Start a Cave Line

A Cave Line is the centerline of the passage: walk it and SpeleoMap records your path in 3D. It is the spine of the survey; scans, stations and photos all hang off it.

Open your project, start a caving workout on the Workout tab and calibrate at the entrance. A Cave Line needs a running workout; you record on the Action tab.

On the Action tab, tap New Cave Line, name it and pick a color. Hold the phone however is comfortable; the heading is right either way. Walk the center of the passage, where a traditional team would run tape. Pausing is fine. Start at is the entrance datum unless you pick a station. Just snapped to a station, the entrance or a datum? It's already picked. Continuing an imported survey? Pick one of its stations under Start at (see Import). While the line, a scan or the camera is tracking, the screen stays on, so Auto-Lock can't interrupt the survey. Press the side button to lock the phone and stow it (Stow Mode).

Once a line starts, the survey tracks with the main 1x camera and the LiDAR, and tracking needs light. Never cover them or the torch: mount a FLIR or a laser meter clear of the lenses. Most surveyors carry two or three helmet lamps (a wide flood, a regular beam and a backup). Only you turn the torch on or off; SpeleoMap leaves it as you set it (choosing a camera flash is the one exception).

If tracking isn't normal for 3 seconds while the line records, the phone beeps and buzzes every 2 seconds until it is. Hold still, add light or step back to where it last tracked. Turn it off in Alerts settings.