OpenMMS Data Processing Tutorial

Did you know that included within the OpenMMS documentation (perhaps a bit too buried to be easily found) is a complete lidar and imagery data processing tutorial?!? The tutorial walks you through each of the processing, calibration, QA/QC, and deliverable creation steps of the OpenMMS solution. The tutorial utilizes the OpenMMS Demo Project Data (VLP-16), which is an Open Data Commons licensed collection of drone-captured lidar, GNSS-INS, imagery, and video data (as directly downloaded from an OpenMMS sensor), along with a supporting set of GNSS reference station data and ground control points.

Even if you are not interested in the OpenMMS hardware aspects, perhaps you are a student wanting to learn more about lidar mapping with drones, the data processing tutorial is designed to explain and showcase a complete RPAS-Lidar data processing workflow. The tutorial includes over 100 images/screenshots, 4 detailed videos, and clear and concise instructions. The detailed videos showcase how to use the 3rd party geospatial software applications required as part of the OpenMMS data processing workflow, including Applanix POSPac UAV, Pix4Dmapper, and CloudCompare. However, as most users will not have full licenses for POSPac and Pix4D, the necessary datasets produced from these applications are also included as part of the tutorial.

Click here to start the tutorial!

Orthomosaic produced from the OpenMMS Demo Project Data (VLP-16)

Livox MID-40 lidar sensor integration (update 1)

Happy to report that the Livox MID-40 lidar sensor integration into the OpenMMS v1.3 hardware design is now complete! With all the hardware now installed within the aluminum case, the development efforts have shifted to focus on updating the OpenMMS real-time firmware and the post-processing applications to support the new lidar sensor. Further updates to come!


Let the collaboration begin

Today the OpenMMS project officially became a collaborative initiative! The project’s first-ever GitHub pull request for the OpenPyLivox (OPL) library was received and is now in the review and merge process. Anjali Zope, a high school senior from Pacific Collegiate School in Santa Cruz, CA. contributed an LVX binary file reader to OPL. The reader allows point cloud and IMU data recorded using the manufacturer’s Livox-Viewer application to now be accessible within OPL. Ms. Zope’s current interest in Livox lidar sensors is a result of her involvement within a UAS-Lidar mapping project at the University of Southern California, where she is mentored by Marshall Rogers-Martinez, Ph.D., an engineer at Joby Aviation.

https://github.com/ryan-brazeal-ufl/OpenPyLivox