Best practices with the KickTheMap app

ByadminKTM

This article explains the best practises for any survey conducted with the KickTheMap app. Make sure that you downloaded the KickTheMap app from Google Play or the App Store before reading it.

Before starting :

  • Smartphone/tablet preparation : battery charged with at least 1gb of free disk space.
  • Make sure the area of interest is well illuminated. The KickTheMap app has been primarily designed for ​OUTDOOR environment with ​DAYLIGHT​. Trying to map an indoor environment may be impossible because of poor light conditions and missing features on walls (plain color surfaces are not suitable for photogrammetry reconstruction)

While capturing data in your job:

After creating a new job, you are supposed to start data capture. The goal of the pictures session is to get as many pictures as possible of the zone of interest while having a permanent motion of the smartphone. The user has to move around the site to acquire different perspectives of the same target.

  • The moving ​speed​ shall be less than 1 m/s to get a good picture quality.
  • Different survey paths are appropriate depending on the nature and the accessibility of the site. It is always better to come back to the starting point, when possible, to close the loop. Below are some examples:
  • If you are surveying ground features, the optimal smartphone/tablet ​orientation is between -30° and -70° down. Do not capture features including your feet. Do not capture pictures looking horizontally.
  • If you are surveying a building or any 3D feature standing from the ground, move your device up/down and right/left to cover the full scene.
  • In any case, DO NOT ROTATE the device around a single vertical axis (No panoramic)

To be avoided:

  • Do not take panoramic pictures without user movement (either lateral, or up/down). Do not rotate the smartphone too quickly to avoid blurry pictures. Be gentle when changing smartphone orientation.
  • Avoid pictures with the sky as background, to limit outliers in the 3D reconstruction.
  • Avoid taking pictures of your shadow (if possible) and your feet.
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