Surveyors have strived to run a one-man crew for several years since Geodimeter introduced
robotics. GPS entered the market, then RTK surveyors left the base station unguarded. A
surveyor in Houston with six robots was required to have someone guard the instrument at
all times (by his insurance company). The GPS manufacturers responded with VTN or better
use of CORS stations. The total station manufacturers responded with reflector less
technology.
The photogrammetric industry is responding with UAS.
Now to the NOVA discussion. Fantastic piece of equipment. However, the PLS
market place has aged. It used to make sense to buy a Topcon GTS-3 and have success
and then hire crew members from the junior college with a basic knowledge of surveying
and CAD drafting. Then we would buy another six-pack of total stations. In the mean
time, the land development market has been devastated by the economy (or politics).
Small companies across the US used to exist with a HP41CX and a total station.
Many would do calculations on the spot and finish the survey in one trip.
Can you afford to train one person on the NOVA for a year and then that person leave to
the competitor who just bought a NOVA? You may be too old to go out to the field.
I had a 70-year old friend in Arizona say that his RTK rover took ten years off of his life.
Who is going to operate the NOVA?
What's NOVA?
> What's NOVA?
That's the new sensation from Lieca. AKA the MS-50.
:good:
I think the training is being over thought here a bit. The Nova is nothing more than a Robot that scans. Most Surveyors at this point can run a robot or have the intelligence to pick this up relatively fast. Setting up the scan application is extremely easy, a novice user can learn this in a matter of an hour. The real guts of the training comes in the way of the office portion. Yea, it is tough, yes it does take a while. Lets remember though, there are a ton of scanners out there. If you have a scanner you know how to run the office software. Point is, it's not like there are five guys across the US that can do this and an opportunity to advance in a snap exists. You lose one, you pick up another. Scanning, if it fits in you business model and you advertise for it can pay your Initial investment very quickly. I'm talking about scanning overall, not just with the NOVA.
I think you are probably right. Several hundred of owners/surveyors and party chiefs
already know how to use laser scanners and the transition may be easier than I first
thought.
Is that the thing they were going to have the big too do over a month or so ago?
> Is that the thing they were going to have the big too do over a month or so ago?
The very same. It really is a pretty big deal.
Running the scanner itself is quite simple. Many of our party chiefs have been doing it for years now.
I can't imagine that a hybrid total station/scanner is any more difficult.
The main difficulty with scanning is interpreting and managing all that data.
I agree. For typical surveying applications, it's like hitting a fly with a sledgehammer. It has it's applications.
I'll get excited when I can GPS under canopy or when the rover can maneuver on it's own.
A robot that scans is some kind of big deal?? Hasn't Trimble been doing this for a while now?? Maybe I missed something.
> Hasn't Trimble been doing this for a while now?? Maybe I missed something.
The Trimble VX scan rate is "up to" 15 points per second. The Nova/MS50 is spec'd at 1,000 points per second.
I can't help but think that Trimble has something similar in the wings, but I haven't heard anything about such an animal yet.
> Surveyors have strived to run a one-man crew for several years since Geodimeter introduced
> robotics. GPS entered the market, then RTK surveyors left the base station unguarded. A
> surveyor in Houston with six robots was required to have someone guard the instrument at
> all times (by his insurance company). The GPS manufacturers responded with VTN or better
> use of CORS stations. The total station manufacturers responded with reflector less
> technology.
>
> The photogrammetric industry is responding with UAS.
>
> Now to the NOVA discussion. Fantastic piece of equipment. However, the PLS
> market place has aged. It used to make sense to buy a Topcon GTS-3 and have success
> and then hire crew members from the junior college with a basic knowledge of surveying
> and CAD drafting. Then we would buy another six-pack of total stations. In the mean
> time, the land development market has been devastated by the economy (or politics).
> Small companies across the US used to exist with a HP41CX and a total station.
> Many would do calculations on the spot and finish the survey in one trip.
>
> Can you afford to train one person on the NOVA for a year and then that person leave to
> the competitor who just bought a NOVA? You may be too old to go out to the field.
> I had a 70-year old friend in Arizona say that his RTK rover took ten years off of his life.
>
> Who is going to operate the NOVA?
Don't "markets" make up the "economy"?
As demand cycles back, so will the need for labor and equipment. If scanners are the tool of the day, scanners will be used to meet demand.
So, an RTK rover took ten years off of his life.
[sarcasm]They should come with warning labels.[/sarcasm] 😉
I must suggest that knowing how to collect good data is more than simply pushing the go button.