1.4 Your First Scan
The first scan is a practice scan to learn the initialization procedure, movement technique, and shutdown sequence before these actions matter for a real project.
Choosing a Practice Environment
The ideal first practice environment is a furnished office, conference room, or workspace of 500 to 1,100 square feet (50 to 100 square meters). It should have enough visual features, furniture, walls at angles, columns, objects, so the SLAM system has distinct reference points in multiple directions. Avoid empty rooms, parking garages, corridors with identical repeating walls, and outdoor open areas for the first scan.
- Furnished interior space, 500 to 1,100 sq ft (50 to 100 sq m)
- Features visible from the center at 10 to 33 feet (3 to 10 meters)
- No mirrors, no large smooth glass walls directly facing the initialization position
- Enough room to walk a loop and return near your starting point
- Good overhead lighting, the visual cameras use ambient light for feature tracking
Initialization
Initialization sets the origin and calibrates the SLAM starting reference. Errors introduced here are carried through the entire session. The procedure is short and non-negotiable. Do it the same way every time.
Choose the Initialization Position
Stand in the center of the space where structured features are visible in all directions at 10 to 33 feet (3 to 10 meters). The LiDAR needs to be aimed at the area with the most features. Avoid facing blank walls at close range. The center of a furnished room is ideal. Poor positions include: corners, areas with only one wall nearby, doorways, and areas directly adjacent to mirrors or glass.
Avoid starting in feature-scarce environments such as open fields, large reflective glass areas, or areas with significant moving objects like swaying plants, dense traffic, or crowds. Moving objects during initialization corrupt the starting reference the same way operator movement does.
Place the Scanner on the Steel Base Plate on a Stable Surface
The surface must be rigid, level, and vibration-free. Concrete or tile is ideal. Do not initialize on carpet that compresses, furniture that shifts, or near running mechanical equipment. The base plate keeps the device at a consistent height and prevents rolling. Keep the LiDAR clear of obstructions. Nothing should block the sensor's line of sight during initialization, including nearby furniture edges, walls within arm's reach, or objects placed next to the scanner on the same surface.
Tap Go, Do Not Move During the 15-Second Countdown
In LixelGO, set the project name, confirm mount type as Handheld, and tap Go. The app starts a 15-second static initialization countdown. Any movement, by the operator, the device, or nearby personnel, during this countdown corrupts the starting reference frame. The entire session carries that error. Clear all personnel to at least 6 feet (2 meters) before tapping Go.
Hold Position for 15 Additional Seconds After the Countdown
The countdown ending is not the signal to pick up the scanner. When the prompt confirms initialization is complete, continue holding position for another 15 seconds. SLAM is accumulating the initial point cloud and establishing tracking confidence. The preview will populate during this second window. Moving too early produces a degraded starting reference that affects the rest of the session.
Pick Up the Scanner and Start Moving Slowly
Lift with both hands. Keep the scanner vertical. Walk at half your normal pace for the first 10 to 15 seconds while SLAM stabilizes tracking with the device in motion. The point cloud preview should show structure building in real time.
K1-specific posture note: Tilt the K1 downward at 15 to 20 degrees along your walking direction during scanning. This allows the LiDAR to scan the floor approximately 15 feet ahead of your position. The L2 Pro has a wider vertical FOV and does not require this deliberate tilt.
Scanning
The quality of your scan data is determined by how you move. The LiDAR collects geometry continuously, good technique produces clean, registerable data. Poor technique creates gaps, artifacts, and SLAM drift that cannot always be corrected in processing.
Walking Speed
Walk at approximately 3 feet per second (1 meter per second) under normal conditions. In feature-poor areas (long corridors, parking structures, open areas), slow to about 1.5 feet per second (0.5 meters per second) to give the SLAM system more data density per unit of distance traveled. Moving too fast in low-feature environments is the primary cause of SLAM drift.
Device Posture
Keep the scanner vertical during normal movement. The inclination angle of the device along the walking direction should generally not exceed 20 degrees. In small spaces or when scanning ground targets, do not exceed 30 degrees. The posture indicator in LixelGO will show a warning when tilt exceeds acceptable limits, monitor it actively and adjust before the warning persists.
Route Planning
Walk routes that create closed loops. SLAM improves accuracy at every point where you return to a previously-scanned area from a similar angle. A route that ends at the starting point without genuine loops in between does not provide the same correction benefit. Scan around furniture, into alcoves, and through doorways as you go, areas that are skipped require a second scan pass.
Full-Body Turns
When turning in corridors or changing direction, rotate your entire body rather than twisting at the waist. Keep the scanner stable relative to your torso throughout the turn. Smooth, deliberate turns over 1 to 2 seconds. Rapid swinging motions generate point cloud artifacts that are not correctable in processing.
For a 5-minute first practice scan, aim to cover the space in at least 2 loops, returning near the initialization position at the end. The loop closure at the finish is the most important single movement of the session for SLAM accuracy.
K1 limitation: The K1 does not perform real-time loop closure optimization. It still benefits from loops in post-processing, but you will not see corrections applied in the LixelGO preview during the scan. The L2 Pro performs real-time loop closure optimization during scanning. For both devices, plan routes with deliberate loops regardless.
Stopping and Saving
The shutdown sequence is not a single button press. There are three states to move through, and the most common data loss error is powering off during the second state.
Return Near the Initialization Point
Before stopping, walk back to within 15 to 30 feet (5 to 10 meters) of where you initialized. A loop closure at or near the starting position provides the final SLAM correction. This is not strictly required for a valid scan but significantly improves accuracy for the full session.
Double-Press the Function Key to Stop Scanning
The LED will change from slow-flashing green (scanning) to fast-flashing green (stopping/saving). The LiDAR rotor will stop spinning.
Wait, Fast-Flashing Green Means the Device Is Saving
Do not power off. Do not remove the battery. Do not connect USB. The device is writing scan files to storage. This takes 5 to 60 seconds depending on scan length. Interrupting this process corrupts the scan file. It cannot be recovered. Wait for the LED to change to solid green before doing anything.
Solid Green, Safe to Power Off or Transfer Data
Solid green means standby. The scan file is fully written. Power off normally (hold 4 seconds), or connect USB to transfer data, or proceed with another scan if battery allows.
Project Naming
Enter the project name in LixelGO before tapping Go. The name is set at scan start and cannot be changed after. LixelStudio and the output files will use this name throughout processing.
If you enter "Parking Lot B2F", the project folder is created as "Parking_Lot_B2F_2025-01-15-1622026" where spaces are converted to underscores and the scan timestamp is appended automatically. If no project name is entered, the folder is named "default_[timestamp]". Use a consistent, descriptive naming convention from the first scan.
- Use only letters, numbers, underscores, and hyphens
- Avoid spaces, they are converted to underscores automatically, but knowing this avoids confusion when finding files later
- Avoid non-ASCII characters, they may cause processing issues in LixelStudio
- Include the floor or area in the name for multi-session projects: "Building_A_L1", "Building_A_L2"
Common First-Time Mistakes
- Moving during the 15-second initialization countdown. Any movement corrupts the starting reference. The only fix is to restart the scan.
- Picking up the scanner immediately after the countdown ends. Wait an additional 15 seconds after initialization confirms complete. Moving too early degrades tracking confidence for the entire session.
- Walking too fast in corridors or feature-poor areas. Slow to half pace in any area without structural variety in all directions at 10 to 33 feet (3 to 10 meters).
- Powering off during the fast-flash green save phase. The file is corrupted and not recoverable. Wait for solid green every time, without exception.
- Initializing in a corner or facing a blank wall. The SLAM system needs features in multiple directions. A corner or blank wall position starves it of tracking references at the start.
- Initializing near moving objects. Swaying plants, passing traffic, crowds, or any persistent motion in the LiDAR's field of view during the static initialization period degrades the starting reference. Clear the initialization zone of avoidable movement before tapping Go.
- Scanning a route with no loops. A straight-line route from point A to point B and back the same way is not a loop. It provides no loop closure corrections and produces lower accuracy than a route with genuine crossings.
- Tilting the scanner excessively while walking. Keep tilt under 20 degrees for general scanning. Monitor the posture indicator in LixelGO actively.
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