US military builds laser backpack for 3D indoor mapping Military-funded researchers in the US have developed a backpack system containing cameras, lasers and inertial sensors which can be carried around indoors and generate a detailed, accurate 3D map of the spaces it moves through. A portable, laser backpack for 3-D mapping has been developed at the University of California. …
Just print it on a piece of silicon and it’ll fit in the palm of your hand! Simples!
Seriously though...when they do miniaturise the thing…that tech + VTOL spy droids they already possess make for some cheap and efficient "canary in a coal mine" droid mappers. Screw the military, these blighters would be excellent for civilian use. Hostage situation? Send in the droid. Suddenly you not only have the building blueprints to plan any necessary assault, but also a comprehensive mapping of any defences the hostage-takers have put in place, office furniture that might impede you, etc.
Could be a hell of a think for folks who need to check sewers/abandoned subway lines/what-have-you for structural stability before sending wetware down the rabbit hole to shore the thing up for another few decades of wear. This tech has some real possibilities.
Of course, it could also be the start of those flying “Minority Report” compliance droids. Let’s just ban Google form ever using you up front and save ourselves the grief and enrichment of lawyers worldwide, shall we?
One of two things spring to mind.
1 : Since this is probably a tool to be used for the NSA, FBI, CIA or whatever agency requires this kind of info. It would seem to me to be a little overly suspicous that a "janitor" walks around the entire building wearing ~20 kgs of industrial laser, and other high tech stuff, strapped to his back whilst emitting some kind of humming sound and knocking out Mobile phone reception within a 30m radius.
2 :Couldn't they do the same thing with a Webcam and some kind of remote controlled vehicule. OK the stairs might be a problem depending on the vehicule.
3 : Wouldn't it be easier to simply get a copy of the building plans. ( or shoot the Architect/Builder and steal the plans, they probably already exist in 3d anyway, CAD/CAM etc.. )
4 : What kind of muppet would accept to walk around with a laser strapped to their back anyway.
It's Friday and I'm already planning to make my escape from the office. Can you imagine how much extra work would get done if someone switched of the Internet on Friday afternoons..........
1. The military always appreciates an accurate map, especially one of cramped hostile quarters. They clear a building or tunnel and then map it out. That way, if enemies try to use it again, instead of flying blind, they can look at the map and find the best places to coordinate assaults.
2. The mapping tech is supposedly 3D, 360 degrees, and automatic, meaning you just have to walk through the place to get a picture. Bit faster and more accurate than a webcam bot (and the tech doesn't even preclude loading it on top of a rover for recon).
3. Such plans may not exist (especially if the building is improvised). Neither may the architects/builders (who may have fled or be dead). Also, the building may have predated CAD or may be in a technologically-backward location, meaning a computer version of the plan wouldn't exist, either.
4. Either the tag end of a clearance team (you would use the thing AFTER an area is clear) or loaded on a rover (who probably wouldn't care either way about the load).
on an IT website. IT is an industry where we are regularly subjected to "prototypes" being sold to us as full version product. Just look at the entire Microsoft 2007/Vista generation of product. "Alpha" level product is almost unused anymore. The line between "beta" and "release" blurs significantly...
...what exactly does prototype mean to such a crowd? In the hardware world, I am sure it has great value. (Or not. iPhone wot?) Developers have cheated around the edges of the concept, and management/marketing types have blatantly ignored it. Operations guys have suffered the realities of this product development apathy for decades now.
Prototypes? How droll. They don’t contribute to shareholder value!
It a patrol goes wandering through a tunnel complex, its a means of producing a map that can be used by later patrols, unless you are assuming that every patrol then "holds the ground" reconnoitered and signposts it nicely, with no chance of it being re-taken by the enemy.
The alternative is drawing something (either as you go or later, from memory) which might have to represent a three dimenional complex with accurate measurements, originally only seen with not-too-bright torchlight. If you remember back to your D&D days (go on, we all had them), its probably not so easy to produce something with all the intricacies that might be required for tactical operations.
As an infanteer, I certainly wouldnt want to be surprised by some enemy lurking in a concealed tunnel that a previous patrol had not noticed.
I'm sure they'll get away with "opt out after the fact" as well. "The vast majority of people want Google in thier home. Tigheter integration between consumers and the third half of thier brain helps google to deliver quality advertisements that people want to see. If you don't want Google in your home, then maybe you shouldn't be doing anything in your home that you don't want anyone other people to see."
If google can simplfy desktop search, then why the hell can't they do a complete sweep of my house to find things, that I can't bloody remember where I put them.
A simple algorithm should be possible to "search entire house" for 8Gb SD Card I put away 6 months ago, but forgot where.
Many building interiors in Ontario are already extant on many computer systems used by the fire services, building departments and TAX departments.
Whether or not the value-for-money of this research is proven, just how many tunnels do the military investigate?
Seems to me there are better ways to spend taxpayer money.
Little known fact: The Taliban in Afghanistan are not in bunkers and caves underground enough to block GPS and radio, but instead they're holed up in pleasant Ontarioan buildings with all the records up to date for Canadian fire services.
Furthermore, drug smuggling tunnels on country borders are actually used to carry puppies and kittens, and do not need mapping nor monitoring at all.
IE places where plans are not available (its a tunnel system in Afghanistan. They don't have a web site) or not available *now* (yes sensible police depts would have a key to the council building records dept or copies of "high value" target buildings plans, but how many expect Alan Rickman and co to come rolling up on Christmas Eve?).
It's pretty strange that it's taken them this long to come up with this. There are parts of the US Army that know very well what happens when your enemy has tunneled under you, the 25th Infantry Div springs to mind. In fact if they want they can visit Viet Nam, where some of the tunnels are open to the public.
Mine will be the one with "The Tunnels of Cu Chi" in th epocket.
on the battlefied to manage. If this is going to be with patrols, then it needs be shared with other units, sent up the chain of command for storage/retrieval, and possibly with aircraft/special ops teams/etc. Me thinks we're overdoing this digital thing a tad bit. We already generate video/intel that we can't digest fast enough to be tactically useful, and this will be another log on the fire...
Mine's the one with the woven-in faraday cage...
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I find this technology very interesting. I also happen to have an inordinate amount of interest in underground and ill-defined areas that stay out of sunlight.
Therefor, I fully expect that there be a wave of mapping endeavors that create accurate maps of such locations as :
- the Paris underground
- the Egyptian pyramids and famous tombs
- the Maginot line
- every major subway system on all continents
- all major public buildings (such as famous museums)
Once the mapping is done, the data should be integrated into an online exploratory website which allows people to "surf" through the various mazes and "see" what they would if they on-site with proper lighting.
Of course, I realize that there are stupid current conditions like terrorist alerts that will probably ban such mapping attempts in the name of security, but hey, I said it was a wishlist.
"We have already generated 3D models of two stories of the electrical engineering building at UC Berkeley, including the stairway and that is a first,"
Why the hell are we spending money on space / deep sea exploration and expeditions to the Amazon jungle when there are apparently unmapped staircases at UC Berkeley?
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