IGMS is active in fiber optic sensing since more than 20 years. Based on the many successfully completed projects the spin-off company ACI Monitoring GmbH has been founded. ACI develops, installs and operates structural health monitoring systems of civil infrastructure objects using geotechnical and geodetic sensors with special focus on distributed fiber optic sensing. Feel free to contact ACI for your monitoring question or IGMS for research in fiber optic sensing.
Distributed Fiber Optic Sensing (DFOS) enables the strain measurement along the entire length of an optical fiber. The recent IGMS open access paper in the journal Sensors explains how these data can be used for shape sensing of concrete structures. Follow this link to learn more about the right cable selection, the impact of different gauge lengths and the achievable accuracy of the shape calculation.
The General Assembly of the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) elected Werner Lienhart as the Chair Elect of Commission 6 - Engineering Surveys. The elected Chair Elect term as the Chair of the Commission will be initiated at the FIG Congress 2022 for the period 2023-2026.
18 rowing clubs took part at the first international rowing competition at the river Mur. Winners at the sprint track that was staked out by IGMS were LIA Wien (Male 8+) and RV Wiking Linz / Regensburg RC (Female 8+).
IGMS supports the dragon boot and rowing sprint races of the Grazer River Days. The team of IGMS determined a digital twin of the river section with laser scanning and used this data to calculate the coordinates of the race tracks. These were staked out with buoys together with the fire brigade of Graz.
IGMS receives the best paper award at the 10th International Conference on Structural Health Monitoring (SHMII) for the article: Autonomous Integrity Monitoring of Shotcrete Tunnel Linings using Distributed Fiber Optic Sensing.
The Technical Committee of the Fiber Optic Sensing Association (FOSA) held a webinar on Fiber Optic Monitoring of Large Concrete Structures. The webinar was presented by Werner Lienhart and is available on the FOSA YouTube channel.
The IGMS team instrumented two ground anchors with distributed fiber optic sensing (DFOS) cables. Each anchor is 50 m long and used for a retaining wall at Bratislava Castle, Slovakia. Distributed fiber optic strain sensing (DSS) is used to investigate the anchor’s performance under these special geologic conditions. This project is a follow up project to the research project LiNaFoS (FFG #871536) in collaboration with Keller, specialised geotechnical contractor.
Prof. Werner Lienhart acts as jury president and external examiner at the defending of the PhD Thesis “Distributed Fiber Optic Sensor for Vibration Measurement based on Coherent Backscattering” at the Photonics Group of Universite de Strasbourg. Congratulations to Alireza Morsali for achieving the doctoral degree.
TU Graz presented its bachelor's and master's degree programmes at the virtual open door day 2021. Prospective students had the opportunity to learn more about the Geodesy study programmes in interviews, image movies and live discussions
The world exhibition in the Modern Art museum Forum Stadtpark included a thought experiment. What if the museum building lifts off the ground for one second while the earth continues to rotate below? Find out where the building touches the ground again
Maintenance of tens of thousands of retaining structures in the Alpine area is challenging. Follow this link to our open-access paper that addresses this challenge with rapid deformation monitoring using mobile mapping systems and automated point cloud processing algorithms.
The usage of VR gear in mixed reality applications demands a high position and orientation accuracy of all devices. Follow this link to the open access paper published in Sensors to see how the HTC Vive Pro system has performed in the IGMS measurement laboratory.
Dr. M.S. Miah, expert in the analysis of dynamic data and vibration based Structural Health Monitoring (SHM), starts his research work at IGMS. We welcome Dr. Miah in our team and are looking forward to extend IGMS's capabilites in SHM.
Structural health monitoring (SHM) is currently mainly based on conventional geotechnical and geodetic sensors. With the rise of fibre optic sensors, continuous measurements without interruption of construction of civil engineering structures becomes possible. Follow this link to the open access paper to see how distributed fibre optic sensors (DFOS) complement geodetic measurements.
Although the Ball der Technik was shifted to 2022 due to Covid19, preparation work already started. Ball der Technik is one of the most beautiful social and dancing events and will be organized next year by the faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Geodesy. Watch the Teaser Video here.
An extended version of the award winning paper of the wide range of fibre optic sensing applications at a tunnel construction site has been published in the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). Follow this link to the open access paper.
TU Graz released a new image video of the Geodesy degree program on the TU Graz YouTube channel. Learn how geodesy impacts our daily life and how you can shape the future as a geodesist.
Prof. Werner Lienhart acts as external examiner at the Geodetic Institute of Leibniz University Hannover and takes also part at the defence of the PhD thesis “Robust Deformation Monitoring of Bridge Structures Using MEMS Accelerometers and Image-Assisted Total Stations”. Congratulations to Mohammad Omidalizarandi for achieving the doctoral degree.
IGMS jointly organized together with TU Munich and ETH Zurich the 19th International Course on Engineering Geodesy. The conference was held at TU Munich where more than 160 experts attended the tutorials and presentations. IGMS demonstrated the benefits of image based monitoring for bridge in live demonstrations and date processing sessions.
Within the publically funded FFG project RIBET IGMS starts permanent crack monitoring of the tunnel lining of the Tauern Tunnel. The Tauern Tunnel is one of the main highway crossing of the Alps. It consists of two tubes with a length of about 6.5 km each. IGMS installed a fibre optic based crack monitoring system in the summer of 2019. After the successful evaluation stage the permanent high resolution monitoring started in March 2019.
Energienetze Steiermark GmbH supports IGMS by providing 4 Trimble NetRS GPS receivers and Zephyr antennas. This hardware will be used in the practical exercises of the Master Course Geodesy to demonstrate and train students on GPS reference station networks. Furthermore, the equipment complements IGMS’s existing GNSS hardware for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) using Global Navigation Satellite Systems.
Students of the course Engineering Geodesy visit the tunnel construction sites of the Semmering Base Tunnel (SBT). The students examine the intermediate construction sites Sommerau and Göstritz above ground and go also underground using one of the two 100 m deep shafts at Sommerau to access the two tunnel tubes which are currently being built using the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM). In course of the excursions the students experience live several monitoring installations using total stations and fibre optic sensors.
Slaven Kalenjuk received the prestigious Heinrich Wild Award 2019. The Heinrich Wild Award recognizes outstanding young researches in the field of Engineering Geodesy. This prize is awarded by Leica Geosystems AG and Slaven Kalenjuk was selected as winner for the development of innovative solutions for monitoring of retaining structures using mobile mapping systems (MMS).
TUG releases its new image film “What’s your Story”. Learn more about the TU Graz, studying at TU Graz and Graz in general and watch the YouTube video.
Dr. Matthias Ehrhart reaches 2nd place at the “TUEV Wissenschaftspreis” for his PhD thesis on using image assisted total stations for static and dynamic monitoring of bridges. Watch a YouTube video of Mr. Ehrhart’s work.
IGMS has been recognized for its patent activities at the inventors’ gala held in the historic city centre of Graz. Within the last years, the IGMS team has filed three patents in the field of fibre optic sensing. The patent AT516158B1 for the monitoring of tunnel lining segments has already been granted. Two other patents are pending.
Prof. Werner Lienhart acts as external examiner for a PhD thesis at the Queen's University Belfast and takes also part at the viva voce examination. Congratulations to Darragh Lydon to pass the PhD examination.
IGMS presents the Bachelor and Master Courses “Geodesy” at the work and study fair BeSt3. BeSt3 is the largest fair for education programs in Austria and is visited by up to 30 000 pupils and teachers. IGMS demonstrates live how geodesy digitizes the world with laser scanning and fiber optic sensing.
The Austrian Highway Agency ASFINAG and representatives from the Japanese Express Way company NEXCO and the Metropolitan Express Company Shutoko visit IGMS to exchange the current state of the art of assessing the integrity of infrastructure objects like bridges, tunnels and retaining walls. This includes the efficient data acquisition with mobile mapping systems, the uses of distributed fibre optic sensing as well as image based measurements.
The surveying department of council of Vienna (MA 41) visits the fibre optic tunnel monitoring installation at the Zentrum am Berg (ZaB). ZaB is one of the largest tunnel research centres in Europe. At ZaB experiments can be made at a 1:1 scale. Prof. Galler of MUL and Prof. Lienhart of TUG give a detailed tour of the facilities of ZaB.
IGMS hosts the 23rd plenary meeting and two working group meetings of ISO TC172/SC06 Geodetic and Surveying Instruments. Within the two-day meeting representatives from Austria, Germany, Japan, Switzerland and Slovakia revise current standards and discus new standards in the field of geodetic instrumentation. The current list of standards under the responsibility of this committee can be found here
IGMS has been awarded with the Best Paper Award at the International Conference on Smart Infrastructure and Construction (ICSIC) for the paper entitled Distributed fiber optic sensing on a large tunnel construction site: Increased safety, more efficient construction and basis for condition based maintenance. The paper covers several distributed fibre optic installations at the Semmering Base Tunnel for the monitoring of tunnel linings, shafts, pipelines and reinforced earth structures. The full paper is open access and can be downloaded here
The research group of Engineering Geodesy of the Technical University of Munich visits the IGMS monitoring at the Semmering Base Tunnel. Special focus was placed on the monitoring of the reinforced earth structure at the disposal site Longsgraben.
Werner Lienhart held a master class on geodetic monitoring using total stations at the 6th International Course on Geotechnical and Structural Monitoring (IcGSM) in Rome. In this interactive tutorial potential error sources of total station based monitoring were discussed and the participants had the chance to experience the impact of wrong instrument settings or insufficient equipment.
lGMS gives two presentations about fibre optic sensing at the 4th Joint International Conference on Deformation Monitoring (JISDM) in Greece. Fabian Buchmayer presents new strain and temperature measurements in conventional tunnelling using distributed fibre sensors. Ferdinand Klug demonstrates together with the Nottingham University Ningbo and the University of the Faroe Islands a combined GNSS and FBG based approach to observe ship deformations in extreme weather conditions.
Prof. Werner Lienhart acts as external examiner for two PhD thesis and takes also part at the viva voce examination. Congratulations to Fatemeh Hamid-Lakzaeian to pass the PhD examination at the University College Dublin and to Cheng-Chieh Wu to receive a PhD from TU Berlin.
Students of the bachelor program Geodesy visit the intermediate access point Grautschenhof of the Semmering Base Tunnel (SBT). The students examine the construction site above ground and go also underground using one of the two 100 m deep shafts to access the two tunnel tubes which are currently being built using the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM).
The national Austrian TV station ORF reports about the installation and operation of the IGMS fibre optic monitoring system for the Semmering Base Tunnel. At Goestritz, IGMS monitors deformations of the concrete linings of the two 200 m deep shafts. Watch the video on the TU Graz YouTube channel
Former ISHMII President and Secretary General Dr. Wolfgang Habel visits IGMS and gives an invited talk for students at Graz University of Technology. In his presentation, Dr. Habel demonstrates the benefits of fibre optic sensors for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM).
Werner Lienhart explains the benefits of the IGMS patented approach of structural monitoring of tunnel lining segments in a radio interview. The interview was broadcast on the web radio AirCampus of the universities of Graz and on Radio Soundportal. The audio stream of the interview can be found here
Werner Lienhart was awarded with the Teaching Award of Excellence 2017/2018 for his outstanding teaching in the lecture Advanced Engineering Geodesy. The award was given by the TU Graz after an extensive selection procedure. First students, deans of studies and lecturers can themselves nominate courses. Next, nominees have to submit a description of the course and a concept with pedagogic and didactic backgrounds. The final decision about the prize winners is made by a selection committee chaired by the Vice Rector for Academic Affairs, consisting of representatives of the Students’ Union, University Council, curricular committees, the Senate and external experts on the topic of university teaching. More information can be found in TU Graz people
IGMS has been honored as one of the top 4 innovators of Austria at the Staatspreis Patent (Austrian Patent Award) Gala. The Gala took place at the historic Sofiensäle in Vienna and the prices were presented by the Head of the Patent Office and the Austrian Minister of Traffic, Innovation and Technology. The video about the IGMS patent on tunnel lining segments can be seen on the TU Graz YouTube Channel
Former IGMS member Dr. Matthias Ehrhart has been award the Karl Rinner Award for his work on Image Assisted Total Stations (IATS). The Karl Rinner Award is the most prestigious award for young researchers in Austria. It is given by the Austrian Geodetic Commission (ÖGK). The award ceremony took place at the Federal Office of Metrology and Surveying (BEV) in Vienna.
13.09.2018
IGMS nominated for patent of the year
The innovative patent of TU Graz and Montanuniversität Leoben using distributed fibre optic sensing for the monitoring of pre-cast tunnel lining segments has been nominated for the Austrian Patent Award 2018. The granted patent "Tübbingelement mit Dehnungsmessung" (AT 516158 B1) has already been successfully applied in the Koralm Tunnel and is currently in the top 4 list of the patent of the year. The final decision of the jury will be announced in the celebration gala on November 8th in Vienna. See the complete list of nominees at the homepage of the Austrian Patent Office.14. - 17.05.2018
IGMS exhibits at the “Austrian Geodetic Day” in Steyr
The "Österreichische Geodätentag" is the largest Austrian geodetic come together and takes place every three years. It is organized by the Austrian Scociety for Survey and Geoinformation (OVG). This year, IGMS participates with an exhibition booth and demonstrates the current research in geodetic and fibre optic sensing.07.05.2018
Students extend 3D Model of Stalactite Cave
IGMS bachelor students performed terrestrial laser scanner and total station measurements in the stalactite cave Katerloch to extend the existing 3D model. The Katerloch is one of the largest stalactite caves in Austria. IGMS performs laser scanning in this cave since 2016. This year the focus was the mapping of the "Seeparadies", an area with an underground lake.03.05.2018
Invited talk at ETH Zurich
Werner Lienhart gave an invited talk on “Drowning in data: The curse of high resolution structural health monitoring” at the ETH Zurich. The talk focused on the challenges and downfalls as well as the potential of high frequent monitoring data obtained from image assisted total stations, laser scanners and fibre optic sensors.01.05.2018
21.05.2018
Master class on total station measurements at IcGSM
Werner Lienhart gave a master class on total station measurements at the 5th International Course on Geotechnical and Structural Monitoring (IcGSM) in Rome. In this interactive tutorial potential error sources of total station based monitoring were discussed and the participants had the chance to experience the impact of wrong instrument settings or insufficient equipment in hands on experiments.14.04.2018
Visitor Record at Long Night of Research 2018
The Long Night of Research had a new visitor record of 228 000 people visiting exhibitions at Austria’s research institutes. TU Graz was strongly involved with 30 exhibition areas. IGMS demonstrated "How to digitize the whole world" using laser scanners, tracking total stations and mobile mapping systems.19.02.2018
Research visit from Italy
Paolo Caporossi, PhD student at the University of Rome Sapienza, joins IGMS for a 2 months research visit. Paolo focusses in his research on the development of imaged based methods for monitoring of natural hazards. During his stay in Graz, Paolo will evaluate his methods in the IGMS measurement lab. Additionally his methods will be used with other monitoring techniques of IGMS to observe the behavior of a rock face in Austria. We welcome Paolo and wish him a fruitful stay in Graz.08.02.2018
Distributed Fiber Optic Installation at Semmering Base Tunnel
IGMS successfully performed a second distributed fiber optic installation in the shotcrete lining at the Semmering Base Tunnel. Permanent Brillouin and Rayleigh measurements are used to assess the deformation behavior at the early stage right after excavation. Periodic long term measurements will be used to assess the long term behavior of the tunnel. More about the fiber optic activities of IGMS in tunneling can be found here.17.01.2018
Christoph Monsberger receives Heinrich Wild Award 2017
Christoph Monsberger received the Heinrich Wild Award 2017. The Heinrich Wild Award recognizes outstanding young researches in the field of Engineering Geodesy. This prize is awarded by Leica Geosystems AG and Christoph Monsberger was selected as winner for the development of innovative solutions for monitoring of tunnel linings based on distributed fiber optic sensing.08.01.2018
Invited Talk of SLAC
Georg Gassner, Department Head for Metrology at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory operated by Stanford University for the U.S. Department of Energy, visited IGMS and gave an invited talk on “Alignment activities at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory”.Dipl.-Ing. Matthias Ehrhart successfully defended his PhD Thesis with the title “Applications of image-assisted total stations: Concepts, experiments, results and calibration”. This thesis is available at the Shaker Verlag. The examiners Prof. Thomas Wunderlich from TU Munich and Prof. Werner Lienhart from TU Graz congratulate Dr. Ehrhart on his new doctor title.
17.11.2017
Geoday 2017
On November 27th IGMS co‐hosted the 5th Geoday– the open house presentation of the Geodesy and Geomatics Science courses at TU Graz. Several school classes from different Austrian counties experienced hands‐on demonstrations and exciting presentations of the wide range of geodetic applications. More information about this event can be found at http://geoday.tugraz.at/.25.09.2017
KinderUniGraz visits IGMS
On September 25th, KinderUniGraz visited IGMS. Pupils from a 4th grade elementary school (Volksschule Premstätten) learned about the principles of surveying and went on a treasure hunt with total stations.01.08.2017
Fibre optic measurements of ferryboat
IGMS performed in collaboration with Fróðskaparsetur Føroya (The University of the Faroe Islands) and the University of Nottingham Ningbo (China), fibre optic deformation measurements of a ferryboat. High frequent strain data of the ship's hull were recorded during the loading and unloading of the ship and while the ship was sailing on the sea. The high-resolution data are expected to provide new insights into the ship's behavior.10.05.2017
3D Modelling of a Stalactite Cave
IGMS bachelor students performed terrestrial laser scanner measurements in the stalactite cave Katerloch. The Katerloch is one of the largest stalactite caves in Austria. Goal of the measurements are the development of a 3D model of the cave, which can be used to determine the dimensions of the cave. Furthermore, the number and size of the stalactites as well as 2D plans shall be derived from the 3D model.18th International Course on Engineering Geodesy held at TU Graz
The 18th International Course on Engineering Geodesy was held at TU Graz from April 25th until April 29th. TU Graz, ETH Zurich and TU Munich jointly organized this prestigious conference. More than 300 experts attended the tutorials with practical exercises, the presentations or joined the excursion. The program and impressions from the course can be found at iv2017.tugraz.at.IGMS Professor Fritz K. Brunner explains the challenges of accurate GNSS positioning in the new video of Leica Geosystems AG. In this video the crucial elements of reliable positioning with cm accuracy are highlighted. These are: 1) Reception of the analogue signals with excellent multipath mitigation and stable phase centre for all signals. 2) AD conversion with minimum noise but still high sensitivity for tracking under canopy. 3) Smart algorithms to fix and validate phase ambiguities. The full video is available on YouTube.
IGMS - Institute of Engineering Geodesy and Measurement Systems
Steyrergasse 30
8010 Graz, Austria
Phone: +43 (0) 316 873 - 6321
email: office.igms @tugraz.at
Web: www.igms.tugraz.at