A new online webinar covers RIEGL’s latest product releases and updates as displayed at the Intergeo Expo and Conference, held in Stuttgart, Germany last September. The webinar is made up of four different presentations covering updates and innovations for its airborne, terrestrial, mobile, and unmanned laser scanning solutions. The following provides an overview of the most important product releases and updates.
Airborne Laser Scanning News and Updates
The first presentation mainly focused on the 1560 ALS system series, which started in 2013 with the release of the LMS-Q1560, which was RIEGL’s completely integrated airborne laser scanning system for wide area mapping applications. It was also the first system to include multi-direction scanning into an airborne system design creating the now popular cross-fire scan geometry for dense canopy penetration, true ground detection with near-uniformity with respect to the point spacing and density across the entirety of the scan. The model line now continues with the new VQ-1560 III-S, a complete architecture redesign consistent with the VQ-1260 and VQ-1460 sensors that were released in 2023.
UAV-based Laser Scanning News and Updates
The VUX-100-25 is RIEGL’s latest addition to its UAV-based scanners. It is the same form factor as the VUX-120-23 system, such as the same mountings points, accuracy, weight, returns, and camera support. What’s different is the increased field of view of 160 degrees with an optimized pulse repetition rate of up to 1.5 MHz so that in that field of view it is 1.3 MHz. What is unique about the VUX-100-25 compared to the VUX-120-23 and VUX-160-23 is that is nadir and not the nadir/forward/nackward multi-look angle. This will fulfill a need to bring a lighter-weight nadir scan mechanism to increase operation for wide area coverage with that large field of view, but at nadir rather than nadir/forward/backward.
RIEGL now also offers a new high-precision, fully integrated subsystem for localization and orientation (Localization/Orientation/Component), the RiLOC-F IMU/GNSS solution for VUX-series laser scanners. RiLOC-F is directly attached to the rear panel of the VUX-100-25 or VUX-120-23.
Updates from the Mobile Scanning Division
No new product announcements were made regarding mobile scanning systems, but multiple software updates were shared. New updates to improve the user experience of RIEGL’s RiACQUIRE software include automatic data logging from KML or shapefiles and improved batch processing. A new camera alignment feature will be added soon that will determine mounting adjustments requiring an initial estimate to see the orientation to use as a rough estimate to start with. The RiPROCESS software has new deep learning tools, including face and license plate blurring, and classification for urban environments.
Terrestrial Scanning News and Updates
The VZ-4000i is RIEGL’s latest ultra long-range laser measurement system, which has the same form factor as the VZ-4000 but is a little lighter. It also has an improved performance with an increased range up to 4,600m and pulse repetition rate of500 kHz, which is a 200 kHz improvement over its predecessor. The scanner can receive 15 returns at any selectable pulse repetition rate. Regarding photogrammetry, the VZ-4000i has an improved internal camera with a 25% smaller pixel size and 5x faster image acquisition. A dual internal processor enables onboard data registration and customization for post-processing apps using Python scripting.
