I'm working on a topo that involves a couple of small bridges. Although my contract is limited to plan-view features, in looking at these bridges I wondered how feasible it would be to use a reflectorless motorized total station in place of a scanner to model their vertical faces. I know it wouldn't be as effective or as efficient as using a real laser scanner, but curiosity keeps bringing the subject up in my mind.
Yesterday I decided to see what would be involved. I figured that this capability would be built into my copy of SurvCE (v1.62), but if it's there I can't find it. I'm using a Leica TCRA1102plus, and a web search turned up a Leica application called Face Scan, which is apparently part of their TPS Expert package, which I don't have. I don't even know if it's still available, since the 1100 series is long discontinued.
Any have experience using a total station as a scanner? What control software did you use, and is it worth the time it takes, even for very small projects?
We have used it on our 1200 series for quantities of and volumes of borrow pits and other mounds. It worked okay for that, but it is not in any way a scanner.
We do alot of bridge surveys, they are all now scanned since we have our own scanner, however I couldnt imagine it being worth the while. I guess it might work since you can tell it to take a reflectorless shot every distance/time, however it is not a fast process.
> We have used it on our 1200 series for quantities of and volumes of borrow pits and other mounds. It worked okay for that, but it is not in any way a scanner.
>
> We do alot of bridge surveys, they are all now scanned since we have our own scanner, however I couldnt imagine it being worth the while. I guess it might work since you can tell it to take a reflectorless shot every distance/time, however it is not a fast process.
I think it's better suited for stockpiles. Particularly since you have an 1100 series. A bridge has way too much detail in my opinion.
I think the 1100 would be compatible to the 5600 in terms of capabilities, somrthing like this open pit mine might be suitable:
[flash width=420 height=315] http://www.youtube.com/v/xMDCHosBsZo?hl=en_US&version=3 [/flash]
BTW my version of Survce has that capability
> BTW my version of Survce has that capability
What version, and what's the name of the command? I couldn't find anything in the v2.5 manual about it.
> > BTW my version of Survce has that capability
>
> What version, and what's the name of the command? I couldn't find anything in the v2.5 manual about it.
I stand corrected on that, I was probably using TDS when I tried it. The Survce has the ability to monitor which I may have confused.
Sorry about that.
Ralph
You can do it with TDS. I have done a couple. It is slow but it works.
With the 1100 hooked to a cord to data collector. The 1100 takes some time to level before taking the shot. 5600 is quicker and the S3 is even quicker. All robots should be able to do what you are talking about. I normally did a 2 tenth grid and manually shot the windows with a void description.
I've done it with a Sokkia SRX3 using TDS. Define a plane by three points which serve also to identify the limit of the survey, and then specify grid distance, and you're off. About 1 shot every 2 seconds, more or less.
Try command below:
From SurvCE Manual, Ver 2.5
Grid/Face
This command enables points on both vertical and non-vertical planes to be
coordinated by angle-only observations. This feature is most often used to pick up
details of a building where the prism cannot be placed. You first establish the
plane, then take angle-only observations for features such as windows.
The building face is defined by observing three accessible points on the building or
by entering their known coordinates. After angle-only observations are made,
SurvCE then calculates and stores coordinates of the angle intersection observation
with the plane. You can use SurvCE to survey the vertical face of a building or
other vertical planes.
> Try command below:
>
> From SurvCE Manual, Ver 2.5
>
> Grid/Face
I saw that, but it's angle-only and treats all resulting points as though they're in a single plane. I imagine that it harkens to the pre-reflectorless era. I can't think of any real-world situations in which it would be useful to me.
> > Try command below:
> >
> > From SurvCE Manual, Ver 2.5
> >
> > Grid/Face
>
> I saw that, but it's angle-only and treats all resulting points as though they're in a single plane. I imagine that it harkens to the pre-reflectorless era. I can't think of any real-world situations in which it would be useful to me.
It's coming back to me:-). That's the command I saw and I also thought it was totally useless.
Ralph
