4 replies to this topic

[Jake H]

I've only used the same stereoplotters that I work with now, the Kern PG2 and the Wild BC-1. Both of them have been analytically converted with inhouse technology.

Because I'm pretty new to the world of photogrammetry, I'm curious to see what other makes of such machines exist. There isn't a whole lot of information avalible that I could find online about the manual setups (with the data tablet attached, etc - old, old, old technology I know).

Would anyone else care to share?

[Martin Gamache]

The limited photogrammetry I do now is all softcopy and is being done with PCI Orthoengine suite.

[patdunlavey]

I've only used the same stereoplotters that I work with now, the Kern PG2 and the Wild BC-1. Both of them have been analytically converted with inhouse technology.

Because I'm pretty new to the world of photogrammetry, I'm curious to see what other makes of such machines exist. There isn't a whole lot of information avalible that I could find online about the manual setups (with the data tablet attached, etc - old, old, old technology I know).

Would anyone else care to share?

I have a Galileo Stereosimplex G6 with encoders that I've had for a dozen years. It's a pretty nice, very stable machine with better ergonomics than most. No hand-wheels. I never hooked up the encoders to an interface card and photogrammetric software. Rather, I just hooked up a tablet digitizer to the pantograph take-off arm and digitized into a CAD program. Stereomodel orientations I did the old - pre-digital - way, no aerotriangulation. I used it to make orienteering basemaps for several years. It is mostly idle now.

Analog (and analytical) stereoplotters are very much a legacy of earlier times, and are rapidly being replaced by softcopy systems. It's even starting to be difficult to find aerial photography in the form of diapositives, as most companies have switched to delivering their imagery digitally. If you're looking for softcopy systems, there are many to choose from. The only real experience I have with softcopy was extensive testing of VirtuoZo from Supresoft - a Chinese company. The principle attraction there was the cost: less than half what the North American and European companies charge. It also had some very powerful automated functions for orientation and AT.

If you decide to try out softcopy, let me know. I've got liquid crystal shutter glasses, stereo video card, and a Stealth 3-D mouse that I would part with for substantially less than I paid for them!

-Pat

[Lui]

I'm using a digital workstation based on Leica Photogrammetry Suite and ORIMA for photogrammetry work and Terrasolid products for LIDAR workflow. I'm not working in stereo mode due to LIDAR data availabillity but I was using Stereo Analyst for ArcGIS. It is very slow pice of software and I really hate it. I would consider PRO600 from Leica. It is not perfect but it is compatible with Leica software.

Lui

[Jake H]

Thanks for the information there Pat!

I have never used (or even seen) a softcopy setup. From what I understand, using orthorectified images, it projects an image through a Z-screen which when viewed with polarized glasses (like you'd wear in a iMax 3D theatre) gives the operator an illusion of depth allowing them to map... Am I close enough?

At work, its been on the table for a long time to get one of these setups. I am under the impression that both the licensing and the hardware is very expensive? How powerful does a PC have to be to process so much information? I am told that there will be a lot of lag and 'choppy' display if the computer isn't built for running softcopy. Sorry about all the questions there

I have a Galileo Stereosimplex G6 with encoders that I've had for a dozen years. It's a pretty nice, very stable machine with better ergonomics than most. No hand-wheels. I never hooked up the encoders to an interface card and photogrammetric software. Rather, I just hooked up a tablet digitizer to the pantograph take-off arm and digitized into a CAD program. Stereomodel orientations I did the old - pre-digital - way, no aerotriangulation. I used it to make orienteering basemaps for several years. It is mostly idle now.

Analog (and analytical) stereoplotters are very much a legacy of earlier times, and are rapidly being replaced by softcopy systems. It's even starting to be difficult to find aerial photography in the form of diapositives, as most companies have switched to delivering their imagery digitally. If you're looking for softcopy systems, there are many to choose from. The only real experience I have with softcopy was extensive testing of VirtuoZo from Supresoft - a Chinese company. The principle attraction there was the cost: less than half what the North American and European companies charge. It also had some very powerful automated functions for orientation and AT.

If you decide to try out softcopy, let me know. I've got liquid crystal shutter glasses, stereo video card, and a Stealth 3-D mouse that I would part with for substantially less than I paid for them!

-Pat