|
|
|
An expedition team used sonar imaging and more than 100,000 photos taken from underwater robots to create the map, which shows where hundreds of objects and pieces of the presumed-unsinkable vessel landed after striking an iceberg, killing more than 1,500 people.
A plane will be scanning the island to build a three-dimensional map that will allow the planning authority to monitor environmental changes over the years.
The photographic map will carry information such as on air and water quality and noise levels. All data will be available online for free, explained Saviour Formosa, who is heading an EU-funded environment project being carried out by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.
I guess it's LiDAR + other sensors?
The Philippine government has made geo-hazard maps, which outline areas prone to natural disasters, publicly available in a bid to reduce vulnerability at community level.
They are jpegs.
February 1 is the cut-off for companies with onine mapping websites to have a license from the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping. Google has applied for one, but does not yet have approval. That suggests its ok to keep running as is, but can't launch anything "new."
Google is guilty of abusing its dominant position with Google Maps per a court in France. It was ordered to pay €500,000 in damages and interest to the plaintiff and a €15,000 euro fine against Bottin Cartographes. The company, until it was put out of business, offered online maps.
The patents is titled, Transitioning a Mixed-mode Vehicle to Autonomous Mode.
Abstract:
Disclosed are methods and devices for transitioning a mixed-mode autonomous vehicle from a human driven mode to an autonomously driven mode. Transitioning may include stopping a vehicle on a predefined landing strip and detecting a reference indicator. Based on the reference indicator, the vehicle may be able to know its exact position. Additionally, the vehicle may use the reference indictor to obtain an autonomous vehicle instruction via a URL. After the vehicle knows its precise location and has an autonomous vehicle instruction, it can operate in autonomous mode.
Experts confirm the patent is only for Google's specific method; it does not restrict development of rival self-driving cars.
- BBC
The New York Police Department is launching a mobile radiation detection system equipped with location-tracking GPS technology that it says could help avert a so-called "dirty" bomb attack.
Two hundred ten officers stationed around the World Trade Center will wear the belt-mounted detectors said to be the first to use GPS (hard to believe, isn't it?). Permanently mounted sensors will also be used to help identify and locate dirty bombs.
- Reuters
The WHYY News and Civic Dialogue Director has partnered with GIS shop Azavea, the Daily News and others on Fix Philly Districts, an awareness campaign featuring a mock redistricting plan competition and civic engagement forums.
...Later this month, Azavea will host webinars on their sleek DistrictBuildersoftware, which will drive the contest, during which you, John Q. Public, will envision what the city’s legislative boundaries should look like and compete for $1,000, official presentation of your district plan and, you know, civic pride. TheDistrictBuilder software has been used nationwide for federal redistricting campaigns, an interest of Azavea founder Robert Cheetham.
It seems every state is having such a contest just using different software packages. What does that say about interest in redestricitng and the state of GIS?
It's a mess in the areas of the Civic Center in NY with lots of construction, but soon a city block sized map will be there to help locals and visitors find key buildings included court houses.
To help the wandering masses help themselves, Williams has been working for more than a year on a solution — the first comprehensive street map of the entire Civic Center to be posted in the area.
The map, slated to arrive later this month, will take up the length of a city block, and will hang as a series of banners ringing the construction site outside 26 Federal Plaza. It was designed by Poulin + Morris Inc.
It will be more thorough than some other posted street maps in the area, most of which only show a portion of the area around the Civic Center — for example, only showing the area south of Reade Street and not including the northern area near the courts.
- DNA Info
One big issue with all of the parking finder apps is know where the spots are and when are avaialble. Most systems use some kind of senor device embedded in the road/wall to know if the space is open. What if you didn't have to dig up streets or purchase a sensor for every space? What if you made the sensors mobile?
That's the just of a project from a team at Rutgers.
Using ultrasonic sensors, GPS location finders and wireless networks, the Rutgers group thinks it has come up with a cost-effective way to locate the nearest open parking spaces and give drivers choices.
Taxis, municipal vehicles or mall security cars — vehicles that travel frequently in a given area — would be equipped with sensors that measure distances to obstacles and determine whether there is an available parking space. That information would then be fed to an internet server and matched with a map of legal parking spots.
Drivers would then be able to find out, through their GPS navigation systems or smart phones, where parking spaces are open, saving them the time and frustration of looking for a spot.
Using algorithms, the Rutgers team was able to distinguish between parked cars and other objects such as trees or fire hydrants.
"There are some other obstacles that can be on the side of the road that have that same size and eventually we learn over time, if this obstacle never moves, it’s always there, it’s probably not a car," Gruteser said. "If this space is always open and in an area where parking is very crowded, it’s probably not a legal spot."
In tests accuracy was up to 90%. The sensor today would cost a few hundred dollars but could be brought down. At this point the team is looking for a company to test the sensor.
- nj.com
