Full Dome Scan

This article will cover how to perform a Full Dome Scan while using Collage Site.

From the Scan Workflow Selector menu, tap on the Full Dome Scan button to add a 360 degree scan to the current station. You will be taken to the Scan Settings dialog (on the right side of the screen in the below screenshot). This screen allows you to change all of the scanner’s settings exactly as you would on the instrument’s on-board screen. Notice that there are slight differences in the settings options depending on which instrument you are connected to. Please consult your GTL or GLS manual for more information about these settings.

| GTL Full Dome Scan Settings|| GLS Full Dome Scan Settings || ESN Full Dome Scan Settings || CR-P1 Full Dome Scan Settings |







Collage Site has a new Sparse Scan toggle control. If you scan with a high scan resolution setting, the data size will increase and it will take longer to transfer and process the data. Sparse Scan toggle should be turned on for efficient in-field scanning workflow. Collage Site has this setting enabled by default when a scan resolution that takes a long time to transfer or process is set in advance, so normally you don’t need to change it. However, in environments where the WiFi signal strength is weak, please be sure to enable this setting, even for low resolution scan settings. Please note that the Sparse Scan option is NOT available with the ESN or CR-P1 instruments.

The Calibration Scan option is only available when connected to the CR-P1 instrument, and is used to help calibrate the external panorama camera with the point cloud data. See your instrument user guide for more detailed information.

Turn on the Colorize Scan toggle if you would like your processed scans to be colorized. Please note that this will make scan processing take a bit longer. You can always leave this setting off while you are in the field and then reprocess the scans at a later time to include colorization.

You can also upgrade low-density scans on all stations to full-resolution scans at once after your scan work is complete. See the Upgrade Sparse Scan page for more information.



Once your scan settings are adjusted to your liking, press the Start Scan button in the right-hand menu. The instrument will rotate and begin the imaging and scanning process. Scan progress will be displayed in the progress bar at the top of the workflow panel. There are several stages the scanner will go through as it images and scans:

  • Initialization: It will take a few seconds for the scanner to check its levelness and prepare to capture data
  • Imaging: Topcon scanners image before scanning, so make sure your lens cover is off and your areas of interest are unobstructed
  • Calibration: Once imaging is complete, the lidar system goes through a self-calibration routine to ensure the best accuracy possible
  • Scanning: The scanner head starts spinning and measurements are taken

You will see the progress bar at the top of the panel as it tracks the instrument through these steps:



Once scanning is complete, a preview image will be sent to the tablet screen so you can review the scan and ensure you want to keep the data and transfer the scan from the scanner to the field software:



  • The Keep and Link button will initiate the transfer of the scan data from the instrument to the tablet. Additionally, Collage Site will automatically create a link between the current station and the previous station and register them using the automatic Cloud-to-Cloud registration option when Keep and Link is selected.
  • The Keep button will initiate the transfer of the scan data from the instrument to the tablet.
  • The Discard button will take you back to the scan settings dialog allowing you to re-scan from the same position, while discarding the first scan’s data.

When using the CR-P1 device, you will notice an additional option on this screen - the Autodetect Targets toggle.

Turning this toggle ON will automatically pick up and create target layers in Collage Site for any checkerboard targets that are seen in the scan that you just took. Notice in the screenshot above that there are two checkerboard targets in the room that I am scanning. After I turn the Autodetect Targets toggle on and choose the KEEP option, I see that those two targets were picked up for me and automatically created for me in Collage Site. You can use these automatically created targets for localizations or any other workflows that use them in Collage Site. Again, this feature is ONLY available when using the CR-P1 scanning instrument.





Progress will be shown while transferring the scan data. Transferring the data can take a long time and is influenced by the following factors:

  • Scan Resolution: Each step up in scan resolution generates a file that is 4X bigger, and thus takes 4X longer to transfer.
  • Imagery: Scan Images are small compared to the size of most scan resolutions, but they still take time to transfer, particularly if you choose to use the telephoto camera as there are far more pictures being transferred.
  • WiFi Signal Strength: - The farther you move away from the scanner, as well as any obstructions between you and the scanner will negatively impact signal strength between the tablet and the scanner. Weaker signal will ultimately lead to a slower transfer. Using Collage Site within 15 meters of scanner is recommended.

After the scan data is completely transferred, Collage Site will begin processing the scan data so it can be registered and viewed. First the station data will be processed.Then scans will be processed so that you can visualize them and use them for cloud to cloud registration.










If you tapped the Keep and Link button Collage Site will attempt to automatically register the two scans together using an automated cloud to cloud comparison algorithm.

Once registration is complete, the manual alignment screen will be shown on the screen to edit or remove the link.