the movement of the platform and a synchronization signal for time or distance synchronized image capture with accurate GPS positioning. One or more computers process the synchronized images captured stamps the images with one or more of time and distance data, GPS location and calculated 3D elevation for each point on the pavement surface using stereoscopic principles, and assesses the quality of the pavement surface to determine the level of pavement surface deterioration.

There is disclosed a mobile pavement surface scanning system and method, In an embodiment, the system comprises one or more stereoscopic image capturing devices synchronised with one or more light sources mounted on the platform for illuminating a pavement surface, mounted on a mobile survey platform that provides a trigger mechanism to capture sequential image pairs of the illuminated pavement surface and a movement sensor that continuously measures the movement of the platform and a synchronization signal for time or distance synchronized image capture with accurate GPS positioning. One or more computers process the synchronized images captured stamps the images with one or more of time and distance data, GPS location and calculated 3D elevation for each point on the pavement surface using stereoscopic principles, and assesses the quality of the pavement surface to determine the level of pavement surface deterioration.

A method for measuring and displaying the track geometry of a track system uses a track-driveable permanent-way machine, comprising a control measurement system measuring the track position to be corrected before a lifting and lining device, an acceptance measurement system measuring the corrected track position after it, and output units displaying the measured values. The lifting and lining device is controlled depending on the measured values of the control measurement system and the acceptance measurement system to achieve a specified target track geometry. A three-dimensional position image is calculated from the curvature image (k.sub.(s)), longitudinal level image (h.sub.(s)) and superelevation image (u.sub.(s)) of the target track geometry, put into a perspective display, and displayed by the output unit, supplemented by measured error curves for track parameters of track direction, superelevation, twist, and longitudinal level.

A method for measuring and displaying the track geometry of a track system uses a track-driveable permanent-way machine, comprising a control measurement system measuring the track position to be corrected before a lifting and lining device, an acceptance measurement system measuring the corrected track position after it, and output units displaying the measured values. The lifting and lining device is controlled depending on the measured values of the control measurement system and the acceptance measurement system to achieve a specified target track geometry. A three-dimensional position image is calculated from the curvature image (k.sub.(s)), longitudinal level image (h.sub.(s)) and superelevation image (u.sub.(s)) of the target track geometry, put into a perspective display, and displayed by the output unit, supplemented by measured error curves for track parameters of track direction, superelevation, twist, and longitudinal level.