Greetings,
Does anyone have any suggestions for a manual or instruction book on the COGO and surveying features in Civil 3D, such as intersections and coordinate transformations? I work with engineers who all use Civil 3D. For any boundary work I use Carlson Survey and only use Civil 3D for topo, but I am interested in seeing if I can do all my work in Civil 3D, just to be sociable.
Thanks.
Byanez,
I am also interested to learn what the answer to your question will be. I attempted this last year and had demonstrations by two Civil 3D experts, but none of them could do anything on my list even though I sent it to them in advance to be prepared. I don't think it was their fault. Civil 3D just doesn't do COGO.
By the way, Jennifer, "That CAD Girl", did all of it without any trouble in Carlson.
Here is what I sent to them -
Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 2010 3:36 PM
Subject: Surveying Calculations & COGO
I have searched high and low for class outlines or agendas that list the various topics needed to be covered for doing survey calculations and COGO in C3D, but have found none at all. I figured I would send you a partial listing here so that you will have a better idea of what I am looking for. This COGO content would be added to any already existing list of topics such as Field-to-finish, Drawing, Annotating, 3D Surfaces & Contouring, Plan Production, Background Images (aerials), Sheet Assembly, etc.
1) Enter the deed description of the subject property by keying in the bearings and distances to create a lot file. Label the error of closure and the area. Label the Lot&Block and Deed Book & Page.
2) Enter the adjoining deeds to create lot files noting the closure and area. Label the Lot&Block and Deed Book & Page.
3) Create a deed mosaic of the subject parcel from 1 above along with all the surrounding properties.
4) Key in a roadway plan and a filed subdivision plan adjoining the subject parcel. Be sure to demonstrate how horizontal circular curves are keyed in.
5) Using a 4 parameter transformation, orient the deed mosaic onto points that represent boundary evidence found in the field. Describe the analysis using the residuals and scale to evaluate the fit and possible scenarios to test in order arrive at the best resolution.
6) Demonstrate the COGO commands that are the most commonly used during survey calculations, namely –
a. INVERSING between 2 points to query the direction and distance.
b. PERPENDICULAR OFFSET to discover the distance along a line and the closest distance a point is located from the line.
c. INTERSECTIONS, BEARING-BEARING, BEARING-DISTANCE, DISTANCE-DISTANCE.
d. MEASURE ANGLE, inquire the angle between any two lines.
e. BEST FIT, find the best fit of a line or a curve to field located points.
f. AREA CALCULATIONS, solve for the area of lots.
g. LINES, set points along a line at set intervals or set points at specific fractions of the line, such as half, third or quarter.
h. CURVES, all calculations involving horizontal and vertical curve geometry.
i. PREDETERMINED AREA, subdivide a lot based on required area.
That is a basic idea we can start with. There are several more commands that I will add to the list.
COGO function list
I think you have the makings of an excellent list of cogo functions that any survey software should aspire to provide. I hope that you continue to develop it, and that others might contribute also, maybe prioritize into essential/medium/advanced.
Must not have really been experts... They should have been able to show you pretty much everything on that list, except the "Deed Mosaic" stuff - there's no support for that in C3D.
I have an article in the October issue of Augi World that goes over Coordinate Transformations.