A mobile mapping system utilizing a spherical camera

The transportation departments belonging to respective provinces currently collect highway management data with the use of several methods and systems which include visual field inspections, survey methods, aerial photogrammetry, as well as mobile data acquisition systems. Spherical cameras offer an attractive alternative to standard mobile data acquisition devices for highway management systems as they provide full coverage with a single camera. Inclusion of such a camera requires methods of determining relative, interior and exterior orientation information, as well as bore-sight and lever arm determination. Specialized methods of mosaicking[sic] the imagery are also required. This paper focuses on exploring these methods for spherical cameras. Several computer programs were developed to solve for relative, interior, and exterior orientation parameters. It was concluded that a spherical camera can be efficiently utilized for highway data collection and provides full data coverage with a single camera system.