The Leica Pegasus TRK Neo is a complete high-level mobile mapping solution that is much easier to use.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PARTNER
Mobile mapping looks set to be transformed with the arrival of a very capable new instrument, the Leica Pegasus TRK Neo from Leica Geosystems.
Leica describes the Pegasus TRK Neo as the “future of mobile mapping” and it’s easy to see why, as the instrument is easier to use than its predecessors and far more capable. The company hails its ability to make mobile mapping workflows autonomous and accessible to more professionals, opening up more revenue and generating business opportunities across a wide range of industries.
Importantly, the TRK Neo can be used to accelerate users’ plans to create accurate, high-quality digital twins while increasing efficiency in the field and in the office. And because it’s easier to use, the Pegasus TRK requires less training.
“It’s a very exciting piece of equipment,” said Sam Hesper, scanning sales consultant for CR Kennedy, distributor of the Pegasus TRK Neo. “It is designed to be much simpler, more autonomous and simpler than previous versions of mobile mapping systems.”
The scanning hardware
The Pegasus TRK Neo comes in two versions: the TRK500 Neo and the TRK700 Neo. The TRK500 Neo is a data-efficient single LiDAR scanner option, capturing 500,000 points per second. The TRK700 Neo has dual scanners for when higher point cloud density is required, capable of capturing one million points per second.
A typical installation will include a scanning unit, plus a control unit and a battery unit. The control unit allows the user to go directly from data capture to processing on the fly, without further transcoding, storage overhead or time-consuming errors during data transfer.
The battery unit has a safe transport mode, which means that lithium-ion batteries can be transported safely. It can be expanded with up to three batteries for up to 21 hours of operation or hot-swappable for continuous power.
Weighing just 18kg with its unique swivel and tilt mounting platform, the Pegasus TRK can be safely set up and operated by one person.
The ergonomic, lightweight carrying platform swivels and tilts to securely place the Pegasus TRK system in the user’s vehicle. The platform rotates in three positions (-30°/0°/+30°), which allows TRK500 data collection on the diagonal, as well as a cross point cloud pattern from multi-pass acquisitions, which can usually only be achieved with a dual scanner. .
“Laser scanners provide complete three-dimensional point cloud datasets of the environment. So if you go down a road and measure, it will map the road surface, white lines, road barriers, signage, overhead power lines, bridges, trees, anything you go through. All of that information is really useful for engineering projects,” Hesper said.
There’s even an automated process where you can sort the dataset into categories like pavement, vegetation, power lines, etc.
The photogrammetry hardware
The Pegasus TRK features a 360⁰ panoramic camera on top with additional front, side and rear butterfly cameras. Augmented with the additional detail cameras, it increases the system’s combined resolution to 120 MP. Additional cameras create data-rich images, while enhanced calibration delivers true-color images based on the CIEDE2000 color difference formula.
The integration of IMU and SLAM technology into the Pegasus TRK sensor architecture enables georeferencing in challenging GNSS-denied environments. Precision RTK positioning provides centimeter-level location accuracy, in real-time.
“You might be going through a tunnel, or you might be in an urban canyon. With the help of SLAM technology, it will maintain accuracy for longer through these difficult areas, increasing the accuracy of the data,” Hesper said. .
“The product has two circular scan heads. There’s one on the back and one on the bottom front of the unit. They’re separate laser scanner units that are collecting data for the SLAM, and that’s all going “backstage”.
Trajectory accuracy is further enhanced with the help of optical and mechanical distance measurement units (DMI) installed at the rear and side of the vehicle respectively. DMIs accurately measure travel distance in GNSS-challenged conditions. Optical DMI provides more security by avoiding the traditional sliding error of wheel-based DMIs.
The fully integrated modular imaging system allows the user to add more cameras for more angles, more detail and more possibilities, while automatic camera calibration simplifies and streamlines the system. Collection is done at up to eight frames per second so no detail is lost.
The software
The new Leica Pegasus FIELD software brings autonomy to data collection, allowing users to plan routes and set goals for each project from the office or in the field. Reliable data acquisition takes into account satellite availability and signal coverage for automated routing, while state-of-the-art computing and on-the-fly processing means data is collected and enhanced in real time , at the speed of traffic. The software guides the user through project setup and planning, with the added ability to use predefined profiles to achieve the best possible results.
With an experience that will be familiar to users of the established Cyclone software ecosystem, Leica Cyclone Pegasus OFFICE provides seamless data flow in post-processing and publishing workflows. Users can complete all their processing requirements in a single solution, including data refinement with precision georeferencing and multi-pass trajectory fitting, and automatically creating 3D point cloud data with privacy-compliant colors .
While in use, intelligent routing is used to achieve the most efficient data collection, while sensors are activated autonomously along the planned route. The live view in the field of data acquisition is highlighted on the base map.
People and vehicles are anonymized in real time, protecting citizens’ privacy and ensuring GDPR compliance. Integrated with a real-time AI algorithm, the Pegasus TRK solution identifies and blurs entire objects directly in images as the data is collected. All information is encrypted and does not leave the Pegasus TRK system.
Put it to use
“More productivity, easier to use, more ergonomic”, is how Hesper sums up the TRK Neo.
“You don’t need to be a full-fledged mobile mapping expert to use it, and you can have just one person driving the equipment, where historically you would need one person to drive the car and have one person using a laptop or a computer in the passenger seat. But with the TRK, everything is done on a tablet screen, and everything can be pre-programmed,” he added.
Hesper points out that it does not have to be a passenger car, but can be mounted on any type of mobile platform.
“You can capture miles and miles of information in a day, and if you compare that to having a surveyor out there with a GPS stick or a total station, and how long it would take to capture the amount of data that this unit can, it just doesn’t it compares,” Hesper said.
“And then you have the question of accessing the road. If it’s a freeway and there’s a big intersection to do, how do you get surveyors onto the road safely without closing lanes and creating all sorts of inconvenience? It is very long and difficult to do.
“But if you can just drive at highway speed and do a few passes with this mobile scanner, you have more data than you could otherwise capture, and it’s safer, faster, and just as accurate.”
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