Of the overall population of survey personnel at all levels, who still uses a total station?
This would make an interesting heat map. Who uses one most days, and who has the skill at all?
Perhaps a third layer showing places where there are crews not using total stations at all.
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Sure I use the RTK a lot but the robotic total station comes along in the car to every job and gets used frequently. Trees and buildings have a habit of being inconveniently placed for RTK purposes.
Everyone I know personally still uses a total station in their work.?ÿ They may use GPS as their primary tool for certain jobs but they still use the total station for close work, lot jobs and to get precise locations that GPS simply does not work for (too much cover, etc.)
In western Washington and Oregon probably more than 75% of all survey work is done with a total station. In fact, there are a number of companies in the business that do not own GPS at all.?ÿ Not that long ago I worked for an outfit that had 6 crews, all well outfitted with the latest Robotic total stations. The 6 crews shared a single base-rover GPS pair. Only a couple of the PCs were even capable of running the GPS.?ÿ
If you are doing building settlement monitoring or commercial building construction layout anywhere, it should be mostly with a total station. You just aren't going to get the kind of precision required with GPS.
Total Station is still in use quite often in engineering work. You can't use a scanner to do staking.
While the question is asked with good intention, I think that Surveyors should not be worried about knowing how to use the tool but rather knowing which tool is perfect for which job.?ÿ
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I'd say it's nearly 50/50 (TS/GPS) here at Orange County Public Works in Orlando, FL. All TS work is done by an ST (Survey Technician). I never see anyone "bucking in" or "double centering" anymore.
GNSS is the first tool I take out of my ??tool box?, but in my opinion there are a lot of tasks where the robot is simply faster??construction staking for example.
Total Station? What's that? Gas Sta? say, would you bring me a cup of coffee, and a bag of peanuts, if you are going......
I wouldn't even know how to do our work without using a total station.?ÿ Too many trees, bad cell coverage, etc.?ÿ I like having it and using it when we need it, but I'd guess it's 90/10% TS/GPS here.
The intent of the question is perhaps not clear or fully informed. Let me add that I am curious about the anecdotes I have heard for the last 10 years about crews west of the Mississippi and generally in the Great Basin where a guy could start doing oil and gas fieldwork and be considered a surveyor and working under supervision and be doing work that is recorded and yet never have to touch a total station thanks to the open skies and modern technology. When all of that field survey experience is included in the mass noun of "SURVEYING" what percentage of work hours are still total station work, and what is the rate of change?
When everyone has a Javad, who will know how to work a total station?
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We use a total station for every job. There is far too much detail to be located by GNSS and I would never layout a structure with RTK. RTK is used to establish coordinates and set pair points where traversing to the area from the rest of the project doesn't make sense.
I bet we all have had jobs where pulling out the steel tape is the fastest and best method of doing what needed done.
GNSS and SX10
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So yep.
When everyone has a Javad, who will know how to work a total station?
Try asking a grade school student to read cursive....
Schools are beginning to reintroduce cursive writing.?ÿ College students are the ones who have missed out on a basic tool they need to have.
In Oklahoma, the crews all had a total station but they used them so infrequently that they were less than comfortable using them. So I get what you are saying. Conversely, they were all quite comfortable with the level, something that I find Oregon crew persons are frequently unfamiliar with.
I'll bet that in 10 years survey grade GNSS receivers will be an app on a smartphone, with a bluetooth probe, that doubles as a pencil, that you put on the point.?ÿ ?ÿ ?ÿ
I bet that in 10 years survey grade GNSS receivers will be an app on a smartphone, with a bluetooth probe, that doubles as a pencil, that you put on the point.?ÿ ?ÿ ?ÿ
Probably so, and at that point "surveying" will be a minimum wage job.
Loyal