RQS - Reverse Quadratura for Surveying. Applying Ancient Methods to Digtal Techniques

This research is based on the development of a new method for surveying single and double curved surfaces using an application of an ancient perspective method for representing a picture on a complex surface. The procedure enables the user to have some detailed cross-points of a grid in order to simplify the survey operation. Another phase of the work is to take some double-pictures of the element, according of the method I shall describe in the paper. The photographs of the single element, with the projection of the regular grid, can be processed with every Image-Based Modeling Software in order to obtain – with the usual calibration methods – the digital “mapped with reticulum” model of the curved surface we are analyzing. The final step enables the user to improve the quality of the textured model, switching from the grid-textured photographs to the simple-textured one. This research is part of a more general theoretical and experimental Academic research that has the aim of studying the ancient drawing methods of in order to find some analogies with the digital technology applied to the study of architectural buildings.