MAP-Tk: Motion Imagery Aerial Photogrammetry Toolkit

ABSTRACT: Kitware proposes MAP-Tk, the open-source Motion imagery Aerial Photogrammetry Toolkit, designed for optimized sparse bundle adjustment (SBA) of FMV and WAMI. The software will use aerial video imagery to accurately estimate the pose and path of the camera as well as a sparse point cloud of 3D structure, even when GPS is denied. Our proposed toolkit has a highly configurable and modular design supporting interchange of implementations for algorithms such as feature detection, description, correspondence, and SBA. Our Phase 1 work was highly successful, and in Phase 2 Kitware will continue this work by creating an online processing mode and pushing the performance toward real-time. Accuracy and speed will continue to improve through advancements in algorithms as well as GPU and multithreaded parallel processing. Additionally, Phase 2 will add new features such a graphical user interface (GUI), a Python scripting interface, mosaic image generation, and geographic registration to reference imagery. MAP-Tk has great potential in both the military and commercial UAS markets. Applications range from mapping crop damage in precision agriculture to 3D terrain modeling to autonomous GPS-denied navigation. BENEFIT: The primary benefit of the proposed work is a solution to problem of camera calibration from motion imagery that is far faster and more accurate than the existing state-of-the-art. This solution will reduce reliance of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) systems on inertial navigation and global positioning, which are often unreliable or unavailable. Likewise, it will have the same benefit for commercial mapping applications that rely on aerial video for mapping and 3D urban modeling. The commercial applications of the proposed work center on the emerging civil unmanned aerial systems (UAS) market. The proposed work will enable UAS technology and services companies to integrate a readily customizable toolkit to provide their customers with more accurate mosaicking and 3D models from FMV and WAMI video coupled with UAS flight paths. This technology will benefit the range of customers leveraging UAS, including precision agriculture; security and monitoring for public safety; exploration, aid efforts, and disaster recovery; journalism, filmmaking, and entertainment; and environmental monitoring.