Floor Flatness with BuildIT Construction

Tutorial Download

If you would like to download the file used in this article, download the accompanying Training Data and extract its contents to a folder on your PC.

Import FLS File

• Launch BuildIT by double-clicking the BuildIT icon on your desktop.
• Import the WetConcrete001.fls (included in the training data) by the following method.
  • In the menu bar, click “File > Import > Import SCENE Clouds”.
  • Navigate to and select the file “WetConcrete001.fls” from the training data and click Open.
    
  • Once the import is completed, many times the point cloud will be outside of the current view, click the Zoom All icon  to view the entire project.

Zoom into the Analysis Region and Split Cloud

• Zoom into the investigated region shown below:
  
  
   
• Split cloud down to the area to be analyzed.
  • Select “Refine > Split Clouds”.
  • Select the imported point cloud "WetConcrete001" for “Clouds”.
  • Select the “Polygon selection” radio button and then select the polygon tool.
  • Construct a polygon line around the area shown below.
  • Ensure that “Points kept” is toggled to “Inside/above”.
  • Select Apply.
    
    

Create a Surface from the Cloud Points

• Select “Refine > Extract Surface”.
• Create a plane from cloud.
  • Using the rectangle tool, select the whole cloud from the split cloud.
  • In the Tolerance field, enter a value of 0.25.
  • Ensure “Create new cloud from identified points” checkbox is selected.
• Select Apply.

TIP: This surface is created is a perfect plane from the scan data. Only the points within the tolerance will be included in the split cloud.
TIP: The Constraint normal/axis field can also be used to to create a perfectly level plane constrained in the Z axis.

Invert the Surface (if needed)

When the surface plane has been extracted, there is a possibility the nominal plane may be facing the wrong direction. It is best to check which way the extracted surface is facing. This will help provide the positive and negative direction of the result. The face showing light gray indicates the positive side of the surface and the dark grey side indicates the negative side of the surface.

In the image shown, the dark grey surface plane is facing the top surface of the cloud. Hence the negative value is an in upward direction. Follow the procedure below to reverse the surface orientation.

• If the surface is in the wrong position, the plane can be flipped by selecting on “Edit > Surface > Reverse Normal”.
• Select the plane and then Apply.
  
  

Perform Surface Deviation Analysis

• Create a Surface Deviation plot on the inspected surface.
  • In the menu bar, select “Evaluate > Surface Deviation Analysis”.
  • Fill in the command fields as outlined below:

1. Surfaces - The Surfaces input box is already active (yellow), simply click on the created surface.
2. Points - The Points input box will automatically populate with the point from the extract surface command, as it was auto-associated.
3. Probe offset - Use of probe offset recorded with measurement is usually preferred.
4. Maximum search distance - Set the Maximum search distance to 1.0.
   TIP: The Maximum search distance is the distance the software will search from that perfect plane/surface.
5. Color scale - Rainbow - Blue-Green-Red will give you a uniform map of the deviations.
6. Analysis mode - Colored cloud allows you to see the general pattern in the deviations. Needles are also available as visual aid for seeing the magnitude of the deviations.
7. Limit computation - For this procedure, select User-Defined from the drop down and input the required tolerances, +/- 0.25. Setting this field to Maximum/Minimum will have the software set the tolerance values equal to the largest deviation. This is a quick way to get an idea of the pattern of the deviations.
8. When you are done filling in the command, click Apply.
9. You should see a result similar to the image below:
   
   

Generate a Report from the Analysis

• Save a view
  • Click the Save View Icon  or select “View > Save View”. from the menu.
  • Enter a name for the view, and Select Apply.
    
     
• Create a report
  • In the Manager Tab on the right of the screen, right click on the required view/Surface analysis and select Add to report.
    
    

  • Click on the Report tab and click on Generate Report.