Overview
The road pavement inspection vehicle is fitted with Photoneo‘s 3D MotionCam-3D Color M that utilizes parallel structured light (PSL). PSL is an advanced 3D imaging technique designed for capturing dynamic scenes with high spatial and temporal resolution. Unlike traditional structured light systems, which sequentially project multiple patterns and require multiple frames to reconstruct depth, PSL employs a novel sensor and projection system that captures all necessary depth information in a single exposure.
The system‘s specially designed sensor architecture decodes this pattern in parallel, utilizing per-pixel modulation or multi-channel filtering to extract spatial phase information simultaneously across the entire field of view.
By eliminating the need for sequential frame acquisition, this technique effectively „freezes“ motion, allowing accurate 3D reconstruction of fast-moving objects or rapidly changing environments without motion blur or temporal artifacts. The result is a single-shot, high-resolution depth map that preserves the geometric integrity of the scene at a specific instant in time.
This is especially suited for road inspection vehicle scanning and capturing road pavement conditions as it passes by at normal driving speeds.
Challenges
The use of MotionCam-3D and PSL technique is perfect for pavement inspection by capturing/freezing images for high-res 3D reconstruction for that specific instant. The solution requires a computer at the helm to process all the data, which is a challenge when deploying onto a moving vehicle on the road.
The computer would be subject to constant shock and vibration, and should the vehicle encounter poor road conditions, the effects will be more rigorous. In the long run, components and connectors may become loose, resulting in possible points of failure. And being in a vehicle, the computer must accept its electrical power source from the vehicle, which is susceptible to fluctuations during startups and shutdowns.
The system must also provide connectivity for cameras and other required sensors for the solution to function, and wireless communication technology for real-time data upload. Lastly, the computer must provide sufficient computing power to handle the data streaming from MotionCam-3D, either for storage and subsequent processing or for real-time on-the-fly operations such as fusing individual scans together using libraries like Photoneo 3D Meshing or 3D Instant Meshing.
Solution
Photoneo, now part of Zebra Technologies, chose to implement computers from the CamCollect® and GOLUB series (CamCollect®9160GC, CamCollect®10208GC, GOLUB 9200VTC) in combination with the MotionCam Color M for road inspection. These systems feature E-marks, comply with the EN 50155 (EN 50121) standard, or are compatible with MIL-STD-810G when equipped with patented shock-absorbing mounts that absorb shocks and vibrations of up to 3 Grms.
The system is designed to operate at temperatures ranging from -40°C to 70°C and is powered by Intel® Core™ processors with up to 24 cores/24 threads and an integrated NPU with AI inference capabilities. Alternatively, a dedicated NVIDIA® graphics card can be installed for even more computing power. It offers a wide range of connectivity options: PoE+ ports enable cameras to be connected via a single cable for both data transmission and power supply; USB 3.2 provides a bandwidth of up to 20 Gbit/s; COM ports and digital inputs/outputs for connecting sensors and actuators; and SocketCAN enables flexible, network-like communication between vehicle applications via the conventional CAN bus.
The systems in the CamCollect® and GOLUB series (CamCollect®9160GC, CamCollect®10208GC, GOLUB 9200VTC) are expandable and feature mini-PCIe slots with SIM card slots for wireless communication modules (5G/4G or Wi-Fi 6/5). By installing two modules, they can be used redundantly in field operations, for example, for communication with the control center or for Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) applications.
The box PC systems can be combined with the patented SuperCAP power supply module to protect the computer and valuable data. The SuperCAP power supply module monitors the computer‘s power consumption in real time. In the event of a power outage, it supplies power to the computer and automatically shuts it down to protect it from sudden power loss and the resulting damage to hardware and data.
