Indoor 3D Mapping Solving the Last Mile Challenges

The mapping world today is steadily embracing new areas of applications. Providing essential visual images as well as useful data is the natural outcome for each mapping activity. Today, mapping indoor areas with precision and solving the last-mile location accuracy challenge has become a popular area of focus.

Growing popularity of indoor mapping Looking back on the history of mapping, the world outside has seen greater efficiency and accuracy as mapping technologies have evolved. Now is the time to shift focus to mapping indoors. Indoor maps are gaining popularity. They are especially beneficial in situations where people need to locate a very specific location inside a large building - like an apartment complex or office building. For example, when first responders are called to a medical emergency and need a better understanding of the space they are entering to reach a patient in need of urgent medical care.

The reality is that locating a specific address often is not an easy task. This is especially true for Multiple Dwelling Units (MDU) where large apartment complexes have multiple parking areas, entry doors and elevators. While you may be able to get to the right address, that doesn’t guarantee you’ve reached the nearest parking lot or the best entryway or elevator to get to a specific unit quickly. In critical situations where time is of the essence, this presents a potential life and death obstacle.

Indoor 3D Mapping

Benefits of 3D Indoor Mapping California-based company Beans.ai delivers the technology solutions to solve this challenge and reimagine indoor mapping technology. Sri Krishna Hari, Head of the GIS Team at Beans.ai, shared his thoughts with Geospatial World about how their solution “provides the unit level three - dimensional (3D) renderings of apartments, Multiple Dwelling Units and complex addresses.” According to Murthy, “This allows for easily locating a sub-address in three-dimensional space within a building, essentially allowing geocoding services to operate in this area.”

The indoor routing services for apartments across the nation provided by Murthy’s team help users not only know where a specific unit is located within a community but also show them the most effective route to reach the location.

Precise Location Intelligence: Industry Use Cases Several industries can benefit from precise location intelligence provided by three-dimensional and indoor mapping solutions. Murthy shared, “Logistics companies are one industry that has seen tremendous benefit from our 3D and indoor routing solutions, having faced last mile problems for many years. Difficulty in identifying the unit and lack of detailed routing instructions have hampered the logistics industry at every individual pickup assignment across apartments and MDUs.”

Time is an essential factor in the entire business cost model for logistics companies and such challenges can easily eat into profits. Highlighting their solution Murthy added, “as our partners are tapping into the 3D and indoor routing services we provide, the search element has been eliminated, resulting in a direct bottom line impact, better customer satisfaction and fewer failed deliveries.”

“Route planning and optimization can now be done in a digital framework that replicates the real world in three-dimensional form versus points on a two-dimensional traditional map. Routes and delivery stops can be planned using optimized sequenceswith the indoor networks across communities also included,” he continued.

The Pandemic Accelerated the Need for Indoor 3D Mapping The demand for indoor 3D Mapping increased dramatically when the pandemic hit and most of the world started spending significantly more time confined to their own homes. Online deliveries became the lifeline for thousands of people, and the need for accurate location intelligence solutions virtually overnight. Krishna Murthy agrees, pointing out, “with the onset of contactless delivery for food and groceries during the pandemic, the need to provide accurate location and indoor routing services for apartments rose dramatically.”

He further pointed out that the delivery and apartment policies have shifted during the pandemic, requiring delivery personnel to identify units in complex structures and navigate to them to verify doorstep delivery. With millions of deliveries across the nation every day, the demand to map out densely populated areas (such as apartments) has become mainstream.

Solving the Last-Mile Problem Effectively The Beans.ai team’s location intelligence solution is proving to be useful for many customers. Moreover, the team has been recognized with industry awards and accolades, including the top Creative Content Award at the Esri Partner Conference 2022. In talking about how Beans.ai has innovated in this space, Murthy said, “We developed a complex pipeline based on satellite image processing, machine

Sri Krishna Hari Head of the GIS Team at Beans.ai

Keeping pace with the rhythm of the world, we will continue to see innovations evolve and more indoor mapping technologies make their way into the location intelligence industry

3D Mapping showing Parking Lot

learning, surveying, GIS automation, cartography and three-dimensional routable networks to build realistic representations of traversable paths within apartment communities. This allowed us to provide solutions that can give not only precise geocodes (xyz) of units but also the exact turn-byturn directions to get to them.” This level of precise indoor mapping opportunities have maximized benefits for all users.

Personal Experience Leads to Innovation Real life challenges have always been the greatest catalyst to creating solutions to solve them. The motivation behind the indoor mapping solution developed by the Beans.ai team is no exception.

Five years ago Beans.ai co-founder and CEO had a family emergency and had to call the paramedics to his apartment. However after reaching the apartment complex the paramedics took far longer to locate the exact unit, losing precious time. Fortunately, everyone in this case was eventually ok, but that isn’t always the outcome. Murthy pointed out the “glaring, critical geospatial layer that was missing and, as a result, Beans.ai was born, with the

Route planning and optimization can now be done in a digital framework that replicates the real world in three dimensional form versus points on a two dimensional traditional map

mission to solve the problem of navigating complex addresses.

He added, “After countless iterations, manpower and technology innovation, we have now developed a framework that can provide detailed turn by turn indoor routing for apartments, shopping malls, MDUs and any address with secondary units to it.”

Effective Indoor Mapping Solution Given the demand for indoor 3D mapping solutions, the technology provided by Shri Krishna Murthy’s team has provided a valuable solution for customers. Murthy pointed out “while the data we are creating is exquisite and has the potential to solve many fundamental problems in the geospatial environment, it can be quite complex to implement, analyze and consume the data.”

He shared how their various product features, geocoding services and floor aware maps made available through ArcGIS Online and Enterprise platforms makes it easy for the vast GIS stakeholders to quickly plug in and start using their data. “Similarly, we have designed our indoor and 3D data in compliance with ESRI’s indoors information model. This would allow ESRI users to easily reduce the implementation burden and make it both cost effective and efficient to turn our data into custom solutions.”

Keeping pace with the rhythm of the world, we will continue to see innovations evolve and more indoor mapping technologies make their way into the location intelligence industry.

Rituparna Sengupta

Associate Editor, Americas Rituparna@geospatialworld.net

TIGHTENING THE NET New Age of Maritime Domain Awareness

EO and satellite imagery is playing a key role in tracking sea piracy, dark vessels and other illicit activities that cause ecological imbalances, posing a threat to oceanic sustainability.

By Sachin Awana

Waterways have always played a crucial role in boosting trade and commerce, securing national borders, and expanding political heft. Dominance of oceans across the globe has always been a point of contestation. Historically, seafaring powers were the first to explore and conquer vast swathes.

With the advent of globalization and spiralling trade, there has been a rise in sea piracy and other illicit activities. Population explosion globally has coincided with changing consumption patterns and other social and behavioural shifts, leading to a massive increase in demand for fishes, especially in China. This has led to illicit fishing by dark vessels across the globe, endangering oceanic biodiversity. Another issue has been the increase in smuggling of narcotics and other contraband.

This brings the need for a system that can monitor the ships. Spanning hundreds of miles, sea territory can be intimidating and out of bounds for manual monitoring. Thus, giving an opportunity for a space-based arrangement that can scan the surface area of the sea to detect any illegal sailings.

Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) is an umbrella term for monitoring sea-related activities.

Picture by Government of Canada

Overview of the Automatic Identification System (AIS).

Picture by Government of Canada

Example of AIS information displayed for a vessel carrying a Class A AIS device.

It is defined as all areas and things of, on, under, relating to, adjacent to, or bordering on a sea, ocean, or other navigable waterways, including all maritime-related activities, infrastructure, people, cargo, and vessels and other conveyances, as explained by Dr. Christian Bueger Profesor of International Relations, University of Copenhagen in his paper ‘From Dusk to Dawn: Maritime Domain Awareness in Southeast Asia’.

“Space-based earth observation does not replace terrestrial systems but does make them substantially more effective and is a significant start to fulfilling the core need of knowing who is where on the world’s waterways,” said Guy Thomas, Co-founder, C-SIGMA.

“The potential contributions of space-based Earth observation systems to maritime awareness is of growing interest to the world’s naval and law enforcement forces, as well as to environmental preservationists, and commerce, maritime, environmental protection, and disaster preparedness governmental ministries.”

Ship brokers, and others with an interest in the marine domain, are also interested in it, however, there is a lack of coordination for maximizing the capabilities. .

EO imagery has been useful in classifying the type of vessels involved, but it is not a feasible means of surveillance in cloud-covered areas. Similarly, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) has had limited use due to the times of imaging (6AM and 6PM) and its relatively small coverage area. The latest tool for satellite surveillance, radio frequency (RF) detection from marine radars, is already much more effective in detecting commercial fishing vessels conducting IUU fishing.

With a single coverage area spanning up to 700km, monitoring restricted zones have become much easier. This allows maritime authorities to not only interdict, but also discourage national fleets from attempting to engage in IUU activities.

The AIS Since its inception, the Automatic Identification System (AIS) has been used as a public broadcast system to identify collisions at

sea. However, while expanding its capabilities, many organisations stepped forward and added features that would help track dubious activities.

A technology sophisticated enough to give respite to marine security around the world, the AIS proved to be the flagship data procurer for maritime domain awareness agencies. However, there are different technologies within the sub-group of AIS.

Companies such as ORBCOMM, HawkEye 360, and UnseenLabs are innovating these technologies, especially the AIS to make it more efficient and accurate. Organisations like the Global Fishing Watch are furthering the cause of maritime safety by intervening through pre-existing technologies. Spoofing AIS There is still a lot to be done in making AIS more reliable as it has been easy to spoof it and create a proxy location for illicit exercises. This is witnessed as many sanctioned countries barred from trading oil or fishing in Economic Exclusive Zones (EEZs) are using AIS to project their initial locations, only to turn off the system and enter forbidden zones. These vessels are known as ‘Dark Ships’.

They have been on the rise throughout the world, with China leading the way in collecting hundreds of ships that sail around the world. Since the RussiaUkraine war, Moscow has also assembled a fleet of over 100 ships that will carry out trade and fishing around the world, as per the Financial Times.

Recently, Russia’s Kapitan Schemilkin was found spoofing its AIS and creating a proxy location. It was sailing off to Greece with barrels of oil but was later seen at Northern Cyprus and Malta.

There are a number of ways in which AIS can be made more efficient and accessible, yet, the complexity of the entire system trumps the efforts driven by many corporations.

Explaining the methods that can be incorporated to make AIS more accessible and relegate spoofing, ORBCOMM’s Business Development Manager, Art Ramirez said, “While cost is often cited as a concern, there are a number of low-cost AIS devices now available for both commercial and artisanal fishers. However, a comprehensive national program, backed by government leadership, is required to ensure compliance with an AIS mandate and succeed with this type of effort.”

“Spoofing AIS is, in fact, a significant indicator of unsanctioned behaviour. Many maritime authorities analyse AIS historical data to identify vessels of interest. The list of such vessels is subsequently monitored with both AIS and remote surveillance to

©2022 ORBCOMM Inc.

Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal, West Philippine Sea. 02 August 2022 — The Philippine Coast Guard’s BRP Teresa Magbanua (MRRV-9701) together with BRP Malapascua (MRRV 4403) safely escorts the reprovisioning boat M/V Unaiza Mae 2 as the latter replenished supplies, medicine and other essential welfare-sustaining support to BRP Sierra Madre LS57. Due to security reasons, only the Philippine Coast Guard vessels transmitted their AIS positions. However, all three vessels were detected using their marine radar RF emissions, as shown on the image above. There are a number of ways in which AIS can be made more efficient and accessible, yet, the complexity of the entire system trumps the efforts driven by many corporations

Chinese vessels seen fishing outside the EEZ zone of Galapagos.

Image and analysis courtesy: HawkEye 360

interdict or prosecute offending vessels,” he added.

Art further explained that ORBCOMM is trialing a low-cost, battery-powered, dual-mode vessel tracking device while using both AIS and satellite IoT connectivity services with some marine authorities around the world.

“There is also an obligation to develop very low-cost trackers for small boats which do not venture very far in to the sea and link them to a shore based monitoring system”, said Rear Admiral Dr. S Kulshrestha.

“There is a need to subsidise AIS for fishing fleets which sail out together, the smaller boats could be equipped with a tracker linked to the mother boat which could be equipped with a low-cost AIS. In this manner the fishing fleet along with its boats could be located at all times,” he added.

Recently, China has been relentlessly gauging across the South Asian sea zone with its newly found naval strength. Reports have shown Chinese vessels entering exclusive zones in unauthorised manners, taking advantage of the loopholes in the MDA system. HawkEye 360, a satellite monitoring company has come out with multiple studies that track the movement of Chinese vessels, which then turn into dark ships.

China’s Oceanic Adventurism An increasingly assertive China looks to tighten its hold on territories across the globe. The perks of having control over oceans are endless, and all major economies recognize it. Perhaps, China recognizes it more than any other at the moment.

With a growing population, the need to feed over 1.4 billion people every day is undoubtedly a herculean task. The demand for seafood and its scarce availability puts extra burden on China. Incidentally, it also gives Beijing an incentive to expand its sea territories.

The job of expanding sea boundaries is easier said than done, and often many countries retort to breaking international laws and treaties set in place by mutual agreement of multiple nations. In a similar unruly fashion, China is using all its power to dominate the important sea territories across the world.

From fishing illegally to exploring restricted water zones, Chinese vessels are roaming around the world. Currently, China is responsible for 85% of the Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing across the world.

“IUU fishing is a growing concern not only because of the impact that depleted fish stocks can have on the local population’s food resources, but also because of the economic

losses to the country and higher likelihood of modern-slavery labour conditions,” Art Ramirez said.

What is enabling them to do so? The Dark Ships. As per the mandate by International Maritime Organization, 2004, all the ships around the world are required to carry the AIS and send data periodically to other ships and coastal guard authorities.

According to a report by Financial Transparency Coalition, among the top 10 countries involved in IUU fishing, 8 belonged to China with a total of 233 vessels. The data was collected from 2010 to 2022.

“Of the 972 identified vessels suspected or reported to be involved in IUU fishing, flag information was available for 696 of them, representing 72 percent of the total,” the report said.

India's Containment Efforts In the Indian Ocean alone, more than 200 Chinese fishing Vessels have been monitored in the first half of 2022, according to the Indian Navy. Most of the illegal vessel activities were found to be in the Northern Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and were fishing in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

An Exclusive Economic Zone or EEZ is an area on the sea where adjacent countries have special rights to explore and use marine resources that span approximately 137 million square kilometres across the world. The need to protect these areas come naturally, as resources as scarce and the demand is inevitably high.

To curb the illegal Chinese efforts, the Quad group, consisting of Japan, Australia, India, and the US announced the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA), in May 2022. It aims to provide near real-time imagery of the activities happening in the region. All the movements are currently monitored at the Indian Navy’s IMAC and the Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR), both located in Gurugram.

As of now, there are two main regulations on IUU that operate globally; The Cape Town Agreement and the Agreement on Ports State Measures. India has not signed either of these agreements.

“The mitigation of risks associated with supply chains across the oceans may need a constant uninterrupted flow of reliable information. This would have to be managed between the state and private enterprises since the benefits would accrue to both”, said Admiral Kulshrestha (Retd), Indian Navy.

“This in turn would need a whole range of sensors which would be based upon platforms like satellites, aircrafts manned and unmanned, surface installations or those located undersea. The need to process this flow of information into actionable data would require special purpose vehicles”.

Where Does the Future Lie? The history of Maritime Domain Awareness dates back decades, but a technological advancement in recent years has catapulted its reach and efficiency like never before. This gives a positive outlook to marine security and organisation. With innovations coming in every year, it is a matter of time before oceans would be as secure as some countries’ borders. However, it won’t come easily.

With the addition of future technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and 5G, an ambitious lineup of innovations can be seen on the cards. The amalgamation of these different technologies with each other is yet to be seen, though.

“We see a future where 5G, LoRa and low-cost satellite connectivity makes all points on the planet connected all the time. This means very low-cost tracking devices and continuous coverage is possible, along with collecting rich data from vessels at sea” said Tony Long, CEO of Global Fishing Watch.

“This means that compliant vessels will be increasingly visible in maritime monitoring systems, causing non-compliant vessels to stand out more readily when they are in areas where they can be directly observed”, he added.

Picture by HawkEye 360

The Galapagos Islands are 900km away from the coast of Ecuador. This gives the extent of Chinas dire need of fishing.

Sachin Awana

Sub Editor

sachin@geospatialworld.net