Point cloud data hierarchy

Abstract

One embodiment is directed to a system for presenting views of a very large point data set, comprising: a storage system comprising data representing a point cloud comprising a very large number of associated points; a controller operatively coupled to the storage cluster and configured to automatically and deterministically organize the point data into an octree hierarchy of data sectors, each of which is representative of one or more of the points at a given octree mesh resolution; and a user interface through which a user may select a viewing perspective origin and vector, which may be utilized to command the controller to assemble an image based at least in part upon the selected origin and vector, the image comprising a plurality of data sectors pulled from the octree hierarchy.

1 . A system for presenting views of a very large point data set, comprising:
 a. a storage system comprising data representing a point cloud comprising a very large number of associated points;   b. a controller operatively coupled to the storage cluster and configured to automatically and deterministically organize the point data into an octree hierarchy of data sectors, each of which is representative of one or more of the points at a given octree mesh resolution; and   c. a user interface through which a user may select a viewing perspective origin and vector, which may be utilized to command the controller to assemble an image based at least in part upon the selected origin and vector, the image comprising a plurality of data sectors pulled from the octree hierarchy.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the storage system comprises a storage cluster. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the storage system, controller, and user interface are interoperable using a network. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein at least one portion of the network is accessible to the internet. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the user interface is generated by a computing system that houses the controller. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the user interface is presented to the user within a web browser. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the user interface is configured such that the user may adjust the selected origin and vector using an input device, causing the controller to assemble a new image based at least in part upon the adjusted origin and vector. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the very large number of associated points is greater than 1 billion points. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the point cloud has a uniform point pitch. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the point cloud has a point pitch that is less than about one meter. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the point cloud has a point pitch that is less than about 1 centimeter. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the point cloud represents data that has been collected based upon distance measurement scans of objects. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the point cloud represents at least one LIDAR scan. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the octree hierarchy of data sectors is configured such that an N level sector represents a centroid of points at the N+1 level below. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein each point is weighted equally in determining the centroid. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the points comprising the point cloud are not all weighted equally in determining the centroid. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to store data sectors of similar octree mesh resolution in similar accessibility configurations using the storage system. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the controller is configured to store data sectors of similar octree mesh resolution on a common storage device. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the controller is configured to store data sectors of similar octree mesh resolution such that they have similar retrieval latencies from the storage system. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to deterministically organize the point data by automatically naming each of the data sectors with a uniquely identifiable name that is retrievable by the controller.