An Imaging Network Design for UGV-Based 3D Reconstruction of Buildings

Imaging network design is a crucial step in most image-based 3D reconstruction applications based on Structure from Motion (SfM) and multi-view stereo (MVS) methods. This paper proposes a novel photogrammetric algorithm for imaging network design for building 3D reconstruction purposes. The proposed methodology consists of two main steps: (i) the generation of candidate viewpoints and (ii) the clustering and selection of vantage viewpoints. The first step includes the identification of initial candidate viewpoints, selecting the candidate viewpoints in the optimum range, and defining viewpoint direction stages. In the second step, four challenging approaches—named façade pointing, centre pointing, hybrid, and both centre & façade pointing—are proposed. The entire methodology is implemented and evaluated in both simulation and real-world experiments. In the simulation experiment, a building and its environment are computer-generated in the ROS (Robot Operating System) Gazebo environment and a map is created by using a simulated robot and Gmapping algorithm based on a Simultaneously Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithm using a simulated Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV). In the real-world experiment, the proposed methodology is evaluated for all four approaches for a real building with two common approaches, called continuous image capturing and continuous image capturing & clustering and selection approaches. The results of both evaluations reveal that the fusion of centre & façade pointing approach is more efficient than all other approaches in terms of both accuracy and completeness criteria.