The Future of Cave Mapping - Video

[57Writer]

 

[Doby45]

I saw something even cooler than this used on a NatGeo show that was done in regular dry caves. The host was holding a rotating device in front of him that was mapping 360* as he walked further in the cave. Later the data was downloaded into a computer and it was an exact rendering of the cave. We need one of THOSE that can be used underwater and mounted to something like the front of a DPV. THAT would be awesome.

PS. Not the exact program I saw but this is the device.

Laser Scanning the Rising Star Cave in the Cradle of Humankind, South-Africa - 3D Laser Mapping

 

[57Writer]

It already exists. Bill Stone and Jill Heinerth tested it a few months ago in Florida. It will go to Jupiter's moon Europa as part of NASA program.

 

[Doby45]

That is so cool @57Writer thanks for sharing.. Now to see some of those data sets fleshed out..

 

[Michael Guerrero]

This makes me want to get back into cave diving. Thank you for sharing.

 

[frndrfoe]

It's the same technology as used in autonomous driving. The demand for those sensors should drive down the price over time as they become more common. That will make them more accessable for experimenting in different applications like this