CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS
Michael Gruber
As an analytical photogrammetrist with experience from the UltraScan-project, Michael was the first to suggest the idea of tiling a large image using multiple lens cones, in April 2001. His most important contribution was to develop a calibration system that resulted in sub-micrometer accuracies of the UltraCam. Michael received a doctorate in computer vision / photogrammetry from Graz University of Technology in 1997. He was a University assistant in computer vision from 1993-1999, and then switched to Vexcel Imaging GmbH in mid-1999. With the 2006-transition to Microsoft, he is now employed by Microsoft as a Chief Photogrammetrist.
Martin Ponticelli
Martin was the first full-time employee at Vexcel Imaging to work on the UltraCam-project, starting on 1st of September 2001. He holds the degree of Dipl.-Ing. in Electrical Engineering from Graz University of Technology and is a hard core electronics designer and developer, with previous employments addressing measurement and analysis devices. As an avid video and audiophile, he guided the overall hardware and electronics development to maintain a 72 db signal-to-noise ratio for the UltraCam, and set up the transition to manufacturing at Wild Austria.
Stefan Bernoegger
Software development is Stefan’s strength. His Dipl.-Ing http://ocw.u…on.html. degree was received in computer engineering/computer science at Graz University of Technology with a thesis in computer vision. After graduation and some international academic experience, he started at Vexcel Imaging GmbH in 1999 to address the real time software for the UltraScan film scanner. In 2001 he switched his responsibility to the real time software in the digital camera going from level-0 to level-3 imagery. His team coded many software systems: the entire calibration software, all user interfaces, the in-flight management of the camera, the ground-based processing system [denoted the Office Processing Center OPC], the manufacturing and quality control software, the radiometric block adjustment software and finally the Dragonfly/Seadragon-based UltraMap system to replace the OPC to process UltraCam data in a distributed computer network.
Bernhard Reitinger
Bernhard graduated with a Dipl.-Ing. in computer science from the University of Linz and received a doctorate in computer vision at Graz University of Technology. He joined Microsoft in 2008 after the acquisition of Vexcel Imaging and took responsibility for the photogrammetry workflow software. The first product release concerned the fully automated aerial triangulation. Dense Matching and ortho-photo production are following. He was responsible for converting the Seadragon software of Microsoft to the photogrammetry application, thereby going from 3 to 4 colors [infrared!)], from non-overlapping to overlapping images, and from 8 bit radiometry to 16-bit radiometry per color channel. The new development is denoted as Dragonfly and is the basis for interacting with thousands of very large overlapping 16-bit 4-color-band images in real time. UltraCam-users experience this capability in the UltraMap product.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am grateful that Figures 4 to 8 have been made available by Engelbert Breg from Microsoft-Graz. Figure 2 is from a slide by Michael Gruber, also from Microsoft-Graz.