kaarta STENCIL 2 - Using Point Clouds from Other Programs

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CloudCompare Command Line Arguments window is updated. Be sure to select the Output File
Type and whether you want ASCII or binary. Once you have finished stacking up the commands,
be sure to hit the Generate Command once more and then select Run Now to execute the
command shown in the CloudCompare Command Line Arguments window. (NOTE: Be sure the
last command in the Configured Commands window is SAVE_CLOUDS before execution).
USING POINT CLOUDS FROM OTHER PROGRAMS
Third party software can be used to merge maps to create a larger more complex one, if needed.
If the second map was created using Stencil 2 in localization with respect to a prior map mode, it
can simply be merged and saved as a binary .ply file as the two maps should share the same
coordinate system.
Stencil 2 uses maps generated by other devices as well. Be sure to create a new folder at the top
level of the Recordings folder to ensure that Stencil 2 can use this within its framework when
choosing the map for localization. The maps must be in .ply format using the same header
format as Stencil 2 as shown below. The vertex number should equal the number of points in the
point cloud. If you do not have intensity or time data, just set the values to 0.0. or exclude the
field in the header and the data in the .ply file. Only the XYZ points are necessary to create a map
for localization.
ply
format ascii 1.0
element vertex 30000000
property float x
property float y
property float z
property float scalar_intensity
property double scalar_time
end_header
1.550063 1.104266 0.640365 23.000000 0.000000
1.599324 1.112512 0.653458 24.000000 0.000000
1.622697 1.109194 0.438633 33.000000 0.000000
When using point clouds not collected on Stencil 2 for localization, it may be necessary to
determine the starting pose to start the localization scan. A radian circle has been included in the
Kaarta Documentation folder on the Desktop called Circle_Centered.obj. If you load the
Circle_Centered.obj file and the point cloud file you want to use for localization into a
visualization program like CloudCompare, it will show the 0, 0, 0 location at the center. Take note
of the direction of the X axis (0 radians on the circle) as you will need to point Stencil 2 in the
same direction.
Note: The X-Axis is aligned with the front of Stencil 2.