Overview of the Two Skadi Smart Handle™ Modes: Extensible Virtual Range Pole™ and Invisible Range Pole™

This video provides an overview of the two modes of the Skadi Smart Handle^™, an upgraded handheld GNSS accessory for Skadi Gold^™, Skadi 300^™, and Skadi 200^™ RTK receivers from Eos Positioning Systems^®. By leveraging highly accurate LiDAR and MEMS sensors, the Skadi Smart Handle unlocks two powerful modes: the Extensible Virtual Range Pole^™ and the Invisible Range Pole^™.

The Extensible Virtual Range Pole mode allows you to accurately measure the positions of assets a short distance away on the ground, such as in trenches and other areas hard to physically occupy. Meanwhile, the Invisible Range Pole mode continuously calculates the elevation to the ground as you move, reducing the need for a surveying range pole.

This video walks you through how to toggle between these modes, interpret LED indicators when using the smart handle, and troubleshoot common GNSS positioning errors — so you can maximize accuracy and efficiency in the field.

Watch the full Skadi Smart Handle playlist here.

Transcript

The Skadi Smart Handle may operate in one of two modes: Extensible Virtual Range Pole or Invisible Range Pole.

In this video, we’ll provide an overview of each mode …

What is the Extensible Virtual Range Pole?

The Extensible Virtual Range Pole mode is the default mode of the Skadi Smart Handle. Therefore, every time you initialize your smart handle, this will be the mode that will turn on.

Extensible Virtual Range Pole mode is the only mode that makes use of the Skadi Smart Handle’s laser and trigger.

When you initialize the smart handle in this mode, the green laser pointer will be visible.

In this mode, you may measure an asset’s location without physically occupying that position. The asset must be on the ground and within a roughly seven-meter, or 20-foot, distance.

Additionally, the target must be able to reflect light. A manhole in a street is an example of a good target.

When initialized in this mode, the smart handle will double-vibrate every second while the trigger is pressed to indicate its GNSS positions are valid.

If your position becomes invalid (for example, RTK not fixed or LiDAR distance out of range), the smart handle will single-vibrate to indicate there is a problem.

Consult the “Tilt” LED behaviors section at the end of this video to troubleshoot invalid positions.

Sending Data to a Third-Party App in Extensible Virtual Range Pole Mode

To send data to your third-party app, simply press and hold the smart handle trigger.

Your Skadi receiver will stream positions to your data-collection app at a rate of once per second as long as this trigger is pressed and held.

Once you release the trigger, positions will no longer be sent to your app.

What is the Invisible Range Pole?

The second mode of the Skadi Smart Handle is the Invisible Range Pole mode.

When using this mode, you will not use the smart handle trigger, and there will be no visible laser pointer.

The purpose of this mode is to provide flexibility in the field when a surveying range pole is not required.

It works by computing the X and Y coordinates along with the elevation to the ground directly below the receiver, on your target.

As your hand naturally moves, your elevation will be continuously measured. For best results, try to keep your smart handle level to the ground and ensure the surface below is relatively flat.

This is what reduces your need to carry a physical range pole, while retaining your survey-grade accuracy.

In this mode too, the smart handle will double-vibrate once per second to indicate valid GNSS positioning.

Additionally, a single vibration indicates invalid GNSS positioning in this mode, too.

Toward the end of this video, we will explain how to troubleshoot invalid positions.

Toggling Between Modes

Next we will cover how to toggle between the two modes. There are two methods.

First, you may select your mode in Eos Tools Pro by choosing “Extensible” or “Invisible” in the smart handle settings.

Alternatively, for the second method, triple-press the smart handle trigger to toggle.

Now let’s cover valid and invalid GNSS positioning alerts. You may also find information about this in the online Skadi Smart Handle User Manual.

Monitoring GNSS Position Alerts

Your Skadi Smart Handle indicates that you have a valid position in two ways.

First, the handle will double-vibrate once per second.

Second, your “Tilt” LED light will be either green or blinking green.

To understand what is causing an error, we will interpret the “Tilt” LED colors and blinking behavior.

When your Skadi Smart Handle vibrates only once per second and the “Tilt” LED is no longer green, your GNSS positions are invalid.

If your “Tilt” LED is slowly blinking red, you need to initialize your Skadi Smart Handle by performing the initialization movement.

If your “Tilt” LED is moderately blinking red, you need to acquire an RTK fixed position.

Enter your RTK credentials into Eos Tools Pro as you normally would.

If your “Tilt” LED is fast-blinking red, your target is outside of your LiDAR range.

When this happens, the Position tab in Eos Tools Pro will show your “Extensible Pole Height” as dashes, and your “Compensated” coordinate values will be red.

This happens when your target is either too far away from you (beyond about seven meters) …

… too close to you (within 10 cm) …

… or has poor reflectivity.

Try moving farther from or closer to your target to fall back within the LiDAR range.

If your “Tilt” LED is blinking red and green, you are not pressing the trigger to stream positions while in Extensible Virtual Range Pole mode. Pressing the trigger will begin the transmission of locations from your smart handle to your mobile app, and the LED will turn green.

If your “Tilt” LED is blinking orange, blinking orange and red, or double-blinking orange, you have lost your RTK fixed status.

Regaining your RTK fix will resolve this.

Finally, if the Skadi Smart Handle has sat idle for 10 minutes without being used, it will automatically de-initialize. The Tilt LED will blink red slowly.

Simply perform the initialization movement again to re-initialize it.

Find the next video in the Skadi Smart Handle video series by watching the full playlist!

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