Version 6.3 adds new capabilities for the software to work in combination with the Trimble SX Series Scanning Total Stations’ advanced imaging and measurement capabilities. This version also supports vibration and weather-station sensors and a streamlined workflow between the Trimble Access Monitoring Module in the field with the new T4D Access Edition used in the office.

Enhancements to the geospatial monitoring software provide increased accuracy; simplified sensor data collection, reporting and alarms; and make it possible to seamlessly move from semi-automated to fully automated monitoring on a project.

Integrated with the SX Series Scanning Total Station, T4D brings VISION imaging technology and high-accuracy Lightning 3DM technology for more accurate measurements, enabling a more dense target placement on linear corridors such as rail tracks, tunnels, roads and bridges. A live video feed makes it possible to better understand site conditions, manage target placement remotely and capture images for use with T4D visual inspection capabilities. These images can be compared over time and viewed next to the displacement or movement charts. This enables users to identify the potential cause of displacement and record movement changes over time.

Vibration and Weather

With the upgrade, vibration sensors from Syscom allow surveying, civil and geotechnical engineers to easily combine geodetic and geotechnical information supporting high-frequency and event-based vibration information. This data is often used for mandatory reporting on civil and infrastructure projects.

Integration with the Vaisala weather station analyzes the impact of environmental conditions such as temperature, rainfall, wind and atmospheric pressure in combination with other geospatial and geotechnical monitoring information, which is useful for slope stability analysis in mining, landslide and dam monitoring operations.

From Semi- to Fully Automated Monitoring

Automated, seamless transfer of field data from the monitoring module to software in the office makes it possible to scale monitoring operations from a semi-automated to fully automated monitoring system while maintaining the continuity of historical data in the same charts and reports.

The post Sensor Integration and Support Expanded for Geospatial Monitoring appeared first on Inside GNSS - Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design.

Welcome to the first Topcon Technology Roadshow newsletter, highlighting the local happenings from tour stops all along Topcon’s 25+ multi-city adventure.

The 2018 Topcon Technology Roadshow features a 53-foot expandable traveling truck, which includes a theater and showcase room, packed with the latest technologies—all with a focus on the Intersection of Infrastructure and Technology theme.

We all know that in today’s environment, it takes more than business as usual to win and build today’s smart infrastructure. Those companies that are investing in technology and connected workflows are winning more bids, meeting and beating federal/state requirements and generating higher returns. That’s why every roadshow stop includes a demonstration of the latest construction, survey, civil engineering, architecture and design technologies designed to improve workflows and maximize productivity. These solutions include 3D machine control systems, UAVs, and Topcon’s Elite Survey suite.

But the roadshow is much more than a show-and-tell; it’s an interactive, hands-on event designed to engage industry professionals. Test the positioning and mapping systems or jump in a 3D-equipped dozer to learn how technology can help improve your business, drive profitability and build better infrastructure. In just a few hours, attendees see and, in some cases, operate:

• The latest tools and technologies available for the job site and office.
• The most accurate machine control systems in the industry.
• The latest BIM layout and 3D solutions.
• The latest in precision agriculture technology.
• High accuracy aerial mapping solutions.

Read on to see how the roadshow team helped industry professionals evaluate field computer technology and geo-positioning solutions to deliver smarter infrastructure in Arizona.

Desert Discovery

The Topcon Technology Roadshow heated up in Gilbert, Arizona. Temperatures in the high 90s didn’t stop area contractors, surveyors and engineers from stopping in to see the Topcon traveling technology truck at rental leader and Topcon authorized dealer Branco Machinery April 17/18.

Topcon experts gave attendees an inside look at what’s new with 3D machine control systems, UAVs, survey equipment and even some cross-over solutions—with a focus on building infrastructure. For instance, Topcon’s SmoothRide Modern Road Resurfacing System took center stage in the trailer demonstrating a complete integrated technology solution with the RD-M1 Road Resurfacing Scanner (data gathering), Mobile Master Office software (surface design), MAGNET Office Site (smoothness/thickness) and GNSS-guided paving and milling machines.

The highlight of the show was the demonstrations and hands-on, interactive opportunities to operate 3D-equipped machines in the Branco Machinery lot.

Inside the Cab

Roadshow attendees got an up-close look at the Caterpillar 140-M3 motor grader machine equipped with Topcon Positioning System (TPS) 3D Machine Control GPS solution—a combination that is faster, cheaper and easier than ever before.

Rob Binder at Branco noted that his company is taking advantage of the fact that today’s machines are smarter and more interoperable to reduce sensor redundancy when connecting positioning systems. He adds, “It used to take us a full day to equip a motor grader with complete GPS antennas and associated sensors. Now, it takes two hours or less—and costs around $20,000 less.”

Mark Jones, Western Regional Sales Manager for Topcon, further noted that many contractors don’t realize that the greatest 3D machine control ROI can be found in excavators. He added, “Too often, contractors over excavate because it’s safer—nobody wants to come back and rework. But, if you add up how much money/time is lost on over excavation, most find that they pay for a machine very quickly.”

He further demonstrated the value of fully integrated field-to-office workflow with Sitelink3D, an office-to-machine, machine-to office and machine-to-machine communication solution. With Sitelink 3D, companies can see all equipment on jobsites in real-time, provide remote machine support to solve operator problems instantly, transfer job files and deliver real-time project management information.

Flying High

The rotary-wing Falcon 8 UAS equipped with flight planning software and an AscTec high-performance GPS (GNSS) also went for a test flight at the Gilbert roadshow. Ideal for surveying and mapping applications, the Falcon 8 can fly for 12-22 minutes and map up to 35 hectares in a single flight with max payload of 800g. The octocopter is ideal for creating DEMs, ortho-photos, basic measurements, overlays, 3D models, cut/fill analysis and as-built design comparisons.

Brian Griffin, Topcon/Sokkia Central Regional Sales Manager, demonstrated the systems capabilities at the show and noted, “Contractors without a UAS in the next five years, will likely be out of business.”

Look for the Intel® Falcon™ 8+ Drone with its simple setup, fly, capture, transfer and analyze functionality at a future roadshow.

A Smooth Finish

The Gilbert roadshow also offered concrete professionals a chance at technology intersections beyond the big machines. The mobile, low cost, robotic laser-guided ScreedsaverMax Pro from Ligchine equipped with Topcon millimeter LPS was one such system.

The manufacturer notes that the machine with its 18-ft boom can screed up to 7000-sq-ft per hour. The automatic tracking robotic total station registers and maintains screed position from a machine mounted prism and sonic tracker. Height adjustments are transmitted to and from the screed at a rate of 20 times per second via radio signal to maintain accurate specifications on the defined jobsite plan. As the LPS system does not require a GPS signal, it operates without limitations whether it is indoors, outdoors, or in areas with obstructed GPS satellite reception.

Better yet, the ScreedsaverMax Pro costs less and more mobile than comparable systems. It can be hauled with a 3/4-ton pickup truck.

A Roadshow Near You

The Topcon Technology Roadshow continues across North America through October 2018. All events are free and include lunch!

A few of the near-term Roadshow stops in North America include: Pleasanton, California (May 8-11), Portland, Oregon (May 22-23), Kent, Washington (June 5-6), Regina, Saskatchewan (June 26-27); Bismarck, North Dakota (July 10-11) and Denver, Colorado (July 17-18).

The post Topcon Technology Roadshow Report appeared first on Inside GNSS - Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design.

1996 soccer game in the Midwest, (Rick Dikeman image)

Nouméa ground station after the flood

A pencil and a coffee cup show the size of NASA’s teeny tiny PhoneSat

Bonus Hotspot: Naro Tartaruga AUV

Pacific lamprey spawning (photo by Jeremy Monroe, Fresh Waters Illustrated)

“Return of the Bucentaurn to the Molo on Ascension Day”, by (Giovanni Antonio Canal) Canaletto

The U.S. Naval Observatory Alternate Master Clock at 2nd Space Operations Squadron, Schriever AFB in Colorado. This photo was taken in January, 2006 during the addition of a leap second. The USNO master clocks control GPS timing. They are accurate to within one second every 20 million years (Satellites are so picky! Humans, on the other hand, just want to know if we’re too late for lunch) USAF photo by A1C Jason Ridder.

Detail of Compass/ BeiDou2 system diagram

Hotspot 6: Beluga A300 600ST

1. Mapping Air Traffic, Rainy Seasons, and More
Sahel, Africa

1. Mapping Air Traffic, Rainy Seasons, and More
Sahel, Africa
√ The European Space Agency (ESA) is using its Proba-V minisatellite to reveal – among other things – the seasonal changes in Africa’s sub-Saharan Sahel, with the rainy season allowing vegetation to blossom between February (top image) and September (bottom image). The semi-arid Sahel stretches more than 5,000 kilometers across Africa, from the Atlantic Ocean (Senegal, Mauritania) to the Red Sea (Sudan). The few months of the rainy season in the Sahel are much needed in these hot and sunny parts of Africa, and are critical for the food security and livelihood of their inhabitants.

Previously, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and Luxembourg’s SES company added an experiment with Proba-V to detect Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) aircraft signals from space. These signals are regularly broadcast from aircraft, giving flight information such as speed, position and altitude.

Described as ESA’s – and the world’s – first precision formation flying mission, Proba-3 is currently used for a wide array of missions.

2. Educating GNSS Students
Indian state of Telangana
√ The establishment of a new JNTU-Hyderabad GNSS lab is designed to provide an opportunity to the students, scholars and faculty members to carry out research in satellite-based navigation and to develop several advanced applications.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University-Hyderabad (JNTU-H) and Hexagon Capability Centre India (HCCI) established the GNSS laboratory at the Centre for Spatial Information Technology, JNTU-H, according to recent reports from Telangana.

The lab is equipped with NovAtel GNSS receivers, antenna, systems, cables and other hardware components. The equipment enables reception, processing, analysis and development of navigational data and applications to augment curriculum for JNTU-H students for research and education. The university is located in Kukatpally, Hyderabad, in the Indian state of Telangana.

3. Flying Fruit
Eastern China
√ Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba announced that it has used drones to deliver packages over water for the first time. Three unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) carrying six boxes of passionfruit with a combined weight of around 12 kilograms flew from Putian in China’s eastern Fujian Province to nearby Meizhou Island on October 31, the company said in a statement.

Flying into a strong wind, the drones took nine minutes to make the five-kilometer crossing. Each drone can carry up to seven kilograms, according to state-run Xinhua news agency. The drones were jointly developed by Alibaba’s delivery arm Cainiao Network, the company’s rural shopping platform Rural Taobao, and a domestic technology firm. According to Zeng Jinmei, an online store owner based on the island, the drone delivery service will cut the transportation time in half.

Alibaba plans to use drones to deliver high value-added products such as fresh food and medical supplies over water in the future.

The post GNSS Hotspots | November 2017 appeared first on Inside GNSS - Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design.

1996 soccer game in the Midwest, (Rick Dikeman image)

Nouméa ground station after the flood

A pencil and a coffee cup show the size of NASA’s teeny tiny PhoneSat

Bonus Hotspot: Naro Tartaruga AUV

Pacific lamprey spawning (photo by Jeremy Monroe, Fresh Waters Illustrated)

“Return of the Bucentaurn to the Molo on Ascension Day”, by (Giovanni Antonio Canal) Canaletto

The U.S. Naval Observatory Alternate Master Clock at 2nd Space Operations Squadron, Schriever AFB in Colorado. This photo was taken in January, 2006 during the addition of a leap second. The USNO master clocks control GPS timing. They are accurate to within one second every 20 million years (Satellites are so picky! Humans, on the other hand, just want to know if we’re too late for lunch) USAF photo by A1C Jason Ridder.

Detail of Compass/ BeiDou2 system diagram

Hotspot 6: Beluga A300 600ST

1. Mangrove Tree-Planting Drones
Myanmar (Southeast Asia)

1. Mangrove Tree-Planting Drones
Myanmar (Southeast Asia)
√ For about five years now, a group of villagers in the delta of the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar (also known as Burma) has painstakingly planted 2.7 million mangrove trees with the hopes of beginning to restore an ecosystem that has been disappearing for decades. But this work is rather laborious, and the local nonprofit guiding the work wants to cover a much larger area — so they’re turning drones to help with their large-scale tree-planting project.

The drones, from the startup BioCarbon Engineering, can plant as many as 100,000 trees in a single day, leaving the local community to focus on taking care of the young trees that have already started to grow, according to the company, which has offices in Oxford, U.K., Sydney, Australia and Dublin, Ireland. In September, the company will begin a drone-planting program in the area along with Worldview International Foundation, the nonprofit guiding local tree-planting projects. To date, the organization has worked with villagers to plant an area of 750 hectares, about twice the size of Central Park. The drones will help cover another 250 hectares with 1 million additional trees. Ultimately, the nonprofit hopes to use drones to help plant 1 billion trees in an even larger area.

In the past villages have spent years replanting mangroves along the Irrawaddy River. With drones, their work will now go much faster.

2. Laser-Mapping Landscape Changes
Gargoyle Ridge in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
√ With the help of LiDAR, researchers led by Portland State University (PSU) have publicly released high-resolution maps of Antarctica’s McMurdo Dry Valleys, a unique desert region. The high-resolution maps cover 3,564 square kilometers of the McMurdo Dry Valleys and allow researchers to compare present-day conditions with the last surveys conducted more than a decade ago.

The research project led by PSU, and funded by the United States National Science Foundation (NSF), mapped the area using LiDAR, a remote-sensing method that uses laser beam pulses to measure the distance from the detector to the Earth’s surface. The data, collected by aerial survey missions flown in the Southern Hemisphere summer of 2014-2015, provides detailed imagery of the perpetually ice-free region, where changes, such as rapid erosion along some streams, have been observed in recent years.

The LIDAR maps are publicly available on two NSF-funded facilities: Open Topography, and the Polar Geospatial Center.

The McMurdo Dry Valleys are interesting to a wide range of scientists from biologists to geologists to glaciologists. The valleys are, for example, one of the few places on the massive continent—which is the size of the U.S. and Mexico combined—where bedrock is exposed, allowing geologists to reconstruct the continent’s geological history.

The region also is home to one of NSF’s Long Term Ecological Research sites, which support studies of its unusual habitat, dominated by microbial life, both in the soil and in unique ecosystems under at least one of its glaciers and in several of its highly salty lakes.

Evidence of past glacial advance and retreat is also more easily observed in the Dry Valleys, which provides window into the past behavior of the vast Antarctic ice sheets, the activity of which can influence global sea levels.

3. Fries with Your Drone Delivery?
Reykjavik, Iceland
√ Impatient Icelanders are getting help from Flytrex, an Israeli startup, that just started delivering small orders like takeout food by drone in a partnership with Aha, Iceland’s largest instant delivery platform. The drones, technically hexacopters, were approved by the Icelandic Transport Authority to pick up orders from restaurants and stores on one side of Reykjavik, where Aha has its offices, and fly them to a drop-off point in the suburb of Grafarvogur.

While Flytrex and Aha don’t offer direct store-to-home-delivery, the companies said that even on a trial basis the service would slash waiting times in a city whose bay delivery trucks must skirt to reach their destinations. A drone cuts delivery times by flying across the water to a truck that will complete the delivery.

Flytrex doesn’t make drones but develops autonomous, drone-based delivery systems. The drones can carry packages weighing up to three kilograms, about the size of a mailbox, so they can only handle smaller orders or takeout food.

The single drone now in use can make between 20 and 60 flights day, according to Flytrex, which has developed hardware that is installed on the drone and links it to a cellular network via a SIM card that enables a controller to locate, monitor its speed, altitude and other parameters in real time.

4. Tough Testing for Galileo
Noordwijk, the Netherlands
√ Each Galileo satellite must go through a rigorous test campaign to assure its readiness for the violence of launch, airlessness and temperature extremes of Earth orbit. Each one is dispatched to a unique location in Europe to ensure its readiness prior to launch: a 3,000-square meter cleanroom complex nestled in sandy dunes along the Dutch coast, filled with test equipment to simulate all aspects of spaceflight.

The test centre in Noordwijk – Europe’s largest satellite test site – is part of ESA’s main technical center, but it is maintained and operated on a commercial basis on behalf of the Agency by a private company created for the purpose: European Test Services (ETS) B.V.

ETS has been responsible for supporting many historic test campaigns – including space-certifying Europe’s 20-metric-ton ATV space truck and Envisat, the world’s largest civilian Earth-observing mission. But in terms of scale alone, its work with Galileo is the company’s greatest challenge.

ETS is about to complete its contracts with OHB System AG, covering the environmental test of 22 “Full Operational Capability” Galileo satellites, preceded by the testing of the very first of the first-generation “In-Orbit Validation” Galileo satellites on a previous, separate contract.

The post GNSS Hotspots | September 2017 appeared first on Inside GNSS - Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design.

Septentrio has released its 5.1.0 firmware for the PolaRx5 product line of GNSS reference receivers. The PolaRx5 GNSS reference receivers include the PolaRx5 for Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) and network operations, time and frequency transfer, and space weather applications.

The 5.1.0 firmware includes new features for file management, usability, security, and seismic monitoring, the company said.

Septentrio has released its 5.1.0 firmware for the PolaRx5 product line of GNSS reference receivers. The PolaRx5 GNSS reference receivers include the PolaRx5 for Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) and network operations, time and frequency transfer, and space weather applications.

The 5.1.0 firmware includes new features for file management, usability, security, and seismic monitoring, the company said.

"The new features of the 5.1.0 firmware complement existing standard features of the PolaRx5 GNSS receivers such as advanced interference mitigation technology and the web [user interface] offering full user control and status," said Francesca Clemente, Septentrio PolaRx product manager.

Septentrio said that improvements in Precise Point Positioning (PPP) increased opportunities for seismic monitoring using GNSS technology. This includes allowing precise measurement of long-term slow surface displacement, the company said.

PolaRx5 allows real-time recording of high-frequency vibrations typically accompanying earthquakes, the company said. Firmware 5.1.0 also features support for on-board PPP and dynamic response for seismic applications.

The 5.1.0 firmware, available on Septentrio’s website, brings logging efficiency to PolaRx5 users, the company said.

Because transmitting data can be expensive, especially when using Iridium telemetry, Septentrio said it has developed a storage integrity feature to retransmit only the data which has been lost in the initial transmission. This avoids the common and unnecessary overhead of retransmitting complete files, the company said.

Some agencies using the PolaRx5 include the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), UNAVCO, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Satellite Positioning Service of the German National Survey (SAPOS) CORS network in Germany.

The PolaRx5 works with GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou, as well as regional satellite systems including Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) and the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS).

The post Septentrio Rolls Out High-Precision Firmware for Its GNSS Receivers appeared first on Inside GNSS - Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design.

The International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) FIG Working Week 2017 will take place on May 29 – June 2, 2017, at the Messukeskus Expo and Convention Centre in Helsinki, Finland.

Registration will open in November, 2016. Abstract submissions are now closed.

The International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) FIG Working Week 2017 will take place on May 29 – June 2, 2017, at the Messukeskus Expo and Convention Centre in Helsinki, Finland.

Registration will open in November, 2016. Abstract submissions are now closed.

The topic of the 2017 Working Week is “Surveying the world of tomorrow – From digitalization to augmented reality.” The three conference days offer mix of interesting plenary and technical sessions and workshops, a trade exhibition and a variety of side events and social functions.

Of particular interest to readers of Inside GNSS will be Commission 5’s sessions on Positioning and Measurement, including the following topics:

• Standards, best practice guidelines, quality assurance and calibration for survey (including geodetic) measuring instruments · National or geospatial reference systems and associated infrastructure
• Vertical reference frames, geoid and gravity
• GNSS (GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, Multi-GNSS), including CORS networks
• Terrestrial and airborne laser scanning
• Cost-effective surveying (GNSS and other survey methods)
• Multi-Sensor-Systems (INS-GNSS, Mobile Mapping, etc.)
• Ubiquitous positioning techniques and applications -such as RFID, WiFi, AGPS, mobile phones, MEMS inertial sensors, Locata
• Positioning and metrology – technique, methodology, adjustment and analysis

The Working Week is jointly organized by FIG and the two Finnish member associations in FIG, the Finnish Association of Geodetic and Land Surveyors (MIL) and the Finnish Association of Surveyors (MAKLI). The FIG Working Week is also supported by the National Land Survey of Finland (NLS).

The post FIG Working Week 2017 appeared first on Inside GNSS - Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design.

The unit, introduced at the InterGEO trade fair in Hamburg, Germany, uses Trimble’s CenterPoint RTX subscription service. The Trimble CenterPoint RTX service allows land, air, marine, and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms to achieve centimeter-level accuracy within one hour after data collection with just an internet connection, the company said.

Applanix has released its POSPac MMS 8 GNSS-aided inertial post-processing software for georeferencing data collected from cameras, LIDARs, multi-beam sonars, and other sensors on mobile platforms.

The unit, introduced at the InterGEO trade fair in Hamburg, Germany, uses Trimble’s CenterPoint RTX subscription service. The Trimble CenterPoint RTX service allows land, air, marine, and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms to achieve centimeter-level accuracy within one hour after data collection with just an internet connection, the company said.

The new software allows UAVs to map inaccessible regions that have no existing continuously operation reference stations (CORS), without having to deploy local base units, the company said. POSPac MMS 8 also features quality control software that can be used in the field for GNSS observations to ensure accurate specifications can be met before leaving the area, the company said.

POSPac MMS 8 will be available worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2016 through the Applanix sales channel, the company said.

Trimble CenterPoint RTX, which computes centimeter-level positions based on satellite orbit and clock information, combines real-time data from a global reference station infrastructure with positioning and compression algorithms, the company said. Trimble CenterPoint RTX service is available in six or 12-month subscriptions.

The post Applanix Announces POSPac MMS 8 Software appeared first on Inside GNSS - Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design.

Trimble has released the SX10 scanning total station that merges high-speed 3D scanning, imaging technology, and total station measurements for surveyors, the company said.

"This is the top one or two [products] we have launched in the 20 years I’ve been here," said Ron Bisio, Trimble geospatial division vice president, at a media day in Westminster, Colorado, October 5.

Trimble has released the SX10 scanning total station that merges high-speed 3D scanning, imaging technology, and total station measurements for surveyors, the company said.

"This is the top one or two [products] we have launched in the 20 years I’ve been here," said Ron Bisio, Trimble geospatial division vice president, at a media day in Westminster, Colorado, October 5.

Bisio said that SX10 helps surveyors with a complete system to handle traditional surveying and complex 3D modeling. These include surveying massive construction sites, railway infrastructure, and road/bridge building.

"If you are constructing a bridge in a coastal area above a body of water, you have to know the infrastructure. It all has to come together, he said. "That includes all of the land information, hydrographic areas, and impact on the structure you are putting there."

Bisio said mobile mapping systems for survey have come a long way in a short time. "Just six years ago, mobile mapping systems were so big you sat in a van looking at computer screens with operators working there," he said. "Now all the information comes through a tablet."

The company said SX10, with five cameras and Wi-Fi capability, can capture rich, point-cloud data at 26,600 points-per-second with a range of as much as 600 meters. The significance is surveyors can now include 3D scanning as part of everyday work projects to increase crew productivity, Trimble said.

Adoption of such new technologies as 3D scanning and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have been increasing, said Todd Steiner, imaging and optical marketing director. "Most surveyors now have adopted GNSS, total stations, and software technology. Adoption of 3D scanning has been increasing," he said. "UAVs are similar in the adoption curve. It’s an expensive equipment investment and a risky [return-on-investment]. If the scanners sit on a shelf, are complex, and require a specialist to run, it makes a business ask, ‘how do I make money?’ It’s also difficult to integrate with traditional workflows as too much data is increasing office time."

Survey equipment prices may come down, but there still are personnel costs, Steiner said. "Some companies are hiring a specialist to do scanning and supplement the job they have won," he said.

Steiner said that the new SX10 precludes hiring new personnel and decreases office time because the system is familiar to most surveyors. "We talked to surveyors, SX10 works the way they do. It transforms their work without changing how they work," he said. "Surveyors who use [Trimble] total stations already know how to use SX10. Surveyors can use [SX10] to augment jobs so they don’t have to go and hire a specialist."

In terms of equipment purchases, many survey companies believe that they will save money on the front end by buying cheaper equipment, said Steaphan MacAulay, WSP Canada vice president for geomatics, mining, and industrial. "They can collect the data, but then they don’t know what to do with it," he said. "They acquire the tools and don’t know how to use them and end up hiring professionals to acquire the data they wanted in the first place."

MacAulay says a classic example of people buying low-end products, and hoping for better results, is the UAV survey market. "You can buy one on Amazon. People think they will receiver quality data from those systems and it’s a real slippery slope," he said.

WSP Canada is working the Arizona Transportation Department to survey and map road deficiencies using the SX10 system. "We are working at 45 locations in Arizona. We can find out where the road ripples are, wicked fast, with a laser scanner to millimeter-level," he said. "Older surveyors say, "I’ve done this for 30 years, why should we change?’ Then they see the technology — it’s a learning curve."

MacAulay said he used the SX10 to survey a bridge on an island in Saskatchewan. "Total time on site was about an hour, even when surveying abutment to abutment. [With normal survey equipment], you would have a crew working a full day, so you would save $1,800 to $2,000 [using SX10]," he said. "There also are safety issues, which are huge as bigger clients say accidents affect their ratings. Sometimes there is a man in a basket doing the surveying. A UAV would work, but in certain applications, they are not getting the same accuracy."

Beta Testing Began in June

The SX10 system began worldwide beta testing in June, with customer feedback to improve the software given to the company’s developers in New Zealand, said Chris Trevillian, Trimble product manager. "Testing addressed the question, ‘what are the risks it solves?’ At the end the beta cycle, we had inputs on all of our customer’s feedback," he said.

Trevillian said surveyors can combine the SX10 with traditional Trimble R-series GNSS receivers. "SX10 can scan and collect GNSS points at the same time — and during the same job," he said.

Surveying Industry Trends

Surveyors are diversifying into such areas as scanners, image-based mobile mapping systems and UAS platforms to enable them to provide services to new and existing customers, Trimble said.

"A couple of trends are happening. Surveying is becoming much more diversified," Bisio said. "It’s now easier to get a license and many mom and pop companies are hanging a shingle. But survey is getting very commodity-based. The oil and gas industry’s [decline] has had an impact on surveying firms across North America.

For instance, a new survey market segment was created when the Panama Canal was widened to allow larger container ships, Bisio said. "Historically, port facilities still have single-stack containers. With larger ships carrying double stacked containers, it is important to assess infrastructure," he said. "For railroads, it is important to track where tunnels are and the potential collisions."

Even when used as a supplemental tool, the SX10 system can get information quickly at crash and crime scenes, Steiner said. "The public safety market is already using Trimble total stations to look at fatality crashes to recreate the scene," he said.

Steiner said that if a survey company is going to fly a UAV and collect information to make money, unless they know how to turn that data into something customers will value, in a lot of cases it will not be valuable or profitable. "Putting $50,000 to $80,000 into 3D scanners [is not cost-effective] if a company can’t figure out how to get their money back," he said.

Trimble said SX10, manufactured in Sweden, costs $40,000 for existing customers. It costs $57,000 for the entire system.

The post Trimble Rolls Out SX10 Scanning Total Station appeared first on Inside GNSS - Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design.

The 2016 Trimble Dimensions user conference and exhibition will take place at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas on November 7, 8 and 9.

The annual event gathers users of Trimble’s products including positioning technology for unmanned systems as well as mapping, GIS, surveying, photgrammetry and remote sensing and other technologies of interest to readers of Inside GNSS.

Four hundred and fifty technical sessions and networking events give attendees an opportunity to network widely within and among industry groups.

The 2016 Trimble Dimensions user conference and exhibition will take place at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas on November 7, 8 and 9.

The annual event gathers users of Trimble’s products including positioning technology for unmanned systems as well as mapping, GIS, surveying, photgrammetry and remote sensing and other technologies of interest to readers of Inside GNSS.

Four hundred and fifty technical sessions and networking events give attendees an opportunity to network widely within and among industry groups.

If you are an expert in a field covered by the conference and are an experienced presenter in front of large audiences, Trimble will welcome your proposal for speaking at the event.The organizers are accepting abstracts until 20 here.

Early bird pricing ends on July 31.

The post Trimble Dimensions 2016 appeared first on Inside GNSS - Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design.

The topic of the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) working week 2016 is "Recovery from Disaster." It will take place at the Horncastle arena and Addington Events Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand from May 2 through May 6. Appropriately enough, Christchurch has deep familiarity with recovery from disaster after the 2010-11 earthquake sequence that took place there.

Abstract submissions are now closed.

The topic of the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) working week 2016 is "Recovery from Disaster." It will take place at the Horncastle arena and Addington Events Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand from May 2 through May 6. Appropriately enough, Christchurch has deep familiarity with recovery from disaster after the 2010-11 earthquake sequence that took place there.

Abstract submissions are now closed.

Of particular interest to readers of Inside GNSS will be Commission 5’s session on Positioning and Measurement, including the following topics:

• Multi-GNSS: Emerging Technologies and Applications
• GNSS Precise Positioning Techniques, Developments and Analysis
• Atmospheric Measurements using GNSS
• GNSS Applications in Disaster Management
• Low-cost GNSS equipment
• Alternatives and backups to GNSS including map matching,
  cooperative positioning and 3D modeling techniques
• ‪Urban and Indoor Positioning and Navigation
• Multisensor Positioning Applications and Techniques
•  Positioning technologies and techniques in support
  of Location Based Service

Simon Ironside, New Zealand Institute of Surveyors and Louise Friz-Hansen, FIG, co-direct the conference.

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