GPS- Collecting Data

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GPS- Collecting Data
Now that you have your data dictionary loaded,
lets configure the unit and take it
outside! RECOMMENDED Print this take it
outside with you!
2
Restoring Factory Settings

• First thing that we need to do is to restore the
  factory settings on the rover. This step should
  not be performed on a unit already in use in
  another project as loss of data, data dictionary
  and settings will occur.
• Turn the rover on. You should come to the Main
  Menu screen.
• Using the arrow buttons to move you around,
  scroll down to highlight Configuration. Push
  the diamond or Enter button to select.

3
Restoring Factory Settings
The screen should now look like this
3. Using the arrow buttons again, scroll down and
select Fact. Defaults. Push Enter. 4. Use
the arrows to highlight Set Defaults and push
Enter. 5. Press Enter once again to confirm
your decision.
4
Your screen should look like this. This tells us
that the defaults have been restored. To exit
from this screen, push the Esc button until you
are back to the main screen.
Now, were ready to collect data!
5
Before you go out into the field to collect data
you need to be a little familiar with the data
that you want to collect. The following slides
have all of the features and their attributes
that you need to collect while in the
field. Feature something that can be mapped
using the GPS e.g. walkway, building, athletic
field Attribute information about a feature
e.g. Walkway Width (feet) 4
Building Name Main Office
Athletic Field Type Baseball
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These are the features that you will collect and
their attributes.
Buildings (polygon) Name (text type in the
name of the building) Function (menu choose
academic administration or athletic) Athletic
Field (polygon) Type (menu choose football
baseball or intramural) Name (text type in the
name of the athletic field) Flagpole
(point) Responsibility (menu choose student
body administration student organization or
other) Height (number type in the height of the
flagpole in feet) Construction (menu choose
aluminum steel wood or other) Condition
(menu choose good fair or poor) Walkway
(line) Surface (menu choose concrete gravel
or asphalt) Width (number type in the width of
the walkway in feet) Bleachers
(polygon) Function (menu choose athletic
assembly performance or other) Construction
(menu choose wood aluminum or
other) Portable (select Yes or No) Parking Lot
(polygon) Surface (menu choose asphalt
concrete or grass) Use (menu choose multiuse
students or faculty)
This is a very useful page while you are outside
mapping your school.
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Before you collect your data(Hints for easier
data collection)
You can collect more than one feature in any
rover file (e.g. 3 athletic fields, 10
buildings, 14 walkways, 2 flagpoles, and 5
parking lots) These can all be contained within
one rover file. However you may not be able to
map your entire school in one EAST
class Therefore you need a plan of
action Collect one type of feature (e.g. all
walkways) within one EAST class and move onto
another feature type in your next EAST class.
For example First EAST class collect all of
the parking lots Second EAST class collect all
of the athletic fields And so on until you have
collected all of the features in your
school. You can transfer each individual rover
file to your PC before you begin the next rover
file. (see Ch 6 transferring GPS data)
8
Getting Satellites
Now we are ready to take our GPS outside!

• 6. From the Main Menu, select GPS Status.
• 7. Now, select Sat Tracking. We should now be
  at this screen.
• It tells us what satellites the rover sees, and
  how many it has been able to lock. Each arrow
  represents a satellite whose location has been
  confirmed. The objects in the bottom left corner
  of the screen are also indicators.

9
Getting Satellites
Your screen may look like this, or it may have
writing across the bottom that reads PDOP. A
high PDOP means that our satellites are not in a
good geometry for accurate readings. Once you
have reset the factory defaults on the rover, the
limit for PDOP is 6, so anything above this will
not allow us to collect positions.
Note You need to be outside for the GPS to see
any satellite vehicles (SVs). If you are outside
and the PDOP is above 6, then you may not be
holding the rover correctly
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Holding the Rover

• Your body can block satellite signals, so it is
  important to hold the GPS rover correctly.
• For the best reception
• Hold the rover away from your body.
• Tilt it so that the top of the GPS (the
• antenna) is parallel with the ground.
• Hold it up so that you and the satellites can
  see it. Keep in mind that your friends can block
  signals too, so dont let them crowd you.
• It may also take a few minutes to get a good set
  of satellites especially if the rover has been
  inside for a long time or has never been turned
  on.

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Getting Satellites
Notice here that by standing in the right
position, our PDOP has dropped from 6.97 to 3.89.
We picked up a new satellite that was in a
better position to give us good readings. Now,
we can collect points! If at any time you notice
that your counter is not moving, you can get to
this menu from the Data Collection screen by
selecting Main Menu and then GPS Status.
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Data Capture Screen
8. Push Esc to get back to the Main Menu.
Then, use the arrows to scroll to Data Capture,
and push Enter. 9. Scroll down to
Dictionary and push Enter. 10. The
dictionary loaded should be schoolmap. If it
is not, delete the other dictionary and reload
schoolmap in the lab.
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Opening a New File
11. Push Esc to bring you to the Data Capture
screen. 12. Use the arrow keys to scroll down to
Open Rov. File and push Enter. Rov. stands
for Rover (as in GPS Rover). 13. Scroll down
to Pause in the Rover File options and push
Enter. This will pause the rover so that we
will be able to enter in attributes before
collecting any location data.
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Selecting a Feature

• Scroll down to Select Feature and push Enter.
• Here, you see a listing of types of features that
  you can collect when you are out in the field.
  You have a choice of five features, three are
  polygons, one is a line and one is a point.
• This tutorial will walk you through collecting
  one athletic field and one flagpole.
• Be aware that that there are a couple of
  different methods for collecting features. You
  should be familiar with these before going out to
  collect data.

PLEASE remember that you can collect more than
one feature within a rover file!
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Collecting Data Athletic Field

• To collect an athletic field feature go to the
  actual field that you are planning on mapping.
• Scroll down to Select Feature and push Enter.
• Now, we see a list of all of the possible
  features that we can collect.
• Scroll down to athletic_field and push Enter.
• Scroll down to type of field, and push Enter.

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Adding and Changing Attributes

1. This is a menu list of types of fields. Select
   the type of field that you are about to map by
   scrolling down and pushing Enter, when the
   field type is highlighted.
2. When you have done this, it brings you back to
   the screen with both type and name listed.
3. Select Name and push Enter. The screen should
   look like this You will fill in the data on this
   line. Select this dotted line and push Enter.

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Adding and Changing Attributes
20. Using your arrow buttons, scroll up and down
through the alphabet to select your letters.
When you have the correct letter, push the right
arrow button to move over one space. 21. When
you have completed naming your field, push
Enter again to get to the previous screen.
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Collecting Data Athletic Field

• The unit is still paused, and no points have
  been collected. Walk to the corner of the field.
• 22. If your field is rectangular, you can get the
  straight sides by collecting points only at the
  corners. To do this, select Resume. This is
  how you can start and pause the collection of
  data.
• 23. Watch the counter in the corner. Collect one
  position, and then push Pause again to pause
  the collection.
• 24. Do this for each corner, selecting Pause at
  the last corner.

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Collecting Data Athletic Field
25. When you are done, select Close Feature to
close the feature. You should be back to the
Select Feature menu. You should be back to
the Select Feature Screen. You have
collected one athletic field feature.
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Collecting Polygon or Line features
Polygons You can start collecting and walk around
the feature, collecting data continuously. This
is best for curvy features (like a baseball
field). or You can collect just the corners,
using the log button to pause in between point
collection. This is best for rectangular features
like a building or football field. The GPS will
automatically close the polygon for you (so you
dont need to go back to your starting point).
Hint Line features are collected in the same
way as polygons, except that the GPS doesnt
close the polygon. Lines For curvy sidewalks
collect data continuously. Straight walkways
collect data at the corners, pausing the unit in
between point collection.
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Collecting Data - Flagpole
Now we are going to collect a point feature
your schools flagpole.
26. Walk to your schools flagpole. On your GPS
scroll down to flagpole and push Enter. As
long as you ended the collection of the field in
the paused mode, your unit should still be
paused. If it isnt, select Pause. 27. Add in
the attributes for responsibility (who is in
charge of putting up and taking down the flag).
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28. Scroll down to height and push
Enter. 29. The default for height is 50
feet. Use your up and down arrow buttons to
change this number to the height of your
flagpole. When you are finished, push
Enter. 30. Finish adding attributes. When you
are done, select Resume to start collecting
data. 31. To collect a point, you need to stand
still until your counter reaches 120 points.
When you have done this, push Close Feature.
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Collecting Point features
Points When collecting points, the GPS will take
an average location based on the number of points
you collect (when collecting the flagpole you
need 120 points, collecting 1 point each second,
therefore you have to stand still for 2 minutes).
Now you should be familiar with collecting
features using your GPS. You should be able to
map your entire school, using the methods that
have been given as an example in the previous
slides. Remember that you can collect more than
one type of feature within a rover file. After
you have finished collecting all of the features
that you can in the time allowed you can close
the rover file and take the GPS back inside to
transfer the data to your PC. You may need to
make multiple data collection trips to map your
whole school so plan what you are going to
collect before going outside! (see slide 6).
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Closing your file

• Once you have finished collecting all of your
  features that you can in the time allowed you can
  close your rover file.
• Select Close File and push Enter.
• Confirm closing the file by selecting Yes and
  pushing Enter.
• Push Esc to get out of the data collection and
  back to the main menu. The file has been stored,
  and you can now take it back inside.
• Chapter 6 will describe how to transfer your GPS
  data to your computer.