--- title: "Archive How To Capture Data Using Ground Station" canonical: "https://support.cordel.ai/space/CSD/2758902288/Archive%20How%20To%20Capture%20Data%20Using%20Ground%20Station" format: markdown --- ## Preparation 1. Power on the Cordel Hardware Unit. 2. Power on the provided Host Machine, i.e laptop, server. ## Network Setup In order for the Control Unit to connect to the Host Machine, the Host Machine must have a **Static IPv4 address **set. **Recommended Address**: **IP address: 192.168.1.7** **Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0** ## Start-Up Ground Station Open the Ground Station software (in some setups the software may automatically open when the host machine is turned on). > ⚠️ Without an internet connection, the map tiles will not load. Attempting to zoom in on any region of the map will not increase the display quality. Note: There are 2 different Ground Station launch states: Not Connected and Connected. If the Control Unit is not connected or if there is no connection to the Host Machine, the following screen will be displayed: ![image-20241129-003709.png](media://02906122-0922-4b5b-9508-fe36ed41df3b) ## Initial Start Up When the Control Unit has completed it’s initial start-up sequence, the screen below will be displayed: ![image](media://76e1e6fc-13db-40ce-8a55-372ea8215709) Once the LiDAR sensor is ready and the GNSS is reporting a position lock they will be displayed in green, and this means the unit is ready to begin data capture. > ⚠️ GNSS may remain red or yellow depending on GPS coverage ## How to start to capture data There are two ways to start/stop data capture: **automatic **and **manual**. **Automatic**: the mission capture starts automatically when the vehicle begins to move. The Control Unit will detect movement and will start/stop the recording based in vehicle velocity. > ℹ️ When the unit is capturing data successfully, the CAP indicator will turn green. **Manual**: the mission capture begins manually when by using the ‘Manual Start/Stop’ button in the Data Interaction region of the main screen. > ⚠️ The Manual Start/Stop button sets the Control Unit to manual mode, and will not automatically start recording based on vehicle velocity until the Control Unit is reset. When recording has started the CAP icon will be displayed in green and the other sensors will update to show the current recording data health/status (recording file sizes and times). ![image](media://f01f9d1a-8cee-4977-ae8a-4a457ff96ba2) ## How to end capture There are 2 conditions that will conclude capture: 1. The vehicle stops moving; capture will begin again automatically when movement is detected. 2. 15 minutes have passed. To make data file sizes manageable, Ground Station splits data into 15 minute blocks. When capture is concluded, it will be automatically saved to the Control Unit. > ℹ️ When a capture block is completed, the camera icon will turn red waiting for a new video file to be created. ## How to save missions to the Control Unit Missions are automatically saved to the control unit at the conclusion of capture. ## How to transfer missions to the Host Machine Missions are automatically transferred from the Control Unit to the Host Machine when the capture concludes. A progress bar will appear at the top of the screen indicating the download status. If Ground Station is configured to capture automatically, this process can occur simultaneously to data recording. ![image](media://97157b7b-852e-4c9b-9f4d-1c382133fb4b) On start-up, Ground Station will also compare the files on the Control Unit to those on the Host Machine. If there are files on the Control Unit that aren’t present on the host machine, it will open the data download panel. This panel can also be manually opened by pressing the “Download Data” button. ![image](media://e05ec25b-7fd6-4323-9e01-3a3f3a3d3dbe) Recordings are separated into folders based on capture date. Individual recordings are separated by the UTC time the recording began using the format “Mon-DD HHMMSS” Month-Day UTC-time“ By default, Cordel Ground Station saves mission files on the Host Machine in a sub folder in the %AppData% directory. Data can be retrieved at the end of the run here: C:\Users\****\AppData\Local\Cordel\Data > ℹ️ To quickly access the capture data, open file explorer and paste the above file path (make sure to replace USERNAME with your actual windows username). > ℹ️ The Control Unit will continue recording even if there is no host machine/Corridor LiDAR Capture System running. This means if for some reason the host machine was to become disconnected to the Control Unit, the Control Unit would continue logging. ## Uploading capture data to Cordel Connect using Cloud Sync Once the data has been transferred successfully to the Host Computer, users can upload that data to Cordel Connect using the Cordel Cloud Sync software. Learn more about uploading data [here](https://support.cordel.ai/space/CSD/2648477913/How+To+Upload+Data+Using+Cloud+Sync). ## How to monitor the health of capture hardware in Cordel Connect Cordel Ground Station is connected to Cordel Connect, allowing remote tracking of hardware units and their status where there is good 4G coverage. In Cordel Connect capture hardware is referred to as ‘Rovers’. Learn more about how to monitor capture units (Rovers) in Cordel Connect [here](https://cordel.refined.site/space/CSD/2713419777/Web+Explorer:+Equipment+(Rovers)).