OxTS Georeferencer and Boresight Tool

OxTS Georeferencer is a software tool developed by OxTS to combine INS navigation data with raw LiDAR data. It can be used alongside any OxTS Survey INS to create a georeferenced 3D Pointcloud.

OxTS Georeferencer takes a file collected with a LiDAR scanner (synchronised in real-time with an OxTS inertial navigation system), a processed navigation trajectory file from the OxTS INS, and some required configuration files, to create a LAS pointcloud file that can be viewed in many 3rd party LiDAR software packages.

Furthermore, thanks to our experience in calibration techniques, we have been able to develop a data-driven technique that helps system integrators and end users to start their work with confidence that their INS and LiDAR hardware has been installed precisely and accurately. This is the boresight calibration feature.

We offer the software free to download and provide example data for testing purposes. Using the data you can go through the process of georeferencing a pointcloud and use the boresight calibration tool to practise setting up your survey. You can download the test data and software from our support site and also view several support articles to help you get up and running – OxTS support site

We greatly value our customer’s feedback. Your feedback helps us drive the development of future products. If you have used OxTS Georeferencer please tell us about your experience by completing our feedback form here – OxTS Georeferencer feedback

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Boresight Calibration

Boresight calibration is an essential part of INS and LiDAR integration.

If the coordinate systems of the two devices do not match perfectly then the georeferencing of LiDAR data will diverge over longer ranges and result in a less accurate pointcloud.

OxTS Georeferencer includes the ability to boresight supported LiDAR devices in order to ensure the user can produce clean and reliable data every time.

The results of running a boresight calibration are sometimes very clear, and sometimes marginal, but the objective is the same – align all sensors on the vehicle to the same coordinate system to ensure a high level of accuracy, regardless of a predefined test scenario.

A boresighted system allows for complete flexibility over the way you perform a survey.

Boresight comparison slider

Comparison1 – Full environment pointcloud

The below ‘full environment’ pointcloud clearly shows the difference between a boresighted and unboresighted pointcloud. The ‘before’ example suffers from blurring and double vision whereas the boresighted ‘after’ example is much clearer and the blurring and double vision has been eliminated.

Comparison2 – Targets only

The below before and after examples clearly show the difference between a boresighted and unboresighted pointcloud.

The examples below show two 80 cm x 80 cm square targets. In the ‘before boresight’ example you can clearly see the targets suffer from double vision and appear as four. However, once the angles between the INS and the LiDAR sensors have been calibrated using a data-driven technique, the double vision has been completely eliminated and the two targets are clearly visible and much sharper.

Comparison3 – Roadside survey

The view here shows a cross-section of a street taken during a roadside survey. In the ‘before boresight’ example it is clear to see that there is a discrepency in the angles measured between the east and west passes of the street.

However, in the ‘after boresight’ example the east and west passes are almost identical leading to a much clearer, precise pointcloud.

Check if your LiDAR device is supported for Boresighting and Georeferencing by taking a look at the ‘supported devices’ tab or by downloading the OxTS LiDAR Survey brochure

Contact OxTS at info@oxts.com for more information, or check out our sample data!

OxTS Georeferencer Process Flow

OxTS Georeferencer’s main function is to synchronise and fuse the OxTS INS and LiDAR data sets.

A LiDAR sensor can sense range to a target, but it has no internal knowledge of when or where it is, or where it has moved to since the last scan occurred. This is where the INS adds essential information:

• Nanosecond accurate time (Survey grade GNSS receivers)
• RTK/PPK accurate position (Survey grade GNSS receivers and tightly-coupled navigation engine)
• Accurate heading, pitch, and roll (Survey grade IMU sensors)

Thanks to live accuracies being reported as well, the data can be intelligently filtered based on estimated position/orientation accuracy of the INS, allowing you to perform less clean-up of the data in post-processing.

The software versions in this table relate to the following software version numbers – 1.0 = 20.1.15.34193, 1.2 = 21.0.15.0 and 1.4 = 21.06.04.0.

Please ensure you are using the latest firmware offered by the manufacturer unless it is stated otherwise that you need a different firmware.

NOTE: 3rd party INS devices are not supported due to the data manipulation for synchronisation and quality assurance; specific accuracy and status messages from NCOM are required for processing.

We are currently working on making many more LiDAR sensor models and manufacturers compatible with OxTS Georeferencer and the boresight tool. If you are interested in other LiDAR sensors being supported by OxTS Georeferencer, contact us at info@oxts.com. We may already be planning to integrate the sensor you want!

Example Pointclouds

The below pointcloud examples have been produced using OxTS Survey Inertial Navigation Systems and a Velodyne VLP-16 LiDAR sensor. The data was georeferenced using OxTS Georeferencer.

The example pointcloud data is free to download and use.

Raw data files

The below raw data files are free for users to download and use. OxTS Georeferencer requires a LiDAR file (pcap or lcom), a navigation data file (ncom) and hardware configuration files (lip, lir and vat).

There are a number of raw data files available to use. These are from a survey completed using an OxTS Survey+ v3 INS and a Velodyne VLP-16 LiDAR.

Raw data files can be downloaded here

• There are two NCOM navigation files. One of these is the full survey that includes both the boresight and the road survey. The other is cropped for the boresight only.
• There are two LCOM LiDAR data files. One of these is the road survey and one is the boresight. These do not have to be recorded separately.
• There are both calibrated and uncalibrated configuration files that have been calibrated using the boresight calibration functionality.
• There is one VAT configuration file.