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Vibrator Guidance: in This Chapter
Vibrator Guidance: in This Chapter
9 Vibrator guidance
In this chapter:
Overview
The VE464 Guidance optional tool allows each vibrator in a fleet to be
steered to the next location where it is expected to shake, assisting the
driver with a graphical homing display.
Shake locations do not need to be marked with any stakes in the field.
A graphic interface helps the driver steer the vibrator truck to the next
shake location.
Two guidance modes are available:
• “Standard”: the recorder’s GUI transmits the shake locations to the
DPG which relays them to each DSD in the fleet.
• “SPS-driven”: allows automatic steering of an Autonomous DSD
(page 162) to the nearest source point (for example for independent
simultaneous-source shooting). This requires a source SPS file to be
loaded into the Guidance tool.
With the 428XL system, the VE464 Guidance tool works as follows:
1. In the Positioning window, the operator uses the Geodetic setup
menu to select the appropriate Datum and Projection (a click on
Apply is required). This creates a “geodeticWkt.e428.xxxx” file
in the “snSol/workSpace/param/positioningServer” directory.
(You can copy this file to a USB stick if you want to load it
manually to the Guidance Tablet PC at a later date).
2. In the VE464 window on the 428XL GUI:
- The operator enters vibrator Pattern descriptions. A Pattern
description specifies the position of each vibrator with respect to
the Centre Of Gravity of a Source Point.
- Using the VE464 Vib Fleet secondary window, the operator
assigns a DSD, hence a vibrator, to each point in the pattern.
- Finally, the Set Guidance function must be used, to transmit
patterns, Datum and projection parameters to the DSDs.
Equipment supplied
The Guidance option includes:
• A Tablet PC.
• A cord for communications between the
DSD and the PC.
• Sercel Guidance software package.
• A DC adapter and a fuse for the PC.
• Two banana plugs.
• Vehicle dock assembly parts for the PC. Figure 9-1 Tablet PC
PC dock plate
Mount plate
Protective plate
+12 V
Fuse
Ethernet
port
DC
adapter
Figure 9-3
4 holes, dia 6 mm
9
4 hex socket head
screws (M6x25)
Figure 9-4
To install the Vehicle Dock assembly, see Figure 9-5 and Figure 9-4.
4 wing screws
(M4x20)
Mount plate
4 holes,
dia. 6.5
100 80
130
110
9
plugs
connector.
4. Using pliers, crimp the IDC wiretap connector to terminate the
connection.
5. Snap the protective cover in the IDC wiretap connector to finish
the crimp.
6. Install the fuse and close the fuse holder.
7. Strip the other end of the wire from the fuse holder 1/4 inch at the
fuse block end to expose the conductor.
8. Crimp a banana plug to the fuse holder wire to connect it to the
power source.
Getting started
Note that the Guidance application will start automatically as the Tablet
PC is powered on if the shortcut is copied to the Startup menu.
Guidance view
Target
waypoint
Map rotation
relative to North Target
tolerance
circle Distance to
Vibrator being waypoint
steered to target
waypoint
9
Vibrator track
Source Point done
(green means OK)
The Tablet PC’s keypad (on the right-hand side) provides the following
shortcuts:
• The right-pointing arrow button (=>) toggles between daytime/night-
time display modes.
Speed
vector
Tip box
Figure 9-8
To load a background map and/or DXF file, see File menu (page 301).
For example, obstacles and bypass routes may be indicated using a DXF
drawing overprinted on the background map.
The Layer view allows you to choose what to display in the Guidance
view.
Expand or
collapse
Show or
hide all
9
layer tree layers
Tick to show,
untick to hide
Target waypoint
tolerance circle
Real-time
COG (*)
Vibrator
Other vibrators
in pattern (*)
Source Point done
(green means OK)
(*) The other vibrators in the pattern and the real-time source COG
appear only on the “Leader” vibrator, in a WIFI DSD network.
Target waypoint
tolerance circle
Crosshairs
(vibrator position)
Target waypoint
tolerance circle
Search beam
Vibrator
steered to
target
waypoint
In Figure 9-12, the search angle is 90°. See also the Show/Hide setup
(page 306).
Target waypoint
tolerance circle
Crosshairs
(vibrator position)
The “Point Code” field in the SPS-S file can be used to assign a fleet to
each source point.
• If the Point Code is an integer within the range from 1 to 32, it is 9
interpreted as the number of the fleet which is assigned to the source
point. In that case, no other fleet can be assigned to it (unless this is
done through a Go To Waypoint command).
• Otherwise (Point Code = 0, or greater than 32, or not specified), any
fleet can be assigned to the source point.
The colour of the source point is as follows:
• Blue: this source point can be done by any fleet (including through a
Go To Waypoint command);
• Grey: another fleet is assigned to this source point (unless a Go To
Waypoint command overrides that assignment);
• After the sweep status from the DSD is received, the source point
may be green (vibrator position OK and sweep status OK), or orange
Status bar
The status bar at the foot of the main window allows you to see if
messages are received from the GPS receiver and if the position data is
reliable. The GPS field is green if the GPS position is reliable, otherwise
red.
Connection
OK if green
172.27.200.123
Zoom
The zoom icon in the status bar allows you to turn on/off the automatic
zooming function. As the vibrator moves, if automatic zoom is enabled
the map magnification factor is self-adjusted for optimal display of both
your vibrator and the target point, depending on the Zoom Distance
specified in the Zoom setup (page 304). You may want to turn it off to
zoom out and get a wider view of the map. You can also use the zoom
button in the GIS toolbar (page 309).
Manual waypoint
The manual waypoint icon in the status bar allows you to place a
waypoint on the map, for example if you want to go back to a source
point that needs to be done again. You create a manual waypoint in two
clicks:
1. Click on the Manual Waypoint icon. This changes the mouse
pointer shape to a flag.
Manual
waypoint
9
Stylus pointer icon
Manual (manual waypoint
waypoint after clicking)
Figure 9-16
North upwards
Figure 9-17
Views menu
The Views menu allows you to show or hide the “Compass” view and
the “Waypoint” view. You can resize each view panel by dragging the
vertical and/or horizontal borders. To move a display panel, just click
on its tab and drag it to the area where you want it to appear. Double-
clicking on a view’s tab maximizes the view panel (the other views are
hidden), and double-clicking again turns it back to its former size and
place.
Waypoint view
Until the first waypoint is received from the DSD, the message “No
DSD activity” is displayed. When a waypoint is received, the distance
and bearing to that point are displayed in the Waypoint view. Note that
if the map is rotated, the bearing angle is not relative to North.
Waypoint name
Distance to go
Bearing angle
Compass view
In the “Compass” view (Figure 9-19) the arrow pointing to the left or
right of the intended direction of travel indicates which side the vibrator
truck needs to be steered to. The distance to go is displayed too, as well
as the vibrator speed. The angle to steer is the angle between the
intended direction of travel and the direction the vibrator is heading to,
negative if the vibrator needs to be steered to the left, positive if it needs
to be steered to the right.
Angle to steer
Left/Right arrow
indicating which side
to steer to.
Vibrator speed
Homing bargraph
Distance to target
Toolbars
The Toolbars menu allows you to show or hide the main toolbar and the
GIS toolbar. The main toolbar provides shortcuts for commands
available from the File menu (page 301) and the Setup menu (page 303).
For details on the GIS toolbar, see Standard GIS functions (page 309).
You can undock each toolbar by dragging it out of the main window (the
toolbar will be docked again when you close it).
File menu
Figure 9-21
can be automatically steered to the nearest source point, for example for
independent simultaneous-source shooting.
WKT file
The WKT data is normally supplied by the recording system, but you
can use this menu if, for any reason, you need to load a WKT file to the
Guidance application. To do that, go to the “snSol/workSpace/param/
positioningServer” directory on the 428XL server and copy the
“geodeticWkt.e428.xxxx” file to a USB stick, then use this menu to
load the file from the USB stick.
Clear SPS
Removes the SPS data layer from the display.
Clear Waypoint
Removes the Waypoint information from the display.
Clear All
Removes all legacy information (former position of window, etc.).
Setup menu
Figure 9-22
Quality setup
9
Figure 9-23
Zoom setup
Figure 9-24
Preferences setup
9
Figure 9-25
• Navigation Mode:
- The “Waypoint” option displays the target waypoint at the
centre of the Guidance view;
- The “Vib” option displays your vibrator at the centre by default.
See Guidance view (SPS mode) — page 289. You can shift the
vibrator position with the associated Vib Horizontal Shift and
Vib Vertical Shift options (see below).
- The other option (Free) shows the map without any rotation (for
example if you want to see if a map is loaded).
• Guidance mode: selects the Standard (428) waypoint mode (page 292)
or SPS-driven waypoint mode (page 293).
Show/Hide setup
Figure 9-26
In this setup window, you can choose to show or hide the following
items in the guidance view: compass indicator, progress bar, speed
vector, status bar.
Figure 9-27
This setup window allows you to set the following parameters for the
SPS-driven waypoint mode:
• SPS Increment: the increment step to select the next Source Point
from the SPS-S file. Must be set to 0 to enable selection within a
Search angle and Search Distance.
9
• SPS Source Index: next Source Point to do. Must be set to 0 to
enable selection within a Search angle and Search Distance.
• SPS Search angle, used jointly with the Search Distance: these two
parameters are used to determine a search beam where to find the
next Source Point to do (180° by default, in which case the search
beam is not shown). If the search angle is less than 180°, then the
search beam is shown as two grey dashed lines. The search beam is
centred on the speed vector of the vibrator.
Sound setup
Figure 9-28
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Figure 9-29 GIS toolbar
1. Zoom To Fit: fits the Guidance view to the entire survey area.
2. Zoom To Selected Area: lets you draw a box by moving the
stylus tip (or holding down the left mouse button) to select the
area to zoom into.
3. Undo Zoom: cancels the previous zoom operation. This function
is of no effect after a Zoom to fit.
4. Pan View: with the stylus tip or the mouse hovering over the
Guidance view, clicking changes the stylus or mouse pointer
shape to a four direction cross and moves the display around,
allowing you to display any area you want to see outside the
current view. Panning can also be achieved using the horizontal or
vertical slider (by dragging the slider or clicking). 9
5. Rotate View (with mouse).
6. Zoom in on two objects: after you select two objects on the map,
this button adjusts the zoom factor for the Guidance view to
encompass the two objects.
7. Zoom Lock: adjusts the overall perimeter for the Guidance view
to the current display. Once Zoom Lock is activated, you cannot
zoom out of the new overall perimeter. The padlock icon indicates
that Zoom Lock is activated.
8. Distance: changes the stylus or mouse pointer shape to a ruler. By
clicking (left-clicking with a mouse) on a first point inside the
view and moving the stylus or mouse pointer, a line is drawn
between the initial point and the pointer. The distance in metres or
feet and bearing is displayed.
Figure 9-30
Figure 9-31
10. Feature Locator: opens a dialogue box where you can type an
object’s name (for example V4 for Vibrator #4) so the Guidance
view gets centred automatically on that object.
Figure 9-32
Obstacles layer
You can import or draw graphical shapes and have them show in the
Guidance view. Drawing a shape cannot normally be done onboard the
vibrator truck as this requires the use of a mouse.
To import obstacles from a file, right-click on the Obstacles layer and
use the menu that pops up, or use the File menu (page 301).
Figure 9-33
To draw a shape, open the “No go area” folder in the Layer view, then
right-click on the “User” layer and use the menu that pops up.
9
Figure 9-34
• Choosing “Create Point” opens a dialogue box that lets you enter the
attributes of the point you want to create:
- Name and description.
- Symbol: graphic symbol to display.
- Exclusion option: tick this option if the point to create is an
obstacle.
- Geodetic system.
- Coordinates format (Longitude/Latitude or Easting/Northing).
- Coordinates.
• Choosing “Draw Shape” opens a dialogue box that lets you enter a
name, description and type of shape (“Exclusion” option) for the
shape to create. Then you can draw the desired shape by clicking in
the Guidance view, moving the mouse to a new point and clicking
again to add more points. Close the shape by right-clicking on the end
point. Then click Add to save the shape.
Figure 9-35
Exclusion
zone
Figure 9-36
Backup menu
Selecting Create Backup from the Backup menu allows you to save all
setup parameters to a disk.
Figure 9-37