General description
Create a surface step by-step
➜ Requirements for creating a surface by measuring points:
• Instrument is connected and set up.
➜Requirements for creating a surface with existing points:
• Map contains the points for the surface creation.
• Only points with an elevation can be used for the creation of surfaces.
➜ The main workflow refers to GNSS. For Total Station press Measure, then Store.
- Open the Surfaces & Volumes app.
- Select New Surface from the Toolbox.
Tap to activate Window Selection mode.
Tap to deselect all points.
Tap to create a boundary.
Tap to create breaklines.
Tap to cancel surface creation.
Tap to finish surface creation. - To define the new surface, measure as many points as required or tap existing points in the map to be included in the surface.
➜ TPS only: To setup the instrument in another location, for example
in order to measure further points behind a stockpile, tap:
• iCON site
Favourites
> Setup 
• iCON build Plus
The Station Setup screen opens. Refer to 6 How to Setup a Total Station for information about station setup. After the station setup is complete, the software returns to the Surfaces & Volumes application and measurements can be continued. - To select several existing points at once instead of tapping each one of them, tap
• Define the selection area by tapping as many points as desired for the area corners.
• To deselect several points, activate
and tap the map to define the area for deselection.
• To cancel Window Selection, tap
.
• To accept the selection, tap
.
All points inside the defined area are selected automatically. - To define a boundary, tap
.
The toolbar for boundary creation is displayed.
• Measure points or tap existing points on the screen to connect all boundary points.
• To close the boundary, tap the start point again.
• Alternatively, measure lines or tap existing lines to define the boundary. If available, you can also select arcs to include them for a boundary.
• To stop boundary definition and start it on another point, tap
.
• To clear all boundary definitions, tap
.
• To finish the boundary and return to surface creation screen, tap
.
• To leave the boundary definition mode without any changes, tap
.
- To define a breakline, tap
.
The toolbar for breakline creation is displayed.
• Measure points or tap relevant points on the screen to connect all breakline points.
• To clear all breakline points, tap
.
• To discard any changes of the breaklines, tap
.
• To stop the breakline and create a new one, tap
.
• To finish the breakline and return to surface creation screen, tap
.
➜ On export, defined breaklines are written to the *.xml file.
➜ On import, defined breaklines are automatically detected. Select Edit Surface from the Toolbox to make the defined breaklines be displayed in the Map View.
➜ During surface creation, you can also use the following tools from
the Toolbox, if needed:
• Automatic Logging: This tool allows you to densify the surface by automatically measuring surface points. Refer to How to store points automatically.
• Intersection: This tool allows you to create an intersection point where a breakline crosses the surface boundary or another breakline.
• Shift Point: This tool allows you to shift a surface point. Refer to 8.7.7 Volumes Toolbox Functions. - To finish surface creation, tap
.
The "Save" screen is displayed. - To save the surface, enter the desired name and tap
.
Create a surface from a point cloud step-by step
➜ Point cloud to surface licence needed.
- Open the Surfaces & Volumes app
. - Select New Surface from the Toolbox.
- To make use of a point cloud for surface creation, tap
. - Select the point cloud and configure the creation of temporary points that shall be used for defining the surface triangles:
• Define a cut-off angle
for the points to be taken into consideration.
• Define a grid size
for triangulation.
➜ To de-select the point cloud and reset angle and grid spacing to default values, tap
. By default, the cut-off angle is set to 15° and the grid size to 0.5 m.
➜ To take the whole cloud into consideration for surface creation, tap the toggle button
in the toolbar and define a grid size 
for triangulation. - Tap
, to select all temporary points for surface creation.
- Tap
again to finish surface creation.
The "Save" screen is displayed.
- To save the surface, enter the desired name and tap
.
Create a trench step by-step
- Open the Surfaces & Volumes app.
- From the Toolbox select Trench Creation.
The Trench Creation wizard opens. - Select a trench profile or select to create a new one.
- Tap
to proceed to the next wizard step. 
- Define the trench dimensions
• Enter the depth
that the trench shall have.
• Define the cross slopes. You can toggle to enter a percentage value or enter a distance
to-height ratio.
• Tap
to switch the slope direction from upwards to down
wards
.
• Tap
to extend the left cross slope by an element with the defined dimensions, tap 
to extend the right cross slope by an element with the defined dimensions.
➜ To change the dimension for a single element, tap the element to select it.
➜ To delete an element tap
and select the element in the map view.
Tap
to confirm deletion of the selected element.
➜ To store the trench definition to a *.csv file, tap Save. Enter a name for the file and tap
. - Tap
to proceed to the next wizard step. - Select the reference line.
• Define start and end chainage for the trench if needed.
• Set a horizontal and/or vertical offset if needed.
➜ To change the direction of the trench, select flip
from the Toolbox. - Tap
to make lines be calculated for the trench.
- Tap
to complete the wizard and save the trench definition to an *.xml file.
Create a dual slope flat surface step-by step
- Open the Surfaces & Volumes app.
- From the Toolbox select Dual Slope Surface.
- Select a point and enter the values to define the sloped flat surface
in the toolbar. Or select a second point.
- If necessary, adapt the values according to your needs:
• Adjust the orientation of the surface by entering a different azimuth value.
• Adjust the sloping of the surface by entering different percentage values for the slopes in x- and/or y-direction. If two points are selected the given slope along the x-axis results from the height difference between those points. The value can be changed.
• Adjust the size of the dual slope square by entering a different value for the expansion.
If two points are selected the given distance results from the distance between those points. The value can be changed.
• Tap
to switch the slope direction of one or the other or both axis. - Tap
to finish surface creation and save the dual slope surface to a *.TRM file of its own.
- Tap
to store the file to the given location.
Using the Grade Checker tool
➜ The Grade Checker tool is available in the following applications:
- Surfaces & Volumes – iCON site + iCON build Plus
- Cut & Fill iCON site + iCON build Plus
This function allows you to to apply minimum and maximum elevation filtering to the map data. Surfaces can be visually checked for, for example, water drains or areas of water accumulation.
- From within the applications Surfaces & Volumes or Cut & Fill select Grade Checker from the toolbox.
➜ Screenshots are taken from iCON site > Cut & Fill app.
➜ The surface needs not be selected for applying the elevation filter.
- Use the slider on the right-hand side of the Map screen to apply minimum and maximum elevation filtering to the surface.
- Alternatively, enter the exact values of the desired elevation range. The slider gets adjusted accordingly.
- Tap
to accept and activate the filter settings for further use within the application. To leave the Grade Checker tool without applying any filter settings, tap 
.
To erase the current filter values, tap
. Slider and displayed filter values jump back to maximum extents.
➜ When leaving the application, all filter settings are automatically reset.
➜ iCON site Plus: When you have got an iCON site Plus license, you can use the Grade Checker tool in combination with Limit Box functionality. See also: Limit Box
