[http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/12/glacier.jpg](http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/15/microsoft-kinect-used-to-map-asteroids-glaciers-other-scary-th/)
Ken Mankoff is a PhD student at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he studies ice and ocean interactions. He also counts himself among a growing legion of environmental scientists who have begun using Microsoft's Kinect to create detailed, 3D maps of caves, glaciers and even asteroids. As *Wired* reports, the Kinect has garnered something of a cult following within the scientific community, especially among those who, until now, have relied upon comparatively more expensive and complicated technologies to gather detailed 3D data. The approach *du jour* for most researchers is something known as Light Detection and Ranging ([LIDAR](http://www.engadget.com/tag/LIDAR/)) -- a laser-based technology capable of creating precise maps over relatively large areas. The Kinect, by contrast, can only see up to 16 feet in front of itself, but at just $120, it's significantly cheaper than the average LIDAR system, which can run for anywhere between $10,000 and $200,000. It's also surprisingly accurate, capable of capturing up to 9 million data points per second.
Mankoff, for one, has already used the device to map a small cavern underneath a glacier in Norway, while Marco Tedesco, a hydrologist at the City College of New York, is looking to attach a Kinect to a [remote-controlled helicopter](http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/01/kinect-quadrocopter-gets-a-new-mission-3d-mapping-video/), in the hopes of measuring so-called meltwater lakes found on glaciers during the summer. Then there's Naor Movshovitz, also a PhD student at UC Santa Cruz, who's more interested in using the Kinect and its image processing software to figure out how asteroids behave when broken up by a projectile. There are limitations, of course, since the device still has trouble performing amidst severe environmental conditions, though its supporters seem confident they'll find a solution. Read more at the source link below.
Microsoft Kinect used to map asteroids, glaciers, other scary things originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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