This guide focuses on field and processing habits that consistently produce cleaner trajectories, fewer SLAM artifacts, and smoother georeferencing when using TrueView GO.
1. Plan your route
Before starting plan your data collection route, a proper collection can save hours on processing.
- Identify natural loop points (corners, junctions, stair landings, courtyards).
- Break large sites into logical “chunks” you can revisit (loop closure) without long featureless stretches.
- Start in a feature-rich area (walls, facades, trees, uneven rock) rather than blank corridors or open asphalt, and avoid obvious occlusions and moving objects.
- Plan the acquisitions as short sessions, ideally under 20 minutes per cycle.
Note: Even though the battery can last 1 hour and there is a hot-swap option to extend runtime, long continuous captures create avoidable risk and typically become a drawback during processing.
2. Core SLAM data collection pattern
The following is a must do to get the best data no mather the enviorament.
Device initialization
Leave the device in a flat surface while it initialized, the tablet will show when the initialization is done and the user can start with the data capture.
Start the collection with a loop
- Start capture → immediately do a short loop (a small circuit around your starting area).
- Goal: give the trajectory an early anchor and strong overlap.
Cover areas twice (rebundancy pays off)
- Good practice: survey each area 2 times by simply walking it twice (same corridor/room/zone, slightly different path/angle).
- Goal: reduces SLAM drift risk and strengthens alignment
End the collection with another loop
- Before stopping, return to a previously mapped zone and do a final loop.
3. Indoor best practices
Indoor mapping is where loops matter most. Check the following article to learn more about loop:
TVGO Indoor loop closures
- Do a loop in each room
- Transition between rooms (danger zone).
- Do not rush when switching environments (room → corridor → room), especially when passing through a doorway.
- Slow down, keep motion smooth, and avoid sudden spins right at thresholds.
- Walk at a steady pace, avoid sudden accelerations, and avoid long “featureless” segments when possible.
- Do not change the environment during the data collection. Avoid moving furniture or open/closing doors, these changes may affect the collection. Also avoid people, in narrow corridors or rooms.
Note: When working indoor the light is not always the best, remember that fast pace + low light is a combo to ruin your photos. If photos are important, try to switch on all the lights and do not rush while walking.
Sensor field of view
The TVGO does not scan in 360 degrees, it surveys forward, similar to how we see with our eyes. This is usually not a problem in open areas or large halls. However, it can become a limitation in small rooms or narrow spaces. Keep in mind that the sensor cannot capture data immediately above your head or below your feet, it surveys forward. This means that loop closure is very important when entering a room, otherwise, some features in the ground or cealling. It is also possible to tilt the sensor to ensure it captures areas above and below.
4. Outdoor best practices
When working outdoor, the TVGO can be more “loose” on the loops and covering twice each section, however just because we are collecting outdoor does not mean we can ignore all the recommendations.
Before starting
- Wait for good GNSS before starting the data collection. Rule of thumb, wait 30 seconds to get fix solution in an open sky area.
- If RTK is used, check that the solution is fixed and the RTK correction are available.
- If working with PPK, check the base station:
- Working in Static mode at 1hz (recording every second).
- Base station coverage, 15 minutes before and 15 minutes after the data collection.
- Rinex file 3.04
- Use at least 4 constallations, GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and Beidou.
- Known the base station coordinates and coordinate system in geographical.
Areas with poor GNSS signal
In areas with poor GNSS, the sensor will rely 100% on the SLAM algorithm. This will happen automatically, and during the processing LP360 will weight and select the best solution either GNSS or SLAM based.
- The TVGO will keep almost the same accuracy for the first 90 seconds without GNSS signal, above that accuracy will start to drift (global accuracy).
- In poor GNSS (urban canyons, dense trees, underpasses), treat capture like indoor:
- Loops become required again
- Add redundancy (second pass)
- Avoid long open-loop stretches
The loops are less critical in consistently good GNSS areas (the workflow can be more “loop-free” when GNSS & RTK corrections are solid). They are still important when GNSS degrades, since the SLAM has to carry more of the trajectory.
5. Optional: TGCPs
If your deliverables require tighter absolute accuracy or you anticipate GNSS/SLAM challenges, consider TrueView GO Control Points (TGCPs), which are designed to strengthen alignment and optimization with known coordinates. Highly recommended for indoor areas if georeferencing is required.
Remember that 4 TGCPs per cycle are required, and they should be surveyed during the data collection.
Using Control Points with the TrueView GO
If TGCPs are not possible, or the georeferencing is going to be done after the processing, then consider the registration tools, LAS to Control.
LAS to Control Manual Registration
Tips general
- Avoid having all the TGCPs in a cluster or in a straight line.
- Distribute the TGCPs across the entire dataset, avoid placing them all at the beginning or at the end of the cycle.
- They need to be visible on multiple passes. Use junctions, main corridors, or halls.
- Choose stable locations, and make sure the targets are not covered or partially covered.
- Redundancy wins. Do not aim for the minimum set. Four is the minimum for LP360 to use them; however, it is recommended to use 8 to 10, depending on how large the cycle is.
- Aboid weak geometry:
- All in one room
- All along one corridor
- Near doors or windows
- Clustered points
- If working in a corridor, place one every 20 to 30 meters, and try not to align them in a straight line.
- Avoid placing them near cars, windows, glass, or mirrors (reflective objects).
- Design intentional loops to capture a target from multiple angles.
Tips indoor
- Distribute control in 3D, not just around the edges. Place them on different levels, especially important for buildings.
- Distribute them between the entry, mid, and exit zones of the building, especially if the starting and ending points are not the same.
- If you place them on a wall, they should be 1 to 2 meters high.
- If working in a building with many rooms, place them at major corridor junctions; avoid side rooms.
- The accuracy of the final model will be contrain by the quality of the TGCPs.
Tips outdoor
- Set them up in around areas affected by GNSS multipath (near buildings, trees, or canopies). Not necessary in the area with poor GNSS, but around, since a RTK receiver will have the same issues as the handheld scanner.
- Along long linear features, like roads or pipelines.
- In large open areas without vertical features.
During processing
Import all the TGCPs into LP360, check their accuracy (how well they match compared to the position/coordinates added). If the error is too big, disable the TGCP.
6. Processing best practices
Know your CRS
CRS mistakes are one of the fastest ways to create “good-looking but wrong” outputs. Confirm, document, and keep consistent:
- Deliverable CRS (what the client/project requires)
- Control point CRS
- If RTK: the CRS of the RTK corrections
How to check the RTK corrections quality during post-processing - If PPK: The base station CRS in LLH (Lat/Lon/Height), including height in ellipsoidal
Tip: Common CRS for RTK & PPK
– NAD83(2011) + ellip H. in meters (North America)
– ETRS89 + ellip H. in meters (Europe)
– WGS84 epoch 2015 + ellip H. in meters (World)
NAD83(2011) is the most use in USA. In EU most of the country projections are based in ETRS89. World, WGS84 is usually ITRS2020 or ITRS2014, with epoch in 2010 or 2015, however it is also common day of adquisition epoch, double check it.
PPK & RTK results quality
Check the GNSS solution result after performing SLAM processing. As an extra thing in case the solution is not as expected.
