Forest 3D Mapping and Tree Sizes Measurement for Forest Management Based on Sensing Technology for Mobile Robots

This research work is aimed at application of sensing and mapping technologies that have been developed in mobile robotics, so as to perform equipment measurements of forest trees. This research work utilizes a small sized laser scanner and SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) technology for the problem of performing forest mensurements. One of the key pieces of information required for forest management, especially in artificial forests, is accurate records of the tree sizes and the standing timber volume per unit area. The authors have made measurement equipment fore a pre-production trial which consists of small sized laser range scanners with a rotating (scanning) mechanism of them. SLAM and related technologies are applied for the information extraction. In the development of SLAM algorithm for this application, the sparseness of the standing trees and the inclination of the forest floor are considered. After performing the SLAM and obtaining a map based on the data from several measurement points, we can obtain useful information including a map of the standing trees, the diameter at chest height of every tree, and the height at crown base (length of the clear bole). The authors will present the experimental results from the forest including the map and the measured tree sizes.