Utilization of iPad Pro LiDAR and Low-Cost GNSS Ublox F9R for Data Collection of Road Assets in the Form of 3D Models

Abstract

The development of mapping survey equipment technology products is growing very rapidly. These products include Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology. The current development of GNSS receivers can be seen in terms of accuracy and price. The GNSS receiver has very high accuracy, especially with the integration with the inertial measurement unit (IMU). This integration system can provide benefits such as estimation of GNSS position data and GNSS data stability. One of the GNSS receiver products that has been integrated with IMU, has an accuracy below 1 meter, and at an economical price is the low-cost GNSS receiver U-blox F9R series. This receiver has a positional accuracy of 0.01 + 1 ppm. LiDAR products are commonly used for the manufacture of 3D objects and distance determination on Autonomous Vehicles, however, in 2020 the company Apple inc. has made a smartphone device that is integrated with LiDAR technology. One of the goals of using this integration system is to visualize 2D objects into 3D Augmented Reality (AR). In this study, iPad Pro LiDAR technology was used to create a 3D road model. This activity continues from previous studies that have used the iPad Pro LiDAR for making 3D buildings and measuring tree diameters. In research related to the manufacture of 3D buildings, the iPad Pro LiDAR has been analyzed and it is stated that it has an accuracy of 2 cm. However, this observation using the iPad Pro LiDAR still does not provide actual position information. One way to get the true position value is to use position data from the GNSS receiver. In this study, the GNSS observation method receiver used is Real Time Kinematic Networked Transported of RTCM via Internet Protocol (RTK-NTRIP). This method utilizes the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network to transmit corrections from several nearby Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) in Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM) format to the user’s receiver. This activity aims to create a database of road assets in 3D with real positions by utilizing the integration between GNSS, IMU, and iPad Pro LiDAR. From this study, it was found that the volume measurement data using GNSS data has a value of 4,930 m3. Meanwhile, processing using 3D model data from the iPad Pro 2020 resulted in 4,422 m3. The results of the two data have a volume difference of 0.5 m3 or 10% of the validation data.