Working with Point Clouds
      Back to home
      1. Knowledge Base
      2. Aura
      3. Working with Point Clouds

      Working with Point Clouds - Processing Workflow

      Contents

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

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

      Workflow-GeneratePointCloud

       

      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.

      Note

      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.

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

      5. 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.
      6. Select the processing profile to use. Go to the Processing profiles in Emesent Aura for more information on available profiles 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.

      2. Click Processing Settings. In the General tab, set the CRS for your data by selecting the EPSG code from the Geodetic CRS dropdown. Alternatively, enable Custom base coordinate reference system and paste the entire project string from the EPSG database into the field below.

      3. Fine-tune the RTK and output parameters or override RTK by changing the Georeferencing Mode.

      4. Click Save.

      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 while waiting for the processing job to be completed.
      2. The processing job will proceed through the local and global processing phases and finally generate the output processing files. You can load and interact with other point clouds while processing in the background.
        Refer to the Output Files section in the Emesent Aura user manual for more information on where the generated files are stored once the processing is 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:

          1. Full point cloud

            The point cloud with the complete set of data points. The output file type varies depending on the profile used in generating the point cloud. The filename includes the output folder name with the output file type appended to it.
            For example: Output_laz1_4.laz where the output file type is PointCloud LAZ (1.4) and the file is located in the “Output” folder.
          2. Trajectory file
            The data file containing the recorded movement or path of the Hovermap as it acquired the point cloud data.
              Subsampled point cloud
              The point cloud containing a subset of points from the original point cloud dataset (based on Subsample Factor value in Processing Settings). This output is only generated if Subsample Point Clouds is enabled in the Output tab of the Processing Settings panel.