THE DEVELOPMENT of GIPSICAM V3 a MOBILE MAPPING SYSTEM for RAPID ROAD ASSET DATA CAPTURE

THE DEVELOPMENT OF GIPSICAM v3 A MOBILE MAPPING SYSTEM FOR RAPID ROAD ASSET DATA CAPTURE By Dennis Robert Entriken B.Sc., James Cook University, Australia, 1992 A thesis submitted to The University of New South Wales in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy School of Surveying and Spatial Information Systems The University of New South Wales Sydney, NSW 2053, Australia March 2011 2 ORIGINALITY STATEMENT 'I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person. or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution. except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. 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Date .......?. .t/. .3/..?P..II.... ............................................. 4 Abstract ABSTRACT The use of a Mobile Mapping System (MMS) to quickly collect large amounts of data has been proven to be a cost effective and very beneficial technology for Road Authorities around the world. Early in the development of MMS technology the Roads and Traffic Authority of NSW (RTA) recognised the benefits of utilising such a system in the management and maintenance of their state road network and developed the first generation GIPSICAM system. GIPSICAM, which is an acronym for “Global and Inertial Positioning Systems with Image Capture for Asset Management”, is the RTA’s in-house developed, operated and maintained vehicle-mounted MMS. The first generation GIPSICAM system (GCv1) had no stable configuration and was modified for each project it was used for. Then in 1999 the second generation GIPSICAM system (GCv2) was developed for the lead up to the 2000 Olympic Games. Development of GCv2 continued after the Olympic Games and its operation was institutionalised in the annual surveys of NSW state roads from 2001 onwards. In July 2004 a strategic report on RTA Pavement Condition Monitoring Equipment was released that identified GIPSICAM data as an important RTA corporate dataset. However, the report also identified serious reliability issues with GCv2 due to the ad- hoc nature of its development and the age of some of its technology and equipment. In early 2005 the decision was made to develop the third generation GIPSICAM system (GCv3), also known as “GIPSICAM Version 3”. The objective of the development work was to take advantage of the experience from previous generation GIPSICAM systems in order to design a MMS that utilises current technology to ensure that the RTA has a reliable, safe, efficient, accurate, high quality GIPSICAM capability for the purpose of rapid road asset data capture and other applications of MMS technology. GCv3 was completed in mid-2006 and officially commenced operations in September 2006, at the start of the 2006/2007 GIPSICAM survey season. i Abstract This thesis outlines the development of GCv3, from the selection and modification of the vehicle, the selection and integration of component technologies, and the development of operational procedures for rapid road asset data capture. ii Acknowledgments ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This research was undertaken on a part-time basis during the period from February 2005 through to September 2006 under the supervision of Professor Chris Rizos, from the University of NSW, and Mr Steve Greening, from the Roads and Traffic Authority of NSW. I am sincerely grateful to them both for their encouragement and guidance throughout this project. I wish to thank my colleagues at the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority, for their support and assistance. In particular I wish to thank Mr Michael Vernon for sharing his vast experience as an operator in the previous GIPSICAM vehicle out-in-the-field and his handyman / tradesman skills that came in very useful in the planning and fit-out of the new vehicle. I also wish to thank Mr Ken Root and Mr Brendan Root for the programming work they undertook modernising the GIPSICAM software and incorporating the new features and functionality of GCv3 into the GIPSICAM software suite. Finally, again I wish to thank Mr Steve Greening for taking me under-his-wing as an understudy of the work he had undertaken on previous generations of the GIPSICAM system as part of the RTA’s knowledge transfer process before he retired, for allowing me the opportunity to develop the next generation GIPSICAM system, and for his coaching and mentoring to enable me to take on the role of managing the GIPSICAM system after he retired. I wish to thank my RTA colleagues (some of who have now retired) that supported the development of the next generation GIPSICAM system. In particular I wish to thank Mr Ron Ferguson and Mr David Pratt, who provided funding for the development of GCv3. I also wish to thank my senior management colleagues, Mr Peter Collins, Mr Michael Bushby, Mr Chris Harrison, Mr Steve Dunlop and Mr Mark Gordon, for their far- sighted and continued support of the GIPSICAM system. I wish to thank David Morphett and the guys from ETT, Brett Franzi from Industrial Evolution, Kevin Dowsey from Total-turkey solutions, and Ron Elliott from ARRB. iii Acknowledgments I wish to thank my wife and best friend Lihua for her patience and encouragement, particularly during the time I was writing up this thesis, when I was struggling for time and motivation to complete the write-up while working full time under the pressures of a never-ending business review, the constant possibility of the outsourcing of our work, the stress of managing a team of people who are trying to cope with the ongoing uncertainty and change in the workplace, and the limitations in terms of permanent resources. Lihua also provided assistance in proofreading this thesis, which is very much appreciated. Last, but not least, I wish to thank my parents Neil and Robena Entriken for providing me with the means to acquire an education and giving me the best chance they could to “live long and prosper” in this modern world. Views expressed in this thesis are those of the author, and are not necessarily the views of the Roads and Traffic Authority of NSW. iv Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................. v LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... x LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... xiv GLOSSARY AND DEFINITIONS ................................................................................ xv ACRONYMS AND INITIALISMS .............................................................................. xvi CHAPTER 1 ..................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 What is a Mobile Mapping System (MMS)? .............................................................. 1 1.3 What is GIPSICAM? .................................................................................................. 3 1.4 A brief history

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