Take a Tour of the Skadi Smart Handle™ [Video]

Take a hands-on tour of the Skadi Smart Handle™ from Eos Positioning Systems®! In this video, you’ll get a tour of the physical features of the Skadi Smart Handle. You’ll also get an overview of the smart handle settings in Eos Tools Pro. We recommend watching this video for anyone getting started with their Skadi Smart Handle.

Please note that the Skadi Smart Handle is an optional accessory. It is compatible with the  Eos Skadi 200™, Skadi 300™, and Skadi Gold™ GNSS receivers.

Ready to get started? Watch the video below.

More of a reader? Scroll down for complete screenshots and transcript.

Browse other Skadi Smart Handle videos here.

Transcript

In this video, we’re going to take a tour of the Skadi Smart Handle, including the hardware and software required when using it.

The Skadi Smart Handle is an upgrade from the Skadi Standard Handle. You can always tell which one you have because if you have a Skadi Smart Handle, you’re going to have this decal here. If you have the Skadi Standard Handle, you’re not going to have a decal here.

Skadi Smart Handle sticker decail — The Skadi Smart Handle™ has a sticker decal on the front of the handle. A Skadi Standard Handle™ does not have this decal. The Skadi Smart Handle is the optional accessory that enables RTK In Your Hand™ workflows.

Physical Overview of the Skadi Smart Handle

So, the first thing we’re going to start with is just my Skadi Smart Handle itself. So, let’s take a tour of this.

The first thing I want to point out is the stem of the Skadi Smart Handle.

Now you’re going to notice that it looks a lot like the battery pack to your Skadi receiver. And that’s because they both slip into the same slot in your Skadi receiver.

The Skadi Smart Handle stem is designed like the Skadi Series GNSS receiver battery pack. This is intentional, because they will both fit into your Skadi 200™, Skadi 300™, or Skadi Gold™ GNSS receiver.

The next thing you’re going to notice, is if I look at the stem underside, you’re going to see three cutouts.

Now, these cutouts are where your sensors are going to be activated from. It’s also where your green laser pointer is going to shoot from when you’re using the Extensible Virtual Range Pole mode, which we’ll talk a little bit about later.

On the Skadi Smart Handle underside, you'll see three cutouts indicating where your sensors are located.

Further below that, you’re going to see your model. Now this SKU (“skew”) is what tells you, again, that you have a Skadi Smart Handle. Mine says SKA-SMART.

And just below that, you’ve got your serial number for this smart handle. Your serial number is unique to your product.

The model SKU of every Skadi Smart Handle is "SKA-SMART," indicating you have a smart handle rather than a standard handle. This may be found on the underside of your handle.

Finally, your smart handle's serial number may be found at the bottom of the label. This serial number is unique to your smart handle.

Just below your sticker, you’re going to see your first of two attachment areas.

Now, these are used to attach your Skadi hand and wrist strap.

Tip: Launch the 30-second video below to see how to attach your Skadi hand and wrist strap. Or, keep watching this video, and you’ll see that later on.

The second of the two gray strap slots is at the bottom here. So, you’re going to use these in tandem to attach your hand and wrist strap. And then just below the first of those attachment areas, you’re going to see your trigger.

Now, this trigger is used only in Extensible Virtual Range Pole mode, which we’ll show in another video.

Tip: You will not use the smart handle trigger while in Invisible Range Pole mode.

The Skadi Smart Handle trigger is used only in Extensible Virtual Range Pole mode. You will not use this trigger while in Invisible Range Pole mode.

All the way at the bottom of the handle here, I’ve got my battery-insert slot. This is where I’m going to put my battery when I’m using the Skadi Smart Handle. So, I’ll actually insert that right now so you can see.

Seen here is the Skadi Smart Handle battery insert slot where you will install your Skadi GNSS receiver battery.

When I’m inserting the battery pack, I always want to make sure that these arrows are facing up. That’s how I know I’ve got it in the right direction.

If you’ve got the battery sticker label facing up, the battery is facing the wrong direction — that’s the bottom. So, we’re going to slide this in, and now our battery pack is in.

Make sure the battery pack's gray arrows are facing upward when you insert the battery pack into the Skadi Smart Handle.

Do not insert the battery pack with the black label facing upwards.

The next thing I’ll show you is how to release your battery pack. So, you’ll see on either side of the smart handle you’ve got these two buttons.

It’s important to push them concurrently. So, I’m going to push my battery release buttons and pull the battery pack out. And it slides out just like that.

For now, I’m going to keep it in.

The Skadi Smart Handle has two gray button flaps on either side. When you want to remove your battery pack, simply press these concurrently and slide the battery pack out.

The last thing I’ll show you is this knob that you’ll see on top of the Skadi Smart Handle. This knob is used to attach your phone or tablet bracket. (See these accessory pages: Skadi Series™ Phone Mounting Bracket (SKA-KITPHONE) and Skadi Series™ Tablet Mounting Bracket (SKA-KITTABLET).)

When you purchase any Skadi GNSS receiver, you’re going to receive both the phone and tablet bracket, so you can interchange them.

For this video, I’m going to be using my iPhone™.

So, I’m going to be using this phone bracket.

But if I were using a tablet, this is what my bracket would look like.

So, now the next thing we’re going to do is assemble all of this and continue the tour of the smart handle by assembling a few components.

You will use the knob on the front of the handle to attach either the phone or tablet bracket that was included with your Skadi Series™ GNSS receiver purchase. You may also attach third-party brackets if desired.

Both a phone mount (left) and tablet mount (right) are included with your Skadi GNSS receiver. These may attach to either the Skadi Smart Handle or Skadi Standard Handle.

Assembling the Skadi Smart Handle

The first part I’m going to connect is my phone bracket onto this smart handle knob.

Attaching Your Mobile Device (Phone or Tablet) Bracket

All I’m going to do is pop the bracket on with pressure, and then I’m going to turn the connector to the right to tighten it. Now this part is good to go.

Make sure the twisting connector on your chosen device mount (phone or tablet) is loose. Then snap the mount onto the knob.

Twist the connector to secure the device mount to your handle.

Attaching the Skadi Hand and Wrist Strap

The next thing I’m going to do is attach my hand and wrist strap to the back for some extra support.

So, I’m going to take the hand and wrist strap, and you’ll see that I’ve got these hook-and-loop fasteners at the top and the bottom.

All I’m going to do is slip the fastener tab through either of these attachment areas.

The way that I’ve attached my hand and wrist strap is so that my wrist attachment is on the left side, and that’s because I want to be holding the smart handle in my left hand so that I can use my phone in my right hand, because I’m right-hand dominant. So, this is how that would look.

If you’re left-handed, you could simply un-fasten the wrist strap and attach it the opposite way. Then, I could use it in my right hand.

Secure the top of the hand strap by lopping one end through the top gray slat, folding over the hook-and-loop fasteners, and pressing them to connect.

Repeat the same step with the bottom of the hand strap in the bottom gray slat.

The wrist strap (shaped like a triangle) may be secured to the hand strap for either right- or left-handed use. When in use, the strap you see on this piece will snugly hug your wrist.

For right-handed use: Secure the wrist strap so its wide part faces your left arm. You'll slip your left hand and wrist through this strap, thus freeing your right hand to tap your mobile device screen.

For left-handed use: Secure the wrist strap so its wide part faces your right arm. You'll slip your right hand and wrist through this strap, thus freeing your left hand to tap your mobile device screen.

Finally, insert your mobile device into your device mount. Seen here is an iPhone® 16.

See it in 30 Seconds: How to Assemble Your Skadi Hand and Wrist Strap

Attaching the Skadi GNSS Receiver to the Skadi Smart Handle

The last thing I’m going to attach to complete my Skadi Smart Handle is the Skadi receiver itself.

Now, remember that the Skadi Smart Handle is compatible with the Skadi 200, Skadi 300, or Skadi Gold. Today, I’m using a Skadi Gold.

All I’m going to do is take this battery slot and slide my stem right into it until I hear or feel another click. And we are good to go.

Next you'll install your Skadi GNSS Receiver onto the smart handle stem.

Press the receiver onto the stem until you hear or feel it lock into place.

Now, we’re going to take a look at the Skadi Smart Handle settings and metadata in Eos Tools Pro.

Overview of the Skadi Smart Handle Settings Page in Eos Tools Pro

So, the first thing I’m going to do is launch Eos Tools Pro. For this video, I’ve already enabled and initialized my smart handle.

Tip: To get the most out of this tutorial, take a moment to enable and initialize your Skadi Smart Handle. If it’s your first time doing this, watch the below video tutorial to get started.

To access my smart handle settings, the first thing I’m going to do is look for the smart handle icon in the top right corner of the Position tab of Eos Tools Pro.

You can see my icon is green because I’m enabled and initialized.

I’m going to tap that icon. Now, let’s run through the settings on this smart handle settings page.

When you've enabled and initialized your Skadi Smart Handle, your Eos Tools Pro app will show this icon. Press it to open the smart handle settings.

The first setting you’ll see is my smart handle toggle button. Right now, mine is toggled on. This is how I prefer to enable or disable the smart handle, though you can also triple-press the trigger on the smart handle’s underside or triple-press the Skadi GNSS receiver’s power button when installed on the smart handle.

Within the smart handle settings, the "Smart Handle" toggle field will allow you to enable and disable the smart handle.

Beneath the toggle button, you’re going to see two tabs. One is labeled Extensible. The other is labeled Invisible.

Whichever tab is selected is the mode that you’re in. Right now, I’m in Invisible mode. And if I wanted to be in Extensible mode, I would simply toggle by tapping Extensible. But I’m going to stay for now in Invisible mode.

So, we’re in Invisible Range Pole mode.

Let’s Look at the Skadi Smart Handle Settings in Invisible Range Pole Mode

The next field allows you to toggle between two modes: Extensible and Invisible. Seen here we are in Invisible mode. (Hint: You may also toggle between modes by pressing your smart handle trigger three times.)

And the first field indicator, or metadata, I have underneath Current Status is my RTK status. This tells me whether I’m in Fixed or Float RTK status.

These are the metadata fields you will see while using the Skadi Smart Handle in Invisible Range Pole Mode. The first field indicates if you are in RTK Fixed or RTK Float status.

The next field is my Handle Status. This tells me whether or not I’m initialized. If I weren’t initialized, I would perform the initialization movement.

The next field is Tilt Angle. This is the angle at which my hand is tilted.

The next field is our Tilt Quality. This is the level of inaccuracy introduced by the angle of our tilt.

The final field is the Invisible Pole Height. This tells me the elevation from the ground to my receiver.

The Tilt Angle Threshold and Measurement Quality Threshold are optional alert indicators that I could set. For now, we’ll skip those.

The Handle Status indicates if you are initialized or if something needs to occur in order for you to initialize.

Tilt Angle provides the exact angle at which your smart handle is tilted.

The Tilt Quality indicates the level of inaccuracy introduced by the angle of tilt.

The Invisible Pole Height indicates your elevation from the ground to the GNSS receiver in your hand.

Finally, the Tilt Angle Threshold and Measurement Quality Threshold are optional alert indicators you may set. However, these are not required.

Let’s Look at the Skadi Smart Handle Settings in Extensible Virtual Range Pole Mode

If I toggle to Extensible mode, you’ll see one additional field called Single Point Mode. This is an optional sub mode of Extensible. If you’re using ArcGIS Field Maps and you’re not using GPS averaging, you’ll toggle on this mode.

For now, we’re going to skip that, because in this video we’re going to be using GPS averaging.

To toggle to Extensible mode, tap "Extensible" in the Skadi Smart Handle settings menu.

Single Point Mode is a sub-setting for the Extensible mode. This field will be shown only when your smart handle is in Extensible mode. Single Point Mode was created for ArcGIS Field Maps users who are *not* using GPS averaging. — Single Point Mode is a sub-setting exclusively built for the Extensible mode. This field will be shown only when your smart handle is in Extensible mode. Single Point Mode was created for ArcGIS Field Maps users who are *not* using GPS averaging.

Understanding GNSS vs. Compensated Coordinates in Eos Tools Pro When Using the Skadi Smart Handle

Now that we’ve looked through the Skadi Smart Handle settings page, I want to go back to the Eos Tools Pro Position tab to show you one more piece of metadata.

At the very top of the Position page, notice that we’ve got a set of metadata here labeled Coordinates.

Back in the "Positions" tab of Eos Tools Pro, you'll notice a "Coordinates" section with two columns.

This shows me the latitude, longitude, and orthometric height values in two columns. In the first column, labeled GNSS, these values represent the X, Y, and Z coordinates at the physical location of my receiver’s antenna.

In the Compensated coordinate values, these values represent the X, Y, and Z coordinates being calculated by the Skadi Smart Handle. The interpretation of the compensated coordinate values changes based on whether you’re in Invisible mode or Extensible mode. So, I’m going to show you both.

Because we’re already in Invisible mode, I’ll start with that one.

The "GNSS" coordinates represent the X, Y, and Z values at my antenna.

Meanwhile, the "Compensated" coordinates represent something different depending on whether you are in Extensible or Invisible mode.

Interpreting Compensated Coordinate Values in Invisible Range Pole Mode

In Eos Tools Pro, we’re enabled, and we’re initialized in Invisible Range Pole mode. We’ve got a great RTK connection, and we’re fixed, with terrific accuracy. Again, I’m in that Position tab so that I can see that my GNSS and Compensated coordinates are exactly the same for the X-value and the Y-value — or the latitude and longitude — because they’re both currently representing the X-value and the Y-value of this receiver’s GNSS antenna physically.

Meanwhile, on the other hand, the Z-value for my GNSS column represents the antenna’s Z-value. And the Z-value in my Compensated column represents, if you can imagine it, our invisible range pole at the tip over our asset. This is exactly what I want to be capturing.

The orthometric height (Z value) in the "GNSS" column represents the Z value at the height of the Skadi GNSS receiver.

While the orthometric height in the "Compensated" column represents the Z value at the level of whatever is directly beneath your GNSS receiver. Think of this as your handle measuring the elevation at the tip of its "invisible range pole."

Now let’s see what this data looks like in Extensible Virtual Range Pole mode …

Interpreting Compensated Coordinate Values in Extensible Virtual Range Pole Mode

In that first column, remember that the GNSS values represent the X, Y and Z coordinates at my antenna, whereas the Compensated coordinates are going to represent the coordinates of wherever this green laser is pointing when I’m pressing and holding the trigger.

Right now, my Compensated coordinates are red because I’m not pressing and holding the trigger. I’m going to be sending location data to Field Maps only when the trigger is pressed and held.

To demonstrate this, I’m just going to show you when I press and hold the trigger, the Compensated coordinate values are going to turn black. And I’m now calculating the position of that green laser pointer.

When I release the trigger, like now, those Compensated coordinates turn back to red.

Reminder: The GNSS column values represent the coordinates of the Skadi GNSS receiver itself — without any smart handle magic — just pure GNSS positioning.

In Extensible mode, the "Compensated" values are either red or black. They are red if you are *not* pressing and holding the trigger. No smart handle magic is happening when the trigger is released.

Once you press and hold the trigger, your "Compensated" values will turn black. This indicates the smart handle is now calculating the position of your green laser pointer.

Extensible Mode Summary: Here, the trigger is *not* being pressed and held. Therefore, the "Compensated" values are red. No high-accuracy positions are being sent to your third-party apps(s).

Extensible Mode Summary: Here, the trigger *is* being pressed and held. Therefore, "Compensated" values are black. The smart handle is calculating the position of your green laser pointer. High-accuracy location data *are* being streamed to your third-party app(s).

Keep the Momentum Going

This completes our tour of the Skadi Smart Handle! You now have a basic understanding of the physical components of your smart handle, as well as a foundational approach to interpreting and using the features of the Skadi Smart Handle settings menu and metadata in Eos Tools Pro.

For more videos about the smart handle, launch the Skadi Smart Handle playlist on YouTube.

Launch the Skadi Smart Handle Playlist >

Browse the Skadi Smart Handle User Manual >

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Categories: Videos, Skadi Series™, Skadi Smart Handle™, Extensible Virtual Range Pole™, Field Gear, GNSS, Invisible Range Pole™, LiDAR, Skadi Smart Handle, Agnostic/Generic