Oceanic SAMM User Manual

SAMM

Stand Alone Mosaicking Module

User Manual

Oceanic Imaging Consultants, Inc.

1144 10th Avenue • Suite 200

Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96816-2442

Phone [phone] • Fax [phone]

Email [e-mail] • Web www.oicinc.com

Copyright © 2017 Oceanic Imaging Consultants, Inc. - Printed in the United States of America (USA). All
rights reserved.

This manual and all other related documentation are protected by copyright and distributed under
licenses restricting its use, duplication, distribution, and recompilation. No part of this Manual or related
documentation covered by copyright herein may be reproduced in any form or by means -- graphic,
electronic, or mechanical -- including photocopying, recording, taping, or storage in an information
retrieval system, without the prior written authorization of Oceanic Imaging Consultants, Inc.

The products described in this manual may be protected by one or more U.S. or foreign patents, and
pending applications.

Oceanic Imaging Consultants, Inc. retains the right to make changes to the contents of this Manual at any
time, without notice. Oceanic Imaging Consultants, Inc. makes no warranty for the use of its products
and assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document, nor does it make a
commitment to update the information contained herein.

 Oceanic Imaging Consultants, Inc.
1144 10th Avenue • Suite 200
Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96816-2442
www.oicinc.com
Telephone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

TRADEMARKS

SAMM is a trademark of Oceanic Imaging Consultants, Inc., in the U.S.A. and other countries.
Third party trademarks are the property of their respective owners and should be treated as such.

WARNING AND DISCLAIMER

Every effort has been made to make this manual as complete and as accurate as possible, but no
warranty or fitness is implied. The information provided is on an “as is” basis. The authors and the
publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or
damages arising from the information contained in this book or from the use of the CD or programs
accompanying it.

Rev. 2/17/2017

SAMM User Manual

Table of Contents

1 WELCOME TO SAMM ...................................................................................................... 6

2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS AND SETUP......................................................................... 8

2.1 Sensor and Input Requirements ................................................................................................ 8

2.2 System Requirements ............................................................................................................... 9

2.3 Installing SAMM ....................................................................................................................... 10

2.4 Launch SAMM ......................................................................................................................... 11

2.5 Create or Open a Project ......................................................................................................... 12

3 THE GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE ............................................................................14

3.1 Mosaic Window ....................................................................................................................... 14

3.2 Toolbar ..................................................................................................................................... 15

3.3 Sidebar .................................................................................................................................... 16

3.3.1 Swath List ...................................................................................................... 17

3.3.2 Live Info ......................................................................................................... 17

3.3.3 Playback Controls .......................................................................................... 17

3.3.4 Sonar Controls ............................................................................................... 18

3.3.5 Processing Controls ...................................................................................... 18

3.4 Forward Look Window ............................................................................................................. 19

3.5 SLS Oscilloscope Window ....................................................................................................... 19

3.6 Meta Data Properties ............................................................................................................... 20

3.7 Status Bar ................................................................................................................................ 20

4 CONFIGURE SAMM ........................................................................................................22

4.1 Project Tab .............................................................................................................................. 23

4.1.1 Projected Coordinate System ........................................................................ 23

4.1.2 Sensor Offsets ............................................................................................... 23

4.2 Display Tab .............................................................................................................................. 24

4.2.1 General .......................................................................................................... 24

4.2.2 Swath Colormap ............................................................................................ 25

4.2.3 Units of measure ........................................................................................... 25

4.3 Mosaic Tab .............................................................................................................................. 26

4.3.1 General .......................................................................................................... 26

4.3.2 MSK output (connected/live sonars) ............................................................. 27

4.4 Contacts tab............................................................................................................................. 27

4.5 About ....................................................................................................................................... 28

4.6 Rendering Method ................................................................................................................... 28

4.7 Reset Button ............................................................................................................................ 29

4.8 Configuration Tutorial .............................................................................................................. 29

5 CHARTS AND BACKGROUND IMAGES ........................................................................31

5.1 Basic vs. Advanced Interface .................................................................................................. 31

5.2 Raster vs. Vector File Types ................................................................................................... 31

5.3 Retrieve NOAA Electronic Navigational Charts ....................................................................... 31

5.4 Elements of the Basic Chart Display Options Window ............................................................ 32

5.4.1 Basic Chart Display Popup Windows ............................................................ 33

5.4.2 Using the Basic Chart Loader ....................................................................... 34

5.5 Elements of the Advanced Chart Display Options Window .................................................... 35

5.5.1 Buttons .......................................................................................................... 36

5.5.2 The Folders Tab ............................................................................................ 37

Populating the Charts Database ................................................................... 37

5.5.3 The Chart Preview Tab.................................................................................. 38

5.5.4 The Charts Tab .............................................................................................. 39

5.5.4.1 Color Coding .................................................................................................. 39

Green ............................................................................................................. 40

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Orange ........................................................................................................... 40

Yellow ............................................................................................................ 40

Gray ............................................................................................................... 40

Manually Loaded vs. Folder Added Chart Behavior ...................................... 40

5.5.5 The Log Tab .................................................................................................. 41

5.6 Advanced Chart Loader Tutorial ............................................................................................. 41

5.7 Chart Customization Commands............................................................................................. 41

6 ADD FILES OR BEGIN ACQUISITION ............................................................................43

6.1 Add Files in Playback or Post-Processing Mode ..................................................................... 43

6.1.1 Load Files ...................................................................................................... 43

6.1.2 Advanced Load Files ..................................................................................... 44

6.1.3 Playback Files ............................................................................................... 45

6.1.4 Advanced Playback Files .............................................................................. 45

6.2 Load Files from Directory ........................................................................................................ 47

6.3 Interface with Metadata Sensors ............................................................................................. 49

6.4 Connect To…........................................................................................................................... 50

6.4.1 Kongsberg Mesotech M3 .............................................................................. 50

6.4.2 Kongsberg Mesotech MS1000 ...................................................................... 51

6.4.3 Teledyne BlueView 2D Multibeam Imaging Sonar ........................................ 52

6.4.4 Tritech Gemini 720i/is, Marine Electronics Dolphin, Blueprint Oculus, or

R2Sonic ...................................................................................................................... 54

Troubleshooting ............................................................................................. 54

Gemini Sonar Controls .................................................................................. 55

R2Sonic Sonar Controls ................................................................................ 56

Marine Electronics Dolphin Sea View ........................................................... 57

6.4.5 Edgetech Discover, Klein SonarPro and GeoDAS ........................................ 59

Edgetech Discover ........................................................................................ 59

Klein SonarPro .............................................................................................. 60

GeoDAS ........................................................................................................ 61

7 DISPLAY AND PROCESSING SETTINGS ......................................................................63

7.1 Adjust the Mosaic Window Display.......................................................................................... 63

7.2 Manage Swaths ....................................................................................................................... 64

7.2.1 Swath Management and Playback Tutorial ................................................... 64

7.3 Toggle Display Units ................................................................................................................ 65

7.3.1 Display Units Tutorial ..................................................................................... 65

7.4 Apply Imagery Processing Options ......................................................................................... 66

7.4.1 Processing Controls ...................................................................................... 66

7.4.2 Swath Properties ........................................................................................... 67

7.4.3 Playback of *.son files ................................................................................... 67

7.5 Other Display Options ............................................................................................................. 68

7.6 Imagery Processing Tutorials .................................................................................................. 69

Trimming Tutorial ........................................................................................... 69

Rendering Tutorial ......................................................................................... 69

8 WORKING WITH CONTACTS .........................................................................................72

8.1 Mark Contacts.......................................................................................................................... 72

8.2 Elements of the Contacts Window........................................................................................... 73

8.2.1 Thumbnails List ............................................................................................. 74

8.2.2 Contacts Toolbar ........................................................................................... 74

8.2.3 Contact Display ............................................................................................. 75

8.2.4 Properties Table ............................................................................................ 75

8.2.5 Staging Table ................................................................................................ 75

8.2.6 Contact Display Commands .......................................................................... 76

8.3 Attribute Contacts .................................................................................................................... 77

8.3.1 Classify Contacts ........................................................................................... 78

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Add Comments .............................................................................................. 78

Add Tags ....................................................................................................... 78

8.3.2 Measure Contacts ......................................................................................... 79

8.3.3 Calculate Contact Height ............................................................................... 79

8.3.4 Change Position ............................................................................................ 79

8.3.5 Rename Contacts .......................................................................................... 79

8.3.6 Contact Attribution Commands ..................................................................... 80

8.4 Group Contacts ....................................................................................................................... 81

8.5 Export Contacts ....................................................................................................................... 82

8.5.1 Send contacts to the staging table ................................................................ 82

8.5.2 Prep the Staging Table .................................................................................. 83

8.5.3 Export a Report ............................................................................................. 83

8.5.4 Delete Contacts ............................................................................................. 84

8.5.5 Contact Organization Commands ................................................................. 84

8.6 Contacts Tutorial ..................................................................................................................... 85

9 ADDITIONAL FEATURES ...............................................................................................88

9.1 Meta data properties ................................................................................................................ 88

9.2 Select tool ................................................................................................................................ 88

9.3 Measure tool ............................................................................................................................ 88

9.4 Export Tool .............................................................................................................................. 89

9.4.1 File Type ........................................................................................................ 90

9.4.2 Extents ........................................................................................................... 91

9.4.3 Resolution ...................................................................................................... 91

9.4.4 Background color ........................................................................................... 91

9.4.5 Export Tutorial ............................................................................................... 91

10 END ACQUISITION AND CLOSE PROJECT ..................................................................92

Figures

Figure 1. SAMM installation process and dialogs ....................................................................................... 10

Figure 2. SAMM opening dialog, allowing creation of new project, opening existing or mission import. ... 12

Figure 3. Graphical User Interface .............................................................................................................. 14

Figure 4. Swath List .................................................................................................................................... 17

Figure 5. Live Info ....................................................................................................................................... 17

Figure 6. Playback Controls ........................................................................................................................ 17

Figure 7. Sonar Controls ............................................................................................................................. 18

Figure 8. FLS Controls ................................................................................................................................ 18

Figure 9. SLS Controls ................................................................................................................................ 18

Figure 10. Forward Look Window ............................................................................................................... 19

Figure 11. SLS Oscilloscope Window ......................................................................................................... 19

Figure 12. Meta Data Properties ................................................................................................................. 20

Figure 13. Configuration Dialog .................................................................................................................. 22

Figure 14. Projection Tab ............................................................................................................................ 22

Figure 15. Survey Setup Panel ................................................................................................................... 24

Figure 16. General Panel ............................................................................................................................ 25

Figure 17. Swath Colormap Panel .............................................................................................................. 25

Figure 18. Units of Measure Panel ............................................................................................................ 25

Figure 19. General Panel ............................................................................................................................ 26

Figure 20. MSK output Panel ...................................................................................................................... 27

Figure 21. Contacts Tab ............................................................................................................................. 27

Figure 22. About Panel ............................................................................................................................... 28

Figure 23. Update Panel ............................................................................................................................. 28

Figure 24. Crash Detection Prompt ............................................................................................................ 28

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Figure 25. Configuration Window for Demo Data ....................................................................................... 30

Figure 26. Empty Basic Chart Display Options Window ............................................................................. 32

Figure 27. Select Overlay Type Error Message .......................................................................................... 33

Figure 28. ASCII Text Import Options ......................................................................................................... 34

Figure 29. Charts Loaded in Basic Window, with Context Menu................................................................ 34

Figure 30. Chart Display Options Window upon Launch ............................................................................ 36

Figure 31. Add/Scan Charts Panel ............................................................................................................. 37

Figure 32. Populated Chart Database ........................................................................................................ 38

Figure 33. Charts Tab ................................................................................................................................. 39

Figure 34. Add Data Dropdown Menu ........................................................................................................ 43

Figure 35. Advanced Load Dialog .............................................................................................................. 44

Figure 36. Advanced Playback Dialog ........................................................................................................ 46

Figure 37. GUI in Playback Mode ............................................................................................................... 47

Figure 38. Load from directory dialog ......................................................................................................... 48

Figure 39. Navigation Interfacing ................................................................................................................ 49

Figure 40. M3 Interfacing ............................................................................................................................ 50

Figure 41. MS1000 Interfacing.................................................................................................................... 51

Figure 42. ProViewer NMEA Panel ............................................................................................................ 52

Figure 43. ProViewer Data Streaming Configuration ................................................................................. 52

Figure 44. BlueView Interfacing .................................................................................................................. 53

Figure 45. Gemini Interfacing...................................................................................................................... 54

Figure 46. Gemini Sonar Controls .............................................................................................................. 55

Figure 47. Black banding artifacts with high gain and the same data with lower gain. .............................. 56

Figure 48. R2Sonic Sonar Controls ............................................................................................................ 56

Figure 49. Dolphin Sea View Interfacing .................................................................................................... 57

Figure 50. Dolphin Sea View Controls ........................................................................................................ 57

Figure 51. Blueprint Oculus Interfacing ...................................................................................................... 58

Figure 52. Blueprint Oculus Controls .......................................................................................................... 58

Figure 53. SAMM interface to Edgetech Discover ..................................................................................... 59

Figure 54. SAMM interface to Klein SonarPro ............................................................................................ 60

Figure 55. GeoDAS UDP Broadcast Settings ............................................................................................. 61

Figure 56. SAMM Interface to GeoDAS ...................................................................................................... 61

Figure 57. Status Bar Position Units ........................................................................................................... 66

Figure 58. Imagery Processing Options ..................................................................................................... 66

Figure 59. SLS Processing Options ............................................................................................................ 67

Figure 60. Swath Properties Window ......................................................................................................... 67

Figure 61. Display Options Dialog With Navigation Track Options ............................................................ 68

Figure 62. Brightness and Gamma Rendering Effects ............................................................................... 70

Figure 63. Feathering Effect ....................................................................................................................... 70

Figure 64. Contacts in Mosaic Window ...................................................................................................... 72

Figure 65. Contacts Window ....................................................................................................................... 73

Figure 66. Assigning Tags .......................................................................................................................... 79

Figure 67. Grouped Contacts and Context Menu ....................................................................................... 82

Figure 68. Filtering by Tag .......................................................................................................................... 83

Figure 69. Create Report Success Window ................................................................................................ 84

Figure 70. Meta data properties window ..................................................................................................... 88

Figure 71. Measure Tool ............................................................................................................................. 89

Figure 72. Export dialog .............................................................................................................................. 89

Figure 73. Single GeoTIFF export vs Tiled GeoTIFFs export .................................................................... 90

Figure 74. Exported data displayed in GoogleEarth ................................................................................... 90

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Tables

Table 1. System Requirements ................................................................................................................ 9

Table 2. Create or Open Project ................................................................................................................. 13

Table 3. Toolbar Icons ................................................................................................................................ 15

Table 4. Status bar ...................................................................................................................................... 20

Table 5. Parameters and Units ................................................................................................................... 26

Table 6. Change the Rendering Method ..................................................................................................... 29

Table 7. Configure Project .......................................................................................................................... 29

Table 8. Load and Display Charts............................................................................................................... 41

Table 9. Chart Customization Commands .................................................................................................. 41

Table 10. Mosaic Window Extent Commands ............................................................................................ 63

Table 11. Swath Management Commands ................................................................................................ 64

Table 12. Contacts Toolbar Icons ............................................................................................................... 74

Table 13. Contact Display Commands ....................................................................................................... 76

Table 14. Contact Attribution Commands ................................................................................................... 80

Table 15. Contact Organization Commands ............................................................................................... 84

Acronyms and Abbreviations

cm centimeter
CPU central processing unit
ENC Electronic Navigational Chart
FLS forward-looking sonar
GIS geographic information system
GPU graphics processing unit
GUI graphical user interface
NMEA National Marine Electronics Association
NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
OIC Oceanic Imaging Consultants, Inc.
PPI plan position indicator
SAMM Stand Alone Mosaicking Module
SLS
TIFF
UTM Universal Transverse Mercator

side-looking sonar
Tagged-Image File Format

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SAMM User Manual

1 Welcome to SAMM

There was a time not too long ago when the interface to a sonar was a printer. The sonar would
ping, echoes would return, be converted to voltage, and a stylus on a moving belt would cross a
scroll of paper, burning images proportional to the echo strength. Now many sonars come with
perfectly adequate graphical user interfaces that create a waterfall or PPI (plan-position
indicator) view of the data. These are fine, but often lack context, i.e. they don’t show the data
in reference to each other, or the world. SAMM changes all this.

SAMM (Stand Alone Mosaicking Module) is Oceanic Imaging Consultants Inc.’s (OIC) software
program for real-time mosaicking of underwater imagery. SAMM automatically creates mosaics
of your sidescan, forward-look (FLS) and mechanical scanning sonar data in real time over your
co-registered charts or imagery, while logging the raw data for playback and post-processing.
Whether in real-time or playback, SAMM will show where you’ve been and what you saw.

This manual documents SAMM’s features and functions. Information is presented in the order
that you need it for out-of-the-box playback or data acquisition. It discusses each process in the
SAMM workflow and how to accomplish it. Selected sections conclude with a table of
commands relevant to the workflow process described in that section, which serves as a review
of the commands available in SAMM and how to execute them. Selected sections also include
an interactive tutorial for demonstrating some of the features. Test data are provided with the
software for use with the tutorial instructions. The sections are as follows:

 System Requirements and Setup
 The Graphical User Interface (GUI)
 Configure SAMM
 Load Charts
 Add Files or Begin Acquisition
 Display and Processing Settings
 Work with Contacts
 Additional Features
 End Acquisition and Close Project.

We use the following typographical rules throughout this manual for emphasis and clarity:

 Boldface indicates onscreen buttons, commands, fields, or icons from a toolbar, menu

or window.

 Courier New indicates user input or SAMM output. This includes all of the text in the

SAMM interface that your actions can change.

 Grey shading of text or columns in a table indicates specific tutorial instructions. Follow

these directions to check your work against the figures in this manual.

 Key names are written as they appear on the keyboard. Key combinations are indicated

with a plus sign between them, e.g., to press Alt+F, press Alt and F simultaneously.

 Click means to press the left mouse button. Double-click means to quickly press the left

mouse button twice. Right-click means to press the right mouse button.

For further assistance using the SAMM program, we encourage you to contact us.

Phone [phone] Fax: [phone]
e-mail [e-mail] Web: www.oicinc.com

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2 System Requirements and Setup

This section describes the sensor and system requirements for computers hosting SAMM, and
how to install, launch, and create/open a project in the software.

2.1 Sensor and Input Requirements

SAMM is designed to read sonar data, position and sensor heading, and produce a mosaic.
SAMM can do this for forward-look, sector-scan and side-look (sidescan) sonars. SAMM can
read this data in real-time from the sensor, or from files in playback mode. In forward-look
mode, SAMM is compatible with Kongsberg Mesotech M3, Teledyne BlueView 2D imaging,
Tritech Gemini, Marine Electronics Dolphin SeaView, Blueprint Subsea Oculus, Haiying Marine
HY1645 and the R2Sonic 202x in forward-looking mode. SAMM can also interface with
Kongsberg Mesotech MS1000 single-beam scanning sonar and Imagenex 881L-GS/882L gyro
stabilized scanning sonar. In sidescan mode, SAMM is compatible with Edgetech Discover (and
all supported sonars), Klein SonarPro (and all supported sonars) and OIC’s GeoDAS (and all
supported sonars), SAMM also supports reading of Starfish .logdoc, Triton .xtf, C-Max .cm2,
and Humminbird .dat data. Contact OIC for other sonar formats. SAMM requires input of
sensor position (longitude/latitude) as well as true heading. SAMM assumes your GPS receiver
is set to the WGS 1984 reference datum, but supports user configuration of datum.

SAMM directly interfaces to the Tritech Gemini 720, the R2Sonic 202x, the Marine Electronics
Dolphin SeaView and the Blueprint Subsea Oculus FLS, effectively replacing any native sonar
software and providing all control, display and logging functions. For these sonars, SAMM
requires:

 the sonar software not be run concurrently with SAMM; and
 navigation and heading sensors must be supplied to SAMM directly, as they will not be

included with the sonar data

For the sidescan systems (Edgetech, Klein, OIC) and the Kongsberg M3/MS1000, BlueView,
Imagenex 881L-GS/882L and HY1645 sonars, SAMM interfaces with the manufacture's
software, leaving all control and processing to the native sonar software, and providing display,
target marking and mosaicking capabilities. For these sonars, SAMM requires:

 the sonar software must be run concurrently with and connected to SAMM; and
 navigation and heading sensors or must be supplied to the sonar software, so that

SAMM can receive position and heading included with the sonar data

At the time of this writing, SAMM does not interface in real-time to Sound Metrics ARIS/DIDSON
sonar, Reson 7128/7130 and Norbit forward-looking sonar systems. However, their recorded
data files (.aris/.dds and .s7k) can be loaded or played back in SAMM to generate mosaic
imagery if they are logged with position and heading data.

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Component

Minimum

Recommended

2.2 System Requirements

SAMM is a Windows-based application and compatible with Windows Vista through Windows
10 . The minimum system requirements and recommended specifications are presented in
Table 1.

Table 1. System Requirements

Processor Dual core Quad core

RAM 2 GB 4 GB
Graphics CPU OpenGL 3.1+ compatible GPU and up-to-date

video driver
Display 1024x758 (32 bit color)
Disk Space Install is approximately 300MB, but more space is needed for logging data.

Please be aware that some systems may log close to 1 GB/min.

Ports USB port for dongle;, Ethernet port for sonar connection and serial port(s) if

using NMEA inputs

The computer that is running SAMM does not require a dedicated graphics processing unit
(GPU), but a GPU does provide better performance. SAMM will automatically offload
computation-intensive tasks such as mosaicking and high-quality rendering to the GPU when
the GPU supports OpenGL 3.1+. In practice, most recent Intel central processing units (CPU)
come with an integrated GPU that meets this requirement, as well as most recent
mobile/desktop GPUs from AMD/NVIDIA. You must keep your video driver updated, however.
To ensure that you have the most updated driver for your system, please go to the
manufacturer's Web site:

For AMD/ATI:

http://support.amd.com/en-us/download

For NVIDIA:

http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx

For Intel HD 3000/4000/5000 series:

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/

In order to run the SAMM software, an OIC-provided dongle must be attached to the
workstation, with up-to-date dongle drivers installed. Dongle drivers are present in the
installation media provided by OIC (see Section 2.3).

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2.3 Installing SAMM

SAMM installs by default to an OIC folder in the Program Files(x86) folder on the local drive.
The installation package comes with a dongle, which looks like a USB stick, and a disc including
three folders: demo_data, documentation, and install. The demo_data folder contains charts, a
demo project, and demo data files in the native SAMM format. The documentation folder
contains the playback tutorial, acquisition tutorial, and this user manual. The install folder
contains the installation file. If you do not have an optical drive on your computer, the
downloadable installation package can be provided over the Web, or via USB drive. Please
contact OIC if you prefer this option.

If you have a limited feature demonstration version, the demo_data folder may contain
additional folders for different sensor data. The limited feature version only plays the included
data files, does not need a dongle to run, and cannot acquire data.

To install SAMM:

1. Put the disc in your disc drive and navigate to the install folder.

2. Create a folder on your local (C:) drive named SAMM_DEMO, for continuity with OIC
training materials.

3. Copy the demo_data folder to the SAMM_DEMO folder. SAMM performs better when
data are saved locally.

4. Insert the OIC dongle into a USB port.

5. Double-click on SAMM-2.x.xxx.exe (file name is not exact).

6. SAMM will present you with the licensing terms agreement page. To accept the terms
and default installation directory, check the “I agree…” statement, and select “ACCEPT”.
To configure installation directory other than the default location, select the “Options”
button. The Setup Options dialog, shown center below, allows you to specify an
alternative installation location. Select “OK” when satisfied or “Cancel” to return. On
successful installation SAMM will inform you of success and offer to launch the software.
Select “Launch” or “Close”

Figure 1. SAMM installation process and dialogs

First time users will also be presented with a language selection dialog, SAMM is currently
available in English and Japanese. Additional language support is being developed. Please
contact OIC for details.

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2.4 Launch SAMM

SAMM launches using standard Window commands, except for the dongle. The dongle must be
in a USB port or you will receive an error message. After securing the dongle, either:

 double-click on the SAMM desktop icon;
 from Windows Explorer, navigate to the install folder in the Program Files folder, and

double-click on the SAMM.exe; or

 click on the Start Windows icon, click on the Oceanic Imaging Consultants folder in All

Programs, then click on the program folder, and finally click on SAMM.

If SAMM has detected multiple crashes, it may present you with the option of switching to
software mode upon launch. You might find it beneficial to test if SAMM performs better in
software mode on your system. SAMM also presents you with the option of sending a crash
detection report if the software crashes. Please fill out this report if you would like our
developers to investigate the cause of your crash.

SAMM comes in English or Japanese. Upon launch, pick the desired language from the
dropdown menu. This dialog only displays on first launch, or when reset from the Configuration
window (see Section 4.7).

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2.5 Create or Open a Project

A SAMM project is a working directory that stores files for the program such as contacts, cached
files, raw data and processed swath and mosaic data. The project folder contains results
obtained from mosaicking the project data, including swath files and exported mosaic data (you
may choose to save exports elsewhere).

The project folder is stored in the workspace, or working directory. For continuity with OIC
training materials, we suggest that you use the SAMM_DEMO folder that you copied the data to
earlier. The default directory is <my documents>\samm_projects, which works just as well. If
you do not choose one of these locations, choose another location, but not one in which you
have installed SAMM executables (i,e., other than C:\Program Files\OIC).

Upon launching OIC's SAMM, choose between creating a new project or opening an existing
project in the select project window (Figure 2).

Figure 2. SAMM opening dialog, allowing creation of new project, opening existing or mission import.

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New project

Open

existing

Recent

projects

Follow the instructions in Table 2 to create a new project or open an existing project. Note that
the “Mission Analysis” option allows one to open a “mission package” consisting of sonar,
camera, chart, navigation and waypoint data and create a SAMM project for this data in post
mission analysis (PMA) mode. For details on Mission Analysis please see Appendix A, “Mission
Analysis”.

At the end of this process, you should have the SAM GUI open, either ready to acquire, load or
playback data, review an existing project or perform post-mission data analysis.

Table 2. Create or Open Project

To create a new project: To open an existing project: To open a recent existing

project:

1. Click

2. Click Browse path... to
open the Select Folder
window.

3. Enter a name in the
Name field: Test.

4. Change the workspace to
C:\SAMM_DEMO

5. Click Create. SAMM's
GUI displays.

tab.

1. Click
project... to open the Open
window.

2. Navigate to the location
where the project is saved
(C:\SAMM_DEMO
\demo_data\Gemini_HawaiiK
ai).

3. Click the geomosaic.xml file
to select it.

4. Click Open. SAMM's GUI
displays.

1. Click
tab.

2. Click the project name.
SAMM's GUI displays.
OR

1. Enter the name of the
project in the Name field
in the New project tab.

2. Click click to open.
SAMM's GUI displays.

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Toolbar

Side

Status Bar

Mosaic Window

Waterfall

Window

Contacts

Window

3 The Graphical User Interface

Before viewing or acquiring data, take a moment to familiarize yourself with the SAMM GUI
(Figure 3). The SAMM interface has a main toolbar, a mosaic window, a status bar, and
ancillary windows with controls which will appear in the sidebar. Some elements are specific to
the acquisition or playback modes. Each element of the GUI is described in a section below.

bar

Figure 3. Graphical User Interface

3.1 Mosaic Window

The multilayer interactive mosaic window shows a geocoded graphic of the geocoded data, plus
any loaded background charts and images. SAMM layers processed sonar data over a
background (navigational chart or aerial imagery) as raw data are collected or loaded. Sections
of the survey track that have been processed from the raw data are referred to as swaths. All of
the swaths from a survey are referred to as the mosaic, or the processed dataset. The
procedure of drawing the swaths in the mosaic window is called mosaicking the swaths. SAMM
only logs or records data when in acquisition mode, not in playback mode, but mosaics swaths
in both acquisition and playback mode.

In playback and acquisition mode, a green outlined polygon represents the vessel. For
sidescan systems the scan should appear to either side of the vessel, adjusted for any offsets.
For forward look systems a section of the sonar data shown in the plan position indicator (PPI)
will appear. The PPI is a pie-shaped “flashlight” view of the sonar data, also found in the
Forward Look window. Pink outlined crosshairs represent the positions of the GPS antenna and
the sonar head.

 To see the vessel, data, GPS and sonar head positions, zoom out by rolling your mouse

wheel toward you, clicking the Zoom out icon on the toolbar, pressing the - key, or using
a two finger scroll away from you on a laptop track pad.

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Icon

Icon Name

Function

3.2 Toolbar

The toolbar is a collection of icons that open dialog boxes or directly execute commands when
clicked. The toolbar icons are pictured and described in Table 3. Toolbar Icons, in the order that
they appear from left to right on the toolbar.

Table 3. Toolbar Icons

Add data Displays the dropdown Add Data menu

Close project Closes the current project

Configuration Opens Configuration window

Export

Contacts Opens Contacts window

Metadata
properties

Display the
forward look
window
Display the
sidelook waterfall
window
Display options Displays the dropdown swath display options

Chart
background
options
Record toggle Begins or ends raw data recording to file in acquisition

New swath Breaks mosaicking without pause in acquisition or playback

Opens Export Data window

Opens Metadata Properties window (only available in
playback/acquisition mode)

Opens the Forward Look window

Opens the Sidelook Waterfall window

Opens the Chart Display Options dialog box

mode or mosaicking in playback mode

mode

Select tool Allows user to select swaths or contact markers in the

Measure tool Activates the measure tool

Mark contact tool Activates the mark contact tool

mosaic window

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Mission tools Opens the Kenautics Mission Tool window

Zoom in Zooms in to the center of the mosaic window

Zoom out Zooms out from the center of the mosaic window

Reset the view to
the entire survey

GoTo button Launches the Go To Dialog, allowing users to specify a

Auto adjust the
display to follow
the sensor

Resets the mosaic view to the entire survey

starting location on a map, and zoom in. Used in mission
planning mode.

Automatically centers the mosaic view on the sensor

3.3 Sidebar

The sidebar appears by default to the left of the SAMM mosaic window. It contains various
panels depending on the mode, and can be minimized by clicking the “Hide sidebar” button.

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S

wath

list

Playback controls

3.3.1 Swath List

The
the survey or playback progresses, SAMM lists swaths by
name in this list and paints them in the mosaic window. The
user can enable or disables swaths to show or hide, and re­order them. Section 7.2 describes how to use this list to
manage swaths.

 To hide the Swath list, click the Swath list title bar.

Figure 4. Swath List

3.3.2 Live Info

The Live info panel, visible during acquisition and
playback,displays continuously updated values for date,
time, position, heading, and if available, altitude, sound
velocity, and time synchronization (a real-time estimation of
navigation latency). These metadata appear on the sidebar
in playback and acquisition mode (Figure 5). SAMM
retrieves these metadata feeds from the sonar software or
navigation/heading sources (depending on your survey
setup). Time synchronization is computed by SAMM.

Figure 5. Live Info

3.3.3 Playback Controls

appear on the sidebar in playback
mode. The playback controls include a start/pause button
and a slider bar to speed up or slow down playback (Figure

6). Playback of *.son (BlueView data) files includes a Sound
Velocity input box to allow user to change the sound velocity
value with which the data are presented.

 To hide the controls, click the Playback controls

icon.

 To hide the metadata, click the Live info title bar.

lists the swaths in the project (Figure 4). As

Figure 6. Playback Controls

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Sonar controls

3.3.4 Sonar Controls

appear on the sidebar in acquisition mode,
for the Tritech Gemini, Marine Electronics Dolphin and
R2Sonic sonars. These controls do affect the raw data. For
other sonar users, sonar controls are implemented directly
in the native software.

 To hide the sonar controls, click the Sonar controls

title bar.

Figure 7. Sonar Controls

3.3.5 Processing Controls

Processing controls appear
on the sidebar in playback
and acquisition mode. These
controls enable the user to
change how SAMM mosaics
the data. See Section 7.4 for
details of each setting.

Figure 8. FLS Controls

Figure 9. SLS Controls

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3.4 Forward Look Window

The Forward Look PPI window shows
the forward-look sonar data in a pie­shaped window (Figure 10). The
numbers on the sides mark the slant
range in meters from the sonar head.
Numbers on the arc side of the PPI mark
the angle in degrees from the pointing
direction the sonar head Use this
window to mark contacts and monitor
your image quality.

The mosaic is generated from the data
within the area outlined in green in the
Forward-Look window display, This is set
by adjusting arc and range (rng) on the
FLS Processing Controls panel

 If you close the Forward Look

window, reopen it by clicking on
the Display the forward look

window icon in the toolbar.

Figure 10. Forward Look Window

3.5 Waterfall Window

The waterfall window provides a
configurable view of sidescan data,
which supports zooming, slant- and
ground-range display and target marking.
The oscilloscope panel located above
sidescan waterfall displays the raw
sidescan data in a wiggle-trace, port data
on the left in red, starboard data on the
right in green.

Figure 11. Waterfall Window

3.5.1 Waterfall Toolbar

Waterfall toolbar is located above oscilloscope panel. The toolbar icons are pictured and
described in Table 3. Toolbar Icons, in the order that they appear from left to right on the
toolbar.

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Icon

Icon Name

Function

Table

5

. Status bar

Table 4. Waterfall Toolbar Icons

Reset zoom Resets the waterfall view to the entire range

Zoom Drag a box in waterfall window to zoom in the section

Contact Marker
Tool
Range Toggle Toggles slant/ground in the waterfall view

Waterfall Display
options

Zooms out from the center of the mosaic window

Displays the dropdown waterfall display options

3.6 Meta Data Properties

The Metadata Properties window allows
you to view the header and packet
information for the current sonar ping
and the current navigation message.
Open the desired section to monitor the
message of interest in real time (Figure

12).

3.7 Status Bar

The status bar is located at the bottom of the main window. It displays operational mode and
sensor status; reports errors and the position of the mouse cursor in the mosaic window; and
hosts several buttons. The definition for each status bar element is supplied in , in the order that
they appear from left to right on the status bar.

Icon/Output Definition Mode

Figure 12. Meta Data Properties

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Table

5

. Status bar

Icon/Output Definition Mode

New version available All

Sensors connected, shows data rate Acquisition

Sensors not connected

An error occurred All

Scrolling Event Log bar, click to open the
Event Log window.

Button to cancel file
acquisition/playback/loading, also
indicates current mosaic resolution

File acquisition/playback/loading
progress

Position of cursor in mosaic window in
GPS coordinates, click toggle button for
XY

Position of cursor in mosaic window in
UTM coordinates, click toggle button for
Degrees

Acquisition

All

All

All

All

All

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4 Configure SAMM

Before loading or acquiring data in a SAMM project, the user should set up the project in the
Configuration dialog, accessed from the Configuration icon on the main toolbar (Figure 13).
The user has the option to specify survey projection and offsets, units of measure, mosaic
resolution and logging details, contact messaging and review of dongle and license properties.
All of the options are saved as application settings. This section describes each tab in the
Configuration dialog, and provides a tutorial.

Figure 13. Configuration Dialog

Figure 14. Projection Tab

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4.1 Project Tab

The project tab allows the user to configure projected coordinate system and survey settings of
the current project.

4.1.1 Projected Coordinate System

The projection for the mosaic display and exported mosaic images can be set in the Projection
panel in the Project tab of the Configuration window, before data are added to the project
through acquisition, playback, or file loading (Figure 14).

SAMM expects a navigation positioning message in degrees latitude/longitude in the WGS 1984
datum (i.e. standard NMEA GPS message) By default, (with the “Auto Select” option) SAMM
projects the GPS navigation input to Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) zones (WGS84
datum), performs calculations in UTM meters, and projects the background charts to the UTM
zone to produce the aligned map.

Note: UTM zones cover six degrees of longitude, run from 80° S to 80° N, are numbered from 1
to 60, and are lettered N or S according to the northern or southern hemisphere. Zone
numbering starts at -180 degrees longitude (Midway Island, and the International Dateline) and
increase to the east. Hawai‘i, for example, is mostly in Zone 4, while the US East Coast is
around Zone 18, and the United Kingdom is Zone 30, at Greenwich. The UTM zones are also
available on the NAD27 and NAD83 datums.

The following projected coordinate systems are also supported in SAMM: Australian Coordinate
System, British National Grid, Japanese Coordinate System, Geodetic (lon/lat WGS 1984),
Mercator (Equator), New Zealand Coordinate System, and the U.S. State Plane Coordinate
System (NAD27 and NAD83). The list also includes User Defined coordinate system. However,
the tool necessary to create user defined coordinate system is not available at the moment.
SAMM will support this in the future. If you would like to use a projection that is not supported,
please contact OIC.

SAMM will project the sonar image and background charts on-the-fly to the coordinate system
set in the Configuration window. You may only set the projection before data are added or
acquisition begins. Please keep this in mind when creating projects. To manually change the
mosaic display projection from the default UTM WGS84:
Click the Configuration icon.
Select the Project tab in the Configuration window.
In the Projection panel, choose the coordinate system by clicking on one in the Choose
dropdown menu.
Click outside of the Choose menu to hide the menu.
Click Close.

As soon as data acquisition begins, the projection and UTM zone are locked for that project. If
you would like to use a different projection or zone, please create a new project.

4.1.2 Sensor Offsets

Unless the sonar is co-located with the navigation source, SAMM must approximate the actual
sensor position in order to produce the sonar image and mosaic. The Survey setup panel in the
Project tab in the Configuration window provides input fields for the vessel dimensions and

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translational and rotational offsets associated with the sonar, navigation, and heading sensors
(Figure 15).

Figure 15. Survey Setup Panel

The fields are defined as follows.

 Antenna offset: the distance of the GPS receiver antenna from a reference point in

common with the sonar head offset. The numbering convention is:

X = Port / Starboard (positive number = starboard, negative number = port).
Y = Fore / Aft (positive number = fore, negative number = aft).
Z = Height (positive number = above reference point, negative number = below
reference point).

 Sonar head offset: the distance of the sonar head from a reference point in common with

the antenna offset. The same numbering convention is used as for the antenna offset.

 Sonar heading offset: the sonar mount bias, i.e., the angular difference between the

centerline of the boat and the actual pointing direction of the sonar.

 Pitch and roll offsets: The pitch and roll offsets are not relevant to 2D imaging sonar, and

as such are not yet available.

 Compass bias: the heading source mount bias, i.e. the difference between the reported

pointing direction of the heading source and the actual pointing direction of the heading
source. If you have a magnetic compass and know the declination (the difference
between north and magnetic north) for the survey, add it to this bias field. (Automatic
magnetic declination based on lon/lat is not available at this time.)

 Vessel: the shape, width, and length of your vessel. These fields define how the vessel

outline is drawn in the mosaic window.

SAMM draws the vessel, GPS antenna and sonar head in the mosaic window in reference to
the center of the boat. Please note that the antenna and sonar head crosshairs will be
incorrectly placed in relation to the vessel outline if you choose to use the location of either the
GPS unit or the sonar head as the reference point. The mosaic is otherwise unaffected. The unit
of measure for the x, y, and z offsets must match the unit for distance and vertical distance in
the Display subpanel of the Configuration window (see Section 4.2.3).

4.2 Display Tab

Display tab contains General, Swath colormap, and Units of measure panels.

4.2.1 General

The General panel in the Display tab in the Configuration window allows the user to change UI
appearance between normal and dark UI mode (Figure 16).

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Figure 16. General Panel

To change the UI appearance:

1. Click the Configuration icon.

2. In the General panel in the Display tab, check/uncheck the Dark UI box.

3. Click Close.

4.2.2 Swath Colormap

The Swath colormap panel in the Display tab in the Configuration window enables the user to
change the swath display colors of default and mosaic in progress (Figure 17). During
processing, SAMM displays imagery data in the mosaic window and PPI by matching pixel
values to screen colors using the colormap. Changing the colormap may highlight different
objects in the subsea environment.

Figure 17. Swath Colormap Panel

The “Mosaic in progress” swath refers to the swath that SAMM is currently mosaicking.
The ”Completed” swaths are those swaths that are completely mosaicked. SAMM has nine
built-in colormaps: goldenrod, copper, reverse gray, grayscale, bone, cool, green, hot, and jet
(rainbow). Each colormap brings out different features of the data.

To change the colormap for swaths:

4. Click the Configuration icon.

5. In the Swath colormap panel in the Display tab, click the dropdown menu for the swath
type and click the desired colormap.

6. Click Close.

4.2.3 Units of measure

Display units may be changed from the Units of measure panel in the Display tab in the
Configuration window (Figure 18).

Table shows the parameter, available units, and affected display area.

Figure 18. Units of Measure Panel

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Value

Units

Affected Display Area

Easting/Northing

Longitude/Latitude

Distance

Vertical Distance

Speed over

Speed of sound

Temperature

Table 6. Parameters and Units

Meters
Feet
Yards

Degree minute seconds
Degree decimal minutes
Decimal degrees
Meters
Feet
Yards

Meters

(depth/altitude)

ground

To change the units of measure:

1. Click the Configuration icon.

2. In the Units of measure subpanel in the Display tab, click the dropdown menu for any
field and click the desired unit.

3. Click Close.

Feet
Yards
Fathoms

Meters per second
Feet per second
Knots

Meters per second
Feet per second
Degrees Celsius
Degrees Fahrenheit
Degrees Kelvin

Status bar

Live Info
Status bar
Contacts
Contacts
Measure Tool (not yet available)
Survey Setup subpanel of Configuration
window
Live Info
Contacts

(Not yet implemented)

Live info

Properties

4.3 Mosaic Tab

Mosaic tab provides options how SAMM creates mosaic and data files.

4.3.1 General

General panel allows the user to change the default resolution of the mosaic and how SAMM
starts a new swath (Figure 19). This sets the highest resolution of the mosaic, but does not
change the logged data. In this section you can also direct SAMM to generate a new swath
automatically if time gap between successive pings is greater than the user specified limit. This
can be useful for automatically creating new swaths in file playback or loading.

Figure 19. General Panel

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4.3.2 MSK output (connected/live sonars)

SAMM provides three methods for creating a new file during data acquisition: manually, break
by duration, and break by file size (Figure 20).

Figure 20. MSK output Panel

SAMM's default file break method is to break by file size when the size reaches 120 MB.
To change the file break method:

1. Click the Configuration icon.

2. In the MSK output panel in the Mosaic tab, click the radio button corresponding to the
desired method.

3. Click Close.

When breaking manually, the user simply select the “New Swath” icon on the toolbar, or
presses the “B” key on the keyboard. Raw data rates from modern sensors can easily exceed
100KB/sec. While workstations, media, and operating systems can handle large file sizes,
please consider your workflow, memory, and file transfer limitations before deciding to break
files manually. Please also consider that data loss due to corruption is significantly more
catastrophic for single large files than single small files.

SAMM automatically names files by combining the time the file was created with an incremental
number.

4.4 Contacts tab

SAMM can send contacts over the network or a serial connection. Each contact is sent as a
proprietary NMEA sentence ($POIT) (Figure 21).

Figure 21. Contacts Tab

To send contacts:

1. Click the Configuration icon.

2. In the Contacts tab, click Not configured to configure the connections.

3. Open the Contact Viewer.

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