RoboScan

The RoboScan routine permits you to turn your robotic total station into a simple grid scanner that can take reflectorless shots along a grid.

Note: The reflectivity of your surface(s) being scanned will dramatically influence the results of the routine. Non-reflective surfaces (e.g. grass, dirt, etc) will likely be difficult to obtain.

The routine has three phases:

1. Setup
2. Calculation
3. Execution

Setup Phase

This is the phase where you will define your surface and indicate a scan type:

Scan Type - Topo vs Scan

Topo (Horz)	Scan (Vert)

Settings tab

• Topo (Horz): Typically used for scans over horizontal surfaces, where you're interested in the grid being spaced by the ground (e.g. Road).
• Scan (Vert): Typically used for scans over vertical surfaces, where you are interested in having a grid evenly spaced over a best-fit flat projection of an object (e.g. Wall)
• Starting Pt. ID: Starting point ID for your scan.
• Pt Desc: Point description given to all points in the scan.
• Grid Spacing: The distance between each grid node as illustrated above.
• Max Dist Error: During the calculation phase, the routine estimates where each point should be, so that the robot can be turned towards it.

  Note: Upon taking the reading, if the distance between the actual and estimated reading is beyond the Max Dist Error, then the routine will stop and the user can select an appropriate response as governed by Stop on Error.

• Min Dist: The minimum distance reading that will be kept. Values less than this distance are subject to Stop on Filter.
• Max Dist: The maximum distance reading that will be kept. Values greater than this distance are subject to Stop on Filter.
• Stop on Error: If an error occurs, the user will be prompted to take an action.
• Stop on Filter: If a reading is outside of the filter settings (e.g. outside the perimeter), the user will be prompted to take an action.

Perimeter tab

Define the required perimeter (3-point minimum) of your scan area in a logical, clockwise-ordered sequence.

In addition to the Common Point List and Point Map controls found throughout the RoboScan routine, you may select polyline geometry from the map. However, it only supports straight-segmented polylines.

Note: The graphical selection of a polyline also permits its direction to be reversed, as needed.

• Read: Measures a new perimeter point that is added to the end of the current perimeter list.
• Delete: Removes the currently selected perimeter point from the perimeter list.

Breaklines tab

Define any optional breaklines in your surface.

• Add: Launches the Breakline dialog box where a new breakline can be created.
• Edit: Launches the Breakline dialog box where the currently selected breakline can be modified.
• Delete: Removes the currently selected breakline from the breakline list.

The creation and use of breaklines is important for two reasons:

1. While scanning, if a breakline intersects with a gridline, it will be shot before the next grid node.
2. If the selected mode is Topo, breaklines will be taken into account during the processing to find the best-fit plane for determining grid spacing.

• Name: Permits an optional label or description for the breakline to be specified.
• Read: Measures a new breakline point that is added to the end of the current breakline list.
• Delete: Removes the currently selected breakline point from the breakline list.

Note: This routine allows you to select polylines from the map. However, the direction of the breakline is not necessarily important and it only supports straight-segmented polylines.

Baseline tab

Define the origin and orientation of the grid that will be used for scanning.

• Automatic: When enabled, the longest edge of the perimeter will be considered the baseline.
• Read Point 1/Read Point 2: Point 1 will be considered the origin and Point 2 will be considered the orientation.

Calculation Phase

Upon filling out each tab and green checking, the routine will perform basic checks to verify your selections and begin calculation.

Note: Be patient, this may take some time, depending on the complexity of your requested grid.

Upon finishing calculation, the execution dialog will appear.

Execution Phase

The Start button will begin the processing of scanning.

The robot will automatically move from point to point, taking shots.

It will display: # / ## Points Taken, # Points Filtered

If for any reason, a filter constraint fails, a dialog will appear giving you one of four options:

1. Accept: The reading will be kept, even though it failed the constraint.
2. Retry: The robot will attempt to take the reading again.
3. Skip: The reading will be skipped.
4. Cancel: The execution dialog will be displayed, where you can Continue or Exit.