Manual

Batch mode (no visualization)

HELIOS simulations can be run without starting the GUI (e.g. for batch processing).

To start a simulation in batch mode, type

java -jar helios.jar <survey-file> headless

and start the simulation by hitting the Enter button.

is the absolute or relative path to a .xml survey file, for example:

java -jar helios.jar data/surveys/demo/tls_arbaro_demo.xml headless

Navigation

HELIOS offers two modi for navigation: Chase mode (camera always focussing on active scan position) and free camera mode.

After starting the HELIOS GUI, use the 'Enable free camera/enable chase mode' button in the element control bar (QuickStart Guide) or the key to change between the modi.

Control the camera in free flight mode: You can use your keyboard to move the camera in a free flight mode. Use to go left, to go right, to go forth and to go back. To rotate the view, press the left mouse button and move the mouse as you want to change the camera perspective.

Control the camera in tracking mode: You can use the mouse scroll pad to move close to the scanner (scroll forward) or move away from the scanner (scroll backward).

Defining own scanning devices

To define an own scanner, several characteristics of the scanner has to be stated in a .xml-file. Several scanning devices are pre-defined in file /data/scanners.xml.

Example for a .xml scanner definition:

<!-- ##### BEGIN RIEGL VZ-1000 ##### -->
<scanner 	id 							= "riegl_vz1000"
			accuracy_m					= "0.005"
		 	beamDivergence_rad 			= "0.0003"
		 	headRotatePerSecMax_deg		= "60"
			name              			= "RIEGL VZ-1000"
			optics            			= "rotating"
			pulseFreqs_Hz				= "70000,300000"
			pulseLength_ns     			= "4"
			rangeMin_m					= "2.5"
			scanAngleMax_deg   			= "123"
			scanAngleEffectiveMax_deg   = "50"
			scanFreqMin_Hz				= "3"
			scanFreqMax_Hz				= "120"
			visModel					= "scanners/vz400/vz400.obj"
/>
<!-- ##### END RIEGL VZ-1000 ##### -->