Processing LandXML files in SCC for machine control

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Allen Moody
6 years ago
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15 Moyville Lawns, Taylors Lane, Rathfarnham Dublin 16 Ireland Tel: +3531 4958714/5/6 Fax: +3531 4958717 Email: sales@atlascomputers.

1 15 Moyville Lawns, Taylors Lane, Rathfarnham Dublin 16 Ireland Tel: /5/6 Fax: Web: Ryan Balinger Shane MacLaughlin Tom Button, Simon Hogg, 09/10/2009 Processing LandXML files in SCC for machine control Hi Ryan, The following text gives the steps required to import your 3d LandXML alignment into SCC, enter a type section including bottom ballast and formation surface details, and export those surfaces to Scanlaser via LandXML. The steps are as follows; 1) Create a new project Select File / New project in SCC and enter a project name and template as shown below. 2) Import the alignment from LandXML and enter cant Select File / Model / LandXML file and pick the file DES UPT - FINAL temporary interface (18.556m m).xml Directors: S. MacLaughlin, R. Byrne Reg. No: Vat No:IE C

2 This will create a 3d alignment containing the horizontal and vertical entities in the XML file and 3d string model of the same. The initial view will be of the 3d string model in plan. To view the horizontal entities, click the highlighted tab

horizontal alignment is slightly shorter than the vertical alignment, so you may wish to edit the length of final horizontal entity.

3 To view the vertical entities, select View / Vertical Entities You can change gradient units between ratios, e.g. 1:2, to percentages using File / General Options / Units and data checking Note that in the data provided, the horizontal alignment is slightly shorter than the vertical alignment, so you may wish to edit the length of final horizontal entity. Once you are happy with the alignments, select File / Save to save the alignment file. To view the horizontal entities in plan, switch back to plan view and select File / Attach/Detach / Attach Alignment File, picking the file DES DR CL Alignment

Selecting Design / Compute super-elevation/cant will place cant nodes at transitions, allowing you to enter cant values and run-off for each node.

4 You will see the alignment drawn with straights in yellow, transitions in red, and circular arcs in blue. As you move around the screen you will also see the chainage and offset of the cursor position being updated. If you have any cant, you can enter this in using View / Superelevation/Cant. Selecting Design / Compute super-elevation/cant will place cant nodes at transitions, allowing you to enter cant values and run-off for each node. To inspect the vertical profile graphically, this can be done from plan view by selecting Design / Vertical Alignment. Vertical straights are shown in yellow and parabolic curves in blue. The positions of horizontal changes are shown as yellow, red or blue vertical lines. As you move the mouse on screen, the chainage and height of the current cursor position is displayed. Below the vertical profile you will also see a diagram showing application of cant / super-elevation by chainage. This is also interpolated and updated in the status bar for the current cursor position as you move the mouse.

5 Select Add points here to create new points 3) Enter the cross section templates Select Design / Section Templates to bring up the template design screen as shown. Enter your surface name here, e.g. either BALLAST or FORMATION Enter your string name here Enter your side slope details here and place a tick in the left and right slope buttons Press apply to add a new point for the details entered Enter the following points to build the section templates as shown Surface Feature Hz.Offset Vt.Offset BALLAST LEFT BALLAST LRAIL BALLAST RRAIL BALLAST RIGHT FORMATION LEFT FORMATION RIGHT The values given here are arbitrary intended to illustrate the process. You can enter real values either using horizontal and vertical offsets, or any combination of offsets, height differences, widths and gradients. The small blue circle on the template indicates the position of the centerline. Once you have entered the template points, select File / Save to save your work. You can also view, enter and edit these points in spreadsheet fashion by selecting View / Section template points

4) Create the surface models From the section template view, select Design / Export design as model, and enter the following parameters to

A higher number can give better representation of horizontal and vertical curves in the triangulated surface, at the expense of a larger model.

To remove any spurious triangles around the model boundary, use the Add / Remove triangles tool.

6 4) Create the surface models From the section template view, select Design / Export design as model, and enter the following parameters to export the formation model. Note that the chainage interval controls the number of points that will be output to the triangulated surface. A higher number can give better representation of horizontal and vertical curves in the triangulated surface, at the expense of a larger model. If you do not wish to apply cant to this surface your can also disable it at this point. To remove any spurious triangles around the model boundary, use the Add / Remove triangles tool. Use the options to remove all triangles to the left of the left edge and to the right of the right edge (lower on screen). The final triangulated surface will appear as follows. Select File / Save once your are done, giving a name of Formation.Model

instructed SCC to generate an interface between these surfaces using the side slopes entered in the section template.

7 To export the bottom ballast surface, go back to the section template view and select Design / Export design as model using the following parameters; Note that we have picked the formation model as our existing ground surface and instructed SCC to generate an interface between these surfaces using the side slopes entered in the section template. When you zoom into the resulting model you will see red tadpoles connecting the edge of the ballast surface down to the formation surface.

alignment and the pick Sections / Cross sections from an alignment using the parameters shown; From the section view, select Edit / Append surfaces and pick the formation model.

8 To verify the correctness of the surfaces generated we will cut some cross-sections through them. Select File / Attach/Detach / Attach Alignment File, picking the file DES UPT - FINAL temporary interface.alignment and the pick Sections / Cross sections from an alignment using the parameters shown; From the section view, select Edit / Append surfaces and pick the formation model. This will result in sections as shown below To get an animated run through of the sections, use View / Sheet layout with the parameters shown below; Press + to move up the chainages and to move back down. It is valuable to use this to check chainages where cant changes around transitions. Note: If you want to apply a template position to points after cant has been applied, this can be done as follows; Exporting the surface with cant In plan view use Design / Create an alignment from an existing string to create a new alignment Add the second template to this alignment and proceed as described above.

5) Export LandXML files To export a LandXML file for a given model, open the model and select File / Export / LandXML. Doing this for Ballast.Model and Formation.

9 5) Export LandXML files To export a LandXML file for a given model, open the model and select File / Export / LandXML. Doing this for Ballast.Model and Formation.Model will result in the files Ballast.Model.Land.XML and Formation.Model.Land.XML. These files can be opened in Internet explorer as shown below. Examining the XML files shows they contain points, strings, breaklines and the triangulated surface.

10 Note: Widening or narrowing at a given chainage To widen or narrow an alignment between given chainages we need to create extra templates. For example say we wished to widen the formation surface between chainages 380 and 420, we would do the following; In section template view, press the New section button and create a new section at chainage 380. Press the New section button again, and create another section at chainage 420. Edit the right formation edge to have a new offset and/or height as required Export to a model as described previously.

The third section, at chainage 420, has a modified height and offset values for the right formation level.

11 Viewing the section template points shows we now have three sections, each containing all the strings for both surfaces. The first and second sections, starting at chainages 0 and 380, are the same indicating there is no change between these chainages. The third section, at chainage 420, has a modified height and offset values for the right formation level. This means that there will be a linear change of height and offsets between chainages 380 and 420. As there are no further sections after chainage 420, the section template at 420 will be carried to the end of the alignment. All of the files used and created by this tutorial are available on the Atlas Computers file server at This tutorial requires a SCC design license v9.4.3 or later. The executable for SCC is available at

Technical note. This note is a work through of the functionality provided in the point cloud module in SCC and later.

Technical note. This note is a work through of the functionality provided in the point cloud module in SCC and later. 15 Moyville Lawns, Taylors Lane, Rathfarnham Dublin 16 Ireland Tel: +3531 4958714/5/6 Fax: +3531 4958717 Email: sales@atlascomputers.ie support@atlascomputers.ie Web: www.atlascomputers.ie Technical note