CHAPTER 5 PROCESS
5-1
PROCESSING DATA
Both RoadFace 6
TM
and the RFCollect Program will allow you to analyze and edit data that have been
collected earlier. Since most of the menu items in RFCollect are almost identical in use to the
RoadFace
TM
program on your desktop PC, this chapter will describe how to process data with either
RFCollect (the RoadFace Data Collection Program) or the RoadFace 6 analysis program. Any
differences between the two programs will be spelled out.
Before you can use the RoadFace 6 analysis program, you need to download your data from the onboard
2277 Tablet to your laptop or desktop PC. After you have downloaded the data, you will have two copies
of the data – one on the 2277 Tablet pocket computer, and one on your laptop or desktop.
Transferring data from the 2277 Tablet to another computer
This is easier than ever with the SD Card Reader supplied with the Dipstick 2277. You should download
your data daily as a means of "backing up" your data. This way you will have copies of the data in two
places on two different storage media, and will minimize the risk of losing data. Most users also prefer
to use a Desktop PC or a color laptop computer to do final processing of the data and printing, because
the screen and keys on your desktop is much larger. In any case, to print the reports, you must use a PC.
Just remove the SD Card from the right side of the 2277 Tablet, and stick it into the SD Card Reader,
then plug the SD Card Reader to the USB port on your desktop or laptop PC. Your desktop or laptop PC
will automatically install the drivers for you. This needs to be done only once, is automatic, and takes
just a minute or two.
From this time on, any time you plug the SD Card Reader in to your computer, it will automatically open
a window to the SD Card. You may now use the SD Card Reader on your desktop PC as if it were a
separate disk drive. Use your mouse to open the drive that represents the SD Card Reader, find the Data
folder, and “drag and drop” or “copy and paste” the data folders you want from that location to wherever
you want on your desktop PC. (Presumably, to something like C:\Dipstick.) We recommend keeping all
your Dipstick data folders as subfolders in the main folder where you have installed the RoadFace
program. The SD Card Reader is extremely fast. You can copy a job in just a second or two.
What you can do with the Data after Downloading:
Once you have downloaded the data to your hard drive, you may produce single graphs with the
cumulative IRI shown at the bottom, or you can produce a graph showing multiple runs at the same time.
This is useful in viewing longitudinal road profiles, where you typically display both the left and right
wheelpaths simultaneously. You can also produce a graph showing the change in IRI vs. distance,
calculate the difference between two runs or the average of two runs, and do all sorts of useful editing
functions, such as segmenting, editing readings, rotating, reversing, and linking two runs together. You
can report the Run Notes collected during data collection, and calculate Data Collection Bias or the Slope
of a Run. You can also calculate the difference between two Runs or the average elevations between two
Runs. Additionally, you may rename and edit Runs if necessary. The readings or elevations can also be
exported for use in other programs in ASCII (text) format.
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