ECPPM 2018 (Copenhagen) congress: "Collaborative platform based on standard services for the semi-automated generation of the 3D city model on the cloud"

1. Collaborative platform
based on standard
services for the semi-
automated generation
of the 3D city model
on the cloud
Main author: Iñaki Prieto,
Presenter: Asier Mediavilla
ECPPM 2018
Copenhagen, Denmark
September 12 - 14, 2018

2. CONTENT
• INTRODUCTION
• THE PLATFORM
• THE PROCESS
• CONCLUSIONS

3. CONTENT
• INTRODUCTION
• THE PLATFORM
• THE PROCESS
• CONCLUSIONS

4. INTRODUCTION: Context
• Urban 3D models
– Increasingly recognized as the adequate support to
integrate, harmonize and store the information of a
city and make it accessible to all public or private
stakeholders (citizens, city managers, companies or
researchers).
– Facilitate a multi-disciplinary cooperation of experts,
contributing in the generation of a single model.
– Will allow transforming urban management
processes, e.g. the Special Interior Reform Plans
(PERI), presented here.

5. INTRODUCTION: Context
• Urban management processes
– Developed by the administration
– Requires the collaboration of different agents.
– Clear example of the need to advance in the integration
of heterogeneous data at different scales (building/city).
Public
bodies
Private
companies
Citizens
City data
model
Processes

6. INTRODUCTION: Proposed solution
• Solution proposed: a platform based on web
services for the collaborative generation of urban
3D models.
– Multiscale information system  city/building
– Based on standards  IFC & CityGML
– Web services infrastructure for managing the model.
• Use case: specific urban regeneration process of
the historic center of Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain)
– Collaborative, multi-agent model generation and edition
– 3 prototype client tools developed (different users,
different devices.

7. CONTENT
• INTRODUCTION
• THE PLATFORM
• THE PROCESS
• CONCLUSIONS

8. THE PLATFORM
USER APPLICATIONS
City Building
MULTI-SCALE COLLABORATIVE PLATFORM
Desktop apps
for building
(REVIT,
SketchUp…)
Building scopeCity scope
Desktop Web
PLUG-IN
Tablet
INFRASTRUCTURECLOUD
SERVICES
FREEDATA
3D URBAN INFORMATION SYSTEM
On the
Cloud
Multiple agents &
decision scopes
(public/private)
Collaborative
WFS W3DS WPS
REST API
IFC

9. THE PLATFORM
3D Urban
Information System
(3D-UIS)
Infrastructure
cloud services
User
applications
• The 3D Urban Information System (3D-UIS) represents
the centralized information model
• Provides a single point of access to urban information
• It allows multiscale representation and is based on
standard data models (CityGML and IFC)
• Split in 4 main components
1. Projects, users and workflow management
2. City storage
3. Building repository
4. City-Building links

10. THE PLATFORM
3D Urban
Information System
(3D-UIS)
Infrastructure
cloud services
User
applications

11. THE PLATFORM
3D Urban
Information System
(3D-UIS)
Infrastructure
cloud services
User
applications
<bldg:building>
<bldg:WallSurface>
Zoom into the city-building links
<bldg:RoofSurface>
IfcBuilding
IfcBuildingStorey
IfcWall IfcRoof

12. THE PLATFORM
3D Urban
Information System
(3D-UIS)
Infrastructure
cloud services
User
applications
• Low-level services
– Uploading, downloading, accessing and querying
information contained in the model.
– The access to City database is performed using
standard OGC WFS requests
– Building repository is managed using
upload/download web services
– City-Building link database is managed using REST
services.

13. THE PLATFORM
• High-level services
– Among the high-level services are the services of 3D
model generation, linkage and interoperability of data
models. These services use previously explained low-
level services:
• 3D model generation
• Semantic completion
• Geometry-based data processing
• IFC interoperability & IFC-2-WebGL conversion
• Matching between IFC and CityGML
3D Urban
Information System
(3D-UIS)
Infrastructure
cloud services
User
applications

14. THE PLATFORM
3D Urban
Information System
(3D-UIS)
Infrastructure
cloud services
User
applications
• City scope application  GIS Desktop Client
• U3DCloud-Web application  Web App
• Building scope application  Tablet App
USER APPLICATIONS
MULTI-SCALE COLLABORATIVE PLATFORM
Desktop apps
for building
(REVIT,
SketchUp…)
Building scopeCity scope
Desktop Web
PLUG-IN
Tablet
INFRASTRUCTURECLOUD
FREEDATA

15. CONTENT
• INTRODUCTION
• THE PLATFORM
• THE PROCESS
• CONCLUSIONS

16. THE PROCESS

17. THE PROCESS
• Based on the platform described above, different agents
participate in the process of defining, editing and
monitoring a Special Interior Reform Plans (PERI), a
typical use case of urban regeneration.
• The municipality is responsible for coordinating the
process, but citizens and technicians from different
domains can also share information and participate
• The process based on the developed platform is divided
into 4 stages. Each of these stages is divided into
several activities in which different agents collaborate.

18. THE PROCESS
• The process is divided in 4 stages:
– Bulk generation of the urban 3D model (low-res)
– Integrate individual high-res buildings (IFC)
– Diagnosis of the current situation of the district
– Citizen participation in the Plan definition

19. CURRENT EVOLUTION
• Technology migration  X3D to Cesium
Building level
City level
IFC/CityGML
converted to
glTF™ or KML

20. CONTENT
• INTRODUCTION
• THE PLATFORM
• THE PROCESS
• CONCLUSIONS

21. CONCLUSIONS
• The work presents a collaborative platform based
on standard services for the generation and
edition of multiscale urban 3D models.
• Single “master” model (CityGML) with a simplified
building representation, linked to individual detailed
IFC models
• The model can be completed over time.
– New detailed buildings added and automatically linked
– Semantic data extended and updated
– Resources (images, docs) added to models

22. CONCLUSIONS
• The use of standard data models facilitates the
interoperability with existing tools.
• The development of a cloud platform based on
services allows the collaborative creation of the
model by any user from any place and device.
• Reduce time and costs in design, analysis and
management of cities.
• Facilitate openness, transparency and having a
“collaborative city for all” (managers, technicians or
citizens).

23. Thank you for your attention!
Any questions?
asier.mediavilla@tecnalia.com