METHODS FOR LOCALIZATION USING GEOTAGGED PHOTOGRAPHS AND THREE-DIMENSIONAL VISUALIZATION

摘要

Methods for identifying parts of a target object (e.g., an airplane (10)) using geotagged photographs captured on site by a hand-held imaging device (4). The geotagged photographs contain GPS location data and camera setting information. The embedded image metadata from two or more photographs is used to estimate the location (i.e., position and orientation) of the imaging device (4) relative to the target object, which location is defined in the coordinate system of the target object. Once the coordinates of the area of interest on the target object are known, the part number and other information associated with the part can be determined when the imaging device (4) viewpoint information is provided to a three-dimensional visualization environment that has access to three-dimensional models of the target object.