Land Forming: grade a field to a design file

Open Forming, load the design from your land-forming design software, calibrate to its benchmark, and grade the whole field with the cut/fill map. Stopping and picking the job up again tomorrow.

Full Automation Kit
Guidance Only Kit
Ditch Assist Lite

In the app Home › Forming › connect › Import a Design File

Land Forming grades a whole field to a 3D design. You don't survey a route first. The design file already holds the field's ground and the finished surface. It comes from your land-forming design software, or from Geo-Surface™ for simple designs.

You load the file, calibrate to its benchmark, and grade. The blade target follows the design anywhere inside the design area. With the Full Automation Kit the blade moves by itself. With the Guidance Only Kit and Ditch Assist® Lite you move the implement to the guide.

Before you start

Time: about 10 minutes to load the design and calibrate, plus the drive to the benchmark. The grading takes as long as the field does.

The tablet is charged and the Ditch Assist app is installed.
The design file is on the tablet, in the Download folder. To put it there, see Move files to and from the tablet. An AGD or XYZP file gives you the cut/fill map (every format).
The tablet is on the control module's Wi-Fi (password 12345678), or on the receiver's own Wi-Fi with Ditch Assist Lite. See Connect.
Your RTK base is set up and running.
You know whether you need to calibrate today (box below). For a design built from an older survey, you almost always do.

Open Forming and connect

Tap Forming

On the Home screen, tap the Forming card. It's the first card in the middle row, with a picture of a brown ploughed field.

Not on the Home screen? Tap Home first. It's the black button at the top of the column of buttons down the right side.

Ditch Assist Home screen: nine big square cards in three rows. The Forming card is the first card in the middle row and shows a brown ploughed field above the words Forming, Multi-Slope. — **Forming.** Middle row, on the left. Tap anywhere on the card.

Tap Switch to Metric

A window asks Switch to Metric Units?. Land Forming works in metres and millimetres only. Tap the green Switch to Metric button in the bottom right corner of the window.

This window only appears when the app is set to feet. Cancel, beside it, doesn't open Forming in feet: it leaves you on Home. You can go back to feet when you finish (Switch back to feet).

Window titled Switch to Metric Units? explaining that Land Forming designs are in metres and the cut/fill map in millimetres. Bottom right: Cancel and a green Switch to Metric button. — **Switch to Metric.** Sets the app to metric and opens Forming. **Cancel** goes back to Home.

Tap Connect

A window called Forming — Connect opens. Tap the big green Connect button at the top. The app looks for the control module on its Wi-Fi.

To practise with no machine, tap Simulate instead. It's the second button, under Connect. The app then pretends to drive the field for you. With Ditch Assist Lite the top button reads Emlid Reach.

If the app can't find the module, see Connect.

Forming — Connect window, Connect to Controller: a green Connect button, then Simulate and Bluetooth GPS buttons — **Connect.** Finds the control module.
**Simulate.** Practice mode. No machine needed.

Tap Continue

The window changes to System Check. Wait until all three rows show a green tick. The last row must read RTK Fixed: the most accurate GPS position.

Then tap the green Continue button at the bottom of the window.

System Check with three green ticks: Controller Connected, Simulator active; GPS Signal, 22 satellites; GPS Accuracy, RTK Fixed — 0.8 HDOP. A green Continue button at the bottom. — **GPS Accuracy.** Must read RTK Fixed.
**Continue.** Opens the design choices.

Load the design file

Tap Import AGD File

The window now reads Import a Design File, with five choices. Tap Import AGD File, the third one.

Import XYZP File opens the same window, so either one works for AGD, XYZP and XYZ files. The other choices:

Import LandXML: a surface from civil design software (LandXML designs).
Survey Field: records a whole-field survey to send to your design software. It doesn't grade (Survey a whole field).
Resume Job: picks up a job you started before (Stop and resume a job).

Five choices in a list: Import LandXML, Import XYZP File, Import AGD File, Survey Field, Resume Job — **Import AGD File.** Third choice. Import XYZP File, just above it, opens the same window.

Tap Select Design File

A window called Land Forming Design opens. Tap the wide button with purple writing near the top: Select Design File (XYZ / XYZP / AGD).

Android's file picker opens and fills the screen. It shows one folder of the tablet at a time. To leave it without picking a file, press the tablet's Back button (The Back button). More about the picker: Open the file in the app.

Land Forming Design window with one wide button: Select Design File (XYZ / XYZP / AGD) — **Select Design File (XYZ / XYZP / AGD).** Opens the file picker.

Look at the top left corner of the picker. Next to a button with three short lines, it names the folder it shows.

It already says Downloads? Your file is in this list. Skip to step 5.
It says Recent or anything else? Tap the button with three short lines. A panel called Open from slides in from the left.

Android file picker that opened on Recent: top left a button with three short lines and the word Recent; the list in the middle reads No items — **Menu button and folder name.** Here the picker opened on Recent, which is empty.

Tap Downloads

In the Open from panel, tap Downloads. It has a down-arrow icon. The panel closes and the picker lists the files in the tablet's Download folder.

The list in this panel differs a little from tablet to tablet. Look for the word Downloads.

The Open from panel down the left side of the picker: Recent, Documents, Downloads, then the tablet's own name — **Downloads.** Down-arrow icon, in the Open from panel.

Tap your design file

Find your design in the list and tap its name once. The picker closes and the app reads the file. There's no OK button to press.

The picker lists every file, so make sure you tap the design, not a map picture or a .kml file. An AGD file shows BIN file under Type.
Don't tap the four-arrow icon at the far right of a row. It only opens a preview of the file.
Names cut short in a grid of tiles? Tap the small list button at the right, above the files, to switch to a list.
File not there? Slide the list up with your finger to see more (scrolling). Still missing? Copy it to Download again (Move files to and from the tablet).

Picker showing Downloads as a list with Name, Type, Size and Modified columns. First row: 3_1_1 demo 2_design.agd, BIN file, 1.57 MB, with a four-arrow preview icon at the far right. Other rows: a .jgw, a .jpg, several .txt files and a .kml. — **Your design file.** Tap the name once.
**Preview icon.** Don't tap it: it only shows the file.

Picker after a long press: the first file has a blue tick and a blue background, the top bar reads 1 selected with an X on the left and Select on the right — **Select.** Opens the ticked file.
**X and 1 selected.** The X clears the tick.

Check the summary

The Land Forming Design window now shows a summary of the file. Read it before you go on. It tells you the right file loaded.

File summary for 3_1_1 demo 2_design.agd with a green XYZP badge: 27380 points, 68.2 ha, 7.4 m elevation range, min 362.19 m, max 369.55 m, 1 benchmark, 1 section, average cut 42 mm in red, average fill 36 mm in blue, and a purple Apply Design button — **Format badge.** XYZP when the file has finished-grade elevations (AGD files show XYZP too). XYZ when it hasn't.
**Points, Area, Elev Range.** Area is in hectares. 0.0 ha means the points lie on one line, not a field: Apply Design then shows **No Forming Design Loaded**.
**Benchmarks, Sections.** AGD only. Benchmarks 1 means the file carries its own benchmark to calibrate to.
**Avg Cut, Avg Fill.** Missing for a plain XYZ file.

A red box instead of a summary means the app can't read the file, often because it's a map picture or a .kml: The design file is refused.

Tap Apply Design

Tap the purple Apply Design button at the bottom of the window.

The app turns the points into a surface and shows Triangulating surface from N points. Small designs take seconds; 30,000 points can take several minutes. Don't close the app while it works. Designs over 50,000 points aren't recommended.

When it's done, the map shows the cut/fill colours and the Calibrate GPS? window opens. That's the next section.

The same file summary with the purple Apply Design button at the bottom — **Apply Design.** Builds the surface, then asks about calibrating.

Calibrate to the design

When you apply a Forming design, the app asks Calibrate GPS? (once for each design file per session). Calibrating lines today's GPS up with the elevations in the file, so the cut and fill numbers are true. Skip it only if you calibrated to this design earlier today, on the same base setup.

Tap Calibrate

In the Calibrate GPS? window, tap the orange Calibrate button in the bottom right corner. A window called Calibrate Elevation opens.

The orange tip in this window suggests a zero cut/fill spot. If the file has its own benchmark, use the benchmark instead (next step). It's the surveyed point the design was built on.

Calibrate GPS? window: if your RTK base station location has changed since this design file was created, you should calibrate. An orange tip about a zero-cut/fill spot. Buttons Skip and an orange Calibrate. — **Calibrate.** Opens Calibrate Elevation.
**Skip.** Only if you already calibrated to this design today, on this base setup.

Tap the Design BM row

Under CALIBRATE TO, the first row is the file's own benchmark. It has a small Design BM tag and shows how far away it is. Tap that row.

No Design BM row? The file carries no benchmark. Scroll down to Loaded design and use its Calibrate button instead. Do it on an undisturbed spot where the green line near the top reads On grade — ideal calibration spot. Never calibrate on ground you've already moved.

Calibrate Elevation window: Not calibrated — elevations are raw GPS; a green line On grade — ideal calibration spot; under CALIBRATE TO the first row Master BM with a Design BM tag, Benchmark · 403 m, then BM 1 — **Design BM row.** The benchmark saved in the file, and how far away it is.
**Live hint.** Cut or fill under you right now. It reads On grade on a zero spot.

Drive to the benchmark

The row opens into a card with the benchmark's name and elevation, and how far to drive, for example Drive 470 m to the benchmark. The distance counts down as you drive. Drive to the benchmark stake or pin in the field.

The orange button at the bottom reads Calibrate Anyway (5s avg) while you're far away. Don't tap it yet.

Card under CALIBRATE TO: Master BM · 364.958 m, Drive 470 m to the benchmark, a line of help text and an orange Calibrate Anyway (5s avg) button — **Distance.** Counts down as you drive.
**Calibrate Anyway (5s avg).** What the button reads while you're still far away.

Park on the benchmark and lower the cutting edge

Stop with the cutting edge right on the benchmark. Lower it until it rests on the ground.

You should see the card turn yellow within about 3 m of the pin, with Almost there — 2.2 m to the pin (your distance). The button now names the benchmark, for example Calibrate to Master BM (5s avg). Within half a metre the card turns green: On the benchmark — lower blade and calibrate.

Yellow card: BM 4 · 810.294 ft, Almost there — 2.2 ft to the pin, and an orange button Calibrate to BM 4 (5s avg) — **Almost there.** You're within about 3 m (here a benchmark called BM 4, with the app in feet).
**Calibrate to … (5s avg).** The button names your benchmark once you're close.

Tap Calibrate to Master BM (5s avg)

Tap the wide orange button at the bottom of the card. It names your benchmark.

The same yellow card; the wide orange button Calibrate to BM 4 (5s avg) at the bottom — **Calibrate to … (5s avg).** Starts the 5-second reading.

Hold still for 5 seconds

Keep the machine still. A pink box near the top reads Averaging GPS position… and counts the readings while the app takes 5 seconds of GPS.

Calibrate Elevation window with a pink box: Averaging GPS position... 3 samples — keep machine still — **Averaging GPS position.** Keep still until it disappears.

Check it worked, then tap Close

The status line near the top turns green and names what you calibrated to, for example Calibrated to benchmark "Master BM" · just now. Tap Details beside it to see the offset. A big offset is normal after the base has moved.

Then tap Close, in the bottom right corner of the window. On the map, the cut/fill colours now match the ground: green where the field is already at design.

Calibrate Elevation window over the Forming map. The status line at the top is green: Calibrated to design point · just now. Close is in the bottom right corner of the window. — **Green status.** What you calibrated to (here the loaded design) and when.
**Close.** Bottom right of the window.

No benchmark and no zero spot you trust? Advanced lets you type the surveyed elevation of the point you're on and tap Set BM. Every method: Benchmarks and calibration.

Set up Auto-Nudge

For AGD and XYZP files, and LandXML with an existing-ground surface, the Auto-Nudge Mode window opens next (when Auto Nudge is on in Settings). Auto-Nudge™ takes a deep cut down in steps, one pass at a time.

Set Max Cut Per Pass

In the middle of the window, set Max Cut Per Pass: how much your implement can take off in one pass. Tap the minus or plus sign on either side of the number. It starts at 5.0 cm.

The line under the number estimates how many passes the deepest cut needs.

Auto-Nudge Mode window across the screen: Max Cut Per Pass with a minus sign, 5.0 cm and a plus sign; Estimated 6 passs at deepest point; buttons Use Manual Nudge and a green Enable Auto-Nudge — **Minus, number, plus.** Tap minus or plus to change the cut per pass.

Tap Enable Auto-Nudge

Tap the green Enable Auto-Nudge button in the bottom right of the window. Each pass then takes off no more than your Max Cut, until the ground reaches the design.

Prefer one target, the design itself? Tap Use Manual Nudge on the left instead, and nudge the target yourself. How the passes work: Nudge and Auto-Nudge.

The same Auto-Nudge Mode window; the green Enable Auto-Nudge button is on the right, Use Manual Nudge on the left — **Enable Auto-Nudge.** Bottom right of the window.

Grade the field

The Grade screen draws the design as a cut/fill map under your machine: red where you cut, blue where you fill, green where the ground is already at design. The bar along the top shows Current (m) and Target (m). With Auto-Nudge it also shows Design (the finished surface) and Nudge.

Drive onto the design

The cut/fill colours only cover the design area. Drive until your machine, the pink arrow, is on a coloured part of the map. Then lower the cutting edge to the ground.

You can zoom the map with two fingers (pinch to zoom).

Forming Grade screen before Start: the pink machine arrow sits on a red cut area of the cut/fill map, with green at-design ground around it — **Your machine.** The pink arrow, here on a red area that needs cutting.

Tap Start

Tap the big green Start button, near the top of the column of buttons on the right.

Outside the design, Start is refused: GPS is outside the forming design area. Move inside the design before starting.

Forming Grade screen before Start: red cut areas and pale blue fill areas on a green field, the Cut / Fill (mm) legend bottom left, the depth guide in a tall panel, and a column of buttons on the right: Home, Start, Reset, AUTO-NUDGE Pass + / Pass 1 of 6 / Pass −, Raise, Lower — **Start.** Green, second from the top on the right.

Check that grading started

You should see a red Auto Grading Active banner at the top of the depth guide, the tall white panel left of the buttons. The column of buttons now starts with a red Stop and a grey Hold.

With Ditch Assist Lite you get guidance only. Move the implement with your lever to follow the guide.

Forming while grading: a red Auto Grading Active banner at the top of the depth guide, Stop and Hold at the top of the right-hand column, a coverage trace behind the machine coloured green, orange and red, ON GRADE at the bottom of the map — **Auto Grading Active.** The blade is following the design.
**Stop and Hold.** They replace Start and Reset while you grade.

Cut the red, fill the blue

Cut where the map is red and carry the soil to the blue. The box at the bottom of the depth guide shows how far the cutting edge is from the target right now: CUT, FILL or ON GRADE.

Behind the machine, a trace paints where the blade has been (the colours). AGD files can carry section boundaries, drawn as dotted pink loops. Finish one section before you move to the next, so the trace shows clearly what's done.

The same grading screen; the box at the bottom of the depth guide reads Target +0.2 cm, ON GRADE, with Current and Target elevations under it — **Depth readout.** Cut or fill under the cutting edge. ON GRADE here.

Tap Pass + when the area is down to this pass

With Auto-Nudge, the box in the right-hand column shows which pass you're on, for example Pass 1 of 6. When the whole area is down to this pass, tap the blue Pass + button above it. The target steps down one pass.

Pass −, the blue button below, steps back up. The pass number saves with the job.

The Forming Grade screen; in the right-hand column the AUTO-NUDGE box: Max Cut 5.0 cm, a blue Pass + button, Pass 1 of 6, and a pale Pass − button — **Pass + and the pass number.** Tap Pass + to step the target down.

Tap the map layers button

To see the field under the colours, tap the map layers button. It's a small dark square with a blue stack-of-sheets icon, in the column of small buttons at the bottom right of the map. A window called Map Layers opens.

The Forming Grade screen; four small dark square buttons stand in a column at the bottom right of the map, the second one with a blue stack-of-sheets icon — **Map layers.** Blue stack-of-sheets icon, bottom right of the map.

Slide Cut/Fill Map Opacity to the left

Put your finger on the round handle of Cut/Fill Map Opacity and slide it to the left. The colours fade so the satellite picture shows through. This slider is in Forming only.

The Coverage Grid switch above it turns the coverage trace on and off. Tap Close at the bottom of the window when you're done.

Map Layers window: BACKGROUND Satellite, US Imagery, None; App Layers with Coverage Grid and Benchmarks switches on; Cut/Fill Map Opacity 100% with a slider — **Cut/Fill Map Opacity.** 100% is solid. Slide left to see through.
**Coverage Grid.** Shows or hides where the blade has been.

Tap Hold to pause

Before you cross a waterway or turn at the headland, tap Hold. It's the grey button under the red Stop. The blade stops taking commands, but you stay in grading.

Ditch Assist Lite has no Hold button. Tap Stop instead.

The grading screen; the grey Hold button sits under the red Stop button at the top of the right-hand column — **Hold.** Grey, under Stop.

Tap Resume to carry on

On Hold, the banner reads HOLD — Manual Control and the button turns orange and reads Resume. Work the blade by hand. Tap Resume to go back to grading.

A HOLD — No RTK Fix or GPS Stale banner holds the blade by itself. It lets go on its own when the fix comes back: Hold banners.

Forming on Hold: the banner at the top of the depth guide reads HOLD — Manual Control and the second button in the right-hand column is an orange Resume — **HOLD — Manual Control.** The blade takes no commands.
**Resume.** Orange. Back to grading.

Tap Stop when you're done

Tap the red Stop button at the top of the column. Grading ends and the job saves itself, with your coverage and pass number.

After Stop, Reset comes back under Start. Reset is different: it asks Reset All?, clears the design and coverage from the screen and goes back to Home. Saved files on the tablet are kept.

The grading screen; the red Stop button is at the top of the right-hand column, under Home — **Stop.** Red, under Home. Ends grading and saves the job.

What the coverage colours mean

The coverage grid paints every cell the blade passes over:

Colour	Means
Green	At design (within 1 in, about 25 mm). Green only ever means done.
Yellow	About one more pass of cutting left.
Orange	About two more passes left.
Red	Three or more passes left.
Blue	Cut more than 1 in too deep. Bring soil back.

"Passes left" is the cut still to go, divided by your Max Cut Per Pass. The grid saves with the job, so tomorrow you see today's coverage. If you drive off the design while grading, there's no message: the grade tone stops until you're back inside.

LandXML designs

Import LandXML, the first of the five choices, opens a window called Import LandXML Surface. It takes a TIN surface exported from civil design software as LandXML 1.2, in a State Plane or UTM coordinate system.

Tap Select Design XML
The top button (1 in the picture). Pick the finished-grade surface. This one is required. The picker lists every file, but only .xml files can be picked: tapping anything else does nothing.
Tap Select Terrain XML (Optional)
The second button (2). Pick the existing-ground surface. Add it to get the cut/fill map and Auto-Nudge.
Check the 3D preview
Once a file loads, a 3D picture of the surface appears. Drag it with one finger to turn it; pinch to zoom. A stretched or flipped surface usually means the coordinate system wasn't recognised: check the CRS reading next to it.
Tap Apply Design + Terrain
With a terrain file the button reads Apply Design + Terrain. Without one, the window warns Without terrain, real-time GPS will be used as existing surface. You can still grade to the design, but there's no cut/fill map and no Auto-Nudge.

Import LandXML Surface window: 1. Design Surface, required, with a Select Design XML button; 2. Existing Terrain, optional, with a Select Terrain XML (Optional) button — **Select Design XML.** The finished surface. Required.
**Select Terrain XML (Optional).** Existing ground, for the cut/fill map and Auto-Nudge.

A file with several surfaces shows a dropdown under each button. Pick the finished-grade surface for 1 and the existing ground for 2.
On the Grade screen, a LandXML design adds an elevation overlay under your coverage and track: blue low, through green and yellow, to red high.
LandXML files carry no benchmark. Calibrate on the loaded design at an undisturbed zero cut/fill spot, or with Advanced.

Import errors and coordinate systems: Import a design: LandXML surfaces.

Stop and resume a job

Forming jobs save themselves when you tap Stop or leave the Grade screen. The job keeps the design, your coverage, the pass number and the nudge.

Tap Home to leave

Tap Home, the top button in the right-hand column. If you're still grading, a window asks Stop Auto-Grading? first.

The grading screen; the Home button with a house icon is at the very top of the right-hand column — **Home.** Top of the right-hand column.

Tap Stop & Navigate

Tap Stop & Navigate, in the bottom right corner of the window. It stops the blade, saves the job and goes to Home. Stay keeps you grading.

Stop Auto-Grading? window: Auto-grading is active. Navigating away will stop the controller and halt hydraulics. Your progress is saved automatically. Buttons Stay and Stop & Navigate. — **Stop & Navigate.** Stops the hydraulics and saves.

Next time, tap the Forming card

When you come back, the Forming card on Home shows a small blue ACTIVE tag while the old job is still open. Tap the card.

Home screen with a Change Mode button above the cards; the Forming card is highlighted and has a small ACTIVE tag in its top right corner, the other cards are greyed — **Forming, ACTIVE.** The job from last time is still open.

Tap Start New

A window asks Start New Session?. Tap Start New, in red in the bottom right corner. It only clears the screen: Saved files on disk are not deleted.

Start New Session? window: This will clear the active survey, design, grading progress, and coverage data. Saved files on disk are not deleted. Buttons Cancel and Start New. — **Start New.** Clears the screen, not your saved job.

Tap Connect, if the app asks

If the Forming — Connect window opens, tap the green Connect button (or Simulate to practise). If you stayed connected, the app skips this and the next step: go on to Resume Job.

Forming — Connect window: a green Connect button, then Simulate and Bluetooth GPS — **Connect.** Only if this window opens.