Carlson Software Announces Newest SurvCE 3.0 Data Collection Software Update

MAYSVILLE, Kentucky, U.S.A (May 2013) — At the opening session of the Carlson Software 30^th Anniversary User Conference held recently in Cincinnati, Ohio, Bruce Carlson, president and founder of Carlson Software, announced that the newest version of Carlson Software’s popular data collection software – Carlson SurvCE 3.0 – was about to be released. Well, it is now here.

Featuring hundreds of additions and improvements, Carlson SurvCE 3.0 supports the widest

Load Esri maps, input-edit GIS attributes in SurvCE 3.0range of popular and new release RTK GPS and conventional/robotic total stations of any other data collection software on the market. Newest instrument drivers added for Total Stations and GPS receivers include: Geomax Zoom 80, Carlson CR2/CR5 robotic, Topcon PS, Sokkia SX/50RX and South OnBoard total stations, and 20 or more new models of GPS from Carlson, Hemisphere, Datagrid, Topcon, Leica, Altus, CHC, Hi-Target, Navcom, Stonex, Javad, Geomax, Satlab and even including the Spectra Epoch 50.range of popular and new release RTK GPS and conventional/robotic total stations of any other data collection software on the market. Newest instrument drivers added for Total Stations and GPS receivers include: Geomax Zoom 80, Carlson CR2/CR5 robotic, Topcon PS, Sokkia SX/50RX and South OnBoard total stations, and 20 or more new models of GPS from Carlson, Hemisphere, Datagrid, Topcon, Leica, Altus, CHC, Hi-Target, Navcom, Stonex, Javad, Geomax, Satlab and even including the Spectra Epoch 50.range of popular and new release RTK GPS and conventional/robotic total stations of any other data collection software on the market. Newest instrument drivers added for Total Stations and GPS receivers include: Geomax Zoom 80, Carlson CR2/CR5 robotic, Topcon PS, Sokkia SX/50RX and South OnBoard total stations, and 20 or more new models of GPS from Carlson, Hemisphere, Datagrid, Topcon, Leica, Altus, CHC, Hi-Target, Navcom, Stonex, Javad, Geomax, Satlab and even including the Spectra Epoch 50.

range of popular and new release RTK GPS and conventional/robotic total stations of any other data collection software on the market. Newest instrument drivers added for Total Stations and GPS receivers include: Geomax Zoom 80, Carlson CR2/CR5 robotic, Topcon PS, Sokkia SX/50RX and South OnBoard total stations, and 20 or more new models of GPS from Carlson, Hemisphere, Datagrid, Topcon, Leica, Altus, CHC, Hi-Target, Navcom, Stonex, Javad, Geomax, Satlab and even including the Spectra Epoch 50 (See a full list of Supported Hardware here).

“SurvCE 3.0 continues to set the standard in data collection,” says Carlson. “While Carlson is well known for its surveying and roading features, especially in the U.S. and Australia, the new options in SurvCE should also appeal very strongly to the European market with its emphasis on precision occupation for total stations, and expanded reporting of GPS localization and measurement data.”

SurvCE 3.0 is available now in more than two dozen languages. These include: English, Spanish, French, French (Canadian), Portuguese, Czech, Dutch, simplified Chinese, Korean, Greek, Italian, Polish, Hungarian, Swedish, Latvian and more.

Now over 12 years in production, with incremental updates along the way, Carlson SurvCE 3.0 features an optional icon-based interface and new Cloud-based messaging, file transfer, NGS monument recall, simplified stakeout methods and powerful GPS measurement averaging and blunder detection in the field (with accuracies in-between RTK and post-processing). The Carlson SurvCE 3.0 upgrade is offered for just $150 for Carlson customers already using SurvCE 2.0. The price to purchase SurvCE remains the same as it has since 2007.

Hot Lists let users jump to routines

“The main and universal advantages of SurvCE are retained—a simple interface, quick learning curve, now even stronger graphics, and a rich set of features to complete any work from building and highway stakeout, to property surveying, TOPO, control, and GIS data collection,” adds Carlson.

Those upgrading to SurvCE 3.0 or moving over to this versatile and popular data collection software will find new camera integration among its many improvements. This integration will provide the ability to attach pictures to points and lines and store in KMZ and EXIF files containing relevant data such as position and description.

Other top new features include:

• Ability to stake roads by complete LandXML Road Model—a new method augmenting “By Sections,” “By Templates,” and “From Map;”
• Ability to use point “blocks” from drawings as point symbols or as objects to snap to for stakeout or for creating alignments, with GIS attributes associated with blocks recognized;
• Large Point ID and Description Fields – expanded to 256 characters;
• Use of RTCM 3.1 messages from virtual reference stations to auto-compute grid and geoid shifts.

Carlson SurvCE is the first choice in data collection software with advanced, yet easy-to-use functionality. Carlson’s excellent, free and prompt technical support adds to the many reasons to upgrade to SurvCE 3.0. The Carlson Surveyor and Surveyor+ data collectors were developed to work smoothly and efficiently with Carlson SurvCE. Both can be found at dealers near you. For more information, call Carlson at 800-989-5028 or visit www.carlsonsw.com.

Now available to the general public, this  interactive map from Carlson Software is designed to assist anyone researching available geodetic control in the United States.

Carlson Software’s Search Published Control

Sample NGS Data Sheet

Utilizing Carlson Survey, where this ability was first included in the 2013 release, users can graphically retrieve geodetic positions relevant to their area of interest and view the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) Data Sheets associated with them (See sample on the right).

This makes it easier to determine initial geographic coordinates when beginning a land survey project.  It’s also an exciting way to see what parts of our country have been recorded by land surveyors.

With the interactive map that is embedded in Carlson Survey, the selected positions may be captured directly into both the project coordinate file (.CRD) and the drawing. The underlying technology combines existing NGS web services with a clean and efficient background map and display powered by ESRI.

The control mark database is a useful and engaging tool for anyone working in or interested in land surveying.

Watch a video tutorial that shows you how it works here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5808Vg0Fszg

Carlson Machine Control Now Available in Australia Through Position Partners
Includes Complete Range of Machine Guidance Software for Mining, Quarrying and Landfill

MUNICH, Germany (April, 2013) —  Carlson Machine Control’s machine guidance and fleet management solutions for mining, quarrying, dredging and landfill operations will now be distributed in Australia by the country’s premier precision systems provider, Position Partners. Position Partners will both sell and support the wide variety of software products.

“We are thrilled to be introducing our solutions through Position Partners, Australia’s leading provider of machine guidance and positioning solutions,” said Randy Noland, vice president of Carlson’s Machine Control division. “Carlson and Position Partners have worked together for many years to supply the land surveying industry with software solutions so it was natural to expand our partnership to include Carlson’s machine guidance products.”

Position Partners will be offering Carlson’s complete range of machine guidance solutions for mining operations, including Carlson Grade™ for dozers, graders, scrapers and other surface grading machinery; Shovel Grade™ for excavators & shovels; Drill Grade™ for drilling machinery, and TruckPro™, which monitors position and load information across the truck fleet.

For on-site management and inspection, Position Partners will be offering the flexible Carlson Grade Supervisor™, which delivers an integrated 3D and GNSS solution for surveyors and supervisors. For monitoring from the office, Position Partners will offer Carlson Fleet Manager Office™, which enables managers to communicate with multiple machines in real time and also to generate a wide range of data from machine performance to progress reporting.

For landfill applications, Carlson has Landfill Grade™ that can be used across compactors, dozers, graders and scrapers to increase compaction and reach optimum density faster.

For dredging applications, Carlson provides Excavator Grade™, which supports long reach excavators, barge heading, cable cranes, etc. supporting multiple sensor types such as line riders, flow meters and encoders. Multiple attachments are also supported including finger grabbers with open and close visualization.

“We chose Carlson Machine Control for mining,” said Martin Nix, Position Partners CEO, “because it offers a comprehensive range of solutions, all with open system architecture that enables them to work on most makes and models of equipment used on a mine. By combining Topcon GNSS hardware solutions with Carlson Machine Control software, we are able to extend our expertise and service to mining, dredging, quarrying and landfill applications.”

“We are delighted to be able to offer our customers this complete range of machine guidance options,” Nix added, “and look forward to working with Carlson Machine Control to deliver the right combination of solutions to help save time and increase productivity for earthmoving, grading, material management, drilling and dredging operations.”

For more information about Carlson machine guidance solutions for mining, quarrying or landfills from Position Partners, visit www.positionpartners.com.au or call 1300 867 266.

About Carlson Software
Carlson Machine Control provides site management solutions for mining, solid waste landfills, dredging and other niche markets. Solutions include 3D machine control, site connectivity and fleet production monitoring with productivity analysis and reporting. For more information, visit www.carlsonmachinecontrol.com.

About Position Partners
With offices in every state and around 200 people, Position Partners is the largest Australian-owned company that focuses entirely on the distribution and support of positioning and machine control solutions for land management, civil works and building projects. At Position Partners, we are committed to increasing productivity for our customers and building lasting business relationships around high caliber positioning activities. For more information about Carlson machine guidance solutions from Position Partners, visit www.positionpartners.com.au or call 1300 867 266

Provides new support for Atlas Copco FlexiROC and SmartROC drills 

MUNICH, Germany (April, 2013) – For all functions related to drilling and blasting, look to Carlson Software’s totally upgraded DrillGrade™ 5.0 3D Drilling Navigation System. Together with Carlson’s CBx5 Control Box Console, which has a GPS+GLONASS L1/L2 RTK receiver built-in, and its MC Pro Vx5 machine control sensor, DrillGrade gives its users total simplicity of operation combined with complete access to the most advanced features. The following are just a few of the newest capabilities of Carlson DrillGrade 5.0:

• Navigate and position from within the drill cab without any marks on the surface;
• Easily create a drill pattern in the machine to a terrain model, depth and height;
• Load/change terrain models, localizations easily;
• Visualize 3D surfaces in the field;
• Handle simple localizations within DrillGrade, not the receiver;
• Retrofit to most any drill;
• Choose integration option for Atlas Copco FlexiROC w/HEC3 system and SmartROC w/RSP system;
• Get support for most all GPS/GNSS receivers with world’s largest GNSS library;
• Get near real-time system feedback with remote wireless monitoring; and
• Import/export .dwg, .dxf, .csv and IREDES hole data.

“Our DrillGrade System guides the operator, enabling the drilling of parallel holes to the correct depth in a safe and easy way,” says Randy Noland, vice president and director of Machine Control for Carlson. “The system can dramatically lower costs because accurate drilling equals better blasting, which in turn equals better fragmentation, leading to lower downstream costs.” The Carlson Drill Grade System also promotes safety on the site by keeping the operator in the cab and out of harm’s way, thanks to the system’s stakeless drill pattern layout. In addition, the DrillGrade System has both audio and visual alarms to alert operators of avoidance zones. Alarms are triggered if a proximity zone is breached.

To maximize clients’ existing investments and site compatibility, Carlson also supports GNSS receivers manufactured by other companies such as Leica, Trimble, Topcon, Septentrio, JAVAD GNSS and others. Plus, for Atlas Copco customers, there is the option to integrate Carlson Machine Control’s CBx5 control box console running Carlson DrillGrade™ software on a FlexiROC™ HEC3 C65 drilling system.

For more information, please visit www.carlsonmachinecontrol.com or email machinecontrol@carlsonsw.com.

About Carlson Machine Control. Carlson Machine Control provides site management solutions for mining, solid waste landfills, dredging and other niche markets. Solutions include 3D machine control, site connectivity and fleet production monitoring with productivity analysis and reporting.

New Integration with Carlson Machine Control and
Atlas Copco’s FlexiROC™ with HEC3 Drills

 MUNICH, Germany (April, 2013) – Installation and testing has recently been completed at the Atlas Copco factory in Örebro, Sweden, on the first system integration of Carlson Machine Control’s CBx5 control box console running Carlson DrillGrade™ software on a FlexiROC™ HEC3 C65 drilling system.

This marks the first successful factory installation of a 3D drilling system integrating Atlas Copco’s new third party protocol available on FlexiROC™ drills with the HEC3 system.

Carlson Machine Control’s CBx5 control box console running Carlson DrillGrade™ software on a FlexiROC™ HEC3 C65 drilling system.

“Atlas Copco and Carlson Machine Control have worked together to create a very clean and simple upgrade,” states Randy Noland, vice president and director of Machine Control for Carlson. “With just a single cable, sensor data and other information are communicated bi-directionally bringing both systems together offering unprecedented integration. This integration brings new and robust 3D features enhancing any drilling operation using FlexiROC™ with HEC3 drills.”

In addition to providing support for most GPS/GNSS receivers, this system allows users to:

• Navigate and position from within the drill cab without any marks on the surface;
• Easily create a drill pattern in the machine to a terrain model, depth and height;
• Load/change terrain models and localizations easily;
• Import dwg, dxf, csv and IREDES hole data;
• Visualize 3D surfaces in the field on a large, bright 8.4” screen; and
• Monitor FlexiROC™ with HEC3 drill actions such as body pitch & roll, heading, length of current hole, current position of drill bit, drilling stopped, drilling started, drilling aborted, reset hole length and more.

Upgrades and availability

An upgrade kit, which consists of the CBx5 Control Box Console, Carlson DrillGrade™ software, MC Pro Vx5 RTK Heading Unit, brackets and required cables, will be available soon for qualified, existing FlexiROC™ with HEC3 system drills. Atlas Copco must qualify the FlexiROC™ with HEC3 version and provide the protocol. A similar retrofit kit is also available for existing qualifying SmartROC™ RSP system drills. The CBx5 and MC Pro Vx5 components carry an industry exclusive three-year warranty.

“The fact that the upgrade can be made to a qualified FlexiROC™ HEC3 system drill in less than a day with just a screw driver, two wrenches and two ratchets is testimony to how well Atlas and Carlson have implemented the ‘plug and play’ integration,” adds Noland. “Installation is much simpler with no axial sensors or encoders to install as is typical with retrofitting a positioning system on a drill. And, a variation of this same system is also compatible with Atlas Copco SmartROC™ RSP system drills.”

Note that there is a GPS+GLONASS L1/L2 RTK receiver integrated into the Carlson CBx5 control box console that can be activated as an option, but Carlson also offers the world’s largest GPS/GNSS driver library to maximize clients’ existing investments and site compatibility.  Customers have the freedom to choose a supported GNSS receiver manufactured by other companies such as Leica, Trimble, Topcon, Septentrio, JAVAD GNSS and others or activate the CBx5’s internal RTK GPS+GLONASS receiver.

Retrofit kits will soon be sourced by authorized Carlson Machine Control dealers around the globe with plans to expand availability by drill equipment providers.

For more information, please visit www.carlsonmachinecontrol.com or email machinecontrol@carlsonsw.com.

About Carlson Software
Carlson Machine Control provides site management solutions for mining, solid waste landfills, dredging and other niche markets. Solutions include 3D machine control, site connectivity and fleet production monitoring with productivity analysis and reporting.

About Atlas Copco
Atlas Copco is an industrial group with world-leading positions in compressors, expanders and air treatment systems, construction and mining equipment, power tools and assembly systems. With innovative products and services, Atlas Copco delivers solutions for sustainable productivity. The company was founded in 1873, is based in Stockholm, Sweden, and has a global reach spanning more than 170 countries.

The MC Pro Vx5 Is Small, Powerful & Simplifies Operation

MUNICH, Germany (April, 2013) — One sensor is all you’ll need with the new Carlson MC Pro Vx5 3D machine control sensor. It offers six components integrated into one compact, rugged and easy-to-use unit that provides efficient machine control operations.

Available exclusively from Carlson Machine Control and its authorized MC dealers, the MC Pro Vx5 is just 26.32 inches (66.85cm) long, 8.23 inches (20.90cm) wide and 4.8 inches (12.19cm) high and weighs just 5.1 pounds (2.3kg), making the sensor completely portable and easy to install. The rugged IP69K unit provides GPS plus GLONASS L1/L2 high precision positioning and heading – up to 20Hz, along with dual axis slope.

“This unit was developed to provide total simplicity of operation, yet to have the most advanced features,” says Randy Noland, V.P. of Carlson Machine Control. “It easily mounts to a dozer, compactor, excavator, drill, scraper shovel and more. The MC Pro Vx5 connects with just one cable! Smaller and simpler yet more powerful with less cables and points of failure that increases reliability and ease-of-use.”

In addition to the GPS and GLONASS capabilities, the Carlson MC Pro Vx5 also has a RTK UHF radio built-in, meeting all new FCC regulations with additional World Radio options available.

“The advanced integration of the MC Pro Vx5 ensures ease of installation making it ideal to move from machine to machine or for daily removal,” adds Noland. “Advanced integration into a single sensor simplifies configuration and troubleshooting. Remote access simplifies all around system performance.”

The Carlson MC Pro Vx5 is built to be so rugged that it comes with a three-year warranty, an industry exclusive. An Advanced Component Replacement Option to guarantee continued operation is also available for purchase.

“Our mining, landfill and dredging clients demand reliability,” says Dave Jordan, Carlson Machine Control National Sales Manager. “The advanced, integrated design plus the three-year warranty and Advanced Component Replacement Option will provide a new level of support and system up-time.”

For more information about the Carlson MC Pro Vx5 3D and Carlson Machine Control, visit www.carlsonmachinecontrol.com, email machinecontrol@carlsonsw.com, or call 606-564-5028.

New, Updated Carlson CSI Office Now Released
Companion Software to CSI Mobile for Accident and Crime Investigations

MAYSVILLE, Kentucky, U.S.A. (April 2013) – The all new, completely upgraded and revamped Carlson CSI Office was recently released. It is designed specifically for the needs of city, county, or state police departments or consulting firms engaged in accident or crime reconstruction.

CSI Office, Carlson Software Investigations for the office, is a companion product to Carlson’s data collection software for crash/crime investigation, CSI Mobile. Together they allow law enforcement personnel to see how accidents happened, reconstruct traffic accidents, measure and map crime scenes, and determine how criminals operated.

“We’ve worked closely with police officers to give CSI Office powerful forensic diagramming capabilities, yet kept it intuitive and easy to use,” said Bruce Carlson, president of Carlson Software.

Top new features in Carlson CSI Office include:

Carlson CSI 3D Viewer

-          Extensive vehicle spec database including 2013 model vehicles;

-          New Quick Import feature imports field data and creates scene drawing in one step;

-          New Points Editor allows users to edit point information and have the change occur in real time on computer screen;

-          New Design Palette enables creation of custom function groups and keeps them readily available. It also provides quick access to placing symbols, hatches, and color fills;

-          New Room Builder lets users create walls, doors, and windows and view the room in 3D. Walls can be created based off linework shot in the field. Walls, doors, and floors can be colored to match the scene;

New ‘body outline’ function

-          New Body Outline function allows you to draw a “chalk outline” style body. The body can be manipulated, including movement of arms, legs, and head, to fit the anatomy of a scene.

Other features of CSI Office include the ability to produce customized reports complete with photos placed on a mapped accident scene, an extensive Symbol Library that allows users to easily edit drawings with multiple “undos” and “redos” permitted, and an online word processor to speed production of accident narratives. CSI Office comes with IntelliCAD® built-in so no need to purchase CAD-specific software.

“On its own or together with CSI Mobile,” adds Carlson, “CSI Office can effectively and accurately reconstruct traffic accidents or crime scenes, complete with the capability for full 3D scene viewing.”

For more information about CSI Office and CSI Mobile, start with Carlson’s Crash/Crime Investigation webpages or call 606-564-5028 to be connected to a Carlson representative near you.

CINCINNATI, Ohio, USA– Carlson Software users from more then 20 countries around the globe have gathered here for three days of intense training and a celebration of Carlson Software’s 30th anniversary. 

Carlson President and founder Bruce Carlson welcomed everyone at a morning plenary where he reviewed some basic commands that have been part of Carlson’s software since its founding in 1983 and reviewed some of the newest offerings soon to be released by Carlson.

Included in the new releases are GIS360 on Android, Carlson CSI Office 1.0, Carlson SurvCE 3.0, and Carlson SurvPC. Stay tuned for more information on the User Conference and new releases from Carlson Software.

Last blog I covered  importing a PDF into Carlson Takeoff R6. This month we are scaling the image and digitizing contours. Scaling is one of the most important parts of doing a takeoff because if this is wrong it’s all wrong. So I always take a little extra time to make sure the drawing is scaled properly.  What if your plan doesn’t have a bar scale?

If the drawing doesn’t have a bar scale you can utilize any dimension called out on the drawing such as: property survey, setbacks, and parking stalls. To check the scale, dimension  the distance called out in the plan; which is 50 feet my dimension is 376.0767 feet.

There is quick way in Carlson Takeoff to automatically do the scale calculation; which is in Edit> Scale Wizard> Screen Pick.  

This prompts you to pick two points on each end of the setback distance, then enter the Target Distance which is 50 feet the software then calculates the scale factor.

You are then able to apply this scale to the Entire Drawing or Select Objects, if you have multiple images with different scales use Select Objects. Select OK  if your drawing disappears View> Zoom Extents.  The next step is to make sure the On Screen digitizer settings are correct. Go to the Digitizer drop down > tablet select off, we are not using a digitizing board. Then into Digitizer Settings, make sure the Use Mouse box is checked.

The first thing to be digitized is the existing contours. We then need to set the surface the contours will be placed, go to Digitize> select Existing Surface. Next select Digitize> Contour Polyline, the settings menu appears. Carlson uses a default layer name of EXIST_CONTOUR the contours will need to be set at a 2 foot elevation interval.

Select OK  you will then see the Digitize Contour display, on screen, this box shows the elevation of the contour being digitized.

The command line also has settings which allows you to see the elevation increment, change the direction contour elevations are adding or subtracting vertically( + or -), and change the elevation of the contour being digitized.

Enter the first contour elevation select Enter and begin digitizing.