Staying Safe this Summer with Zoom3D

When it comes to my children, safety comes first but fun can never be missing. This is why I decided to cover the pump in my garden’s pond with a metal plate so that my kids can play inside. The GeoMax Zoom3D and X-PAD MasterPlan made this seemingly challenging task a snap. Modern Solutions for Safety Does this sound familiar? You plan to do something for months but you always find tasks or events that seem to be more important. With COVID-19 and working from home, I took the opportunity to tick off a task from the to-do list. Using the Zoom3D, I made the pond in my garden a safe place for my kids to play. However, measuring dimensions can be difficult if the surface is uneven, irregular, tilted in different directions and there is no plan available. Complex measurement situations like these are tough to capture. Traditional methods such as preparing a physical template and converting it into a digital format are time-consuming and can lead to inaccurate results. The consequence - high costs because measurements need to be redone and/or material reworked. Let me explain how to minimise these risks and manage the task with Zoom3D and X-PAD MasterPlan. The Engine First, a few words about the tool.The GeoMax Zoom3D is a motorised, one-man measurement and layout solution that measures indoors and outdoors with <50m range in mm-accuracy. You switch it on, wait until it is self-levelled and connect with the X-PAD MasterPlan software that runs on the most common Android devices. Targeting can be done by using smart features in the live camera view or just by orientating the Zoom3D manually. Find the Right Spot Before starting the measurements you need to look for the right spot to position the Zoom3D so you can target all relevant points. In my case, it was not possible to reach all of them, so repositioning the Zoom3D was necessary. The Zoom3D can either be put on a 5/8” flat-head, a dome tripod or placed on a flat stable surface. Secure Your Geometry Repositioning with the Zoom3D is possible thanks to a simple procedure guided by X-PAD. You just have to place and measure a minimum of three target marks, visible from all measuring positions. I installed four marks spread around the instrument and measured these so-called secure points. Whenever I moved the Zoom3D I measured these points again to ensure I was in the same geometry. Capture the Situation and Drawing in the Field For the metal fabricator, the cross-section dimensions of the pond at the preferred height and the surface of the ground below are relevant to produce the plate with stands. There are different options to measure the cross-section, For example, the horizontal line scan or single-point measurements at water height level. I did single point measurements because I only had to measure around 25 points. Once finished, I checked the points in the camera and CAD view to be sure I had not forgotten any. Later, you can save the measurements in a new layer to hide/unhide points in the office. For the ground measurements, I used the Surface scan option. You just define your area of interest, the distance between the measuring points, and press start. I was able to finish the whole job in a few minutes. In the end, I measured the flagstones on the top for orientation and documentation purposes. Result The job was done in approximately 30 minutes. With the export function, I sent a 3D DWG file to the metal fabricator without any further data post-processing. The offer came the next day. It was delivered 14 days later. The metal plate fit perfectly. Now nothing can stand in the way of a happy and safe summer for me and my children.