Making the switch to UNI-Collect
What is UNI-Collect and why use it?
UNI-Collect is our new app for all your measuring needs. Whether you are a seasoned surveyor, or want to make your work easier by measuring your projects digitally, UNI-Collect is the way to go.
Our seasoned UNI users are familiar with UNI-Connect, which was our original measuring solution, UNI-Collect will replace UNI-Connect for a more complete solution for all. Because of the release of this app, everyone is able to use our easy measuring solution, even if you don't have a UNI. The app works with the internal GPS receiver in your phone or tablet, this will be less accurate than a UNI-GRx of course, or with any other GNSS receiver with Bluetooth.
The UNI-Collect app will contain all the newest updates that we will release, every new feature, bugfixes and news and information regarding marXact.
Installing UNI-Collect
Installing UNI-Collect is as easy as it gets; choose either the App Store or Google Play Store depending on your device, and download the UNI-Collect app!
After downloading the app, you can either log in with your existing UNI-Cloud account, if you have already worked with our products, or create a new UNI-Cloud account. Once you have done that, you are ready to use the app, it's as simple as that!
Explanation and tutorials
Working with UNI-Collect works very similar to UNI-Connect, however if you are entirely new to the software, we can imagine that it might be a bit overwhelming. That's why we have created a tutorial within the app to help you set up your first project. You can find the tutorial by going to "More" on the bottom right of your screen and clicking on "Tutorials".
After selecting one of the tutorials you will be assisted when creating your first project. Setting up your project settings for the first time, creating layers, then creating the project and, if applicable, connecting your GNSS receiver.
Versatility of UNI-Collect
The UNI-Collect app allows us to be more flexible than ever before. Do you already own a GNSS receiver, but really like how UNI-Collect works, no problem! If your current GNSS receiver has Bluetooth, you can connect it with UNI-Collect and store all the information in our UNI-Cloud environment.
UNI-Collect tutorials
We have created several support articles to help you get started with UNI-Collect. If you are completely new to the marXact family, you can read everything you need to know to measure your first point here.
So, what's new?
Many things have improved or have been slightly adapted to make UNI-Collect the easiest surveying tool out there. Not only does the app work faster and smoother than Connect, it also brings new features and possibilities with it! Since you were already used to working in UNI-Connect, we won't go over the basics or what everything means. Next to the larger features and changes mentioned below, we also made some smaller improvements, such as:
- Angle visibility when measuring a polyline
- Distance between points when measuring a polyline
- Offsetting in an angle
- Possibility to use UNI-Collect with other GNSS-receivers
- Improved the speed and reliability of the synchronization
So to kick it off, here are some the larger changes and features:
Projects assigned to users instead of UNI's
UNI-Collect is the most versatile surveying app out there, usable with any GNSS receiver that has Bluetooth, not only with the UNI-GRx. Therefore synchronization now works based on users instead of UNI's.
In the projectcreation screen in the UNI-Cloud, you have the choice to link a user. Select the user with which you log into UNI-Collect and you will be able to synchronize the project to the app!
In short, do you want to synchronize a project to your UNI-Collect app, link it to your user and not to your UNI. This way, anyone can prepare their projects in the UNI-Cloud and synchronize it with UNI-Collect, whether they work with a UNI-GRx or any other device!
Connecting to your UNI
When you press the icon on the top right, you will be able to choose which device you will use to measure. The 3 options are, UNI (which is a UNI-GRx), the tablet or phone (SM-T860 in our case) or Bluetooth. When you select the UNI, the tablet will scan for nearby WiFi signals from a UNI-GRx. If there is one in range, it will be shown in the list and, when you select it, it will forward you to the WiFi settings of the tablet to connect to the UNI-GRx's WiFi. The password for the UNI-GRx's WiFi is always "marxact-uni" (all lower case).
When you select Bluetooth, you get the request from the UNI-Collect app to gain access to the Bluetooth information of the tablet. Then it will search for nearby Bluetooth devices and you can select your GNSS receiver from the list. Can't find it in the list, double check if your GNSS receiver has it's Bluetooth turned on and that it's visible.
Finally, when you select the tablet, it will use it's internal location to measure within your project. In our case, we will use the tablet for now. When you select the tablet, you will directly see that next step is done and you are ready to measure your first point!
Manual synchronisation
Did you think that the synchronization in UNI-Connect took too long sometimes? Well, we did too! That's why we increased the speed and reliability of the synchronization and now you decide whenever you want to sync your data to the UNI-Cloud (or the other way around of course)!
When you want to synchronize your projects to and from the UNI-Cloud, press the cloud-icon on the top-left of the screen. This will open up the tab to synchronize the data between UNI-Collect and the UNI-Cloud. Whenever you want to start working and need to collect the information from the cloud or when you are finished and want to send the data to the cloud, just press the synchronization button, and presto! This ensures that the synchronisation will happen when you want it to happen!
So don't forget to press that sync button when you are done surveying. Already turned the UNI off but didn't press the sync button yet? No problem at all, as long as the tablet has an internet connection, you will be able to synchronize your data!
Do you want a more complete introduction to UNI-Collect?
We understand, sometimes it's nice to get a completely fresh introduction, so we created an article that will help you create your first point from scratch! To get the full introduction from logging in to measuring your first point and everything in between, click here!