a recent participant in the use of robotic instruments:
I have recently gone robotic. So far, there have been only minor glitches in getting used to the system. Everything is working very well. And the results so far are outstanding as far as accuracy and precision.
However, there is one key thing I really need to keep in mind. There is a problem that is common to both the manual and the robotic stations. It is very easily solved on the manual station because someone is standing right there at the station. But on the robotic station it can negate the effort/time savings.
To set the scene - I get to a job site and get the gear all unloaded from the truck. I have the robot in a backpack and decide to hike up and set it up at the top of a steep hill first (while I am less sweaty and tired). I get back to the bottom of the hill and start connecting. For some reason the station will not lock onto the RC unit. I am really starting to get frustrated as everything had been working just fine earlier in the week.
Eventually, after much muttering and cussing, I realized the problem (as some of you already have). So after hiking all the way back up the hill - TO REMOVE THE LENS CAP -, I am able to get to measuring.
I know it is not ground breaking research on how to use a robotic total station. But after that slip up, I could not stop laughing at myself.
That's the kind of stuff I do but am too embarassed to admit it!
Have a great week! B-)
I have chewed myself out, even fired myself many times over similar infractions.
But I am learning...
......... s l o w l y.
I've done a similar thing a time or two, forgetting to put the antenna on the robot and wondering why the radio wasn't connecting to the instrument.
I don't have a lens cap for my Leica, so that's not a problem I have to face. The one I deal with all too regularly is forgetting to put the gun into GeoCom Online (robotic) mode. It's all set up and ready to work, but because I didn't tell it to start communicating over the radio link, all it can do is sit there, often many hundreds of feet away.
hmm,
I think we don't have a lense cap!
but then me too I had to turn back to the instrument a few times when we started robotic.
I found myself ready (more than once) at the backsight point while the dc was still attached to the tripod ... feels so stupid!
Chr.
That does not happen when you keep the lens cap at the office and use a micro towel to wrap the instrument in.
😉
Like Jim's Geodimeter, our Topcon robot must be put in robotic mode. I've failed to do that a few times, leading to a walk back to the gun. Now, I try to make it a point to set the backsight up first, build my pole, then set up the instrument. Then I make sure everything is humming before I leave the instrument (radio working? check. instrument control? check. prism offsets correct? check. backsight shot checked? ready to go). It's been said using a robot will provide lots more exercise. That's true, and probably a third of that extra exercise is going back to the gun to get it going 😀
The problem with a robot is that you only have yourself to cuss at and blame.:-D
Jon,
I have done this a few times myself. I have also forgot to put the gun in robotic mode as well.
It happens to all of us at one time or another.
I have an award at my company called the Dummy of the Day award. Being mostly solo, guess who usually gets it!:-S On the other hand, I always get the employee of the week award!:-)
At the time it is frustrating, but it's kinda funny when you look back it it. My poor robot has taken quite a few fussings over the years, but mostly it was simple stuff like has been mentioned here. We are all human, and it definitely makes it more funny when you realize that you aren't the only one that stuff like that happens to.
Enjoy the robotic instrument. I really like mine.
Jimmy
I leave my Topcon in "External Link" mode even when I power it down, but I often use the electronic bubble and forget to go back to the main screen before walking away. This gives the same result as forgetting to set up the link. I've also learned that if I'm going to leave a back-sight prism in place while I roam around on as-builts and topos to cover it or tip the prism down so that the instrument won't lock onto the back-sight when I pass in front or behind it.
+1 on the backsight. If I can, I'll plan my backsight location to be away from where my topo is, if not, I'll tip it down too, or throw my hat over it while in nearby.
After a few forgot to set this/that/or the other I would be developing a checklist laminated for in the instrument case. [sarcasm]Naturally after setting up the instrument I would remember that the checklist was on my desk back at the office![/sarcasm]
Memory self-check test:
If you forget where you put your keys: you're o.k.
If you forget what the keys are for: ..........
Memory self-check test:
Ben there and done that and probably several dozen others stupid things since I got my Leica 1105 in 2004.
My motto is to be hooked up and working before leaving the instrument.
Hiking up that hill one or more times than necessary gets old quick.
Randy
Never could quite figure the purpose of it. Only used in the box.
Memory self-check test:
If you forget where your keys are, you're ok. Everybody does it sometimes.
If you get out to the car and realize you have the orange juice in your hand and left the keys in the refrigerator, then you worry.
"And who'd have thought we needed TRIPODS out here??"
> After a few forgot to set this/that/or the other I would be developing a checklist laminated for in the instrument case. [sarcasm]Naturally after setting up the instrument I would remember that the checklist was on my desk back at the office![/sarcasm]
Get on a tightly-scheduled heli job with a mix of GPS and conventional gear with crews switching back and forth. Forgetting to load out a necessary piece of cable is the stuff of nightmares...:cat:
SHOOO!!
Besides, having laminated cards around my neck makes me look so "operational"... 😛
I was doing a topo once and this happened, had to redo about a dozen points when I realized that I was locked on the BS and not the rod, lesson learned....
If I was watching the Hz angle closer I would of caught this, now if in doubt I move the rod slightly and see if the Hz angle changes, LOL!
SHG