Working with CAD drawings

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This guide explains how to import CAD drawings into your projects in Emlid Flow 360 and how to stake out the objects within them in Emlid Flow.

Overview

Emlid Flow 360 allows you to import CAD drawings in DXF format into your projects while preserving geometry view, colors, and annotations from CAD software. These drawings can be used as background maps or for stakeout in Emlid Flow, optimizing the design set-out and as-built survey workflows.

When surveying using CAD drawings, you can:

• Stake out polygons, lines, and their segments.
• Stake out block references.

note

Curved geometries, such as circles or arcs, will be converted to polylines.

Importing CAD drawings

To import a surface file, follow these steps:

note

You can import CAD drawings into your project only through the Emlid Flow 360 app.

To import your CAD drawing, follow these steps:

1. Open Emlid Flow 360 and go to your project.

   caution

   Your CAD drawing must use the same coordinate system and measurement units as your project in Emlid Flow 360.

2. Click the Import button on the top of the screen.

3. Select CAD drawing and click Choose file.

   note

   Make sure you have checked the file requirements and your storage is not exceeded.

   

4. Upload a file in DXF format. Your drawing will appear in the list of objects and on the map. By default, the most recently added drawing from the list is shown.

   note

   The drawing may take some time to appear on the map. If it isn’t fully converted or only partially appears, try zooming in on the map.

   
   
   
   

Now, you can access your CAD drawing in the Emlid Flow app.

Accessing CAD drawing in Emlid Flow

After uploading the CAD drawing to your project in Emlid Flow 360, the data will be synchronized, and the drawing will automatically appear in the object list in the Emlid Flow app.

note

Before starting staking out the objects, ensure that your Reach rover has an established RTK connection and the FIX status.

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The geometries are available for stakeout only when the CAD drawing is active. To activate or hide a drawing from the object list, tap the eye icon.

note

Curved geometries, such as circles or arcs, are converted to polylines.

For stakeout, follow the workflows below depending on the type of the geometry.

Staking out block references

note

The workflows are shown using the By direction mode.

Block references are available for stakeout as a center point of the group of objects. To stake out block references on the CAD drawing, follow the steps below:

1. Tap the block reference you want to stake out on the map. You will see its center point highlighted in blue.

   note

   CAD drawing geometries are only accessible from the map.

   

2. Tap the Stake out button.

   

3. Move your Reach in the direction of the point. When you get closer, the map zooms in automatically.

   
   note

   The direction arrows on the stakeout plate can help you navigate to the point.

4. Move your Reach so that the bull’s eye turns green, showing that your Reach is less than 2.5 cm (0.08 ft) away from the point you are staking out.

   
   note

   Ensure the pole isn’t tilted if you use the Reach receiver model other than Reach RS3.

5. Tap Save. The saved point will appear on the map as a standard point and will be assigned an ordinal number. To view its information, tap the point and swipe up the drawer.

   note

   The saved point is independent of the CAD drawing and is stored in the project.

   
   
   

6. Tap the back button on the Stakeout plate to finish staking out the block reference. Select another geometry on the map for stakeout and repeat the steps.

Staking out lines, polygons, and their segments

note

The workflow for staking out lines, polygons, and their segments is the same. This guide demonstrates the process using a line from a CAD drawing as an example and applying the By direction mode.

note

The workflows are shown using the By direction mode.

To stake out a line on the CAD drawing, follow the steps below:

1. Select the line you want to stake out on the map. The selected line will be highlighted in blue.

   

2. Tap the Stake out button.

You can stake out lines in several ways. Choose the way below and continue staking out the line:

Along the line

You can navigate to the line and see if it’s set out according to the project.

3. Move your Reach so that the navigation sections turn green, showing that your Reach is less than 2.5 cm (0.08 ft) away from the line you are staking out.

   
   note

   Ensure the pole isn't tilted if you’re using Reach receiver model other than Reach RS3.

4. Switch to the Along line mode. Watching the Offset plate, check if the line is set out according to the project.

   

5. Switch to another segment you want to stake out using the arrow buttons under the Stakeout plate. To finish staking out the line, tap the back button on the Stakeout plate.

With a chainage

This way, you can stake out the line with a chainage to set out fence posts with a required distance between them.

3. Navigate to the line.

   

4. Switch to the Along line mode.

5. Tap the To B section to select from which end of the line or segment the chainage is calculated.

6. Watching the Stakeout plate, mark the points with the required interval.

   tip

   Use the Offset plate to check if you’re on the line.

   note

   Ensure the pole isn't tilted if you’re using Reach receiver model other than Reach RS3.

   

7. Switch to another segment you want to stake out using the arrow buttons under the Stakeout plate. To finish staking out the line, tap the back button on the Stakeout plate.

With an offset

You can use this method to set out a road or pavement. Simply stake out the road axis and then use stakeout with a 2D offset to mark road edges.

3. Navigate to the line.

   

4. Switch to the Along line mode.

5. Move your Reach to the line so that it has the required offset. As you get closer, the map zooms in automatically.

   note

   Ensure the pole isn't tilted if you’re using Reach receiver model other than Reach RS3.

   

6. Mark the line with the required offset on the ground.

7. Switch to another segment you want to stake out using the arrow buttons under the Stakeout plate. To finish staking out the line, tap the back button on the Stakeout plate.

8. Once you finished staking out the line, close the Stakeout tool and select the next line you want to stake out.

Further reading

• Create lines from existing points
• Edit lines
• Collect lines
• Collect points
• Work with polygons
• Prepare stakeout reports