Using the Discoverer Supercomputer for post-processing of large-scale photogrammetric models

At the end of February 2023 Aero Vision EOOD and DZZD “PETASCALE SUPERCOMPUTER CONSORTIUM – BULGARIA” completed a joint pilot project using the “Discoverer” supercomputer.

Supercomputers play an important role in the field of computer science and are used for a wide range of computationally intensive tasks in various fields, including quantum mechanics, weather forecasting, climate research, oil and gas exploration, molecular modeling (calculating the structures and properties of chemical compounds, biological macromolecules, polymers and crystals) and physics simulations (such as simulations of the early moments of the universe, the aerodynamics of aircraft and spacecraft, detonation of nuclear weapons and nuclear fusion). They are essential in the field of cryptanalysis.

The project, which was implemented jointly, consists of a comparative analysis of the efficiency of the use of large computing power in the processing and post-processing of large-scale photogrammetric projects.

For the purpose of the comparative analysis, photographs and georeferenced points from the model of the Belen bridge, which was post-processed in advance on a powerful standard computer, were used. In addition, an HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen10 Plus 8SFF server was used, which was equipped with Nvidia Tesla K80 graphics cards, which server provided the capabilities for fast and easy texturing and coloring of the model.

The use of the Discoverer supercomputer and the HPE ProLiant DL380 server for the present project led to a significant reduction in time compared to a standard computer, which also proved the need to integrate modern technologies and computers with high computing power in the post-processing and processing of large-scale photogrammetric 3D models.