A versatile and low-cost 3D acquisition and processing pipeline for collecting mass of archaeological findings on the field

Abstract

Commission V, WG V/4KEY WORDS: Photogrammetry, 3D acquisition, cultural heritage, low cost solution, web platform ABSTRACT:In recent years, advances in the fields of photogrammetry and computer vision have produced several solutions for generating 3D reconstruction starting from simple images. Even if the potentialities of the image-based 3D reconstruction approach are nowadays very well-known in terms of reliability, accuracy and flexibility, there is still a lack of low-cost, open-source and automated solutions for collecting mass of archaeological findings, specially if one consider the real (and non theoretical) contextual aspects of a digitization campaign on the field (number of objects to acquire, available time, lighting conditions, equipment transport, budget, etc...) as well as the accuracy requirements for an in-depth shape analysis and classification purpose. In this paper we present a prototype system (integrating hardware and software) for the 3D acquisition, geometric reconstruction, documentation and archiving of large collections of archaeological findings. All the aspects of our approach are based on high-end image-based modeling techniques and designed basing on an accurate analysis of the typical field conditions of an archaeological campaign, as well as on the specific requirements of archaeological finding documentation and analysis. This paper presents all the aspects integrated into the prototype: -a hardware development of a transportable photobooth for the automated image acquisition consisting of a turntable and three DSLR controlled by a microcontroller ; -an automatic image processing pipeline (based on Apero/Micmac) including mask generation, tie-point extraction, bundle adjustment, multi-view stereo correlation, point cloud generation, surface reconstruction ; -a versatile (off-line/on-line) portable database for associating descriptive attributes (archaeological description) to the 3D digitizations on site ; -a platform for data-gathering, archiving and sharing collections of 3D digitizations on the Web. The presentation and the assessment of this prototype is based on an interdisciplinary experience carried out on the study of the Tholos in Delphi within the framework of the CNRS's Eloquentia project and the EFA's archaeological program.

SFM Technique and Focus Stacking for Digital Documentation of Archaeological Artifacts

“…Even if the potentialities of the image-based 3D reconstruction approach are nowadays very well known in terms of reliability, accuracy and flexibility, there is still a lack of low-cost, opensource and automated solutions for collecting mass of archaeological findings, especially if we consider the real contextual aspects of a digitization campaign in situ. (Gattet, et al, 2015) …”

An Open Source Low-Cost Automatic System For Image-Based 3d Digitization

“…partially textureless). Compared with the Gattet et al (2015), besides the capability to control different types of lights, ORION can control camera shooting parameters for most commercially available cameras and automatically download e organise the images. Using dedicated scripting, the images can be either processed locally or sent to a remote server .…”

“…due to incompleteness), thus requiring new integrative image acquisition, which may be not always feasible, especially when dealing with remote or endangered cultural heritage. With the aim to simplify and automate the image acquisition for small to medium sized cultural heritage artefacts like vases, jugs, amphorae, decorative stones, or industrial parts like a gear box or a turbine blade, several automatic systems have come out as research (Santos et al, 2017a(Santos et al, , 2017bGattet et al, 2015;Hosseininaveh et al, 2014Hosseininaveh et al, , 2015, commercial (Pixelio3D, EinScan, etc.) or even DIY solutions.…”

Virtual in Real. Interactive Solutions for Learning and Communication In the National Archaeological Museum of Marche

“…(Gattet et al, 2015) ( Evgenikou and Georgopoulos, 2015) shows different methodology for the three dimensional reconstruction of small artefacts. In (Clini et al, 2016) the authors combine the Structure From Motion technique (SFM) with Focus Stacking for the 3D digitization of small archaeological artefacts, and they verify the accuracy by comparison with 3D model obtained through triangulation laser scanning.…”