What’s New

Carmenta Engine for Linux ARM

Carmenta Engine for Linux SDK now supports deploying applications on Linux ARM platforms. This makes it easy to use low end ARM based hardware in onboard systems for different applications.

The functionality in Carmenta Engine for Linux ARM is the same as on all other platforms and has been requested by customers as an addition to Carmenta Engine’s support for Windows, Android and Linux x86.

Carmenta Engine supports Microsoft Windows 11

This release of Carmenta Engine SDK adds support for the recently released Microsoft Windows 11.

With Microsoft Windows 11 as a supported platform for Carmenta Engine SDK, you can both be sure that the application you build today can run on early adopter systems, as well as be used for a long time into the future.

Displaying weather forecasts from GRIB files

The new GribDataSet makes it possible to read meteorological data in the GRIB format, and the output can be used as any raster in Carmenta Engine, either for direct visualization, or as input to other geoprocessing operators.
With the new PointSampleOperator you can sample raster values into attributes on point features, and this can be used together with the new WindBarbSymbol that makes it easy to visualize wind direction and speed. The PointSampleOperator can be used for many other use cases where you would like to sample raster data and is available for all Carmenta Engine users without any additional extensions required.

Support for Tactical Graphics in MIL-STD-2525D and NATO APP-6 D

The Tactical Extension has been updated to support tactical graphics from the US MIL-STD-2525D and NATO APP-6(D) symbol standards, in addition to the point symbology that was added in Carmenta Engine 5.14.

This expands the capabilities for tactical visualization in Carmenta Engine that is used in many customer systems and has been verified in multinational environments.

Improved visibility calculations

With the improved VisibilityIndexOperator you can now assign both an observer area and multiple target areas. This makes it possible for you to calculate where to place an observer to see as much as possible of your targets, and where you should be located to avoid being seen. This can aid commanders in their planning, as well as be used in simulation and machine learning applications.

Georeferenced Full Motion Video in 3D

The new Camera Projection Overlay makes it possible to display georeferenced full motion video streams in 3D GlobeView maps. This feature complements our existing, battle tested support for handling such video streams in traditional 2D maps.

The high resolution video streams can be draped in real time onto any 3D structures, including detailed 3D city models. Our efficient GPU implementation ensures that the frame rate stays smooth and that the CPU has time for other tasks.

Volumetric Line-of-Sight

The Line-of-Sight Operator has been extended with the ability to produce viewshed volumes that indicate which parts of its surrounding airspace an observer can see.

The volumes can be visualized in 3D GlobeView maps. They can also be cut through by the Vertical Profile analysis.

Additionally, the new Airspace Coverage Operator can be used to merge a number of such viewshed volumes into a combined volume that represents airspace covered by a sufficient number of observers. The operator can also be used to show the parts of an airspace that lacks sufficient coverage, as in the picture below.

Support for Reading Aeronautical Information Exchange Model (AIXM) Files

The new AIXM Dataset makes it possible to directly connect to aeronautical information in the XML based AIXM 5.1 and 5.1.1 formats that have been jointly developed by EUROCONTROL and FAA.

The picture below shows how information from an AIXM file can directly be visualized in the style of an Enroute Chart.

New API for Creating OGC GeoPackage Files

A new API makes it easier than ever to create and populate files in the standardized OGC GeoPackage format – an optimized, single-file container that is perfect for distribution to mobile devices.

The API supports writing both image pyramids, coverage pyramids and vector data to the GeoPackage, and any Carmenta Engine View, Layer, Operator or DataSet can be used as the data source.

A page from the Carmenta Engine SDK documentation showing one of the GeoPackage code samples.

Support for MIL-STD-2525D and NATO APP-6(D)

The Tactical Extension has been updated to support point symbols from the US MIL-STD-2525D and NATO APP-6(D) symbol standards.

A screenshot from a Carmenta Engine SDK sample application showing MIL-STD-2525D symbology.

Next Generation Terrain Routing

The Carmenta Engine off road routing functionality has received a major overhaul in this release. Not only have we been able to make the routing calculation significantly faster – we’ve also added several new features.

A major new addition is the possibility to calculate omnidirectional travel times from a specified starting point, resulting in so-called isochrones.

When the vehicle is using the road network, restrictions on vehicle width, height, length and weight can now be taken into account. The routing algorithm has additionally been extended to be able to handle areas that should be avoided but which are not completely forbidden.

It is now also possible to produce a more detailed representation of the calculated route suitable for generating textual driving instructions.

Automatic Detection of Ridges and Valleys

The new RidgeOperator can detect and generate features for ridges, valleys, peaks and basins from elevation data in any source and resolution.

New Mouse and Touch Interactions for Creating and Editing Circular Features

The built-in tools for mouse and touch interaction have been extended with support for creating and editing circles, rings, ellipses, circle segments and related features.

It is easy for the application to control which kinds of objects can be created and which types of interactions should be allowed.

Performance Improvements

The new release includes a number of different performance improvements applicable both to visualising and analysing data.
The viewshed algorithm used in LineOfSightOperator has been extensively parallelized and is now several times faster.

The DirectX renderer that is used in .NET WPF applications has significantly improved performance when rendering large amounts of similarly styled information such as complex road networks.

The TileLayer component now uses an even more efficient approach to read and render
its map tiles in parallel.

Hardware Accelerated Radar Intensity Displays

The new RadarVideoLayer makes it possible to create radar intensity displays by directly passing in the scan line data. The functionality complements our existing support for high-performance display of radar plots.

We have carefully designed the API to the new functionality to minimize the overhead when passing in scan lines, ensuring that the radar video can be updated in real time without slowing down the application.

The new hardware accelerated radar intensity displays are supported on all platforms (Windows, Linux and Android™).

New .NET Core Compatible API

Carmenta Engine 5.12 introduces a new .NET API that is compatible with .NET Standard 2.0 or later. This makes it possible to target .NET Core, Microsoft’s new, cross-platform .NET implementation. The new API is provided as NuGet packages and is supported on both Windows and Linux.

An included programming sample shows you how to use .NET Core and ASP.NET Core to create a Carmenta Engine powered geospatial micro service.

Improved Support for Thematic Data Sources

It is now possible to access so-called Raster Attribute Tables when reading thematic data such as land use databases.

The tables can contain additional information about the data classes such as human readable class descriptions or average heights for different vegetation classes.

Additionally, the VerticalProfileOperator has been extended with new inputs for thematic raster data and will use it to generate profile lines and polygons that use the same color scheme as the raster.

More Flexible Corridor Generation

The two new operators CorridorOperator2D and CorridorOperator3D simplifies the task of generating corridor geometries around arbitrary lines.

The size, cross section, texturing etc. of the generated corridors is fully configurable.

3D Maps and 3D Analysis in Carmenta Engine for Android™

Android devices that support OpenGL ES 3.0 now have access to the full Carmenta Engine OpenGL rendering pipeline.

This makes it possible to use 3D GlobeView maps on Android. Hardware accelerated analysis functionality such as Terrain Warning and 3D Line of Sight are also fully supported.

The Carmenta Engine 3D Line of Sight functionality running on an Android phone.

Support for .NET based Android Development using Xamarin

Carmenta Engine 5.11 introduces a new .NET API that is compatible with Xamarin, the cross platform .NET implementation that is freely available in newer versions of Microsoft Visual Studio.

The new API makes it possible to create Carmenta Engine based Android apps using C#. This significantly lowers the Android development threshold for .NET developers who are already familiar with the Carmenta Engine .NET API on Windows.

It also makes it straightforward to re-use code from existing .NET based Carmenta Engine applications in the Android app development.

Working with a Carmenta Engine based Xamarin Forms application in Visual Studio 2017.

Nautical Charts according to S-52 Presentation Library 4.0

The S52Visualizer component, part of the Carmenta Engine Nautical Extension, has been updated to render nautical charts according to the S-52 Presentation Library version 4.0.

The visualizer also has a number of new properties that can be used to control aspects of the visualization, e.g. to increase the amount of details in the chart.

A nautical chart visualized according to S-52 4.0.

Support for the NATO AML Portrayal Specification

Additional Military Layers (AML) is a NATO initiative (STANAG 7170) designed to enhance situational awareness in the marine and littoral environment. Carmenta Engine has had support for S-57 AML data since version 5.6.

The new version brings built-in support for the AML Portrayal Specification which provides a standardized symbology for vector AML datasets.

Hardware Accelerated Visual Effects

The pictures below provide three examples of how effects can be used to improve the map presentation: Tactical objects with a halo on top of a desaturated background map, glowing moving aircrafts on top of a GlobeView and a 3D building environment with ambient occlusion lightning.

Effects can be applied on individual map layers and are computed entirely on the GPU.

Three examples of how the new effects can be used to improve the map presentation.

Declarative Animations and Hover Visualizations

It is now possible to declaratively configure animations of colors and double values in all visualizers, as well as to configure visualization that should only be applied to hovered features.

Animations can be configured to run continuously e.g. to create blinking or pulsating objects. They can also be triggered when the selection or hover status is changed.

Refer to the documentation for AnimatedAttributeValue and VisualizationOperator.HoverVisualizers for more information.

A simple example of the new hover and animation visualization. Tactical objects get a halo and grow in size when hovered.

Improved Support for 3D Interaction

StandardTool3D and StandardTouchTool3D can now be used to edit features in a GlobeView, and the new tools CreateTool3D and CreateTouchTool3D make it easy to create new 3D features.

Additionally, the new InteractionVisualizer provides interaction handles for easy manipulation of individual nodes in 3D objects.

InteractionVisualizer providing interaction handles on a 3D airspace.

Dynamic Surface Overlays in 3D

Dynamic objects in a GlobeView can now be rendered onto the ground surface where they will be continuously updated in every frame, separately from the static surface texture.

This functionality makes it easy to visualize the 2D “footprints” of dynamic 3D objects.

Refer to the GlobeView.SurfaceOverlay documentation for more information.

Airspace footprints rendered into the surface texture in a GlobeView.

Line of Sight Analysis in Detailed 3D City Environments

The Carmenta Engine Visibility Analysis Extension has been extended with a component that performs real time line of sight calculations in detailed 3D city environments.

Unlike a traditional DEM-based line of sight analysis, this calculation e.g. makes it possible to discover that a vehicle is visible through an archway. It can also determine that an observer only sees the top three floors of a building.

A screenshot from the new 3D line of sight sample in Carmenta Engine 5.9.

Dynamic Heatmap Presentations

The new DensityDataSet component can be used to quickly calculate the density of large point feature sets.

The point density can be used directly to create heatmap presentations. It can also be used as inputs to other Carmenta Engine operators such as the contour line generation.

Two screenshots from the DensityDataSet API documentation.

Modern Look-and-Feel for Carmenta Explorer and Carmenta Studio

Carmenta Explorer and Carmenta Studio, the developer tools included in Carmenta Engine SDK, have been updated with a new, modern look and feel.

The updated applications also work great on high DPI screens.

The updated SDK applications Carmenta Studio (top) and Carmenta Explorer (bottom).

Seamless, Global 3D Maps

The new GlobeView component renders the map on a seamless globe where data is dynamically loaded in the appropriate resolution depending on the position and altitude of the camera.

Other 3D improvements in this version include a much easier way to generate 3D features from 2D geospatial data, such as airspace volumes from 2D airspaces or spheres that indicate the maximum range around threats in a tactical overlay.

A screenshot from the new 3D globe included as a sample configuration in Carmenta Engine 5.8.

Real Time Terrain Warning Display

The new terrain warning component makes it easy to apply a configurable color coded terrain awareness and warning visualization in both 2D and 3D GlobeView maps, e.g. for simulation or rehearsal purposes.

When using hardware accelerated rendering, the terrain warning visualization is performed entirely on the graphics card. This means it can be continuously updated as the aircraft position and altitude changes, with virtually zero impact on the overall performance of the application.

The new terrain warning visualization in action in a 3D GlobeView map.

Georeferenced Full Motion Video

The new CameraProjectOperator can be used to project non-georeferenced imagery such as a video stream onto the ground in real time, based on camera parameters.

The new component has been designed to be easy to integrate with video and metadata streams in any format.

A programming sample is provided that explain how to use georeferencing metadata to overlay a video stream onto the map, this metadata could be extracted from a video stream encoded in accordance with the Motion Imagery Standards Board (MISB) 0601 and NATO STANAG 4609 standards.

A screenshot from the new ProjectedVideo SDK sample, showing a projected video stream playing on top of OpenStreetMap vector data.

Qt Quick Integration

Qt Quick is a modern C++ user interface technology that separates the declarative UI design and the imperative programming logic. The new QtQuickMapControl makes it easy to use Carmenta Engine with full hardware acceleration inside Qt Quick applications.

This further affirms Carmenta Engine as the number one choice for Qt based advanced geospatial applications.

A screenshot from the new Qt Quick “hello world” application
included as a sample in Carmenta Engine 5.8.

Improvements to Carmenta Explorer

In Carmenta Engine 5.8, Carmenta Explorer has gone from a simple map configuration viewer to a data exploration tool.

You can now open geographical data files directly in Carmenta Explorer – you no longer need to start by defining a map configuration file for the data in Carmenta Studio.

Additionally, the properties panel has been updated to make it possible to inspect the properties of loaded DataSets.

It is now also possible to let Carmenta Explorer display utility layers like a low-resolution background map and various map grids together with the loaded map.

A screenshot of the improved Carmenta Explorer application
displaying the “world map” sample configuration.

On-the-fly Terrain and Obstacle Clearance Calculation

The new VerticalClearanceOperator can be used to calculate the clearance of a flight route over terrain and vector obstacles. The high performance calculation is based on the same algorithms as Carmenta Engine’s existing vertical profile calculation, which makes it highly suitable for use in a dynamic scenario such as when interactively planning the route.

The output of the calculation is not only the clearance for each route leg, but also detailed information about the clearance for each obstacle, the highest points in the terrain etc.
This makes it possible to visualize the clearance in a very informative way. An example is provided below.

A route passing over mountainous terrain with various point and area obstacles. VerticalClearanceOperator is used to display terrain and obstacle clearance and to highlight dangerous areas.

IHO S-63 Nautical Chart Support

Carmenta Engine can now read and visualize commercial nautical charts that use the IHO S-63 Data Protection Scheme.

This functionality complements the existing support for reading charts in the unencrypted IHO S-57 format. Both S-57 and S-63 data can be visualized according to the IHO S-52 presentation standard.

A vector based nautical chart visualized by Carmenta Engine according to IHO S-52.

Automatic Aggregation of Hierarchical Data

The new AggregatingLayer can be used to declutter objects in a hierarchical structure, e.g. the ORBAT hierarchy of a tactical scenario. The aggregation can either be fully automatic – based on object overlap – or controlled by the application.

AggregatingLayer can also generate a graph of the hierarchical structure, as well as bounding polygons for each level in the hierarchy. Applications can use these features to further enhance the situational awareness for the end user.

An example of how AggregatingLayer can declutter a tactical overlay based on the ORBAT. With the same tactical situation shown in three different scales, AggregatingLayer automatically displays either individual teams, squads or the entire platoon.

Full-text Indexes

It is now possible to add full-text indexes to any Carmenta Engine vector dataset. This enables virtually instantaneous lookups of features based on free text search strings. Partial queries are supported and the results are ranked according to how well they match the search string.

A common use case for this functionality is to add address search functionality to an application, such as in the example below. But it can for example also be used to provide quick lookup of aeronautical features in an ARINC-424 database based on ICAO and IATA codes.

Carmenta Explorer, the Carmenta Engine map configuration viewer, uses the new full-text search index functionality to empower its “Find Features” user interface.

Native Support for connecting to OGC WFS Map Servers

A Web Feature Service (WFS), provides a way to request vector features from a map server. The interface is standardized by OGC, the Open Geospatial Consortium.

OGC WFS support is now part of the core of Carmenta Engine through the OgcWfsDataSet component. This complements the existing comprehensive support for OGC services in Carmenta Engine – it is also possible to connect to WMS, WMTS and WCS services, as well as to send queries to CSW catalogues.

As a Technical Committee member of the OGC, Carmenta is dedicated to using and promoting open standards. Carmenta Server, our feature-rich map server, also has full support for OGC WFS.

Optimized Radar Plot Rendering

The new PlotLayer component is a new type of map layer designed specifically to render large amounts of simple point objects like radar plots.

Thanks to the highly optimized GPU accelerated rendering, PlotLayer is capable of handling millions of plots which update their positions several times per second.

The screenshot below is from the new “Dynamic Objects” sample application which uses PlotLayer to render the trails of rapidly moving objects.

Terrain Vehicle Routing Functionality

The new TerrainRouteOperator can calculate the optimal route for a terrain vehicle, based on the characteristics of the vehicle.

In addition to the road network, the sophisticated calculation takes the soil strength, roughness and slope of the terrain into account.

The real time route calculation can also avoid forbidden areas like minefields and enemy viewsheds, making it suitable for use as decision support in a Battle Management System.

OGC GeoPackage Support

GeoPackage is an SQLite-based format that efficiently stores and transfers geographic vector features and image tiles. It is standardized by OGC, the Open Geospatial Consortium.

In Carmenta Engine 5.6, the MapPackageDataSet has been updated to support version 1.0 of the GeoPackage specification (12-128r10).

As a Technical Committee member of the OGC, Carmenta is dedicated to using and promoting open standards wherever possible.

Many New Programming Samples

The Carmenta Engine SDK has been extended with a number of new programming samples which are of course provided with full source code.

There are new sample applications that demonstrate how to access the Line of Sight and Vertical Profile functionality, as well as an application which shows you how to handle large numbers of dynamic objects efficiently.

The Java based samples have also been significantly extended: A new, more comprehensive Java based “Basic Map Application” has been added, as well as Java implementations of all the custom object samples.

The screenshots below show two of the new sample applications in action.

Streamlined 3D Configuration

The new GroundLayer3D class greatly simplifies the common use case of draping 2D map layers on top of a mesh generated from elevation data.

The pictures below shows an example GroundLayer3D configuration in Carmenta Studio, along with the resulting map in Carmenta Explorer.

Slope and Aspect Calculation

The new SlopeOperator class makes it trivial to visualize the terrain slope and aspect from any supported elevation data source.

The pictures below show two examples of SlopeOperator output.

Built-in Support for Common Touchscreen Interactions

The new MapControl.TouchTool property gives applications an easy way to control what will happen when the user interacts with the map using a touchscreen.

The StandardTouchTool class provides out-of-the-box support for navigating and editing objects using common multi-touch gestures, while the CreateTouchTool can be used to let users create new objects.

Easily Adapt the Visualization to High DPI Displays

Carmenta Engine Views can now easily be adapted for use on displays with very high pixel density using the new PixelSizeAdjustments class.

The two pictures below shows the same map rendered on a very high resolution display, with and without the pixel size adjustments applied.

Support for New Operating Systems

Just like the Windows version of the SDK, Carmenta Engine for Linux is now available in a 64 bit version. The 64 bit Linux version supports both the Ubuntu, Red Hat and SUSE distributions.

Additionally, Carmenta Engine for Linux is now fully tested on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS.

Map Package Extension

This extension makes it possible to package a mix of images, raster data (for example digital elevation models) and vector data into a single Map Package file.

Pregenerated spatial indexes and built-in low-resolution versions of the raster data ensure very efficient access to the package data. This is especially important for mobile devices where it is essential to minimize the amount of processing necessary to read and display data, but map packages work equally well in desktop and server installations.

Image 1. Exporting a section of a map to a Map Package using Carmenta Explorer

Since they are single, self-contained files, map packages are easy to distribute and install. Packages can be generated from regular Carmenta Engine map configuration files using Carmenta Explorer, and are accessed using the new MapPackageDataSet class.

Carmenta is committed to ensuring that our products implement open standards whenever possible. The map package structure is aligned with the current draft OGC GeoPackage specification.

Optimized Caching of Dynamic Objects

A new mechanism in the OrdinaryLayer class supports efficient, hardware accelerated caching of dynamic features stored in a MemoryDataSet. This feature can drastically improve performance for map layers which contain large numbers of moving objects.

The new mechanism is enabled by setting the OrdinaryLayer.CacheMode property to Dynamic. Refer to the documentation of this property for more information on
how to use it.

Support for New Operating Systems

Carmenta Engine 5.4 is the first Carmenta Engine version that is available for Android^™. For more information, refer to the separate document “Introducing Carmenta Engine for Android”, available from carmenta.com.

Carmenta Engine is now also fully tested and supported on Microsoft Windows 8, both 32 and 64 bit versions.