Scanning Total Stations

Take a look at the Leica MS60. If you are using it as a robot the majority of the time, the MS60 combined with the AP20 AutoPole could be a great option.

For what itƒ??s worth. I used the SX10 on a site. This was more for metrology than everyday surveying. We tested for accuracy and production against a Faro 360 scanner. Obviously the Faro covers more area quicker. But what we discovered was that we didnƒ??t need everything scanned only certain items and specific areas. Once we figured that out the sx10 ?ÿwas more productive because now I could use it to layout the test site. Once built we scanned what needed to be scanned and positioned what needed single point only and was much better cost wise than maintaining a total station and a scanner. Vs all in one. It saved processing time in the office as well not having to deal with all those unneeded extra point clouds. I have heard good things about the MS60 as well we did this test about 3 years ago now. The total area was about 600 foot radius with things of all shapes and sizes throughout the area. ?ÿI would be calling all the distributors and telling them what you wish to accomplish and find a site that each one can come to at different times and perform. Weigh that against cost and what in house equipment you already have. I am a spreadsheet guy so i would be scoring everything in that to weigh my decision. Not just the bells and whistles the sales person will show you like ours spins this fast or ours will give you a massage at the end of the day. Lol. Learn the pros and cons to each and grade them in a way that makes user sense company business model sense and financial sense. And productivity. Weigh training cost and time. And new or existing support hardware and software. Aka computer capabilities flow of current work.?ÿ

Ditto what OleManRiver said.same for SX12 with the super bright fricken green laser too.

I miss mine.???›

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I have had an MS50 for about a month longer than the MS60 release date.?ÿ At the time is was only a couple of $k more than the standard 1" imaging TS with a hot reflectorless laser with the added benefit of the piezio drives and scanning.?ÿ Also, the maintenance schedule is double the other TS.?ÿ I already had a scanner, so I was not as interested in using it for full on scanning projects where a scanner beats it hands down.?ÿ It does work well for scanning bits of things that require greater detail or have access issues.?ÿ I have actually found myself using the scanning feature more often lately.?ÿ It works well for road intersection that I don't want to step out in.?ÿ I just used it in combination with my C10, scanning the back wall of a plaza while I used the C10 for detailed scans inside.?ÿ The MS50 took about an hour per scan but during that time I was shuffling the C10 around so it was kind of a freebee.

The MS60 is considerably faster than the MS50 in some instances but still only 60% the speed of my C10 and only 3% the speed of phase-based LiDAR scanners like the P series or RTC360.

@john-putnam I think you nailed it very well. Regular scanner has its place. In simple terms all or nothing. The total station imagine scanners have there place like sx10 sx12 ms60. ?ÿWhen you need a intersection or more detail than taking a million shots with a rod trying to ?ÿdetail something you could do in a few minutes with sx10 type system. And when access is a concern. Or safety like intersections etc. ?ÿi have been on a few jobs lately that could have benefitted from these extra tools. ?ÿI could have set up a 360 all in one scanner practically in an area walked and set up sx10 and started it scanning a loading dock walked back moved 3 d scanner to new location and started it then went back and finish up topo mapping with sx10. But we donƒ??t have one lol. ?ÿBut if you ever used any of them and processed the data and make deliverables you kinda know when and when not to use which tool. ?ÿ ?ÿ?ÿ

Posted by: @olemanriver

But if you ever used any of them and processed the data and make deliverables you kinda know when and when not to use which tool. ?ÿ ?ÿ

That's the trick right there. If one doesn't know how the data is going to be processed and information extracted, it's a lot harder to know when and when not to scan something.

@rover83 Like G.I.Joe said knowing is half the battle. I wish I still had my gi joes but bottle rockets and roman candles and cherry bombs along with bb guns and such. Well I was a kid and didnƒ??t know any better. ?ÿLol And if you ask my wife I am still just a kid. Just a little bigger around the waste. And do not hear or see as well.?ÿ