MACS-TumbleCam - A Novel Approach for Aerial Oblique Imaging

Abstract

The ATISS measurement drone, developed at the University of Applied Sciences Wildau, is an electrical powered autonomous motor glider with a maximum take-off weight of 25 kg including a payload capacity of up to 10 kg. Two engines enable ultra short take-off procedures and the motor glider design results in a 1 h endurance. The concept of ATISS is based on the idea to strictly separate between aircraft and payload functions, which makes it a very flexible research platform for miscellaneous applications. In a project together with German Aerospace Center (DLR) this carrier was used for demonstrating a novel approach in high-resolution digital terrain modelling. A lightweight, 3D-capable photogrammetric camera called MACS-TumbleCam was developed at the DLR Berlin especially for the ATISS payload concept. The unique feature of this camera system isthe special combination of two synchronized digital cameras with an adjustable relative alignment. One camera head is oriented in a fixed nadir position while the other one can be driven to variable oblique orientations by a robotic actuator. Thus it is possible to take images from very different view directions for almost every object on the ground. Due to a parametric boresight calibration a lowcost inertial orientation system can be used. The evaluation of the first test flights shows features of the system, i.e. derived high-precision 3Dmodels of urban structures with 3 cm ground pixel resolution and high-resolution facade textures.