ConstructN automates construction monitoring by capturing visual imagery of your project site on a regular basis which is then analyzed by our AI engine to map it to the project design & schedule and understand progress. For interiors, data is captured by using 360-degree cameras and accessories connected to a mobile device, and the whole process is managed through our mobile app.
Once you log into the mobile app, you'll see the list of all projects you have access to. If the project that has to be captured is not assigned to you please contact either the project admin or our support team at [email protected]
Utilizing accurate and detailed floor plan designs and formats is crucial to effectively gather information about both the interior and exterior of a project. These floor plans serve multiple purposes, including capturing data and facilitating navigation through different images using a mini-map.
Downloading Floor Plans in App
Floor Plans are not available on the app in the following scenarios
1) When an app is newly installed, or
2) When there is a new floor plan uploaded from last use, or
3) in the rare scenarios when user offloads and re-installs app
Under any of the above scenarios, a new indicator (
) shows that a floor plan needs to be downloaded. Clicking on that icon will prioritise the download for that level immediately.
Note - when a user visits the 'Views' page for a project and open up a floor - download of all unavailable floor plans (all levels with ) starts immediately irrespective of the 'download' being pressed or not. Revisit the page (go back on come to the same page) to see the latest status. Please make sure the internet connection is available during this. We are actively working to make this experience better.
Another icon (
) shows if a floor plan is not available for that level. That means no capture is possible for that level via the app. An external / drone / laser capture outside of app can always be performed for such levels.
No icon beside a level indicates the floor plan is already downloaded onto the phone.
See the below image of how a typical 'Views' screen looks like when an app is installed for the first time.
Insta 360 camera needs not be connected to the phone to perform captures. To initiate a capture, follow these steps:
Selecting a Project: Choose the specific project for which you want to perform the capture. Upon selection, a detailed project hierarchy will appear, detailing different components like towers, floors, and more.
Navigating Between Projects: If you need to view other projects, select the Home/Menu option, which is located in the top left corner of your screen.
Choosing a Floor: After you've settled on a project, proceed to select the specific floor on which you wish to perform the capture from the project hierarchy.
Alternatively when you are already in ‘Design’ / ‘Reality’ tab, you can click the hierarchy button on the bottom left of the bottom navigation bar to to come to the ‘Hierarchy’ view.
Select capture type: To start the capture, tap on the camera icon located at the bottom left of your screen and select the "360 Video Walk" option.
Connecting to the 360-camera: At this point, you are just a step away from initiating the capture. So, you will need to connect your 360-camera to the phone via camera’s Wi-Fi (refer to these steps). If you are a new user, the app would show you the list of the cameras that you could choose from to connect. Choose the camera with which the Phone Wi-Fi is connected to.
After you choose the camera, click on the connect button. You will see a confirmation message after the camera is connected.
If you have already connected a 360-camera to your app earlier, it would display a message indicating your last camera. You can choose to connect to the same or change it to any other camera.
After you choose the camera, click on the connect button. You will see a confirmation message after the camera is connected (as seen earlier).
After connecting the camera to the mobile app, you can select your position on the map where you can zoom in on the floor plan about to start capture and the direction you wish to walk towards.
We have carefully considered the issues related to saving captures on completion and resolved them, providing a smooth and reliable user experience.
While selecting the starting point on the floor map, the point should be marked based on your real-time position on the ground. After you click on any location to mark your position, the direction confirmation screen would appear. If you wish to change the location, click on cancel and change your location.
After the starting point is confirmed, you will have to confirm the direction that you wish to initiate the capture. Use the compass to point in the same direction that you intend to move towards.
To begin the capture process, you can now click the "Start Recording" button, followed by the round button located in the center of the screen. This action initiates the capture, and you will also notice the timer starting to run at the top right corner.
After completing your capture, click the stop button. It will stop the capture and prompt you to 'Save' the video if you are happy with the capture or ‘Discard’ it if you encountered any issue while capture and you wish to do a fresh capture from start. You can initiate the process from ‘Step 2’ directly as you land on the ‘Views’ page after discarding the video.
After the scan is saved you will return to the projects page and are ready for the next scan. You don't need to worry about stopping capture on camera as the app directly takes care of that.
Tips:
Tip 1: If you are not sure about mobile connectivity at your project site, we suggest that you log in and download floor plans for the project that you intend to do capture beforehand in an area where you have good internet connectivity. This way, you can stay logged in on the app and when you go to the site, the floor plans would be available even if the internet connectivity is bad
Tip 2: ConstructN doesn't facilitate changing floors during a single capture session currently. Therefore, if you need to capture a different floor, please initiate a separate capture.
Tip 3: If your camera battery goes below 20% or the camera SD card available storage goes below 20%, the app will not allow you to initiate any new capture. Free up the space or recharge the phone battery before the next capture.
Tip 4: If you are not sure about choosing a starting point, it would be easy to stick to the same starting point that you already know across captures. The platform is intelligent to understand and map your capture path even if it is different.
Tip 5: When you initiate the capture, you should hear a prompt sound from the insta 360 camera confirming that the recording has started
Tip 6: Please ensure that you don't switch off the camera. If you switch off the camera before the capture session is closed and saved - In such cases, the app would consider that that camera automatically has shut down. That could result in loss of data or error in data and you might have to redo the capture again.
We hope this article has been helpful. If you have any questions please reach out to [email protected]
If the issue is with respect to activating the camera for first time use, it is recommended you reach out to Insta360 directly.