Geodesy and Geoinformatics Engineering

Geodesy is everywhere: in highly topical projects such as "autonomous driving", in the digital maps of Navis, in earth system research, where conclusions about the climate are drawn from satellite data, or in fascinating projects such as Google Earth and OpenStreetMap.

Geodesy is an engineering science with a strong interdisciplinary character, which moves in the field of activity between applied mathematics, computer science, physics and geosciences on the one hand and civil engineering, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering on the other.

GPS satellites

In modern geodesy, satellites are often used, for example for navigation systems such as GPS, but also for observing global phenomena on earth such as the rise in sea level or the melting of the polar ice caps.

Navigation sensors

In autonomous driving, the exact position and movement behavior of the vehicle must always be known. For example, satellite-based methods and inertial sensors are used for determination. The picture shows a test drive with a remote-controlled model car with built-in navigation sensors.

Excavator Control

The control of moving objects is used, for example, for the automated operation of construction machinery. The fully automatic execution of charging processes is implemented here. A model crawler loader on a scale of 1:14 is used as the object of investigation.

Deformation measurements

The observance of dimensions plays an important role in the construction of new buildings and objects. After production, this pavilion on the Stadtmitte campus was measured with a laser scanner and the result compared with the planned dimensions. From this it is derived which processes in construction need to be improved.

Change in ice mass in Antarctica

Geodesy deals with natural phenomena, e.g. in connection with climate change. The figure shows the change in ice mass in Antarctica. It was measured with satellites. Blue areas show mass loss, red areas mass increase.

Photogrammetry

In photogrammetry, geodesy is concerned with the generation of three-dimensional data from multiple overlapping images. In order for the calculated 3D coordinates to be accurate, the geometry of the camera used must be determined very precisely. This camera calibration is done here with our calibration field.

3D Data

An example of the result of a photogrammetric reconstruction is the shown 3D mesh of Stuttgart's Schlossplatz. For this purpose, photos were taken from an airplane. Such data is used, among other things, to create 3D city models.

Earth's gravitational field

The picture shows a superconducting gravimeter in an observatory in the Black Forest. The gravimeter is used to measure temporal changes in gravity with high precision. Even the influence of heavy rainfall on the Earth's gravity can be seen in the instrument's data.