Extract Topographic Points from Google Earth using TCX Converter

This tutorial is for those who want to know a way of extracting topographic points from google earth.

Step 1: Download and install TCX Converter   

 

Step 2: Open Google earth application and navigate to the area of interest (the area that you want the contour points).

 

Step 3: Create a path to cover the area mentioned above. More points means more accuracy. (Note: Google earth points will only give us approximate values and not the exact one as we can see on the field during actual survey)

 

Step 4: After creating the path, right-click the path name then click "Save Place As" and save in in kml format (e.g. Path1.kml)

 

 

Step 5: After the above step, you can now close google earth. Open The TCX Converter you downloaded then click "OPEN FILE" and select the kml file you saved from google earth. If the software is in another language, select "English" from the left topmost dropdown menu. 

 

 

Step 6: This will now load the available points generated from the kml file. You will notice that the ALT (altitude) column lists zero (0) values. You have to update this and you need an internet connection.

 

Step 7: Click on the Track/Modify tab then click "Update Altitude". This should update the altitudes from the reading on google earth based on Longitude/Latitude combination. If the values on the ALT column remains zeros or error, just click on Update Altitude again. It will work. Be patient :-)

 

 

Step 8: After generating the altitudes, click on the File Export tab and click Save csv File. Click No on the dialog box that will appear to make a comma (,) delimited values. This means that the columns will be separated by commas when you view it in a text editor. 

After generating this point datas, you can now use it in either GridView of Autocad Civil 3d to generate your Topographic Map. 

Hope this could help...

SCILAB

If you are familiar with MATLAB software, you will find SCILAB fascinating, not just because of its functionalities like MATLAB but because it is an open source software. Open source softwares are free. Here is a small description about SCILAB:

Scilab is an open source, cross-platform numerical computational package and a high-level, numerically orientedprogramming language. It can be used for signal processing, statistical analysis, image enhancement, fluid dynamicssimulations, numerical optimization, and modeling, simulation of explicit and implicit dynamical systems and (if the corresponding toolbox is installed) symbolic manipulations. Scilab is the most complete open source alternative to MATLAB.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Diversion Dam Software

First of all, I would like to give thanks to the people who made the creation of this software possible. To Engr. Zeny for encouragement to me to write this program and support during that time. To Engr. Cocoy for giving answers to every questions that I can throw and allowing me to take a peek for his excel program similar to the one I wrote and to my fellow designers and friends who helped me debug and test the program to see if the results were acceptable.

This program I called 'Diversion' is an aid to hydraulic

Android Canal Design

As a designer of irrigation structures, one of the most structure that I often encounter to design is the irrigation canal. Because of this, some of us created computer programs to aid us in the computation of hydraulic analysis of irrigation or drainage canals. However,

Prevent Flash Drives from Being Infected by Viruses

Flash drives or USB sticks are very good at handling files fast at portable. You can bring your electronic files anywhere with just a small hardware and just plug-in in any available machine that can read it. However this advantage has a corresponding disadvantage associated with.

Flash drive are also pretty easy to be infected by computer viruses and as easy as spreading them to other machines. Now I will share a simple tweak to prevent flash drives from being infected by viruses. This is what I'm using now, and even if you plug it in an infected computer, the risk of being infected by virus automatically is eliminated. It can only be infected by virus by manually copying the infected file on the drive. So here it is.

1. First, format the flash drive to NTFS file system. See image below:

Import Terrain Surface From Google Earth to Autocad Civil 3D

As the title says, we will input contours from google earth to autocad civil 3D 2010.
First, you will need to have Autocad Civil 3D and Google earth installed in your system and an internet  connection as well. First go to google earth and zoom in to areas

Structural analysis for vertical concrete canal linings

Assumptions:
1. No water inside the canal and the embankment outside
 is up to the top bank of the canal.
2. Soil is saturated.

Procedure of analysis:

1. Compute for pressure at canal bottom using the formula:

How to show Hidden System Files and Folders on Flash Drives

Computer viruses are programs that copy themselves automatically and may destroy
your files. One of the effect of a virus on a usb flashdrive is turning all its contents
to Protected Operating System Files so that if you insert it to a computer, you can't
see any files inside because it is hidden. Showing the hidden files on the folder
options is not enough, you have to uncheck the 'Hide Protected System Files' option
as well. But this

Rankine's Earth Pressure Theory

Rankine's earth pressure theory is widely used in analyzing the lateral pressure exerted by earth to a vertical wall (e.g. Retaining Wall) as long as it meets certain assumptions used in this theory.
Assumptions are the wall should be vertical and the friction resistance between the wall and the soil is neglected and the soil should be granular.

Pressures acting on the soil consists of three types; active, passive and at rest.

Rankine's coefficients are Ka for active, Kp for passive and Ko for at rest.

Applications:

1. Active pressure - assumed as horizontal neglecting the friction between soil and wall. This friction force gives a stabilizing