Field Workflow
Emlid Flow Survey Guide ↗

The capture workflow is designed to be hands-light and voice-driven. The phone does GPS capture; the Apple Watch records voice descriptions; the office side aligns timestamps later.

Pre-Session Checklist
  • RS3 powered on, attached to pole, battery charged (battery died mid-session May 7)
  • iPhone connected to RS3 via Bluetooth in Emlid Flow
  • Project: Brownsville-Property-Master open in Flow
  • Outdoors with clear sky view
  • FIX status confirmed in Flow status bar (not SINGLE or FLOAT)
  • Optional: Tilt compensation enabled and calibrated
  • Wi-Fi access point on buggy powered on if needed (SSID: “Z”)
The 4-Code Scheme

Every captured point uses one of four single-letter codes as its name:

Code Meaning Examples
p Plant Asparagus crown, raspberry cane, fruit tree, native shrub, hive
i Infrastructure (above ground) Fence post, gate, hose bib, building corner, raised bed, manifold
u Underground Water line, electrical run, drain tile, drip irrigation lateral, septic
n Note Anything that doesn’t fit above — observations, problem spots, future-action markers

The u code is critical: once buried, you can’t see it. The GPS record IS the only way to relocate it later. Capture before backfill for any underground run.

Capture Sequence

  1. Start a recording on Apple Watch (Just Press Record complication tap)

    • JPR saves files as HH-MM-SS.m4a inside a YYYY-MM-DD/ folder — the filename IS the recording start time
    • One continuous recording per session — don’t stop/start between points

  2. At each feature:

    • Speak the description FIRST (before tapping Collect):
      • “Corner drain dash northwest side of barn”
      • “Asparagus bed dash southeast corner, raised bed 2”
      • “Drip lateral dash 12 inches deep, runs from manifold A to bed 3”
    • Tap + in Emlid Flow on iPhone
    • Pick the code (p, i, u, or n)
    • Tap Collect (point captures with timestamp)
    • Pause briefly before moving to the next feature (helps ASR segment cleanly)

  3. Stop the recording on Apple Watch when the session is done

    • Recording auto-syncs to iCloud Drive on the Mac Studio
Dictation Conventions

Speak descriptions using dash format so the merge script can split feature name from details. Say “dash” between the name and description — Whisper (mlx-whisper) transcribes it as — or - which the parser handles:

feature name — description with details

Examples:

  • “Corner drain dash northwest side of barn”
  • “Elderberry 1 dash first plant in hedgerow, 6 foot spacing”
  • “Drip lateral dash 18 inches deep, between barn and pump house”
  • “Swarm trap dash lower lot, hung in oak tree”

Rules:

  • Narrate before the capture tap (describe-then-collect)
  • One continuous recording per session — don’t stop/start between points
  • Pause briefly between features for clean segmentation
  • Use dash as the delimiter — spoken “colon” transcribes literally and confuses the parser
  • If you forget to start recording before narrating, stop and re-narrate after starting — the merge script only sees audio that was recorded
Field Cheat Sheet

Print this and tape it to the pole or keep on phone lock screen.

4 codes, that’s it:

p  →  plant
i  →  infrastructure (above ground)
u  →  underground (capture BEFORE backfill)
n  →  note

Every capture:

  1. Speak description: “feature name dash details”
  2. Tap + in Flow
  3. Pick code (p / i / u / n)
  4. Tap Collect
  5. Pause briefly before next feature

Before session: FIX confirmed. Battery charged. Tilt comp on (optional).

Start session: Tap JPR complication on Apple Watch. Open Emlid Flow on iPhone.

End session: Tap JPR on Watch to stop. Recording auto-syncs via iCloud.

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