Remote Geo Team - Remote Geo

Remote GeoSystems Partners with Purdue University, Provides $111,000 Software Donation to Drone Degree Program

February 13, 2019 by Remote Geo Team

Press Release – WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana/FORT COLLINS, Colorado – Remote GeoSystems, Inc., a provider of immersive geospatial video, photo and data recording and reporting software for survey and inspection, is partnering with Purdue University with a gift to the Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) degree program and laboratory. The UAS program at Purdue focuses on geospatial data collection and analysis by unmanned aerial systems, also known as “drones.”

As part of the partnership, Remote GeoSystems is providing Purdue with a starting gift of the company’s LineVision video-mapping software suite valued at $111,000, with additional licenses available as needed by students and faculty. Purdue will support Remote GeoSystems as a research and development partner by beta testing new features and technologies and exploring an ever-growing array of applications for Remote GeoSystems’ geospatial software and hardware within the research community.

“Remote GeoSystems is on the leading edge of videogrammetry,” says Joseph Hupy, Ph.D., associate professor with Purdue University’s School of Aviation and Transportation Technology.

Videogrammetry refers to utilizing specific methods and software capabilities for rapidly collecting continuously geo-referenced video and then “geo-editing” and extracting geotagged still photos from the video at user-defined frequencies. These video-derived image datasets are then used to build orthomosaics and 3D models in traditional geospatial imagery processing software.

“Remote GeoSystems is establishing methods to quickly collect and derive the geospatial data from drone videos that will change a number of industries and drive the acceleration of location-based artificial intelligence,” explained Hupy. “Having their software and team connected to Purdue is a significant resource for our evolving UAS program.”

The School of Aviation and Transportation Technology – part of Purdue Polytechnic Institute, one of the 10 academic colleges at Purdue University – is based out of the historic Niswonger Aviation Technology Building, which once housed Amelia Earhart’s airplane.

“Purdue has long been a global leader in aerospace and engineering curriculum and a pioneering institution in the aviation field since the early 20th century,” says Jeff Dahlke, managing director, Remote GeoSystems. “We are proud to now partner with and support the University as their next generation of students takes UAS platforms from novelty to the true airborne workhorses of the 21st century.”

About Purdue Polytechnic’s School of Aviation and Transportation Technology

Purdue University’s School of Aviation and Transportation Technology, one of six departments and schools in the Purdue Polytechnic Institute, administers seven world-class undergraduate majors and a graduate program, including aviation-focused Ph.D. program in technology. It is one of the most recognized programs for the quality of its graduates. Faculty members work closely with undergraduate and graduate students and all segments of the aviation industry to conduct research related to grand challenges in sustainability, safety and quality.

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Demystifying MISB FMV (Full Motion Video)

December 5, 2018 by Remote Geo Team

There are many related terms describing the technology that embeds geospatial data within video, including MISB, FMV, STANAG, and KLV. Today we will go over the meaning of each, reasons to be interested in the technology, and what to look for if you are interested in implementing these technologies.

Overview

MISB stands for the Motion Imagery Standards Board. MISB is the organization that develops standards for Motion Imagery (MI) assets. The MISB standard commonly used for Air Systems is MISB ST 0601.

STANAG stands for a NATO-state STANdardization AGreement, and in the context of geospatial data contained in video, commonly refers to the specific agreement STANAG 4609. This agreement essentially says to use MISB ST 0601 for UAS (Unmanned Air Systems).

FMV stands for Full Motion Video – popularized by Esri’s ArcGIS Full Motion Video Add-on. Several features, including Camera Footprint, Target Location, and Camera Overlays, are commonly associated with FMV.

Augmented Reality System (ARS) – Drawing data into video – for example, football games commonly have the Line of Scrimmage marked in live video – this is a simple form of augmented reality.

KLV stands for Key-Length-Value, an efficient way of storing binary data within a stream – such as GPS coordinates, Fields of View (FOVs), and other important data that can be used to calculate certain geospatial properties. KLV is used in other areas of computer science too.

Target Location – The location on a map where the camera is pointed. If implemented, Target Location will show up on a map as the point where the center of the camera meets the ground. Target location may also be referred to as Center Location and Camera Center.

Camera Footprint – The area on a map that corresponds to the camera’s viewfinder. This box (usually a trapezoid due to perspective) is the four corners of a camera view mapped out to an area.

Camera Overlay – Similar to Camera Footprint, except the camera video itself is overlaid onto the footprint.

These features have applications in aerial inspections, search and rescue, law enforcement, broadcast and many more. Today MISB Data is commonly found with high-end gimbals and military equipment, and is now making its way toward the rest of the GIS market.

KLV (Key, Length, Value)

Key Length Value is not only used for MISB encoding, but in many other areas of computer science.

KLV stands for Key, Length, Value, and is a compact method of storing binary data.

Key = The data identifier. Identifies what type of data is stored that is used with the lookup table.
Length = Length of the value. Identifies the length of the data in bytes.
Value = Value of the data. The value may have its own algorithm to generate it’s storage.

For example, KLV can be (HEX):

21 08 00000064

This described the key with hex value 21

A length of 08 (8 characters or bytes)

And a Hex value of 64

Due to the length of the value being defined, multiple KLVs can be concatenated together. For example:

19080000017220040011210800000064

The keys would then be defined in the spec itself:

(Note, these values are made up to demonstrate how it works)

Key 19 = Altitude
Key 20 = Slant Angle
Key 21 = Longitude

This hex string contains 3 Key->Value pairs, with indexes 19 of length 8, 20 of length 4, and 21 of length 8. The total byte size is 32 bytes, giving up human readability found in a format like XML, but compacting data into a very small size suitable for a low-bitrate stream. Dozens of geospatial KLV pairs can be added with minimal increase of the total bitrate of the video stream.

There are other details to how KLV works with MISB (such as packet KLV, timestamps and checksums) however this is the basic idea behind it.

The Container

KLV data can be stored in many multimedia containers, one of the most popular being .TS (MPEG2 Transport Stream). The container used may depend on the desired video or audio codecs, streaming capability, and compatibility.

A container is simply a file object that contains one or more streams. For example, .AVI, .MP4, .TS, .MOV and .MKV are all examples of various video containers. One of the most popular for MISB data is .TS.

Inside a typical .TS container are one or more streams – most commonly, an Audio and a Video. They can also contain a KLV Data stream:

.TS Container

{ Video Stream (H.264)
{ Audio Stream (AAC)
{ Data Stream (KLV)

As the Transport Stream is read, all three streams are decompressed to be interpreted and displayed as Full Motion Video with KLV Metadata. With MISB 0609, this KLV data contains important geospatial data that can be used to calculate how to draw advanced features such as GPS coordinates, target location, camera footprint, etc.

Equipment

In order to record MISB-enabled video, you must have hardware that can provide the desired parameters. For example, your hardware might need to provide a combination of a laser rangefinder, slant range, or altitude in order to determine target location. Some hardware may provide target location as GPS coordinates directly, others may give you the data and it is up to you to do the math.
How the hardware makes the data available may also vary. Some may give you a KLV stream within the container, others may hide the data in the raw video bitstream.

Software

In order to play back the video and use features such as Target Location or Camera Footprint, the software you use must support playback and interpretation of KLV data. Our product line supports both the recording (geoDVR) and playback (Video GeoTagger PRO, VideoGeoEditor and LineVision Desktop) of MISB/KLV data, with new features and support continually being added with new releases.

Remote GeoSystems Adds MISB Full Motion Video (FMV) Support to LineVision Desktop

November 21, 2018 by Remote Geo Team

Press Release – FORT COLLINS, Colorado, USA – Remote GeoSystems, Inc., a global provider of immersive geospatial video software and recorders for survey and inspection, is pleased to announce the LineVision™ Desktop software suite now supports map-based playback and geoProject™ reporting with MISB FMV-compliant videos.

Often larger commercial and military drones used in beyond visual line of site (BVLOS) operations and manned aircraft are equipped with a gyro-stabilized gimbal camera system capable of generating MISB-spec (STANAG 4609) metadata in the video stream. This could include existing 3rd-party systems from defense contractors, and/or gimbals utilizing the new geoDVR MISB FMV Module released last month for the direct recording of MISB FMV-compliant videos using the company’s flagship multi-sensor geoDVR geospatial video recorder.

Now, LineVision Desktop software can import these MISB-spec full motion video files and read the metadata to calculate and display a dynamic “footprint” along with the camera target frame center. The resulting display shows the current video frame’s location outline moving on the map as well as the aircraft’s location. This capability provides analysts and subject matter experts a more accurate location of asset conditions or situational awareness on the ground.

From high-end military surveillance cameras to consumer drones, the addition of MISB FMV support makes LineVision Desktop the most ubiquitous tool for map-based video data fusion utilizing continuously georeferenced video from nearly any UAV, manned aircraft or ground-based platform.

Discover LineVision Desktop

Report Generation with LineVision Desktop – Ultimate

October 24, 2018 by Remote Geo Team

Our LineVision Desktop – Ultimate edition software includes a convenient way of generating paper reports in the Microsoft Word format. These reports provide a detailed mission summary that is ready to be delivered to your client, including details such as the map of the route, waypoints, notes and annotations. These reports can be generated in seconds and can save hours of valuable time spent compiling reports manually.

Reporting is a feature exclusive to LineVision Desktop – Ultimate, which is available as both a perpetual license and monthly/yearly subscriptions. Microsoft Word 2007 or later must be installed on the PC as well.

Reports are generated automatically from items loaded in your Media Browser. GPS Data, Multi-Channel Video, Photos, and Waypoints are automatically inserted into the report. The items in the Media Browser can also be saved as an interactive geoProject for sharing with those who have at least LineVision Desktop (Basic), while reports can be printed out for clients who do not use the software.

To generate a Report:

Load all items (such as videos, photos and GPS/waypoint tracks) that you wish to include in the report. Multi-channel video is supported.
Add text Descriptions to the items, which will also be included. To do this, click on the Show Detail button in the Media Browser tab, then right click on the item and select Edit Media Description
Use the Waypoint Browser to modify descriptions of Waypoint image captures.
Zoom and Pan the Map Viewer to what you would like to be displayed in the report. You can also change the Base layer to something else if you wish.
Once you are satisfied with the descriptions and items loaded, you are ready to generate the report. Click Advanced -> Generate Report. You can select By Channel to generate the report grouped by video channel (such as HD, Infared, UV, if recorded) , or By Waypoint to group by Waypoint captures.
You will be asked to enter some of the report details:
Microsoft Word will automatically open and the report will be generated. It can take a minute for the report to finish.
You can then make adjustments to the report just like any other Microsoft Word document, include logos/headers, etc.
Once you are satisfied with how the report works, click File -> Save to save the document as a Microsoft Word .docx file.
You can share the .docx file, print it, save-as-PDF, etc like any other Word document.

Remote GeoSystems Releases New MISB FMV Module for the geoDVR Geospatial Video Recorder

October 18, 2018 by Remote Geo Team

Press Release – FORT COLLINS, Colorado, USA – Remote GeoSystems, Inc., a global provider of geospatial video recorders and mapping software for survey, inspection and reporting, announces the release and availability of the new geoDVR MISB FMV module for the direct recording of video with MISB FMV/STANAG 4609 compliant location metadata from airborne gyro-stabilized gimbal camera systems.

MISB FMV, or Motion Imagery Standards Board Full Motion Video, is a geospatial video format widely-adopted by military and defense communities around the globe for airborne ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) and targeting applications from manned aircraft and drones. Over that last few years this standard (aka STANAG 4609 KLV) has gained popularity in the commercial work for helicopter, fixed-wing and drone aerial surveys and inspections. Common applications in the commercial and government sectors include comprehensive electric transmission line inspections, pipeline right-of-way patrols, aerial firefighting and environmental conservation.

By recording MISB-compliant metadata within the video, Remote GeoSystems post-flight LineVision Desktop software can then use the geoDVR MISB data to calculate and display a dynamic “footprint” along with the camera target frame center. The resulting display shows the video frame footprint moving on the map. This capability provides analysts and subject matter experts a more accurate location of asset conditions or situational awareness on the ground, as observed from a remote aircraft location.

In addition to enabling the MISB Full Motion Video to be displayed in the Remote GeoSystems LineVision Desktop suite, this additional capability also provides commercial and defense operators with an affordable and simple geospatial DVR system for capturing multi-camera video content compatible with other popular 3rd party FMV applications like the Esri FMV Add-In, PAR GV3.0, FalconView and other widely-adopted mission planning and processing, exploitation and dissemination (PED) software.

“The airborne industry has been asking for an affordable, yet military-grade MISB-compatible video recorder for commercial and government work along with simple post-mission reporting software pricing options” says Remote GeoSystems managing director, Jeff Dahlke. “We are pleased to now offer this complete solution and look forward to working with gimbal camera manufacturers to bring the additional back-office GIS integration value to their systems with LineVision.”

The MISB FMV geoDVR module is already being used with a Trakka Systems 300 Triple that is beginning production work this fall for comprehensive helicopter utility line inspections.

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