Floor Elevation lets the FieldPrinter measure how flat your slab is and sync the results to the Dusty Portal. You can measure in two ways: Point Elevation, where the robot drives to specific points you define in a CSV, and Area Elevation, where it measures across a region and builds a heatmap. This article covers preparing and uploading a Point Elevation CSV, running both measurement types in the field, and reading the results in the Dusty Portal.
Point Elevation vs. Area Elevation
The two modes answer different questions, and you can use both on the same layout.
Point Elevation measures specific locations. You give Dusty a list of points as a CSV; the FieldPrinter drives to each one and records a single elevation value there. Use it when you need precise, named readings — equipment baseplates, panel or prefab corners, column lines, or compliance checks against surveyed points.
Area Elevation measures across a region and fills in a grid of readings that the Portal renders as a heatmap. No file preparation is required for this feature. There are two ways to run it:
- Have the robot continuously measure the whole area wherever it drives (background measurement).
- Measure a specific area you draw in the app using the Measure Area tool.
Use Area Elevation when you want a general picture of the highs and lows across a region rather than named point values.
Setting up the job
Setup for points starts in the Dusty Portal.
- Add your measurement points as a CSV to a Dusty layout.
- Set the CSV file to be a measure layer.
Measuring Elevation in the Field
The measure elevation workflow layers onto your normal FieldPrinter workflow. For full step-by-step instructions, see Floor Elevation: Dusty App.
Viewing Results in the Portal
After the FieldPrinter finishes and the iPad finishes uploading, Dusty stitches your stationings together in the cloud. Open the project in Dusty Portal, and you'll see:
A heatmap overlay across measured areas. Color scales to the min and max values, so high spots and low spots read at a glance. The scale auto-adjusts to your data. Outlier readings inside area measurements are filtered automatically, so one bad value doesn't skew the picture.
A point elevation summary. View point measurement data by stationing with different reference points.
Downloads and Reports
- Floor Elevation Heatmap PDF. The layout drawing overlaid with the heatmap and a labeled color scale.
- Floor Elevation CSV. The underlying heatmap data with one row per grid. Pick metric or imperial at download.
- Point Elevation PDF. The layout drawing shows each measurement point's name and elevation called out.
- Point Elevation CSV. Includes point name, X/Y coordinates, and measured Z. Pick metric or imperial at download.
If you work in Autodesk Point Layout, there is a specific CSV file that imports cleanly.
Current Limitations
A few capabilities are not yet supported in the beta.
- Floor Elevation does not print an elevation grid of values directly on the slab as a same-day output. The output is digital first. If you need elevation numbers printed on the floor, take the CSV through your CAD step and print the results on a second pass.
- Floor Elevation does not generate an ACI-format FF/FL report. The CSV gives you the raw data; your team or a third party can format custom reports from there.