Qimera Cable/Pipe TOP Detection Tool

General Description

The Cable/Pipe TOP Detection tool is used to detect the position of a cable or pipe from the QPDs in a dynamic surface. A slice rectangle moves along a path attempting to detect the position of the cable/pipe within each rectangle. Detections can come from one of two sources:

Multibeam footprints: A least squares algorithm is applied to the footprints to attempt to fit an arc section with a specified diameter that represent upper surface of an exposed cable/pipe
Cable/pipe tracker data: Specialized sensor hardware can detect the location of a pipe even if buried. If present these will be averaged within the slice rectangle to yield a single detection.

The tool consists of two docks: one displaying the contents of a single slice of the dynamic surface and the other showing along-track plots of the detections made. Once a set of detections has been made they can be inspected, edited, smoothed, discarded. Detection can be rerun with different parameters over all or part of the range.

Once one is satisfied with with the quality of the detections, the detections are saved to produce a dynamic cable/pipe object. Dynamic cables/pipes are rendered as tubes in the 3D scene and appear in the Cables & Pipes section of the project layers. These files store not only the 3D location of the pipe sections, but also data about the footprints from which they were detected, allowing the pipe to automatically update its position should those footprints later be moved.

Launching the Tool

The tool can be launched either from the Tools Menu or by right-clicking an existing Dynamic Cable/Pipe in the Project Layers dock and selecting Edit Dynamic Cable/Pipe... Either way, the following dialog is shown.

Cable/Pipe - The user must specify whether to create a new Cable/Pipe or edit an existing Dynamic Cable/Pipe.
Surface to Detect Cable/Pipe - The user must specify which dynamic surface to use in order to pull point cloud data from the appropriate QPDs.
Line to Follow - The user must specify whether the Scroll Slice Selection is to follow the project route (default) or an existing SD Line object from the project. Additionally, if editing a Cable/Pipe, the user can specify that Cable/Pipe as the line to follow.
Cable/Pipe Diameter - The real-world, outside diameter of the cable or pipe. Note that this is not necessarily the diameter used for detection calculations. (See TOP Detection Settings Dialog for more detail).

The tool will calculate a valid range along the line to follow over which detections can be performed based on the overlap between the line and the Surface to Detect Cable/Pipe. The bounds of this range are represented by the dashed vertical white lines in the TOP Detection Results Plot.

TOP Detection Control Dock

The control dock is used to configure the cable/pipe detection algorithm, visualize the selected detection and its X-Points (if configured), and manually edit the detection or X-Points. Qimera loads all soundings contained within the Scroll Slice Selection and plots them by depth and across-track offset from the Line to Follow. Existing solutions or detections at the current location are visible in the plot. Before the first detection is attempted, the TOP Detection Settings Dialog is launched in order to configure the detection algorithm.

TOP Detection Control Toolbar

Toggle Button

Allows the user to close the Cable/Pipe Top Detection Tool

Explore Mode

Explore mode is the primary exploration mode of the tool

1:1

The 1:1 button resets the plot so that the x-axis and y-axis scale are 1:1

Zoom Mode

When in Zoom mode, click and drag an area of the plot to zoom in to

Reset Zoom

The Reset Zoom button resets the plot to fit the extents of the data

Select Detection window

When in Select Detection Window mode, click and drag a rectangle to specify the size and relative location of the detection window: only points falling inside this window will be considered by the TOP detection algorithm. A detection window is required to do any detection.

Do Single Detection

The Do Single Detection button performs a single detection at the current location according to the parameters specified in the TOP Detection Settings Dialog. If successful, a solid circle representing the Current Solution will be displayed and will correspond to either a Pipe Tracking or Multibeam detection, depending on which systems are enabled and the Preferred Solution option in the TOP Detection Settings Dialog. Multibeam detections will always be shown at the Tracking Cable/Pipe diameter, while Pipe Tracker detections and the Current Solution will always be shown at the Actual Cable/Pipe Diameter.

Move Cable/Pipe Manually

If there is a detection at the current location, Move Cable/Pipe Manually mode allows the user to click and drag the current solution to a desired location. This feature is not available to interpolated solutions.

Snap Detection to Sounding

This tool will allow you to move a pipe detection by snapping to an existing sounding. The detection diameter will be updated with the appropriate value depending on the type of sounding the tool snaps to (ie Multibeam vs Pipe Tracker) and your detection settings.

Manually Move X-Point

This tool will allow you to move an X-Point. The X-Point will snap vertically based on the surface layer configured in the Generate/Edit X-Point Listings Dialog. To revert the manual edits reconfigure the X-Point listings from the configuration dialog; this will recompute all the X-Points based on the recipe settings.

Reset X-Points

This tool will reset all X-Points that have been moved that are currently displayed in the TOP Detection Control Dock to their original locations.

Detect Over Range...

The Detect Over Range button performs a series of detections at the step interval specified in the TOP Detection Settings Dialog. The Choose Detection Range dialog will be launched, providing several methods specifying the range to detect over.

Detection Settings...

This button launches the TOP Detection Settings Dialog

Run Filter Profile During Detection

When this mode is enabled, the tool will run the active filter profile on the data within the Scroll Slice Selection before performing detection. For more information on managing, selecting and running filter profiles, see the Filter Operation Toolbar. Executing Filter Profiles in Cable/Pipe TOP Detection Control obeys the same option configuration as standard editing. For example, if you are in Save Edits Instantly mode, the soundings that are rejected or accepted by the filter will be immediately saved back to the QPDs and the surface will be updated. If you have the Edit Only Selected option, the filter profile will run only on the selected lines in the slice.

Plot Point Size

Clicking the first of these icons will change the point and line size drawn in the slice views of the widget. If you click and hold the button, it will display a menu where you can select point sizes between Small and XX-Large. Simply clicking will cycle through all sizes.

Color Plot By

Clicking the first of these icons will change the Color By mode of the points drawn in the widget. If you click and hold the button, it will display a menu where you can select the Color By option directly. The options for Color By are Vessel (shows default port/stbd color), File, System, Ping, Beam, Selection Depth (scaled to depth range of the pings in the plot), Surface Color Map (depths colored by the color map of the currently selected Dynamic Surface), Intensity, Horizontal TPU, Vertical TPU and Solid Color. For LAS/LAZ files, there are also color by options for RGB and Classification. When Color By File is used, you will additionally see the matching colors appear next to the line name in the Project Sources Dock as show below. When Color By Solid Color is used, the Colormap Settings will be replaced by the Color Button.

Colormap Settings

This will allow you to select and adjust a colormap for the points drawn in the widget. This allows for the same controls as users would have over the coloration of a Dynamic Surface: selecting a colormap, adjusting the range and editing a colormap. Some settings for Plot Color By do not allow access to a colormap, e.g. color by Vessel, File, System, Ping, Beam and Surface Colormap.

System Selection

Shown only when the dynamic surface includes more than one system, these buttons control which systems will be considered by the TOP detection algorithm. One button is displayed for each multibeam or cable/pipe tracker system present in the dynamic surface, with the system name visible in the button's tooltip. Clicking the button will enable or disable use of the corresponding system within the TOP Detection Tool. Soundings from disabled systems are not shown in the plot.

TOP Detection Control Context Menu

Launch the TOP Detection Control Context Menu

TOP Detection Control Context Menu

Show Cable/Pipe - Show the circle representing the current solution.
Show Solutions - Show the circles representing each solution.
Show X-Point Listings - Show the X-Point listings, if any.
Save To Image - Save a snapshot of the plot to disk (PNG or JPEG).
Show Gridlines - Show gridlines on the plot.
Show Soundings - This option controls the visibility of points based on their status.
Add/Remove Reference Lines - Launch a dialog allowing the import of .sd lines from the project which can be used for TOP detections. The user may also launch the .Qimera Import Lines Dialog from within this dialog in order to generate and import .sd lines from ASCII files.

TOP Detection Results Dock

TOP Detection results dock is used to view, edit and validate detections. The top plot displays detection depths, while the bottom plot displays detection across-track offsets. Both are shown as functions of distance along the detection line. The solid line represents the current solution - the best estimate of the location of the top of the Cable/Pipe over the given range. When the user is satisfied with the current solution, the TOP Cable/Pipe Detection tool will generate and display in the scene, a Dynamic Cable/Pipe from the current solution and add it to the Cables & Pipes section of the Project Layers Dock.

The dashed vertical white lines represent the bounds of the range where the line to follow overlaps the chosen dynamic surface. The dashed vertical red line shows the location of the Scroll Slice Selection currently loaded in the TOP Detection Control Plot. The user can change the current loaded location by moving the Scroll Slice Selection along the project route using the W and S keys, by dragging the Scroll Slice Selection in the main Qimera scene, or by CTRL+clicking in the TOP Detection Results plot at the intended mouse location.

At a given location, the current solution can be configured to use any of the following sources:

A Multibeam detection, if available
A Pipe/Cable Tracker detection, if available
A manually moved detection (either moved by the Move Cable/Pipe Manually tool in the TOP Detection Control Toolbar, or moved using the Select And Move tool in the Top Detection Results Toolbar)
A point on an imported reference line

When processing the entire line by using the Process Entire Line tool in the TOP Detection Control Toolbar, the Preferred Solution option in the TOP Detection Settings Dialog dictates which data source is used to make up the current solution. After a solution is generated, the user has the option to manually specify which data source should be used as the current solution at a given location or within a given range. After using the Select Range tool to select a range, right-click anywhere on the plot to bring up the TOP Detection Results Plot Context Menu.

TOP Detection Results Plot Context Menu

This menu can only be accessed if a range has been selected using the Select Range tool in the TOP Detection Results Toolbar.

Use Pipe/Cable Tracker - If available, use Cable/Pipe detections as the source for the current solution over the selected range.
Use Multibeam - If available, use Multibeam detections as the source for the current solution over the selected range.
Use Reference - If available, use a point on the reference line as the source for the current solution over the selected range.
Align Reference To Current Solution - Launches the Shift Reference to Match Current Solution dialog.
Smooth Across - Apply the smoothing filter configured in the Manage Smoothing Dialog to the DX plot.
Smooth Depth - Apply the smoothing filter configured in the Manage Smoothing Dialog to the depth plot.
Smooth Both - Apply the smoothing filter configured in the Manage Smoothing Dialog to both the DX and depth plot.

Shift Reference to Match Current Solution Dialog

This tool allows an imported reference line to be shifted to fit the current solution in the depth and/or across-track directions. The magnitude of the shift can be specified manually or calculated automatically, and can be applied over the entire line or the selected range.

TOP Detection Results Toolbar

Toggle Button

Allows the user to close the Cable/Pipe Top Detection Tool.

Save

In the case of a brand new cable/pipe, this converts the current solution to a Dynamic Cable/Pipe, saves it to disk and adds it to Project Layers Dock. If Save Edits Automatically is turned off and the user is editing an existing cable/pipe, this button saves any edits to the pipe. If Save Edits Automatically is turned on, this button will remain disabled.

Explore Mode

Explore mode is the primary exploration mode of the tool.

Zoom Mode

When in Zoom mode - click and drag an area of the plot to zoom in to.

Reset Zoom

The Reset Zoom button resets the plot to fit the extents of the data

Select to Delete Detections

When in this mode, making a selection will remove detections located within selected area

Selection Mode

Allows for Rectangular Select, Polygon Select or Free Select modes

Select Range

Click, drag and then release to select a range. This range can be used in conjunction with the Smooth Selection action from this toolbar and the Detect Over Range action from the TOP Detection Control Toolbar. This range is also used for all functions in the TOP Detection Results Plot Context Menu.

Select and Move

Click, drag and release to select a range, then click again and drag to manually move the current solution within this range.

Smoothing Dialog

The Smoothing Dialog allows you to configure and perform smoothing operations on the pipe solution data. A smoothing preview will be shown in the main dialog when Show Preview is checked. The preview will be updated with all changes made to the settings. Selecting the Smooth button will apply your settings, smooth your data and close the dialog. Selecting cancel will not apply and close the dialog. All smoothing changes are added to the Undo/Redo stack for the duration of the TOP Detection Tools lifetime.

The Smoothing Algorithm options are;

Boxcar Averaging - a moving average filter who's size is based on the Window Size sample count.
LOWESS - Locally Weighted Scatterplot Smoothing uses non parametric least squares to fit a line to data samples based on the Window Size sample count.

The Window Size offers an approximation of time based on the sample count used in the smoothing algorithm.

The Maximum Gap value allows you to smooth across data gaps within or between lines. The smoothing of a sample will never consider samples on the other side of gaps larger than this value. It should be noted that this does not fill in points that have been rejected by the user and all edits will remain intact.

The Selection Range spin boxes allow the data range currently selected in the main dialog to be precisely adjusted. The values shown correspond to the Along axis in the main dialog.

The Affected Data radio buttons allow you to select what data the smoothing algorithm will be applied too.

The Operation radio buttons allows you to select which smoothing operation you would like to perform. Smooth Current Values will smooth the current data which may contain previously smoothed data. Smooth Original Values will remove all previous smoothing and apply smoothing to the original data. Remove smoothing will remove all previous smoothing.

The Show Preview checkbox will show/hide a smoothed representation of your data in the main dialog.

Undo

This will undo the last operation. The undo buffer is pseudo-infinite and limited only by memory. So it will undo each edit in sequence. The Undo buffer clears when you save your edits.

Redo

This will redo the last undo operation. The redo buffer is pseudo-infinite and limited only by memory. So it will redo each edit in sequence. The Redo buffer clears when you save your edits.

Plot Point Size

Clicking the first of these icons will change the point and line size drawn in the slice views of the widget. If you click and hold the button, it will display a menu where you can select point sizes between Small and XX-Large. Simply clicking will cycle through all sizes.

TOP Detection Results Context Menu

Show Statistics - Show statistics for the current TOP detections Depth and DX
Show Side View - Show the TOP detections Depth plot
Show Above View - Show the TOP detections DX plot
Save A Copy As - Save a copy of the TOP detections to disk
Save Edits Automatically - This option automatically saves edits.
Add/Remove Reference Lines - Launch a dialog allowing the import of .sd lines from the project which can be used for TOP detections. The user may also launch the .Qimera Import Lines Dialog from within this dialog in order to generate and import .sd lines from ASCII files.
Clear Solution - Clears the current TOP detections
Clear Imports - Removed imported .sd line objects from the plot
Show Gridlines - Show gridlines on the plot