Automatic 3D Symbol Mapping Techniques for Construction of 3D Digital Map

Over the years, many researches have been performed to create 3D digital maps. Nevertheless, it is still time-consuming and involves a high cost because a large part of 3D digital mapping is conducted manually. To compensate this limitation, we propose methodologies to represent 3D objects as 3D symbols and locate these symbols into a base map automatically. First of all, we constructed the 3D symbol library to represent 3D objects as 3D symbols. In the 3D symbol library, the attribute and geometry information are stored, which defines factors related to the types of symbols and related to the shapes respectively. These factors were used to match 3D objects and 3D symbols. For automatic mapping of 3D symbols into a base map, we used predefined parameters such as the size, the height, the rotation angle and the center of gravity of 3D objects which are extracted from Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) data and 2D digital maps. Finally, the 3D map in urban area was constructed and the mapping results were tested using aerial photos as reference data. Through this research, we can identify that the developed the algorithms can be used as effective techniques for 3D digital cartographic techniques