Boeing creates 3D maps from laser beams.

• Author: Beidel, Eric
• Position: TECHWIRE

* Boeing researchers have added another dimension to maps by shooting laser beams from the air.

The imaging system at first weighed 80 pounds, but now it is no larger than a 20-pound backpack Boeing's directed energy systems unit recently tested its three-dimensional camera on board a hot-air balloon in New Mexico, where it. scanned the landscape and created maps of the Rio Grande. In October, engineers put it on a helicopter to find out if it could see through obstructions like trees and foliage.

"If we can actually map what's under a tree, that's a huge discriminator for our system," said Mike Rinn, Boeing's vice president of directed energy systems.

The mapper was able to find a man hiding under a tree with a simulated rocket launcher on his shoulder. Data can also be turned into a hologram to help users determine when something or someone has come to a certain location and then left.

The...