Zoller + Fröhlich
Zoller+Fröhlich GmbH is a renowned SME of phase-shift based high-speed Terrestrial Lidar systems, with over 200 employees, represented in 40 countries with UK and USA subsidiaries. The family owned company started in 1963 with the design and implementation of individual control systems for the automobile and engineering industry. The construction of switch cabinets led to the patent of ferrules with plastic sleeves in order to simplify the wiring of control systems. Z+F holds the position of significant pacesetter for manufacturing devices of crimp contacts and cable assembly. Since 1995, the company has become an innovative developer and manufacturer of sensor systems with personalized CAD software solutions for 3D environment modeling. The first visual laser radar was awarded the Dr.-Rudolf-Eberle-Prize 1998 for “Innovations in Baden- Württemberg“. Since then Zoller+Fröhlich is a technological leader in phase-shift based measuring devices through laser sensors with user-orientated concepts as standalone and individualization. Main series of the product portfolio are focused on compact panoramic sensing devices and profiler devices for mobile platforms, e.g. for measuring rail tracks and tunnels. The operating software is shaped and optimized by the own IT development unit. Z+F is partner in R&D projects with international facilities regarding the development of physical measurement systems for contactless, rapid and accurate environment detection. Procedure developments are for combined scene capturing in industrial applications and human control, or for sensor data modeling and pattern matching for large structures in the production technology sector, and the simulation of movement operations of mobile assist systems in populated industrial environments. The recent developments include external sensor integrations, such as HDR photography and thermal surface information as additional information layers on top of the surveyed geometry, giving widely appreciated results for holistic documentations.
Main roles in INCEPTION
- T 1.2: Involvement in the user requirements and knowledge acquisition on cultural heritage.
- T 2.1, T 2.2, T.2.4: Being responsible as a leader in phase-based laser scanner technology development and manufacturing. Enhancement of 3D laser scanning systems by developing a framework for LIDAR data capturing to deliver a commercial phase-based 3D laser scanner device on which the adaption of the firmware takes place. Provide input to procedures for reflectivity index managing enhancement.
- T 5.1: Giving input to identify the optimal use case for each category of stakeholder, ensuring the selection and the optimal description of structure, information acquisition, management and dissemination services.
- T 7.1: Active participation in the dissemination network.
- T 8.1, T 8.3: Active participation in management meetings (general assembly), fulfilment of all obligations for reporting.
Key persons involved
MARKUS METTENLEITER (male) - Dipl.-Ing, Head of Hardware developmentDipl.-Ing. Degree in Electrical Engineering and graduated at Technical University Munich, Germany. Over three years he collaborated with the Institute of Automatic Control Engineering at the redesign of a “3D lasercamera” (sensor device for autonomous robots). He followed up as Research Student at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, USA, collaborating on the development of 77GHz front-end, data fusion laserscanner, IMU and GPS. M. Mettenleiter joins Zoller+Fröhlich since 17 years and works currently as Head of Laser/ Electronic Department and Senior Developer in laser measurement, laserscanner devices; RF-, analog-, mixed signal- and switch design. |  |
FRANZ HÄRTL (male) - Head of Software developmentGraduated with distinction as data technician from Tettnang School of Electronics, Germany. Experiences as developer of electronics and software in the sector of image processing and control engineering. F. Härtl joins Z+F since 1990 focussing on softwaredesign and algorithmics. Mr. Härtl is the head of processing software development for laser scanning data and is responsible for the software-based control of the laser scanner. |  |
KARL-HEINZ SCHNEIDER (male) - M.Sc.M.Sc. in Distributed Computing Systems Engineering and graduated at Brunel University London, United Kingdom. B.Eng. in Computer Engineering and graduated at Hochschule Esslingen, Germany. Worked at projects for about two years in automotive industry on the development of a Hardware in the Loop Testing system (HiL) for driver assistance systems. Currently working at Zoller+Fröhlich as a developer for software and electronics. Main areas are embedded systems and microcontroller applications. |  |
PETRA GOTTHARDT (female) - Dipl.-Ing.(FH)Dipl.-Ing.(FH) degree in Cartography graduated at University of Applied Sciences Karlsruhe, Germany. She worked several years as Software Developer for evaluation software for a airborne laser scanners. P. Gotthardt joins Zoller+Fröhlich since 8 years and works currently as Software Developer on the point cloud pre-processing software Z+FLaserControl with the programming language C, C++ and QT. |  |
BERNHARD MUSCHLER (male) - Dipl.-Phys.Dr. Bernhard Muschler, Dipl.-Phys., has his degree in experimental Physics and graduated in the field of inelastic light (Raman) scattering at the Technical University of Munich, Germany. During his diploma he focused on the study of cuprate superconductors. His PhD he earned for the investigation of the newly discovered iron based superconductors. In this work he collaborated with many theoreticians, i.a. from the University of Stanford, USA, and the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington DC, USA. B. Muschler joins Zoller + Fröhlich since 1.5 years and works currently on the continuous development of the optical measurement technique for and the calibration of the Zoller + Fröhlich laser scanners. |  |
DANIEL BLERSCH (male) - Architect, Project coordinatorDott. Arch. Degree in Architecture at University of Florence, Italy. Research fellow at DIAPReM Institute of University of Ferrara (Development of Integrated Automatic Procedures for Restoration of Monuments) for the Integration of Lidar data in cultural heritage documentation and participated in several research projects. He regularly is involved in high density documentations by TLS for monuments of the world heritage list. His experience in Lidar (TLS) data evaluation and pointcloud-based technical design for facade construction and industrial installations was refined then in a German engineering company. D. Blersch joins Zoller+Fröhlich since 2011 as engineer for data evaluation and visualization in the Laser Department. |  |