Werchter 2010 – Terra 3D

Beginning of July 2010 there were tens of thousands of enthusiastic festival-goers together in Werchter. This event is always a challenge security-wise. For the companies Terec & Fast systems this was chosen as the first real live test. The new application would provide a new dimension of multidisciplinary control at the festival site.

The system provides seamless integration of digital camera images, GPS, CityGIS ASTRID and networks such as GSM. The position of police and emergency medical services was through the ASTRID network (APL), all redirected to a central location server. From there, the images were distributed to the command center of the police and the command center of the Red Cross. The teams were not only visualized on a conventional map, but also in a 3D view of the festival site.

In total, there are about 35 THR880i EADS radios in use by the Red Cross and the Federal Police all identified in the command room. The history of the movement for teams was shown with a line in color on the screen for the last movements of the last teams. This software can very quickly bring the closest team to the scene of an incident or send for assistance of another team. By calibrating the digital cameras with the DTM (Digital Terrain Model), each pixel in a 2D video image can be related on screen to a 3D XYZ coordinate. In establishing an incident, a simple mouse click in the image sends an ASTRID radio waypoint to the nearest team.

What exactly happens on the field? The radio user receives an SDS-ASTRID radio message with the correct coordinates (waypoint). Using a compass on the screen of the radio – a standard feature in all THR880i EADS radios – the radio user follows the directions to the place. After a positive test at Werchter, the 3D application has proven its value for safety management. We are thinking specifically of mass events in large open areas with little beacons or reference points for workers.