We want to be able to export our contour lines to our machine controller so we can follow them in the field. Assume we have a job such as this one:

 

 

However the contour lines reflect the surveyed data to accurately and are very irregular. We want to smooth them and use the smoothed version of the contour lines.

 

Ezigrade allows you to smooth the surface. After smoothing the surface the contour lines will then be smoothed and we can then use them. So with this job :

 

 

Set up a single field section as follows.   Go to Fields -> Field Edge and click in the perimeter of the section.   Here we don't need to change the grades just do the smoothing. However Ezigrade expects some values so set the min and maximum grades larger than what is found in the job. Also set a Smooth distance.   Hit the Grading -> Triangle Based menu item and look at the contours on the design

 

 

We get this:

 

 

 

Now decide whether you want less or more control lines in your machine control file. If you want the number of contours changed then go to Contour -> Surface Parameters and change the Minor and Major Contour interval accordingly.

 

 

 

Go to Contour -> Create Contours to see your new contours:

 

 

 

 

Ezigrade does not have a direct way of exporting contour lines. However in CDS we have a routine to create string lines from contour lines.

 

Close the job in Ezigrade and reopen it in CDS. In CDS go to surface 2 and turn on the contour display.

 

 

 

 

Now go to Conmtours -> Utilities -> Create strings from contours.

 

Now turn off the contours displayed and you should see the strings. They are in a folder called contours.

 

Go back to Ezigrade:

 

 

In this screen shot you can see the original picked up contours and the strings overlayed over the top. The smoothing looks good. If not go back to the start and experiment with the smoothing distance.

 

In this example I have created a Trimble .gps and I have ticked the "export visible strings".

 

 

And in our viewer we get this which shows the contour strings. The machine allows us to select a string and use it as a guidance line.