Hello everyone! My company is looking into utilizing SAFE's Augmented Reality tools! We are currently testing the application and are working on becoming familiar with the process at hand. I am attempting to create a "mock" workflow using Mr. Dmitri Bagh's 'City of Coaquitlam' model as my basis. I created a small google document that will show a single buried cable that I generated in ArcMap. However, I keep failing at the end of the workflow. Making it to the 'bufferer' tool before the 3D forcer and extruder. We will want to look at larger datasets in the future, and I figured this workflow may be the best to accommodate. I have generated smaller AR models with using the methods found in the '3D Buffered Pipeline' examples. But struggle to generate large scale systems. In that workflow, I am also unable to anchor the gas pipe sample, and scale to an appropriate size/show at ground level. I will attach my workspaces. Would anyone have any tips or tricks for me? I am getting pretty discouraged with my inability to correctly project these models. Thank you for taking the time out to help me. The prospect is exciting...I just need to get on the right track... :)

Having some trouble with my Augmented Reality Workflows...

Userlevel 2

+11

It is hard to tell what is going on without the source data (even a tiny sample would help), but I see a couple of problematic spots.

1) This one is rather an embarrassment for Safe. Our 3D buffering is, honestly, not good at all. It is very slow, and often fails on totally normal and simple geometries. Rounding coordinates with CoordinateRounder helps a bit, but does not resolve the problem fully. I would connect something to the Bufferer's <Rejected> port so that at least the translation won't fail. I also have a 3DPipeReplacer, which can replace a 2-vertex line geometry with a pipe, but it won't work nicely on lines with more than 2 vertices. It should be included into Coquitlam example. Aside from that, 3D buffering is painfully slow (1 feature per second).

In FME 2021 we will have a transformer that will create pipes much better and faster. Its name in the currently available beta is SweptSolidBuilder, but it may change closer to the release or we may create a new transformer just for pipes (SweptSolid is more advanced). It's work in progress.

2) You don't set the "Full Scale" option on the "Initial Model Scaling " writer parameter. This should output the model in scale 1:1. However, here comes another problem, for which I am sorry - if you try to use it on an Android device, it won't work - the model will fit into your screen. Currently, all those great things such as location, orientation, scale, and viewpoints work only on iOS devices. We are working on catching up with Android, but that will require a few months. If you have an iOS devices, once we resolve all the issues you have, you'll be able to enjoy the latest AR functionality.

Maybe have a look at my latest utility test, you may find it interesting for your case. It is possible to see through the ground:

https://youtu.be/5r5k9-JC-GE

Finally, feel free to talk to me by sending an email to dmitri@safe.com. It is a new exciting area with a lot of unknowns for us, so we try to collect as many scenarios and user feedback as possible, which works best when we speak directly.

Dmitri

N

Hi @nbaldwin041 ,

It is hard to tell what is going on without the source data (even a tiny sample would help), but I see a couple of problematic spots.

1) This one is rather an embarrassment for Safe. Our 3D buffering is, honestly, not good at all. It is very slow, and often fails on totally normal and simple geometries. Rounding coordinates with CoordinateRounder helps a bit, but does not resolve the problem fully. I would connect something to the Bufferer's <Rejected> port so that at least the translation won't fail. I also have a 3DPipeReplacer, which can replace a 2-vertex line geometry with a pipe, but it won't work nicely on lines with more than 2 vertices. It should be included into Coquitlam example. Aside from that, 3D buffering is painfully slow (1 feature per second).

In FME 2021 we will have a transformer that will create pipes much better and faster. Its name in the currently available beta is SweptSolidBuilder, but it may change closer to the release or we may create a new transformer just for pipes (SweptSolid is more advanced). It's work in progress.

2) You don't set the "Full Scale" option on the "Initial Model Scaling " writer parameter. This should output the model in scale 1:1. However, here comes another problem, for which I am sorry - if you try to use it on an Android device, it won't work - the model will fit into your screen. Currently, all those great things such as location, orientation, scale, and viewpoints work only on iOS devices. We are working on catching up with Android, but that will require a few months. If you have an iOS devices, once we resolve all the issues you have, you'll be able to enjoy the latest AR functionality.

Maybe have a look at my latest utility test, you may find it interesting for your case. It is possible to see through the ground:

https://youtu.be/5r5k9-JC-GE

Finally, feel free to talk to me by sending an email to dmitri@safe.com. It is a new exciting area with a lot of unknowns for us, so we try to collect as many scenarios and user feedback as possible, which works best when we speak directly.

Dmitri

Good morning Dmitri,

Apologies for the late response. I have attached the shapefiles for the 'One Gas AR' Model (shapefiles).

N

And here would be the data source for the "Cable Master" (also shapefiles).

N

Thank you for getting back to me! I really do appreciate you taking the time out of your day to do so. I will look into your latest example, and try the 'CoordinateRounder' and '3DPipeReplacer'. I'll edit the scaling as well. Good news is, I do have an iOS device to test from.

I look forward to continuing my growth and experience in working with AR. I think I may now be one step closer to having it all click.

Userlevel 2

+11

Thank you for getting back to me! I really do appreciate you taking the time out of your day to do so. I will look into your latest example, and try the 'CoordinateRounder' and '3DPipeReplacer'. I'll edit the scaling as well. Good news is, I do have an iOS device to test from.

I look forward to continuing my growth and experience in working with AR. I think I may now be one step closer to having it all click.

Hi @nbaldwin041

I am attaching OneGas workspace. I only made some minimal changes - first, I reprojected the dataset to UTM83-15, this is how we get meters, then I used Diameter attribute for setting the size of the pipe buffer (recalculated to radius in meters). I also updated the writer - it looks like you need a bit newer FME 2020 - either .1 or .2 with the proper scaling option ("Full Scale" is needed for 1:1).

I am not sure why you are using GeometryPropertySetter - it might be useful if you would like to set individual styles per feature, but in this case, you set a single style for all pipes, so you can get rid of this transformer as well as AppearanceStyler, and set everything in AppearanceSetter with only geometry entering it.

I also added an anchor. It's up to you where to place it in the model. The important thing is, it should have a point geometry in the model space (in this case, in UTM), and the Lat/Long - in attributes, check the workspace for details. I placed the anchor in the middle of ServiceMain. Once you get to the actual location and open the model, it will be placed where it finds a surface, but on the anchor, it will offer moving it to the proper location even if you are really close to it. We want to change this in the future releases. Keep in mind that the precision of the GPS receivers in our mobile devices is not that great, you may need to adjust the model manually on the screen. Also, make sure your compass is showing North correctly as soon as the model opens - if the reading is off or simply wrong (sometimes, compass is a bit slow), the model will be oriented incorrectly.

Rather than that, it all works, I already tested it inside (it's dark here at the moment), so give it a try and let me know how everything goes. Feel free to ask any questions.

Dmitri

Userlevel 2

+11

Thank you for getting back to me! I really do appreciate you taking the time out of your day to do so. I will look into your latest example, and try the 'CoordinateRounder' and '3DPipeReplacer'. I'll edit the scaling as well. Good news is, I do have an iOS device to test from.

I look forward to continuing my growth and experience in working with AR. I think I may now be one step closer to having it all click.

And the second workspace for the single cable line

R

Hi @dmitribagh, I been going through all the demos and trying to get some pipelines and 3D sketches to show up outside my house to scale. I can sometimes get my pipelines to show up or the 3D sketches but i can't both of them to show up at the same time. Would you be able look at what I might be missing? Also I cant get the pipes to display as two different colors seems they both get written as the same color. I have attached my workspace and my data for you to look at. Thank You!

1 Attachment

FMEAR.zip

Userlevel 2

+11

Hi @dmitribagh, I been going through all the demos and trying to get some pipelines and 3D sketches to show up outside my house to scale. I can sometimes get my pipelines to show up or the 3D sketches but i can't both of them to show up at the same time. Would you be able look at what I might be missing? Also I cant get the pipes to display as two different colors seems they both get written as the same color. I have attached my workspace and my data for you to look at. Thank You!

Hi @regina_2018,

Your workspace looks good, I changed just a couple of minor things.

1) In Offsetter, for the lamppost and fire hydrant, there is no need to change Z - elevations in AR are relative to the detected ground. These models should have their z_min at 0. I suspect, there is a chance, you had both your SketchUp models and your pipes together in your output, but either the former were 700 meters above your head or the latter were 700 meters under your feet, and you couldn't see them. I am getting about a 1MB model, so if you had something like this, then that's the case.

2) This is not really needed, but my Data Inspector crashes trying to visualize the SketchUp models. I passed them through Triangulator and MeshMerger (the writer does it anyway), but it allowed me debugging the problem without going to AR.

Finally, I just checked that all features have a CS (or, we can simply remove all coordinate systems before the writer), and went outside to test the output. Sorry, it does not line up nicely, but it works (the hydrant is behind me):

2020-11-30 11.16.17 Maybe a couple more things - try making a smaller model - 300 meters might be too much for things that should represent something relatively thin and long. It is hard to adjust the location of a model with such extents - models can behave quite unexpectedly - a tiny movement of a finger on a screen can cause a big jump on the ground. Try up 100 meters or even less.

For anchor (or viewpoint serving as anchor) it makes sense to use a point object - it's easier to understand whether the model loads correctly, and also easier to adjust the location, which is usually required anyway due to the low precision of the GPS sensor inside mobile devices.

If you need more help, feel free to talk to me either here or directly at dmitri@safe.com

Dmitri

Having some trouble with my Augmented Reality Workflows...

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