Research on colorized physical terrain modeling for intelligent vehicle navigation

Abstract

Colorized physical terrain models are needed in many applications, such as intelligent navigation, military strategy planning, landscape architecting, and land-use planning. However, current terrain elevation information is stored as digital elevation model file format, and terrain color information is generally stored in aerial images. A method is presented to directly convert the digital elevation model file and aerial images of a given terrain to the colorized virtual three-dimensional terrain model, which can be processed and fabricated by color three-dimensional printers. First, the elevation data and color data were registered and fused. Second, the colorized terrain surface model was created by using the virtual reality makeup language file format. Third, the colorized three-dimensional terrain model was built by adding a base and four walls. Finally, the colorized terrain physical model was fabricated by using a color three-dimensional printer. A terrain sample with typical topographic features was selected for analysis, and the results demonstrated that the colorized virtual three-dimensional terrain model can be constructed efficiently and the colorized physical terrain model can be fabricated precisely, which makes it easier for users to understand and make full use of the given terrain.