Dig to grade with the DIG™ web interface

The Ditch Assist® app is the main way to dig with DIG™. The DIG module also has its own web page, which gives level or single-grade guidance in any browser, iPads included. Use it for a simple trench or a level pad, or when the app isn't to hand.

For surveyed designs, LandXML, level areas and the completion grid, use the app's Excavation workflow instead.

Before you start

• DIG is installed and calibrated (Calibrate DIG).
• The tablet is on the DIG Wi-Fi, the network that starts with MECU_Ditch_Dig (password 12345678). Steps: Join the DIG Wi-Fi.
• The DIG page is open in the browser at 192.168.22.3:8080/ditchassist.htm, or from your bookmark. Steps: Open the DIG page.
• The top of the page shows Data Received, RTK fix and Sensors OK. If not, see Check GPS and sensors.

How long it takes: a couple of minutes to set up each job.

The buttons you'll use

Four buttons on the DIG home page do most of the work. Three are in the top-right corner:

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The fourth is SET TO GROUND, near the top of the page, left of the big number. The Slope Setting and Calibration screens have a house icon in their top-right corner: it takes you back to the home page.

Set the grade

1. Tap the Grade icon

   The left of the two square buttons in the top-right corner, with an angle drawn on it. The Slope Setting screen opens.

2. Tap the Slope Value (%) box and type the grade

   Type the grade in percent. Type 0 for a level trench or pad.

   1 % is 1 ft of rise or fall per 100 ft. 0.1 % is 1 ft per 1,000 ft.

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3. Tap Uphill Slope or Downhill Slope

   The two pictures at the top of the screen. Tap Uphill Slope if you start at the outlet, or Downhill Slope if you start at the upstream end. The one you pick shows in green.

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4. Optional: measure the grade between two points

   On the same screen, under Calculate the Slope (%). Rest the cutting edge on the ground or a reference point and tap Start Point. Move to the second spot, rest the edge there and tap End Point. The screen shows the distances and the slope between the two.

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5. Tap the Home icon

   The house in the top-right corner. The DIG home page opens.

Set the starting point and dig

1. Put the cutting edge on the starting spot

   Rest the bucket's cutting edge on the ground, or on a reference point, where the trench starts.

2. Tap SET TO GROUND

   The button with green letters near the top of the home page, left of the big number. A window called Set to the Ground opens.

   

3. Check the grade and direction, then tap YES

   The window repeats your grade and direction in square brackets. If they're right, tap YES. If not, tap NO and set the grade again. This spot is now the starting point for every grade worked out after it.

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4. Optional: tap Target Depth and type a starting depth

   The box at the top right of the readouts. Type how deep below the starting point you want to dig. The big number, your bucket height, then reads that same amount above the target.

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5. Dig away from the starting point

   As you move away, the target follows your grade over the distance covered. Red arrows above the grey bars mean the edge is above grade, one arrow per inch. Dig until the edge sits at the grey bars.

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Change the grade part-way

You need a spot already dug to finished grade to restart from: the new grade is worked out from there.

1. Tap the Grade icon

   Top-right corner, the angle. The Slope Setting screen opens.

2. Tap Reset

   The wide grey button at the bottom of the slope settings, under Distance covered with current Slope value (ft). A window called Reset the Slope Values opens.

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3. Tap YES

   The left of the two buttons at the bottom of the window. Reset clears the grade and the starting point, so you must set to ground again before you dig.

4. Type the new grade and pick the direction

   Tap the Slope Value (%) box, type the new grade, and tap Uphill Slope or Downhill Slope if the direction changes.

5. Tap the Home icon

   The house in the top-right corner. The DIG home page opens.

6. Put the cutting edge on the finished spot

   Rest the cutting edge on the spot already dug to finished grade.

7. Tap SET TO GROUND, then YES

   Everything from here is worked out at the new grade, from this spot.

Where the trench turns

If the trench turns more than a few degrees, set a new starting point at the turn so the grade is worked out along the new line.

1. Put the cutting edge on a finished spot at the turn

   A spot already dug to finished grade.

2. Tap SET TO GROUND, then YES

   The grade now runs from this point. Keep digging.

Turn on the sound

Tap the speaker icon, the round button in the top-right corner under the crosshair, to turn the on-grade sound on or off. It works on Android and Windows devices. iPads don't play this sound.

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Put a DIG icon on the tablet's home screen

On an Android tablet, the Fully Kiosk Browser app opens the DIG page full-screen from its own icon. The install needs internet.

1. Join a Wi-Fi network with internet

   For example your home or shop Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi on the tablet). The DIG Wi-Fi has no internet, so the install can't work on it.

2. Open the Play Store and search for Fully Kiosk Browser

   The Play Store is the app with a coloured triangle icon. Tap the search box at the top, type Fully Kiosk Browser and tap the search key on the keyboard.

3. Tap Install

   Pick the app with a blue f on a white square and tap the blue Install button. The app downloads.

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4. Join the DIG Wi-Fi again

   Switch the tablet back to the MECU_Ditch_Dig network (Join the DIG Wi-Fi).

5. Open Fully Kiosk Browser and type the Start URL

   The first time it opens, it asks for a Start URL. Type http://192.168.22.3:8080/ditchassist.htm.

6. Tap START USING FULLY

   The DIG page opens full-screen.

7. Swipe in from the left edge and tap Add to Home Screen

   Put your finger on the left edge of the screen and slide it to the right. A menu opens. Tap Add to Home Screen. A window called Link Title opens with a name for the icon.

8. Tap OK

   Keep the name, or tap it to change it, then tap OK at the bottom right of the window.

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9. Tap Add

   Android asks whether to add the icon to the home screen. Tap Add.

10. Swipe in from the left edge and tap Exit Fully

    This closes Fully Kiosk Browser.

11. Find the new icon on the home screen

    Go to the tablet's home screen (the Home button). If the icon isn't on the first page, swipe right through the pages until you find it. To move it, touch and hold it, then drag it where you want (touch and hold).

    

Common mistakes

• Not setting a new starting point at a bend, so the grade runs along the old line.
• Picking Uphill Slope when you started at the upstream end, or the other way round.
• Forgetting that Reset also clears the starting point: set to ground again before you dig.
• Expecting the sound on an iPad.

If it doesn't work

The page won't load, GPS isn't Data Received, the sensors aren't OK, or the guidance looks wrong: see Fix DIG problems.

Dig with the Ditch Assist app

For surveyed designs, LandXML, level areas and the completion grid, use the app. Connect it to the DIG module (Connect to the DIG module), then follow Excavation.