Survey the Underground, Node by Node
For decades, the underground has been treated as dark data — only documented when a specific project demanded it. The Looq Platform gives surveyors a field-crew workflow to capture every manhole and vault in full 3D, geo-referenced to project coordinates. Document what’s actually there, node by node, as you go.
Easy Underground Workflow. Survey Grade Accuracy.
Photogrammetric capture, reconstructed in the cloud — with every accuracy lever in your hands.
Going below ground means losing your GNSS lock. To keep the capture geo-referenced, the walk has to bracket the descent. Spend two to three minutes above ground first — walking up and down the street with the qCam in normal carry, then circling the open manhole with the center camera pointed at it. Then the slow invert: strobe on, qCam upside down, lower it into the structure keeping close to the center. A slow 360 inside, lower further, another rotation, capture the interior in two or three passes. Pull it back out, turn the LEDs off, circle the opening, and walk up and down the street again to close the bracket — two to three minutes after. That gives the platform a good GPS lock at both ends of the capture; the cameras keep resolving and matching frames through the underground portion, so the platform stitches the interior to the GNSS-anchored exterior.
Each capture is its own bracket — but every capture across a project sits in the same coordinate system. Document twenty manholes across a corridor and get back a spatially-anchored map of every node, plus a point cloud of what’s inside each one.
LAZ point cloud — RGB colorized, ASPRS classified (ground, road, sidewalk, vegetation, structures), projected in your site coordinate system. ~1.5–2 GB per 20-minute capture.
Thin LAZ — ~10% file size, key features preserved, ground detail stripped.
GeoTIF ortho — full resolution (~6mm spacing uncompressed), 1cm JPEG-compressed, and 3cm JPEG-compressed options.
Panoramic JPGs — 270° FOV imagery from the 4-camera system.
Track file — GeoJSON (ellipsoidal) + CSV (projected) of the qCam path.
PPK report — GNSS quality report, downloadable.
Virtual Survey CSV — feature-coded linework, ready for Civil 3D or TBC import.
Fill gaps in your survey workflows.
Environments where the Looq Platform improves your work.
Sites with dense ground detail
Curbs, gutters, base-of-structure — most anything a drone cannot see from above, you can with the qCam.
Under canopy or light vegetation
Ground-level photogrammetry sees what drones lose to canopy — base of pole, topography under trees, building facades.
Constrained urban corridors
Downtown blocks, no-fly-zones, traffic-tight rights of way — all captured on foot.
Linear corridors
Roadways, pipelines, easements — walked end-to-end with loop closures.
Overhead utility lines
Pole-by-pole capture from ground level. Walking adjacent, not under to capture line detail.
Manholes and vaults
Strobe lights let you reach and capture details of smaller enclosed spaces underground as part of your above-ground capture.
Easily share Looq data with downstream workflows
Same formats. Same workflows. Same tools (CAD/GIS).
AutoCAD Civil 3D
LAZ + GeoTIF imports through Autodesk ReCap. Virtual Survey CSV brings in begin/end curve codes natively.
Trimble Business Center
Set coordinate system in TBC, then drag LAZ + GeoTIF. TBC-matched feature code library from Looq.
Esri / ArcGIS
Pull panoramic JPGs and feature-coded CSV directly into your GIS feature service or asset database.
See the Looq Platform in Survey Workflows
Capture underground manholes and vaults quickly and accurately. From best practices for field capture to visualizing these datasets in 3D, you will learn about the full end-to-end process. Watch survey workflows, preparing data for Civil 3D, or preparing data for Trimble Business Center.
Run your numbers.
Sixty seconds on the calculator. Adjust the inputs to your operation, see your annual savings update in real time. No form required.
Frequently Asked Questions
Accuracy & GNSS
Why do I lose GNSS lock underground?
The qCam’s GPS antenna is on top. The moment you invert and lower it into the structure, the antenna is fully obstructed and the platform stops receiving useful GPS measurements. The cameras keep resolving — they continue to match frames against the previous imagery — so reconstruction continues. But the underground portion is geo-referenced through the above-ground bracket walks, not through live GNSS.
How do the above-ground bracket walks anchor the capture?
Walk up and down the street for two to three minutes before you go underground, then circle the open manhole with the center camera pointed at it. That gives a strong GPS anchor at the start of the capture. After you pull the qCam back out, repeat — walk up and down the street again for another two to three minutes. The platform uses both anchors to geo-reference the underground reconstruction, with image-overlap stitching the interior to the GNSS-anchored exterior.
How do you handle GNSS for deep manholes or large vaults?
Longer time underground means a longer GPS-free interval, so the anchor on either end needs more strength. For larger vault captures, extend the bracket walks — go a little farther up and down the street before and after to compensate. The platform handles it as long as both ends are strongly anchored.
Do I need a local GNSS base station for underground work?
Not always. Auto-processing via public networks handles most manhole captures. Use a local base station when you need higher absolute accuracy — tying the dataset to existing project control, integrating with above-ground survey, or work where the absolute 3D position of the structure matters. Shorter baselines under 5–10 km produce the tightest residuals.
Manhole & Vault Capture
Does the qCam really work upside down?
Yes. The 4-camera array and IMU were built for inversion. Manhole and vault capture is a primary use case, not a workaround. Lukas’s exact answer in the webinar: “We wouldn’t be doing this webinar if we didn’t.”
What’s the right way to invert and lower the qCam?
Slow. Both the inversion motion and the entry into the manhole should be deliberate — quick or abrupt downward motion produces blurry imagery and breaks frame matching. Hold the qCam out, get it fixated, then slowly lower it down. Keep it as close to the center of the manhole opening as possible. Too close to the edge and the imagery blurs.
How do the LED strobes work inside the manhole?
The capture interface has a flash toggle in the top right corner. Turn it on before you invert. The LEDs are very bright — bright enough to illuminate the structure interior, bright enough that you should be careful where you point the qCam when you turn it on. Inside, the strobes give the cameras enough light to focus and resolve at close range.
Should I use the survey pole accessory?
For shallow manholes, no — you can lower the qCam by hand. For deeper manholes and larger vaults, yes. The 5/8″-11 adapter attaches the qCam to any standard survey pole, with a power cable extension to keep the system running. Recommended for safety on anything that exceeds arm reach. Attach the pole before you start the above-ground bracket walk; reconnecting in the field is not recommended.
Can I detach the iPhone while capturing inside?
Yes. The iPhone connects via Wi-Fi and uses a quad lock release at the back — easy to remove. For larger vault captures, recommended: detach the iPhone so a second person can monitor the imagery in real time. Use the point-of-interest button on the capture screen to tag equipment labels, valve tags, or anything you’ll want to retrieve back at the office.
Capture Types & Scaling
Can I document multiple manholes across one project workflow?
Yes. Each capture is its own bracket, but all captures across a project sit in the same coordinate system. A day in the field can document every manhole and vault across a corridor — get back a spatially-anchored map of every node and a point cloud of what’s inside each one. This is how the platform scales from one structure to a network.
How long does a typical manhole capture take?
Twenty minutes start to finish per structure: roughly 5 minutes for setup and pole attachment, 10 minutes for the above-ground bracket walk and any GCP control, 5 minutes for the inside-the-structure portion. No confined-space entry, no permit, no attendant crew.
What about vaults too large for above-ground capture?
Two-person mode. One operator manipulates the qCam on a long survey pole; the second monitors imagery on the detached iPhone. Use the POI button to mark equipment labels, conduit markings, anything that needs follow-up. Move around large equipment so it doesn’t obstruct the view — get behind and around the obstacles.
What if there’s water in the manhole?
Capture as much as you can from the dry portion and from the entry. Standing water below the qCam is fine; submerging the qCam is the limit. The qCam is rated for field use, not for submersion.
Comparison
How does Looq compare to confined-space entry for manhole inspection?
Confined-space entry requires a permit, a two-person attendant crew, gas monitoring, and often weekend or off-hours scheduling because of traffic. Looq captures the interior from above ground — no entry, no permit, no attendants. The platform captures more imagery than a crew could measure standing in three feet of water, and the data lives in qApp for review and re-inspection back at the office.
Does Looq do the pipes and conduit between manholes?
No — the Looq Platform documents the nodes of the underground network, not the connections between them. Subsurface utility detection (locating the pipes themselves) is QL-B work that requires GPR and electromagnetic locators. Subsurface utility exposure (QL-A) requires vacuum excavation. Looq fills the gap that neither of those tools fills: full-fidelity 3D documentation of the manhole or vault structure itself, geo-referenced to your project coordinates.
Integration & Sharing
How do I align manhole data to my project coordinate system?
Four to five GCPs in a square or rectangular pattern around the opening, surveyed with your standard accuracy spec. Circle around each GCP during the capture (same method as the manhole — center camera pointed at it). Use the Align-to-Control tool in qApp to align the dataset to your surveyed control network.
Does the Looq Platform work with my existing GPS base station?
Yes. Any base station that captures a static RINEX file works — Trimble, Emlid, Leica, others. You upload the RINEX along with your capture and the platform uses it for PPK corrections. Shorter baselines under 5–10 km produce the tightest residuals.
Can I share manhole capture data with engineering teams who don’t have CAD?
Yes. Send them a qApp browser link from your project. Viewer-role access lets them measure, navigate, and inspect the point cloud and panoramic imagery without installing CAD or GIS software. Useful when handing data to municipal owners, asset managers, or anyone outside the survey shop.
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