To create a point cloud from your raw Hovermap data, you need to process the scan in Emesent Aura.

If you are planning to georeference your scan, you may skip this process as point cloud processing is also performed when using the GCP workflow. Refer to the GCP Workflow section for more information.

Because of Aura's significant processing requirements for generating a point cloud from Hovermap data, we recommend your laptop is connected to a power outlet during Step 5: Processing.

The basic process for generating a point cloud is as follows.

Step 1: Retrieve your scan data

Follow the Hovermap workflow to capture your scan data. Once you have completed your scan, insert a USB flash drive into Hovermap to download the data. The status LEDs will change to a light flashing blue while the scan is being transferred.

To retrieve data, the USB flash drive must be formatted in an exFAT file format.

Once the transfer is complete, the status LEDs will return to a slow pulsing Emesent blue. You can now remove the USB flash drive.

Step 2: Copy the data to your computer

Copy the data from the USB flash drive to a local drive on your computer so that you can begin processing.

Scans from a Hovermap that use Emesent Cortex version 3.3 (or later) can only be processed in Aura 1.7 (or later).

For scans from a Hovermap that use Emesent Cortex version 3.3 (or later), it is essential to ensure that both metadata.yaml and platform_configuration.yaml files are included in the same folder as your scan files. These files contain crucial information required for processing the point cloud data.

Step 3: Configure your processing job

1. Open Emesent Aura. Make sure you have an active SLAM license.

2. In the Process tab, click Process Scan.

3. In the Configure New Scan Job panel, select the Process workflow.

4. Click Add Dataset.

5. Browse for the folder that contains the raw point cloud dataset to be processed. Select that folder.

6. When prompted, select the Scan Environment. Choose the environment that most closely matches your scan.

   

7. In the Location field, enter the preferred name for the output folder. Emesent Aura will create this folder, which stores all the processed results and data, as a child directory within the raw scan folder.

8. Select the processing profile to use. Refer to the selecting a processing profile section for more information about which profiles to use and how to create a custom profile.

Step 4: (Optional) Use RTK Data

1. If RTK data is detected in your dataset, toggle on Use RTK data to use the real-time corrections provided by the RTK system to improve the georeferencing accuracy of the point cloud data.

More information on processing and reprojecting a georeferenced scan is provided in Reprojecting Point Clouds section.

Step 5: Processing

1. Click Start to begin processing. The Configure New Scan Job panel is replaced with the Starting Processing Job panel and shows a progress bar showing how far along you are in your processing job. In addition to the progress bar, the elapsed time of the processing job is shown to the right.

The directory file path below the progress bar provides a way to identify the dataset source. This is useful if simultaneously processing multiple jobs with the same output folder name. Copying the file path and pasting it on your computer’s file explorer allows you to access the completed files without having to wait for the processing job to be completed.

3. The resulting point cloud is added to the child directory created within the raw scan folder.

Step 6: View your point cloud

1. Once your processing job has finished, the bottom panel displays the generated files

2. Click View beside each generated file to load them into the Viewport for analysis or further editing. The following main files are generated: