GPS- Collecting Data

1. GPS- Collecting Data Now that you have your data dictionary loaded, let’s 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. • 2. Using the arrow buttons to move you around, scroll down to highlight “Reset”. Push the “Enter” button to select. 1. With the rover on, click on the “SYS” button twice. You should come to this screen.

3. The screen should now look like this • Using the arrows and the “Enter” button again, select “Factory Defaults”. • The unit will then ask you confirm that you are restoring the factory settings. Push “Enter” once again to select “Yes”. Once the settings have been restored, the unit will “restart” itself and turn back on.

4. 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”

5. 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.

6. Before you collect your data(Hints for easier data collection) • You can collect more than onefeature 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)

7. Getting Space Vehicles Now we are ready to take our GPS outside! Satellites in the sky are known as SVs or space vehicles. When you first turn on your rover, you will see this screen. This view is under the “SYS” tab. Here, we have a sky plot of the satellites. You will notice that there is a picture of a satellite in the upper right hand corner. This tells you how many satellites the rover can “see”. Now, notice the text at the bottom of the screen that says “Poor Geometry”. The bar on the screen is below the line indicated by the arrow. We won’t be able to take readings like this! 3 Note: You need to be outside for the GPS to “see” any satellite vehicles (SVs). If you are outside and the bar is below the line (hollow) then you may not be holding the rover correctly:

8. wrong wrong right 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 don’t 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.

9. Good Configuration • If you have a good configuration of satellites, you should have a view that looks like this. • Notice: • The rover has 5 SVs locked. You need a minimum of 4 SVs to allow you to collect data. • More satellites may be needed depending on their position in the sky. • You will know that you can collect data when: • the bar is black and above the marker • The bottom of your screen tells you the • latitude and longitude of your position • Now, we can start collecting data!

10. The Data Tab 5. To get to the data collection screen, press the “DATA” button to change tabs. Here, we have a lot of information. We want to create a new file (rover file), but we also want to make sure that we are using the data dictionary that we loaded in the lab. This screen says that the dictionary that is selected is “Generic”, and that’s not the one we want.

11. Changing the Data Dictionary • Using your arrow keys, scroll down to the line that says “Dictionary”. Press “Enter”. • 7. Using your arrow keys again, scroll down to the data dictionary that says “schoolmap” and press “Enter” to select it. Your data dictionary should now be listed on the Data tab. • 8. Scroll over to “Create new file” and press “Enter”. 6 7 8

12. Collecting Data Note: We suggest reading the rest of this chapter all the way through before attempting to collect data! • After pushing “Enter” your screen should look like this. • 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!

13. Collecting Data - Athletic Field To collect an athletic field feature go to the actual field that you are planning on mapping. 9. Select “athletic field” by highlighting it, but DO NOT PUSH “Enter”. If you push enter, then the unit will begin logging when you may not be ready. 10. At the bottom of the screen, it asks you if you want to start collecting data (begin GPS logging) now or later. Select “Later” with the right arrow and push “Enter”.

14. For the feature “athletic field”, there are two attributes that need to be added: “Type” & “Name” 11. With “type” highlighted, push “Enter” and a menu option will pop up. Use your arrow buttons to move up and down this list. 12. Select the type of field that you are about to map and push “Enter”. Note: You might notice something blinking in lower right corner of the screen. This tells you that the rover unit is paused and is not collecting data.

15. After you have added attributes for the type of field, you need to enter the name of the field. • Using your arrow keys, scroll down to “name” and push “Enter”. • Using your arrow keys to highlight and your “Enter” button to select, type in the name of the field. • When you are finished, scroll down to “Close” at the bottom of the screen and push “Enter”. Note: the rover is still paused

16. The unit is still paused, and no points have been collected. Walk to the corner of the field. • If your field is rectangular, you can get the straight sides by collecting points only at the corners. To do this, push the “Log” button on the very bottom of the unit. This is how you can start and pause the collection of data. • Watch the counter in the corner. Collect one position, and then push “Log” again to pause the collection. (this is usually very quick – less than a second!)

17. Continue collecting only the corners of the field, logging and pausing at each corner. When you are done, push the “Close” button to close the feature. Now, you should be back to this screen. You have collected one feature within the feature class “athletic field”.

18. 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 don’t need to go back to your starting point). Hint: Line features are collected in the same way as polygons, except that the GPS doesn’t close the polygon. Lines For curvy sidewalks collect data continuously. Straight walkways: collect data at the corners, pausing the unit in between point collection.

19. Collecting Data - Flagpole Now we are going to collect a point feature (your school’s flagpole). • Scroll down to “flagpole”, select begin logging “Later” and push enter. • Add in the attributes for responsibility (who is in charge of putting up and taking down the flag).

20. 21. Scroll down to “height” and push “Enter”. 22. The default for “height” is 50 feet. Use your arrow buttons to change this number. When you are finished, push “Enter”. 23. Finish adding attributes. When you are done, push the “Log” button to start collecting data. 24. To collect a point, you need to stand still until your counter reaches 120 points. When you have done this, push “Close” to close that feature. The more points you acquire, the more accurate your positional information will be.

21. 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). You should now 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: 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 several data collection trips to map your whole school – so plan what you are going to collect before going outside!

22. 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. 25. Push “Close” one more time. The rover will ask you to confirm that you are closing the file. Select “Yes” and push “Enter. Now, we’re back to the first screen under data collection. 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. Note: When you are collecting all of your data you can collect as many features within one EAST class (you don’t always need to close after two features)