REPORTER
49
The Magazine of Leica Geosystems Geosystems
HDS™ - A Key Technology of this Decade In an interview published in this Reporter issue, a surveyor said: “Our use of the 3D laser scanning technology for this project was accurate and extremely timely. It far outweighed the usual conventional manual methods normally used today. By utilizing this technology, we can push our clients’ projects into the future – what will be mainstream in maybe five or ten years time”. Frank North’s surveying teams had just finished a project where a network of 141km of railway including 13 railway stations, 25 bridges and two tunnels were completely mapped in just under two months (see page 14). The open country surveying was undertaken using Leica GPS/RTK, but all buildings were documented by the Cyrax 2500 laser scanner. Leica Geosystems is again the pioneer of a new technology in surveying. This was also the case two decades ago, when Leica Geosystems decided to profit from the Navstar GPS signals by developing software supported equipment (WM102) useable in the surveying field. It was also so three decades ago, when Erdas developed remote sensing software which made it possible to handle such imagery on small computers and PC. Also 45 years ago, when the electronic infra-red range measuring technology device (Leica DI10) worked for the first time together with a total station. And eight decades ago when the founder of our company developed the world’s first small optical theodolite (Wild T2) which revolutionized the working conditions for surveyors. This decade offers new opportunities with laser scanning technologies named High-Definition Surveying™ (HDS™). We have chosen this new terminology partly in recognition of the increasing significance of this technology to surveying, engineering and other measurement professionals. HighDefinition Surveying™ represents another major advance for professionals by providing increased productivity for various applications. HDS™ offers clients significant added value in accuracy, detail and completeness. All these benefits can be easily recognized in the new product family (Leica HDS 2500 / 3000 / 4500). For example, the new flagship Leica HDS3000 time-of-flight scanner, not only has the look and feel of a survey instrument, but it also supports many standard surveying procedures for instrument setup and operation. It also features advanced capabilities that will significantly reduce both field and office procedures for laser scanning projects, thus making the HDS3000 a cost-effective tool for a broader range of as-built, detail, and engineering surveys. In the model Leica HDS 4500, the ultra-high-speed scanning rates (>100,000 points/sec) of phase-based ranging systems are particularly beneficial for quickly capturing interiors of plants, tunnels, and buildings, when only very brief time windows may be available for collecting field data. I am convinced that current and future users of this technology will continue to report favourably on their experiences with these instruments in their application fields and projects. The whole spectrum of 3D solutions offered by Leica Geosystems are becoming further connected to optimize its value chain of “Capture . . . Model . . . Present”.
Contact You can find Leica Geosystems at numerous exhibitions, congresses and road show presentations in your region. In addition, you can find information and documentation on our national websites or on www.leica-geosystems.com. On our homepage you will also find previous Reporter issues in different languages. Please visit us.
IMPRINT Published by: Leica Geosystems AG, CH-9435 Heerbrugg CEO: Hans Hess Editorial office: Leica Geosystems AG, CH-9435 Heerbrugg, Switzerland, Fax: +44 1908 246259 E-Mail: Teresa.Belcher@leica-geosystems.com Editors: Fritz Staudacher (Stfi); Teresa Belcher (Bt); Desk-Top and production: Niklaus Frei Publication details: The Reporter is published in English, German, French, Spanish and Japanese four times a year. Reprints and translations, including excerpts, are subject to the Editor’s prior permission in writing. The publication is printed on chlorine-free paper made by environmentally compatible processes. © Leica Geosystems AG, Heerbrugg, December 2003, Printed in Switzerland
Hans Hess CEO Leica Geosystems
2
Editorial deadline for next issue: 31st December, 2003
Page
8
4
Italy: GPS and mobile telephony
World Record Bridge at Millau
Contents
13
42% productivity gains at Ordnance Survey
Rail survey in Australia
23 Gold medal at WorldSkills
24
3D-Visualisation for World Orienteering Championships
14
28
... and cover: “Earthman” with an arm span of 350 metres belonging to the LandArte project.
27
4 World-record-breaking 343m-high bridge 8 Italy: Leica Geosystems in the universe of mobile telephony 13 Production soars following implementation of GPS in Map revision 14 Laser scanning makes quick job of rail survey 18 Comfortable measuring for architects is announced 19 The Very Large Telescope Leica Geosystems with highest sustainability rating 20 Leica raises functionality of laser tracking 23 WorldSkills Gold Medal with Leica NA 720 automatic level 24 Fast Orienteering World Championships with 3D visualization 26 Intergeo: A World of Solution Award for Leica Geosystems researchers at ION GPS/ GNSS 2003 FIG World Survey and Mapping Colloquium 27 Novel solutions in machine automation Micro-optic technology from Leica Geosystems wins Swiss Technology Award Video on surveying the City of Zurich 28 LandArte: Giant Art in Switzerland’s Rhine Valley 3
World-record-breaking 343m-high The highway bridge currently being constructed over the Tarn River in Southern France will be 19 meters higher than the Eiffel Tower. At the time of publication of this Reporter issue, the highest of a total of seven bridge piers will have reached a height of 244m – merely 70% of its full height of 343m together with its steel pylon. The deck of this world’s tallest bridge, which is under construction one hundred kilometers north of Montpellier, will span the Tarn River valley at a height of 270m.
The bridge and the towers bear the aesthetic hallmark of the famous architect Lord Norman Foster and bridge construction engineer Michel Virlogeux. Another top name in civil engineering, responsible for the construction of the 2460m-long and 343m-high bridge is Eiffage TP and Eiffel. These civil engineering specialists were famous for their top-notch engineering feats even prior to erecting the Eiffel Tower for the World’s Fair in Paris in 1889. As for most of the great engineering feats of the world, all of the construction measurements and controls are carried out using surveying systems from Leica Geosystems.
The “Viaduc de Millau”, near the small town of Millau, will shorten the distance between ClermontFerrant and Montpellier/ Béziers by one hundred kilometers. It will eliminate the current traffic problems on the highway section, which in the peak travel season can stretch as long as 50km and involve up to four hours waiting time.
Bridge production taking place at nine major sites The completed construction project will not only be the highest bridge in the world, but its seven piers also make “Viaduc de Millau“ the world’s longest cable-stayed bridge with several central suspension pylons. However, a lot of hard work must still be done before the historic moment in January 2005, when the bridge is opened for traffic. Each of the seven bridge piers has its own major construction site, together with two 12-person teams working two shifts. Added to that are the two construction sites on either side of the sloped valley for the lateral ramps, with welding teams for the deck’s steel sections. Two producAutomated Leica TCA2003 and TC1103 total stations are used to continuously monitor the progress of construction. Cast into the concrete piers are small, optical precision reflectors used to monitor the construction work also after its completion. 4
bridge tion mills were built in the middle of the valley, one for steel fittings and one for concrete, as well as office trailers for the site management. The elements for the steel roadway profile plates are being produced and assembled in Eiffel’s Lauterbourg and Fos plants and welded together directly at the two ramp construction
“ Precision and reliability of Leica GPS and TPS at highestpossible level!” Pierre Nottin sites. The nine large construction sites are being coordinated by the overall site management for “Compagnie Eiffage du Viaduc de Millau“, and the surveying is directed by Pierre Nottin of Service Topographique Eiffage TP.
Surveying pioneers for top performance in constructional engineering As is common on construction sites, the surveying engineer was the first expert on the grasslands scene, arriving in the Tarn Valley back in August 2001. Pierre Nottin from Eiffage TP essentially established the front line of over 400 specialists employed at the construction site. Besides the five-member surveying team, they are mostly made up of metal and engineering experts and concrete teams. According to the instructions and drawings of the civil engineers and the architect, Pierre Nottin established a local observation grid to determine coordinates in the GPS global positioning system WGS84 as well as
for simultaneous contactfree measurements using terrestrial surveying instruments. A Leica GPS 530 RTK reference station was installed in a surveying pier anchored in the natural rock of the mountain slope and integrated into the local coordinate network. Using mobile Leica GPS 530 systems, the coordinates of the pier foundations were then determined, and all subsequent steps in the construction experts’ work process tracked and calibrated. The main task of the five surveying specialists during the initial two years has been to determine the formwork positions with various cross-sections of the entire four meters of the slipform’s height. The raising and fitting of the formworks must be determined with the utmost precision and continuously monitored at a total of 256 levels.
The Millau highway viaduct rests on seven piers of differing heights with a lateral distance between them of 343m. In the small picture from April 2003, the highest pier (second from left) had reached half of its full height. The large illustration is an artistic view of the finalised viaduct, where this pier will stand 343m tall, dwarfing the Eiffel Tower by 19m. This bridge represents the most important section of the A75 highway from Clermont-Ferrant in the north (running to the left) to Béziers/ Montpellier in the south. Chief surveyor Pierre Nottin was the first expert on the grasslands scene, arriving in the Tarn Valley back in August 2001. Here he points to the point of beginning.
Built-in precision reflectors According to the individual form of the pier crosssections, which taper upwards and diverge from each other once they have reached a certain height, the To monitor the construction project, twelve conjointly secured fixed reference-point piers were installed along the bridge axis at well-accessible points, allowing survey measurements using forced-centering Leica total stations and reflector prisms as well as GPS antennae. 5
Filigree cement-steel construction weighs in at a massive 242,000 tons Compared with the 324m-tall Eiffel Tower with its 7,500-ton steel structure, 36,000 tons of steel and 206,000 tons of concrete will be needed for this 343m-high and 2.5km-long, world-record-breaking engineering construction. All in all, seven piers of differing heights will be erected for the “Viaduc de Millau”. With a distance of 343m between them, their eastward alignment forms a slight curve and causes a continuous north-south downward deck gradient of three percent. The uppermost 90m of the concrete piers are divided in two, with the appearance of a tuning fork. That means that the lowest pier (P1), which is 77m in height and built directly into the northern slope edge, was encased straight from the base in this basic split-filigree form. The highest pier (P2) begins at the foot of a foundation that is 16m deep, has an area of 200m2 and is anchored in the natural rock. It tapers increasingly towards the top to a height of 165m where it forks upwards from a further 90m. At the upper end, the pier’s
bearing area still has a cross section of 30m2. The precast steel roadway profile plates will be connected to this uniquely designed bearing area using a special system. An 87m-high steel pylon is affixed in the center of each concrete pier, to which 22 steel stay cables are fastened. These lead to the strong center support of the steel roadway profile plates and transfer the force from the piers to the construction as a whole. A total of fourteen 171m-long and two 204m-long trapezoidal steel roadway profile plates, each 32.05m wide and 4.20m high, are being joined together on the lateral ramps, maneuvered towards the middle of the bridge by hydraulic presses, connected to the piers and anchored to the seven steel pylons with a total of 154 steel stay cables. The 32.05m-wide roadway profile plates offer enough room for two, two-lane decks of opposing traffic with emergency shoulders, a reinforced, load-supporting center section and three-meter-high protective sidewall wind barriers.
Like all bridge piers at Millau also the highest in the world (P2) is characterised by different sections. All positions are being defined from the basements on by the surveying team with Leica GPS530 rovers and monitored permanently. At P2 from a pier height of 165m, the profile forks upwards for a further 90m, before the 87m high steel tower is fastened to the roadway plates with the 22 stay cables. This pier will extend 343m up into the sky. In the right-hand picture the first steel roadway profile plate is pushed towards pylon P7. The Leica GPS 530 RTK reference station showed on the right-hand picture below, has been permanently installed prior to the start of the construction work, and transmits correction data 24 hours a day for the differential measurement of the entire construction site.
6
self-climbing form had to be continuously adapted to the horizontal angles and gradients each time another four meters of pier concrete are poured, as well as having to be precisely positioned to within just a few millimeters. It took three working days to concrete a four-meter-high form feed, meaning that a pier could “grow” as much as eight meters each week. To monitor the construction project, twelve conjointly secured fixed referencepoint piers were installed along the bridge axis at wellaccessible points, allowing survey measurements using forced-centering Leica total stations and reflector prisms as well as GPS antennae. During construction, 150 survey reflector prisms have been cast into the outer encasement of the concrete piers and fixed in natural rock. Additional precision reflectors will be fixed on other important structural elements of the bridge. These can be automatically targeted and monitored with a high level of precision from the fixed reference points. The slightest of changes in the bridge piers – such as those due to temperature fluctuations and stresses – can thus be recognized immediately, benefiting not only the construction surveying team, but also the independently contracted geometrician M. Morin. Taking in consideration the engineering challenges of these bridge, the most precise instruments on the global market are being deployed in construction and monitoring. Pierre Nottin’s surveying team
relies on the precision total stations Leica TCA 2003 and Leica TC 1103 in addition to its Leica GPS 500 system, whereas certified geometrician expert M. Morin uses a
“ Consulting and service provided by Leica Geosystems leave nothing at all to be desired.” Pierre Nottin Leica TDA 5005 industrial total station to determine his coordinates in conducting his control surveys, ensuring accuracy to within 0.3 millimeters. Numerous digital levels from Leica Geosystems are also being used. Surveying chief Pierre Nottin has everything securely under control: “What I’ve learned from many years of engineering surveying with classical terrestrial instruments is proving to be the case here, too. The precision and reliability of the GPS and TPS systems from Leica Geosystems are helping us to fulfil complex surveying tasks at the highest-possible level on the Viaduc de Millau as well. The consulting and service provided by Leica regional sales engineer Olivier Truttmann, as well as the Leica Geosystems office in Toulouse leave nothing at all to be desired.“
financed by the Eiffage Group. Belonging to France’s fifth-largest construction group with a turnover of seven billion Euro, are the biggest French metal construction and engineering firm Eiffel, the general contractor Eiffage Construction and its subsidiary Eiffage TP as well as the “Compagnie Eiffage du Viaduc de Millau“, founded just for this project. Whoever compares the 120-year guarantee of the Millau viaduct with the life of the Eiffel Tower – constructed by company founder Gustave Eiffel in 1889 – has no doubt that this civil engineering work will also serve generations to come. The “Compagnie Eiffage du Viaduc de Millau“ was awarded usage rights for 75 years, at which point the Millau viaduct will be transferred to state ownership. More information:
www.viaducdemillaueiffage. com.
120-year bridge guarantee The “Viaduc de Millau” is a technical masterpiece of the highest order and a hallmark of state-of-the-art technology. Its functionality is guaranteed for 120 years by the French Eiffage Group. In total three hundred small, precision optical reflectors will be embedded into the concrete encasement and will be fixed in the natural rock and on other elements of the bridge structure over the three-and-a-quarter year construction period. These durable and eternal goldcoated “diamonds” will help register even the slightest oscillations in this masterful structure of the “Viaduc de Millau” and will provide security for generations. Stfi
Privately financed by the Eiffage Group The 400-million-euro “Viaduc de Millau“ is being privately 7
Italy: Leica Geosystems in the universe of mobile telephony
A new partnership between Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) and Leica Geosystems Italia means that a national GPS network now exists throughout Italy, able to support professional GPS users with precision positioning for various applications and in numerous market segments. As well as providing a DGPS differential correction over a mobile telephone network, TIM's network is used to optimise the use of its antennas and is able to monitor the network for radio frequency leakages, supporting scientific documentation regarding the extent and disposition radio frequency electromagnetic fields – an important issue with health and environmental implications.
The TIM Group (Telecom Italia Mobile), which is present not only in the Italian market but also in Latin America and within the Mediterranean basin, is a market leader in Europe particularly with regards to the number of lines. The TIM Group had 24.2 million lines on the national market on 30th September 2002. If we also consider the Group’s foreign customers, TIM reaches an overall total of 37.3 million lines.
Distribution of the GeoTIM network 8
TIM has adopted the customized technology and solutions offered by Leica Geosystems Italia for all its requirements regarding measurement, checking and positioning of the antennas for the diffusion of the GSM and UMTS signals. TIM and Leica Geosystems Italia have
developed a collaboration that goes far beyond that of a simple customer / supplier relationship. Together they have devised a series of solutions that are being introduced to the market today, with innovative services such as the transmission of the DGPS differential correction on a mobile telephone network. A professional operator may receive such corrections in real time on his mobile phone, and with just one GPS receiver, he can carry out precise positioning, or download the data required for Post Processing differential correction from the www.business.tim.it website.
The GEOTIM Network In Italy, the implementation of the law regarding the definition of radio frequency electromagnetic field limits that are compatible with human health, represents a strategic opportunity for TIM. By adopting a network infrastructure and suitable tools for the correct georeferencing of mobile telephony installations, the impact of radio frequency electromagnetic fields can be
The strong points of the GeoTIM network can be summarized as follows: • Uniform distribution over the entire national territory: The fact that TIM has a considerable number of radio stations distributed throughout the territory (urban, interurban, rural, mountainous regions) has simplified the identification of sites suitable for the installation of a permanent GPS station (maximum visibility, absence of interference, structural stability, etc.), which has rendered GeoTIM the only network with uniform national coverage. • organization within the IGM95 national geodetic network • ASI (Italian Space Agency) certification: certain GeoTIM stations will become part of a group of stations managed by ASI within the European Reference Frame (EUREF); ASI will issue a weekly data certification for the differential correction produced by the GeoTIM network, therefore offering national and international significance and credibility, even in scientific circles. • easy network interconnection: GPS data travels within an intranet business network (equipped with a highcapacity backbone and an elevated number of POP addresses), which allows for the integration of individual GPS stations and the creation of a truly integrated GPS network. A management platform for the entire system (LMP) allows for the concentration of data within a single collection center, which also functions as the customer’s service access point. • Network-monitoring system: GeoTIM monitoring is managed in a similar manner to other TIM network infrastructures. • reliability of service and timely maintenance interventions: TIM’s presence within the territory and their on-site intervention capacity allows for the optimization of station restore times, guaranteeing high service reliability.
monitored. This opportunity resulted in the need for a project aimed at the realization of a network of GPS reference stations (which currently number 34), called GeoTIM, the first of its kind among mobile telephony operators in Italy. By means of this network, TIM has developed an instrument that is essential for meeting institutional requirements (Local Health Care Services, Regional Agencies for Prevention and the Environment, Ministry of Communications, and other public
administration agencies), in that it provides scientific documentation regarding the extent and disposition of volumes in reference to their own radio stations, as well as the distances between these same stations and public buildings (schools, hospitals, etc.).
resource at hand, which could focus its interest on what is now a mature market. The availability of a GPS network for precision positioning, is an excellent form of support for performance optimization in various market sectors. These inlcude areas such as GIS mapping, topographic and cadastral surveys, technological network management, the management of natural and environmental resources, intelligent transport, and precision navigation. The reference stations currently consist of a GPS geodetic, double frequency, 12 channel L1/L2, C/A and P code, RTCM and RTK receiver and a local server that manages the station itself and interfaces with the business intranet network. This allows connection to the management platform for the entire system (LMP) as well as to the alarm monitoring system. The antenna is a choke-ring type. This guarantees phase center stability, effective multipath protection, and also ensures the possibility of tracking satellites even at low-level elevations.
The Geodata Service The TIM GeoData service, which was conceived with the aim of making GeoTIM network data available to external clientele, was
commercially launched in September 2002. The availability of a national infrastructure for precision positioning allows for the expansion of new market segments in multiple sectors. As already mentioned, GPS differential correction data is available according to the two classic access modes already used by professionals with differential GPS instrumentation, post-processing and real-time.
Post Processing Service The GPS stations periodically send time files containing data for differential correction, formatted according to the RINEX (Receiver Independent Exchange format) international standard. The GeoData Post Processing service assumes that the customer carries out his GPS survey with a rover unit, which records the measuring session. Subsequently, he connects to the web site www.business.tim.it from his Internet station. Following the login phase (insertion of the User-ID and Password), he will access a page from which he can: · select the desired GPS station; · select the data sampling rate (1, 5, 15 or 30 seconds) - insert the desired date and time slot
Selection of the desired GPS Station
During its construction, in addition to acquiring knowhow in an uncommonly large sector for a mobile telephony operator, the company began to realize the inherent value of the 9
Architecture of the GeoData in Post Processing Service
In response to the query, the LMP supplies a list of existing files (maximum 30-days old), the possibility of downloading those required and, through the use of specific software, post-processing of the field measurements to refine the accuracy of results.
The GeoTIM network constitutes the first homogeneous and certified national system nucleus for georeferencing. The related GeoData service allows customers to use the network across the entire national territory.
Real Time Search
With the development of radiomobile technologies from 2G (GSM) systems to 3G (UMTS) systems and value added services based on localization, the need has also arisen to add an everincreasing number of radio stations to the network, with limited and controlled radio coverage. In order to do this, it is necessary to have frequency planning and radio coverage simulation tools that use highly reliable databases for network design. TIM has therefore applied stricter accuracy standards concerning the correct positioning of sites and the precision with which antenna design parameters are practiced, obtaining not only a network of permanent GPS stations but also professional instrumentation kits. Following numerous tests carried out on products from various companies that operate in the sector land survey instruments, TIM’s technical staff selected Leica
The GPS stations continually transmit differential correction data to the LMP, in accordance with the RTCM SC-104 (Radio Technical Commission on Maritime Communication, Special Committee 104) international protocol standard, Release 2.2. Selection of the frequency, data and time slot
Time files available for customer download
Selection of the frequency, data and time slot 10
The GeoData Real Time service requires the customer to activate a telephone connection with the LMP by dialing a TIM radiomobile number for the desired GPS station, from a GSM mobile phone (with active SIM card), that is connected to a GPS rover receiver. When the connection is made, the GPS measurement session begins and continually receives the requested data at a speed of 9.6 Kbits/s, performing differential correction directly on the field and obtaining highly accurate data.
The “APOGEO” Procedure
Geosystems Italia as their supplier. Leica was chosen because it allowed TIM to obtain a wide range of perfectly reliable instruments, and with consideration of the extreme variability of environmental situations in which they must operate. Each kit consists of a GPS SR530 receiver with all the accessories necessary to perform both Fast Static and Real Time analyses, and a fully motorized TCRM1102 laser station for topographic surveys. Undoubtedly, the strongpoint of the kit is the topographic instrument, the technical characteristics of which distinguish it from those of other companies. Such characteristics include precision distance (3mm) and angle (2”) measurements, a reflectorless range (>150 m), and maximum laser divergence of 100 m (1.5mm x 3mm). In particular, the maximum laser divergence is very important for distinguishing two points very close together when measuring across long distances. The use of the PCMCIA card both inside the GPS receiver and the topographic instrument is also a highly useful form of support for customizing other potential functions (for example: direct calculation of the tilt and the azimuth). In order to increase the accuracy of the business databases, on which all the activities related to the design, construction, maintenance, and optimization of the network are based, the APOGEO (Antennas Procedures On Geographic Enhanced Orientation) operating procedures were developed and patented by TIM both in Italy and abroad. These procedures define the operating methods for the accurate measurement of geographic coordinates (latitude,
longitude, and altitude), orientation with respect to geographic north (azimuth), inclination with respect to the vertical (tilt) and altitude from the ground, of radio station antennas using the above-mentioned professional instrumentation. The APOGEO procedures have become an integral part of the technical testing standards and contracts with supply and installation companies that operate for TIM. In this way, TIM accepts the facilities only when their conformity to the design specifications has been verified by applying these procedures. In general, each radiomobile installation irradiates the signal from multiple cells (directions) installed on a towering structure (pylon, pole, building) by means of appropriate supports. Each cell is made up of multiple antennas (fixed electromagnetic sources) the support structures of which may vary from one installation to another. The element to which all topographic survey operations required by the APOGEO procedure therefore refer, is a single antenna. The identification of the geographic coordinates (latitude, longitude, and altitude) of the antennas in the WGS84 system and of their tracking angle on the horizontal plane (azimuth), with respect to geographic north, generally requires the completion of a mixed survey. These are based on simultaneous GPS instrumental surveys (eg. Leica SR530) and topographic surveys (eg. Leica TCRM1102). In fact, bearing in mind that the points to be surveyed are inaccessible, it becomes necessary to record two or more reciprocally visible points in the vicinity of the
The use of the following instrumentation and, subsequently, the APOGEO procedure, is intended to promote: • increased accuracy in the installation, maintenance, and optimization processes by the companies that operate for TIM, through the verification of the conformity of equipment to project specifications. With these instruments, errors that could occur with the use of conventional instruments normally employed by installers of mobile telephone systems (inclinometers, compasses, altimeters, etc.) are eliminated. • qualitative improvement of the network in terms of coverage and protection from interference, thanks to increased precision in the calibrating of antenna tracking. Furthermore, given the greater sophistication of future UMTS systems, this will be an increasingly important consideration. • greater reliability of the business databases necessary for the design of the network, for the supply of added-value services (eg. services based on localization), and for the processing of impact area data necessary in order to conform to the electrosmog regulations now in force. • performing necessary remote verification of the antennas, while guaranteeing the safety of personnel (TIM or suppliers’) directly involved in the actual surveying activities.
Antenna points Frontal view of Antenna
Rear view of Antenna
Coordinates and Azimuth measurement 11
antennas by means of GPS, from which the points on the antennas are visible, and as such detectable by a topographic instrument, which in turn are capable of recording angular measurements (azimuth directions and zenith angles) as well as distance. For the coordinates (determined in WGS84), the point at the base of the antenna is measured, while the two points on the same horizontal plane are measured for the azimuth.
Antenna tilt and height measurement
The position of GPS vertices in relation to points on the antenna to be measured must planimetrically define triangles, preferably equilateral triangles, in order to optimize planimetric precision. The calculation of the antenna tracking angles of the on the vertical plane (tilt) and the height of the antenna from the ground may be performed by using the topographic instrument only, positioned on opportune vertices (not GPS), from which the points to be measured are visible. More specifically, the calculation of height in relation to the ground is performed by determining the difference based on the measurements of the incline distance and the zenith angle. Therefore, calculation of the tracking angle on the vertical plane (tilt) is always determined by measuring the azimuth directions, the zenith angles, and the distances to both the identified points, lying on the same vertical. It is important to emphasize that a higher or lower level of complexity in performing an on-site survey, even with equal antenna dimensions, is strictly related to local logistic limitations. It is obvious that a survey of a radio station in the suburbs
12
TIM Antenna site
with each antenna installed on the same pylon is much quicker and easier than that of a radio station in an urban area on the roof of a building with each antenna on its own pole. It is therefore always necessary to
Leica Kit for TIM consists of GPS SR530 and TCRM 1102
adapt such procedures to the specific conditions of each individual site. TIM Group
Production soars following implementation of GPS in map revision The actual increase in production, however, proved to be much better than expected. “For example, closer analysis of the production monitor used at Ordnance Survey showed that the difference between the production rates at the commencement of the project in December 2001 and the closure of the project in March 2003, was a massive 42.8% increase. These improved results were a combination of using the RTK GPS, allied to substantial redesign of the operating procedures and production processes used by the surveyors, Paul Cruddace said.
A massive 42% in productivity gains has been measured by Great Britain’s national mapping agency, Ordnance Survey, following the implementation of Leica GPS surveying systems to undertake their most detailed mapping. GPS was introduced to the field from January 2002 and allowed all Ordnance Survey surveyors to update map data on the spot. Every year, Ordnance Survey produces a wide range of digital data business products, along with millions of paper maps. They are responsible for updating and maintaining definitive map data for the whole of Great Britain, which is contained in a large computer database. This vast electronic map covers the whole of Great Britain and is so detailed that it includes the shape of every individual building, the precise alignment of roads and pavements and the exact location of public telephone boxes. Its latest innovation is the creation of the multi-layered OS MasterMap – an even more sophisticated version of its most detailed data, in which more than 400 million natural and man-made features are held as self-contained polygons, all with unique codes so that third-party data can be associated with them quickly and easily. The total Ordnance Survey workforce includes more than 350 surveyors who constantly measure and record the changing British landscape from a network of offices stretching from Inverness to Truro. Previously, the maintenance and updating of this massive amount of data proved an arduous and timeconsuming task. Following a strategic partnership with Leica Geosystems at the end of 2001, Ordnance Survey
began the ‘GPS Deployment Project’, which aimed to adopt GPS as the basis for field revision. GPS positioning was to replace where possible and economic the traditional terrestrial methods used to position new detail. “Following a pilot project, it was anticipated that there would be significant efficiencies through implementing RTK GPS technology to data collection and management,” Paul Cruddace, Geodetic Adviser at Ordnance Survey said. “These could be achieved through reduced backlog, increased production output or better currency of the data. The prediction was an increase in the production rate in the range of 25%.” Equipped with a backpack containing the RF530 RTK receiver, and carrying a hand-held pen com-puter running data collection software, the surveyor is ready to map an area. To obtain a precise position, the surveyor can communicate directly with a local base station (of which there are over 60 throughout Britain), or
create a temporary base station from a receiver connected to their car. By positioning the receiver pole alongside the feature to be surveyed, the position of the new detail appears on the screen of the pen computer. The computer contains the digital mapping data that is to be updated, and the surveyor is able to add or edit a feature on the touchsensitive screen. At the end of the day, all the new information is sent electronically to a giant master database held on a central computer at the Ordnance Survey’s headquarters in Southampton. Remote or inaccessible points can be defined with a Leica DISTO™ or a Leica TCR 307 Reflectorless Total Station. An intensive programme of aerial photography, particularly in rural areas, also supplements data gathered by ground staff. Not only did the GPS method prove to be highly productive, the task became much easier and more efficient – allowing a single person to measure points and to check the data directly on the hand-held computer.
A tremendous achievement “The GPS Deployment Project has been judged to be a tremendous success by all those connected with it – through the successful delivery of the project objectives, the effective support delivered through our partnership with Leica, and the commitment and innovation shown by our surveyors,” said Ordnance Survey’s Director of Data Collection and Management, Neil Ackroyd. “It has allowed us to realise efficiencies in our business that can be used to manage costs and re-invest in the capture of new types of information to further improve our customer proposition.” Unlike the old paper maps, Ordnance Survey’s electronic map data can be kept up-todate constantly – with around 5,000 changes made every day! Extracts of the latest 'edition' can be accessed instantly by the public through a national network of computer-linked retail outlets in the Ordnance Survey Options network, while updates to OS MasterMap data can be served online. Bt 13
Laser scanning makes quick job of rail survey The use of innovative 3D laser scanning technology from Leica Geosystems meant that Australian surveying company North Surveys were able to complete the survey of a section of rail network in record time and with an extremely high level of accuracy.
North Surveys’ Ian McDonald analyses the scan data using cyclone software.
Brisbane-based, North Surveys Pty Ltd, were awarded 141 km (two sections) of the 390 km (seven sections) tender for mapping the existing Victorian rail network for a proposed upgrade of the line – “Regional Fast Rail Project – Bendigo Line”. The task, however, became a significant challenge when they were only given 7.5 weeks for its completion.
Latest technology to capture data
Director of North Surveys, Mr Frank North with the Excellence in Surveying Award.
Scanning of a railway tunnel for the Bendigo project: the surveying of structures which included 13 railway stations, 25 bridges and two tunnels, were captured using Cyrax 3D laser scanning.
14
Careful not to jeopardise quality of data surveyed, North Surveys decided to utilise a range of methods and the latest technology to capture the data and achieve the best and most accurate results. The open country surveying was undertaken using Leica GPS/RTK and consisted of one base station and four rovers. Confined spaces were surveyed using conventional EDM and
the surveying of structures which included 13 railway stations, 25 bridges and two tunnels, were captured using the Cyrax 2500 3D laser scanner. 3D laser scanning is a new method for the spatial recording and visualization of objects. A laser beam automatically detects the three dimensional coordinates of an object. Thousands of points are measured in a single second to combine millions of object points in order to document the entire object with extreme accuracy. It was after the job had commenced that North Surveys decided to test the 3D laser scanning technology. Following the purchase of a Cyrax 2500 3D laser scanner from Leica’s Australian distributor, C.R. Kennedy and Company Pty Ltd, they received immediate and thorough training.
“Incorporating this new scanning technology required innovative procedures, methodologies and techniques for its use,” said Director of North Surveys, Mr Frank North. “To date, there is no manual or procedures for its use in a surveying environment, except for those that we have developed.” The various methods of data capture used achieved different rates of production. The Cyrax scanner was able to cover 1km each day, whereas the rovers covered 12 km a day. With four or five crews operating similar technology, there was pressure to achieve a high rate of productivity without having to revisit a site for remeasurement due to invalid recordings. All surveys were then processed in proprietary software and/or Keays, merged, tidied and then passed into Microstation for
Cyra laser scanning technology*, from market leaders Leica Geosystems, has many fields of applications typically including factory plants with numerous pipes, drilling platforms, tunnels and other infrastructure building works.
final presentation and delivery. “Our use of the 3D laser scanning technology for this project was accurate and extremely timely,” said Mr North. “It far outweighed the usual conventional manual methods normally used today.”
“Excellence in Surveying“ award It was due to this innovative use of technology that the project “Regional Fast Rail Project – Bendigo Line”, undertaken on behalf of the Department of Infrastructure from the Victorian Government, won the Award for Open Project category of the ‘Excellence in Surveying Award 2002’ from the Institution of Surveyors Australia, Queensland Division. The Open Project category refers to no restriction of scope, size or nature of entries. Projects are judged on technical excellence, innovation, sensitivity to the environment, benefit to the profession and community and quality of presentation. “This award has come about through great team effort and all the staff are to be congratulated for playing a vital part in each and every role,” said Mr North. “Whilst the project in its own right is not unique, difficult or out of the ordinary, what turns this project into a contender for discussion, review and scrutiny is the sheer logistical exercise required to bring together a range of resources and technology to match the required scope of works,” Mr North said. “We achieved the required deliverable all in a very short timeframe, in an unfamiliar environment, 1,800 km from home, whilst
The new measurement technology offers numerous advantages at the same time: the ability to quickly scan an object without physical contact from up to one hundred metres away and with a precision of better than 6 millimeters; complex forms are not a problem; dangerous and hot objects can be documented fast from a safe distance. Every detail is included automatically, producing an object that is easily recognizable. It is also possible to gain additional information from the Cyra data set which goes beyond pure spatial information, for example, determining references to changed material structures by delivering different laser reflection. *now described as High Definition Surveying™, the new standard and refined description of what has often been previously referred to as “3D laser scanning”. The Leica HDS2500, is a re-labeled Cyrax® 2500 scanner, Leica Geosystems’ (and the industry’s) most popular scanner to date. More information: http://www.leica-geosystems.com/investor/news/high_definition_surveying.htm
at the same time developing and training in the use of new technology.” “At the completion of the project, the client commented they were surprised that we were able to finish in the timeframe allowed given the large portion of the project allocated to us,” Mr North said.
Continued use of 3D laser scanning Since the purchase of the Cyrax laser scanner, North Surveys have identified a huge market for its use. Their scanner is one of only seven commercial units currently available in Australia. First used to scan the railway bridges in the Bendigo Line project, it has now been mounted onto an extendable mast on a truck, to allow efficient scanning of objects from many different angles and heights. The scanner has never been short of jobs. It has scanned the draglines at BHP mine sites, was used in the $90m revamp of the Australian Paper Mill at Petrie, recorded the pipeline system at the Gladstone Power Station and scanned the collapsed gas tank at Luggage Point in order to assist in the salvage and determine the cause of the collapse.
tion and development of the new 3D Laser Scanner technology will contribute towards cementing the surveying industry as being the ‘owners’ of this technology,” said Mr North. “By utilising this technology, we can push our clients’ projects into the future – what will be main-stream in maybe five or ten years time,” said Mr North. “The scanner will save our clients time and money, and will deliver an accurate spatial data sets in a timely manner.” Bt
North Surveys have designed a special truck where the cyrax laser scanner is mounted on an extendable mast.
Continued projects for North Surveys have included the scanning of pipelines at BP Refinery in Queensland.
“The promotion and marketing that has followed as a result of the introduc15
LEICA ADS40
LEICA Machine Automation
Airborne digital sensor with unique features for 3D data acquisition in GIS and mapping.
A diverse range of systems for monitoring the position and production performance of machinery in mines and construction sites.
LEICA TPS1100 PowerSearch
LEICA RUGBY™ 100LR
Total stations with options for automation and prism recognition for optimal efficiency.
Rotating laser level with many advantages for the construction site.
LEICA DISTO™ 5th Generation
LEICA HDS™ 2500/3000/4500
Precise laser distancers reducing time and costs. Up to 200m.
High-Definition Surveying product family with Cyclone™ and CloudWorks™ software.
LEICA Erdas IMAGINE®
LEICA GPS Reference Networks
Geospatial imaging software for remote sensing image processing for GIS applications and 2D+3D GIS models.
Multi-purpose networked frameworks that deliver enhanced GPS positioning data across large sites and territories.
The large aerial picture shows the “Earthman” of the LandArte project in Switzerland. This Earthling has an arm span of 350 meters. The LandArte artworks were staked out with Leica GPS System 500 and Leica GS20 and several of them were transferred into the landscape by guiding the seeding machines with a Leica Dozer GradeStar Indicate system. The image documentation was made with digital Leica ADS40 aerial sensor, Leica RC30 aerial camera, and Leica Erdas Imaginea software .
Find more out at www.leica-geosystems.com
Discover us!
LEICA TPS110C & TPS410C Builder Total Stations with unique operation-philosophy especially suited for customers working on construction site.
LEICA LTD800 The All-In-One Solution with the new “Walk-AroundCMM“ based on the fastest and most accurate tracker in the world.
LEICA GS20 PDM Professional data capturing in your hand. Small and precise GPS data mapper for GIS and mapping.
LEICA GeoMoS Geodetic Monitoring System and software for monitoring the movement of land and structures.
Powerful partners providing high productivity. In the new range of technologies and products from Leica Geosystems there are a lot of productivity drivers to discover. Leica Geosystems provides the most comprehensive program of products and systems for capturing, modelling and presenting spatial reality world-wide in the fields of surveying, mapping, metrology and monitoring. As a customer you are able to take advantage of the easy integration of data and the extension of the value chain into new growing areas. Leica Geosystems develops, markets and supports modern systems for land and cadastral surveying, environmental analysis, civil and mechanical engineering, building and construction,
machine automation, monitoring, GIS creation and industrial measurement. Visit us at www.leica-geosystems.com or contact us or a Leica Geosystems representative directly to learn more about these new possibilities.
CAPTURE . . . MODEL . . . PRESENT
Geosystems
Comfortable measuring for Architects is announced the existing old plan on the spot. Later in the office, the data is entered into a CAD program and the current stock plans are prepared in the office.
More time for planing … After using a Leica Laser Distancemeter for four years, Architect Rainer Dietz from Lindau, Germany, would never swap this valued tool.
Right: Rainer Dietz measures in the house entrance Below: After the renovation...
Today measuring both short and long distances fast and accurately is a “must”. Particularly during renovations, it is essential that measurements are correct at the beginning of construction as later changes would create great problems for tenants. Time is money for all in the construction.
Since 1999, the architecture office of Rainer Dietz has renovated and modernised many apartment buildings of the fifities with over 230 flats. All apartments, stairwells, cellars and attics, as well as the façades, are newly measured and all measurements and material details are written down on
“Compared with the enormous cost savings, the initial cost of the DISTO hardly comes into the picture. Using the convential methods of measuring (with a tape measure and a metre ruler), two people are needed for just 11/4 standard hours per apartment. However, a saving potential of appoximately 50-60% lies with the measurement of longer distances (façades, cellars, corridors and attics).” “I see great advantages in using the DISTO laser distancemeter to record detailed measurements in occupied and furnished buildings. Here, I can comfortable measure over and around items of furniture without having to move anything,” said Rainer Dietz. For a building with 20 apartments, the Leica DISTO will save him around a total of 30 hours in measuring and recording time. Petra Ammann
At building site
Savings at the building site Tape measure and Metre ruler
Leica DISTO™
Savings
2 people measure with a conventional tape measure and metre ruler. Items of furniture must be partly moved.
1 person measures with a Leica DISTO. All rooms are exactly measured with laser without moving any items of furniture. A colleague still accompanies the measurer but only.
1. Time-saving per Apartment: 2. Façades, cellar, attic, stairwell, per building (approx. 20 apartments):
1. Time expenditure per apartment: 2. Time expenditure façades, cellar, attic, stairwell, per building (approx. 20 apartments):
11/2 Std
20 Std
1. Time expenditure per apartment: 2. Time expenditure façades, cellar, attic, stairwell, per building (approx. 20 apartments): Complete saving: at 1. a building with 20 apartments At 2. a complete project
18
11/2 Std
10 Std ca. 10 Std ca. 10 Std ca. 20 Std per Building
/2 Std
1
10 Std
The Very Large Telescope Since February 2001, mankind has been opening a new eye into the universe: with the Very Large Telescope (VTL). The VTL provides researchers with extremely sharp images – achievable due to the very high positioning accuracy of all elements of this new observatory. To reach these targets, technology from Leica Geosystems was used. The European Space Agency (ESO) Very large Telescope (VLT) at the Paranal Observatory (Atacama Chile) is the world’s largest and most advanced optical telescope. It was constructed as a joint project, by eight European countries. It comprises four 8.2-m reflecting Unit Telescopes and several moving 1.8-m Auxiliary Telescopes, the light beams of which can be combined in the VLT Interferometer (VLTI). With is unprecedented optical resolution and unsurpassed surface area, the VLT produces extremely sharp images and can record light from the faintest and most remote places in the Universe. The Paranal Observatory is located on the top of Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert in the northern part of Chile, which is believed to be the driest area on Earth. Cerro Paranal is a 2,635-m high mountain, about 120 km south of Antofagasta town and 12 km inland from the Pacific Coast. The geographical coordinates are 24o 40' S, 70o 25' W. The Paranal mountain was chosen because of its excellent atmospheric conditions and, not the least, for its remoteness. This will ensure that the astronomical observations to be carried out there, and will not be disturbed by adverse human activities, e.g. dust and light from roads and mines. For the astronomical construction of this complex, it was necessary to use the highest technology. To guarantee highest quality and precision for this gigantic construction, the most precise and sophisticated laser instruments, TDA5100 and TDA5005 theodolites from Leica Geosystems were used with the support of Leica Geosystems’ representative in Chile, Cientec Instrumentos Cientificos S.A., Santiago. Gabriel Garland Left: The VLT produces extremely sharp images and can record light from the faintst and most remote places in the Universe. Right: The Paranal Observatory is located on the top of Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert.
Leica Geosystems with highest sustainability rating For Leica Geosystems’ sustainability and environmental responsibility represent central factors in its way of doing business. To measure the extent of completion of these objectives, neutral and specialised organisations are asked to check them on a regular basis. In 2003, Leica Geosystems received a corporate sustainability rating of “A”, the highest rating possible from Centre Info, a member of the SiRi Group (Sustainable Investment Research International Group). The rating is based upon seven criteria including business ethics, corporate governance, customer satisfaction and quality, employee relations, environmental responsibility, community service, and human rights and supply chain.
Last year, no company reached the “A” level in this rating of Center Info with a scale from A to E. With this “A” rating Leica Geosystems exceeds last year’s top 10 “B+” rating. According to the research report issued by Centre Info, Leica Geosystems “shows a very satisfying commitment to its various stakeholders…is constantly aware of its customers’ needs…gives great importance to its employees…has improved its corporate governance rating…and cares strongly for the environment.” The report concludes with the statement: “Globally, the company demonstrates a very high level of environmental and social responsibility and rates among the most sustainable companies.” 19
Leica Geosystems raises functionality of laser tracking Vehicle manufacturers’ desire to adhere to the maxim of “get in right and get it right first time” has been further enabled with the latest laser tracker technology introduced by Leica Geosystems.
A world leader in laser technology and three dimensional measurement solutions, Leica has combined tracker technology with photogrammetry techniques, creating a measurement system that makes it possible not only to determine the position of a point of measurement, but also the spatial orientation of any arbitrary object. The process involves the use of a high-speed camera, installed on the laser tracker in conjunction with a handheld probing device (the T-Probe), containing the diode array and a reflector. While the laser tracker determines the exact position of the reflector, the camera determines the position of the diode array in the photogram and, from that, computes the spatial orientation of the probing device. With six degrees of freedom the shape and orientation of any arbitrary object in space can be measured in real-time with a rate of more than 100 Hz.
Measurement of geometries is made with Leica’s ultralight handheld device, the armless and wireless T-Probe.
20
The introduction of the new measuring process brings two decisive functional enhancements to laser tracking. The first is that it allows measurement of geometries to be made with Leica’s ultralight handheld device, the armless and wireless T-Probe. The second is that in future the laser tracker will be combined with Leica’s handheld scanner, the T-Scan, to enable objects to be digitized easily and quickly. In this respect Leica’s Tracker
LTD800 and LTD700 laser trackers have been developed with special attention to these functional enhancements, making it possible to measure the six degrees of freedom of the end effector of a robot, in real-time and during its motion. According to Nicholas Bloch, Vice President Global Marketing and Communication, Leica Geosystems Metrology Division: “The T-Probe is essentially a first-of-a-kind accessory to the market-
leading Leica laser tracker series. It will offer engineers and metrologists previously unheard-of flexibility and freedom by allowing them to measure and inspect also deep inside components and tools with undiminished accuracy.” Functioning with a Leica laser tracker, the compact T-Probe can easily inspect and accurately measure virtually anything, anywhere. It offers measurements accurate up to 0.1 mm in a volume equivalent to that of a full-size car. Bloch believes that the T-Probe “is destined to become a critical new success factor for the automotive and related industries worldwide. Leica already has a pre-order log for a dozen installations, particularly in the automotive sector.” Looking at the applications of the new technology, Bloch adds: “In general, the systems of measurements are employed for compari-
son of the reality with the design (measurement of the form and the position), or for the translation of the reality into design data (Reverse Engineering). While in the automobile industry the design data for almost all the products are now commonly available in CAD format, it is clearly recognizable that this is now increasingly becoming the standard also in the aviation industry. “If the design data is available in digital form, for onsite work, the measurement systems must be in a position to retrieve or store the necessary data from the network of the firm via intranet. Also, this general trend in the industry requires that the systems of measurement be seamlessly linked with CAD programs and that they have open interfaces that make them intranet enabled. “In case of laser tracker and laser radar, these requirements were given major
reliance upon contemporary measuring technology, from prototyping through to volume production. At General Motors’ Opel international technical development center (ITEZ), which sets the production standards for all of the company’s manufacturing plants, a state-of-theart Leica laser tracker is used to provide precise measurement of welding operations. Epitomizing current trends in measurement technology, no longer do Opel’s engineers have to bring the work piece to a static measuring system (as in the past) but simply move the measuring device to the product, thereby saving time and cost. In fact, there is often no alternative. Part of Opel’s ITEZ responsibility is to plan, develop and construct welding lines for new models, prior to them being built in the actual production facilities where the cars will be made. The problem facing engineers in such
“The T-Probe is essentially a first-of-a-kind accessory to the market-leading Leica laser tracker series. It will offer engineers and metrologists previously unheard-of flexibility and freedom by allowing them to measure and inspect also deep inside components and tools with undiminished accuracy.” priority during development. Both the systems have open program interfaces that are intranet enabled via TCP/IP. With Leica's own new application software, known as Horizon, a complete integration of the measurement systems is now possible with the CAD environment. The analysis of the measurements takes place in real time and the generated reports are presented in a form compatible with the internet browsers.” Laser tracking – not a fixed asset In practical terms, the automotive industry, at both OEM and key supplier level, is placing ever-greater
instances is that the welding lines can be up to 12 meters long and fixed immovably in place. “It is in situations like this where mobile measuring technology really pays its way,” says Olaf Wienke, the Leica support engineer responsible for commissioning the system at Opel. He adds: “The user places the reflector on the points to be measured and triggers a remotely-controlled measurement. At the same time, the exact spatial co-ordinates of the measurement point are stored in the system.” With an accuracy of 10 micrometers per meter, the Leica laser tracker used by ITEZ boasts an additional compo-
nent, known as Nivel20. This enables “horizontalised” measurements to be carried out - which is very important on welding lines, where two or three machines often run simultaneously and, over a period of years, it is possible for one corner of the framework to sink slightly. Thus, before installing a new welding line into the framework (for a new car model), an essential part of the installation procedure is checking to ensure that all four corners of the frame are still at the same height and perfectly aligned, a process that the laser tracker carries out with guaranteed precision. Generally, with laser trackers it is awkward if the laser beam is broken, either by movement or being covered by an intermediate body, as the tracker would lose sight of the reflector and the whole system would then have to go back to its starting-point. In the past, were this to happen, the laser beam had to be directed to this reference point, from where the whole process could be started again. However, were this to happen today, starting the procedure from scratch is not necessary as the Leica tracker features an additional camera that searches for the reflector entirely inde-
The compact T-Probe can easily inspect and accurately measure virtually anything, anywhere.
21
pendently and, with the help of the system’s absolute distance meter (ADM), allows the measurement process to carry on as if never interrupted. Wienke explains that: “This additional functionality can be very useful in a complete welding facility, with many moving parts, where it could be relatively easy for the laser beam to be interrupted.” Marrying the tracker to Opel’s software system created no problems as Leica
also supplied its Axyz software, a type of operating system for optical measurement devices. Wienke describes how the package works: “This software allows us to operate the tracker and to check the measurement data. The user can calibrate the system, perform measurements or program commands and the program makes it possible to transfer data to the software system in use - in this case, Metromec.”
To ensure that operators maximize the potential of its laser tracker, Leica includes in the cost of the package a five-day basic training course, during which participants are introduced to the principles of optical co-ordinate measurement techniques and the use of laser trackers. Rod Harman
Success with carmakers continues
Toyota production engineers will use the LTD800 laser tracker for quality control, to bridge the gap between as-built vehicle and nominal design data.
22
Leica Geosystems leads the industry with more than 1,300 tracker systems installed worldwide in some of the toughest, most unforgiving industrial environments. The company’s success with carmakers continues with a raft of recently won contracts. The Ford Motor Company has purchased eight Leica laser tracking systems, which will form the metrology foundation for a variety of manufacturing applications, from assembly to tooling processes. The decision to standardize on Leica followed a major benchmarking exercise by Ford of the metrology systems currently available in the marketplace. Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America has also turned to Leica to supply a laser tracking system for high precision inspection and measurement operations at its production facility in Erlanger, Kentucky. Toyota production engineers will use the LTD800 for quality control, to bridge the gap between as-built vehicles and nominal design data. The LTD800 delivers the fastest measurement cycle in the industry for high point density (3000 points/second), and the longest measurement distance for large volume work (40 m). In addition to the LTD800, Toyota also plans to utilize Leica’s new T- Probe to provide on-demand inspection and measurement. In Europe, Leica has delivered two LTD800 laser tracker systems to DaimlerChrysler to help ensure the quality and precision of industrial inspections and measurements at the Mercedes-Benz plant at Rastatt, southern Germany. According to Nicholas Bloch, one of the key reasons underlying the decision to purchase the systems was the possibility to upgrade to the portable T-Probe function – which operates with Leica’s LTD800 and LTD700 laser trackers – and to use it for precision measurement and inspection of just about anything, anywhere. “The DaimlerChrysler decision shows that we are moving more and more strongly into the automotive sector - thanks largely to the previously unheard-of advantages offered by the T-Probe. The new system represents that increasing rarity in today’s ever-changing high-tech industries - a genuine technological revolution, which will fundamentally affect the way users do their job and how they perceive suppliers’ commitment to innovation. “Based on this technological break-through, we now expect to considerably expand our market share in those sectors that depend on state-of-the-art precision measurement capability – particularly the automotive industry.”
WorldSkills gold medal with Leica NA 720 automatic level
The world’s best young vocational professionals gather at WorldSkills Every two years, the best young vocational professionals in the world meet up for the WorldSkills Competition. In 2003 this was held in St. Gallen, Switzerland and previously in Montreal and Seoul. A total of 665 skilled vocational students from 36 countries competed for medals. Before they arrived, all of the participants had won difficult qualifying trials in their home countries. Six hundred expert jurors evaluated achievements in 42 different vocational fields, including numerous careers in construction. 180,000 visitors and numerous TV teams from all over the world watched as the world’s best landscape gardeners, among others, teamed up in pairs to complete their assigned task within an area 7m x 7m in four days: using lawn, nursery plants, humus, natural and concrete stones, sand, gravel, pond lining and water as well as the surveyor’s level of their choice. The Swiss team, which was made up of Reto Schefer and Mathis Schnyder, opted to use the Leica NA 720 automatic level to determine height, evenness and slope – and took home the gold medal. There was a tie for the gold medal in bricklaying, which went to the Korean SungWon An and the Dutchman Arnold Ros. German Jochen Ströhle and Stefan Schoch of Switzerland shared the gold medal in cabinet making. The nations winning the most honours at WorldSkills included South Korea, Switzerland, Japan, Austria, Germany and Taiwan. Preparations will soon be underway for the 38th WorldSkills Competition in the Finnish capital Helsinki in 2005. Stfi
Above: High-performance landscape gardeners with the Leica NA 720 automatic level. 2003 gold medalists Mathis Schnyder and Martin Schefer together with 2001 WorldSkills gold medalists Dominic-Felix Jost and Philippe Hug. Martin Schefer: “This level is sturdy and precise. It helped us maintain the most accurate measurements, throughout the difficult four days of competition.” Left: SungWon An of Korea worked his way to a gold medal in bricklaying. He also took home the Leica DISTO™ 5 from the host country: “This is a very cool device that I can use in a variety of ways in my work. It reduces preparation time, offsets and checks and makes the work more precise.”
Carpenter Jochen Ströhle “fashioned” a gold medal for himself in St. Gallen. Jochen Ströhle received a Leica Disto™5 laser distance meter from the German carpentry expert: “It’s a great thing. It lets you make measurements in no time and can even measure heights indirectly. It’s accurate down to the millimeter.”
23
Real time viewing of World Orienteering Championships possible with fast 3D visualization The 2003 World Orienteering Championships held this August in Switzerland marked a milestone in technological history. For the first time ever, the winning routes were able to be visualized in near real-time with Erdas IMAGINE® VirtualGIS software from Leica Geosystems.
male and female runners were shown simultaneously in the movie, their different routes were easy to spot in the strategic post-race analysis.
A great deal is demanded from orienteering runners: in addition to being athletic, they must also have good spatial visualization ability. Only those runners who are able to analyze the task provided and are the fastest to implement it on the ground, can win. The posts that must be passed are stationed in forests, fields and urban areas. How can this be visualized for a large number of spectators and an excited television audience?
IMAGINE Virtual GIS at the core As a basis for realizing the 3D visualization with IMAGINE Virtual GIS, MFBGeoConsulting (www.mfbgeo.com) used a highresolution digital elevation model (DEM) and the digital orienteering race map (pixel map) on the one hand, and vector data of the routes taken by the runners on the other.
Left: Simone Luder orients herself during the race on the way to the next post on her map. Her route led the Swiss athlete to a gold medal.
Above: The posts and the routes chosen by the three best competitors were visualized in the target area for spectators on the projection screen with the help of Leica Geosystems’ Erdas IMAGINE® VirtualGIS. Below: Posts are interim goals. Here, Marian Davidik from Slovakia checks in. Center: Thierry Gueorgiou, from France, on the way to a gold medal in the classic-distance final.
24
Enthusiastic athletes and fans MFB-GeoConsulting in Messen had a solution that enabled the 3D visualization of the 2003 World Orienteering Championships in near real-time with Leica Geosystems’ Erdas IMAGINE® VirtualGIS. Just minutes after the finish line was crossed, the routes of the three best male and female runners were digitalized, played back virtually before the public and partially televised using a high-resolution scale model and the digital orienteering map. Since the three best
It was a particularly technical challenge to achieve optimum rendering, since the geometry of the 3D scene was constantly changing and therefore had to be permanently recalculated. An organizational challenge resulted from the fact that precise data on the starting point, posts and goal were only announced shortly prior to the start of each of the orienteering races. For that reason, the corresponding symbols for routes, posts and runners were generated and imported into IMAGINE VirtualGIS and linked within
the system before the events. That enabled the races to be visualized as they were being run – practically in real-time. The only data that had to be entered at the time of the starting signal were the new, effective geographic coordinates of the starting point, the individual posts and the finish. In order to attain the best possible representations of the terrain and the courses run, the optimum angles and perspectives for viewing the terrain were determined during the race in conjunction with an orienteering specialist. That let both athletes and spectators follow the race exactly and analyze the race after the fact. Routes of the best three runners in three dimensions Just minutes after the finish line was crossed, the routes
“ Leica’s Imagine VirtualGIS 3D animation made the most important aspects visible.” Felix Arnet of the three best male and female runners were digitalized as ATL files in ASCII format with geographic coordinates and chronological data and then converted into shape files. In order for the race to be compressed down to a few minutes and played back in virtual time, the time base had to be compressed as well. For the route analysis, DTM, digital orienteering map and the shape files (routes run and time information) of the three best runners were integrated and then played back for the audience on a giant
Left: An impressive final sprint from Jamie Stevenson in Rapperswil on Lake Zurich: the Brit was crowned world champion.
video screen just a few minutes after the finish line was crossed, with parts of the race being broadcast on television. Since the three male and female runners were shown simultaneously in the movie, the different routes they selected were clearly recognizable. Never before had organizers, athletes, spectators and television viewers been treated to such deep insights into the runners’ strategies and the races.
closer together as they approached the posts. That was really impressive. In general, it can be said that the Leica Imagine animation made the most important aspects of the World Orienteering Championships visible.” It looks as though it’s likely to become a standard at such events. Michael Baumgartner
Above: The terrain, orienteering symbols and routes run by the top three runners were visualized in three dimensions using Imagine VirtualGIS software. Spectators in the target area were thus able to follow the final victory run of world champion Simone Luder and those of her toughest competitors.
Felix Arnet from the organizing committee of the 2003 World Orienteering Championships commented: “One particularly positive aspect worth mentioning was the fact that the 3D visualization enabled people to really see how steep the terrain was. The runners’ different competitive strategies were also clearly visible: you could see how the athletes left the post, decided on different routes, ran in their selected directions and then started getting closer and Right: He did it – a gold medal! Swiss runner Thomas Bührer won the long-distance race to become world champion. All photos: swiss-image.ch/ Remy Steinegger 25
Intergeo: A World of Solutions
15,000 visitors came to the Intergeo 2003 at Hamburg visiting the Leica Geosystems’ exhibition booth a World of Solutions, which included the brand new Leica HDS 3000 laser scanner (right).
The Intergeo exhibition is one of the leading exhibitions worldwide for showcasing the latest in surveying and geoinformatics. Over 15,000 visitors attended the fair this year, which was held in Hamburg, Germany. Leica Geosystems and ESRI Geoinformatik presented in a common booth under the motto of “World of Solutions” together with 14 application partners. The stand showcased the complete and comprehensive solutions of all participants. In the centre of the stand from Leica Geosystems, the new products HDS 3000 and HDS 4500 and the Cyclone software Version 5.0 was displayed. The TPS100C and TPS400C builder total stations were also shown for the first time, and new solutions were presented in the area of tunnel and track measurement. Visitors also showed a great interest in the GPS Reference Station solutions ‘Spider’. Also exhibited for the first was the photogrammetry and remote-sensing products, all together in the new photogrammetry software “Leica Photogrammetry Suite”. Once again, the INTERGEO was a great success. Sepp Englberger
Award for Leica Geosystems researchers at ION GPS/GNSS 2003 Researchers of Leica Geosystems' Corporate Technology Center are actively involved in the definition of the standard and the research of network RTK applicability. During the ION GPS/GNSS 2003 symposium in Oregon held in September 2003, Hans-Juergen Euler, Oliver Zelzer, Frank Takac, and Benedikt Zebhauser presented their research paper entitled “Applicability of standardized network RTK Message for Surveying Rovers”. The significance of the publication was recognized by the selection for a Best Presentation Award in its session. The paper
investigates optimal performance of the system by examining two different approaches for required calculations within a roving platform. It proves the functionality of the interface definition for interoperability and provides a first stepping-stone for further investigations in that area. Detailed statistics show the improvement of observation quality for the final steps of positioning calculations. By using these methods, remaining geometry and ionospheric biases have been greatly reduced. In a future article Reporter will provide additional information.
2003 FIG World Survey and Mapping Colloquium The recent FIG colloquium held in September 2003 at the Maritime Museum Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia, featured the history of surveying and mapping. Sponsored by Bob Linke, Les Strzelecki and Leica Geosystems and MASH Chairman John Brock Australian distributors C.R. Kennedy and Company Pty Ltd, it proved to be a great success with over 140 delegates participating, including many from overseas. The event was organised by Mapping and Surveying History International (MASH) and was held in conjunction with the International Map Collectors Society. The Saturday program included a keynote address on ‘Preserving and Promoting our Surveying Heritage’ given by the current NSW Surveyor General Warwick Watkins, and a presentation by George Baitch on ‘Exquisite Instruments of the NSW Lands Department’. The historical display at the venue included the Surveyor General John Oxley’s 1811 Map of the Colony of NSW as well as the Lands Department Historic Theodolites used for the Survey and Mapping of the
26
19 Counties of NSW. An excellent paper on Sir George Everest and the Triangulation Survey of Greater India in the 1800s – which ultimately determined the elevation of Mt Everest – was presented by the secretary of FIG History Jim Smith who travelled all the way from the UK. FIG History Chairman from Belgium Jan De Graeve gave a paper on world arc meridian surveys and the eminenent US Cartographic Expert Professor David Woodward spoke on “The Naming Of the Americas”. The Morning chairman was ex-head of govt surveys from Hong Kong Gordon Andreassand, and the afternoon chairman was the Australian Map Collector’s Society chairman, Professor Robert Clancy. On the Sunday delegates also visited Botany Bay viewing the landing place of explorer and surveyor, Captain James Cook in 1770, and visiting the French museum located at Frenchman’s Bay, La Perouse honouring the French Explorer and mapmaker who arrived in Botany Bay simultaneously with the British First Fleet commanded by Governor Arthur Phillip in 1788. Organisers, MASH Chairman John Brock and Secretary George Baitch hoped all who attended enjoyed the presentations, the historical display and the social events. For more information, visit www.mash.org.au. DVD’s of the day are available from MASH.
Novel solutions in machine automation In October, Leica Geosystems acquired the Australian company Tritronics, thereby further expanding its line of solutions for machine automation and construction-site management. Tritronics products enable the localization, remote diagnosis and monitoring of strip-mining machines in near real-time (see Reporter Vol. 48, p.28). This is undertaken using GPS-based navigation, wireless telecommunications and internet-based remote monitoring of machine configurations. Automated machine diagnostics and management systems from Tritronics result in substantial advantages in terms of efficiency and safety in strip mining and at major construction sites.
Tritronics systems integrate high-performance diagnostic, analytical and management software with reliable radio telemetry and 3D surveying sensors for precision monitoring and control of draglines, haul trucks, loaders, shovels, bulldozers and blast hole drills.
Micro-optic technology from Leica Geosystems wins Swiss Technology Award A new kind of micro-optic technology from Leica Geosystems, that enables the construction of miniaturized optical systems, has earnt the company the “Swiss Technology Award”. It involves positioning and mounting optical components smaller than two millimeters, such as lenses and beam splitters, down to one thousandth of a millimeter. That not only enabled substantial savings in terms of weight and volume to be achieved with Vector™ laser rangefinder binoculars, but also a doubling of the distance over which the equipment is effective, thanks to a 60-fold increase in the efficacy of the laser propagation.
Far left: Project head Laurent Stauffer at the world’s first TRIMO-SMD (tripod micro-optic surface-mounted devices) high-precision micro-optic assembly station of Leica Geosystems. Left: A micro-optic component positioned and mounted in six degrees of freedom down to a thousandth of a millimeter (for scale: the head of a match).
Video on surveying the city of Zurich Zurich regularly vies with Sydney in many studies for top honors as the city with the highest quality of life. Innovative geomatic systems from Leica Geosystems support specialists and residents in both metropolises. Two twelve-minute videos feature comments from the responsible surveying experts and the mayors. Please contact your expert advisor at Leica Geosystems if you are interested. 27
LandArte – Giant Art in Switzerland’s Rhine Valley In Ancient Greece, the concepts of art and technology were not yet separated. The term “tekhnae” stood for technology, art, crafts and handiwork. On another continent, and long before our epoch, a completely different culture, the Nazcas, laid down huge lines in the Peruvian highlands, the true extent of which is only revealed from the air. In present time, the year 2003 was the bicentennial anniversary of canton of St. Gallen – which includes the Alpine Rhine Valley where Leica Geosystems’ Swiss headquarters are located. This was the setting for 13 gigantic crop images, which sprouted and changed their appearance with the course of growth: LandArte.
The Leica technologies of GPS500 and GS20 assisted the LandArte artists from Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria and Finland to transfer their designs from paper sketches onto the landscape. 200,000 visitors have walked along the slopes of the valley or travelled to the mountains by cable railways to view the artworks. However, it was only possible to fully appreciate LandArte by ascending into the skies, and only with airborne sensors could these artworks be made visible to the broader public, allowing them to be precisely documented for viewing by future generations. These tasks were accomplished with Leica Geosystems’ digital ADS40 aerial imaging sensor, the RC30 aerial photography system, Ikonos satellite data, and Erdas Imagine™ software.
Nature, Art and Technology
“Earth Signals” in Rüthi by the Vorarlberg artist Herbert Fritsch. In its style of the culture of the Walser people this artwork, 1.2 kilometers in length, symbolises an eye, wherein the Moorhof farm of Bernhard Schneider represents the pupil.
Stake-out made easy: Assisted by the Leica 530 GPS system, surveyors transferred the artworks into the landscape on the Moorhof farm in Rüthi. Based on the 1:10,000-scale project sketch, project manager Kuno Bont (right) followed the plotting of the Earth Signal together with artist Herbert Fritsch. Right: “Mother Earth” in Salez, formed by five inmates of Saxerriet prison as part of a supplementary individual support program. 28
The valley carved by the alpine Rhine glacier has been a cultural landscape for millennia. The river is canalized just before the mouth of Lake Constance and the flood-ravaged valley floor shows diverse patterns of watercourses, trees and hedgerows and fields, making it an imposing
“tekhnae” work. For the last few months, the LandArte project has added the expressions of artists to this landscape. None of the 13 LandArte artworks expressed this aspect of the Rhine Valley’s actual cultural landscape in a more fundamental way than the oeuvre by Spallo Kolb: “Defining the Orientation”: While at first glance appearing to be minimalist yet profoundly effective on a conceptual level, he created three oblong fields facing due north and thus cutting deep into the now familiar “melioration patchwork”. As part of their thesis work, and in addition to local surveyor FPK & Partners, the landscape architect students Daniel Baur and Urs Haerden of Professor Peter Petschek from Rapperswil University of Applied Sciences were particularly active in transferring the artists’ drawings to the landscape, using Leica GPS systems GS20 and GPS 500. For several of these plant pictures the seed was sown in the fields by guiding the agricultural machines with a Leica Dozer GradeStar Indicate system. Social scientists from the University of St. Gallen were also involved by undertaking a research project in line with a supplementary individual support program at which five inmates at Saxerriet prison joined forces to create the work “Mother Earth”.
Earthling, Tiger and Space Contact Nearby Bad Ragaz, at the southernmost point of the 13 LandArte projects, visitors were greeted in Vilters by artist Sepp Azzola’s giant “Earthling” which had an armspan of 350 meters. In June, this
“Humans Leave Tracks – Adam/Eve” in Gams by Erna Reich. The large figure at Gams, more than a kilometer long, symbolizes both Adam and Eve. The footprints of the figure at Gams (see picture left) extend three kilometers. This picture is reminiscent of works by the artists and Bauhaus teachers Paul Klee and Johannes Itten.
Left: Two LandArte works in one image, taken at a distance of 600 kilometers by the IKONOS satellite. Bottom: “Humans Leave Tracks – Footprints” by Erna Reich between Frümsen and Gams. Center: “Mother Earth” in Salez. These satellite images transformed by the ErdasImagine™ software have a ground resolution of 1 meter. © Leica Geosystems / LandArte / www.mfb-geo.com / European Space Imaging, 2003 29
Visualization using the world’s leading high-performance systems As soon as nature made the LandArte pictures visible, they were documented from planes and satellites using the most up-to-date and most powerful systems in use today: the Leica RC30, Leica ADS40 and the Ikonos satellite. Over the last few years, Leica Geosystems in Heerbrugg, Switzerland, has developed the Leica ADS40 — the world’s first digital aerial image system capable of handling tasks in remote sensing and photogrammetry. It simultaneously records the overflown area on ten channels covering various spectral bands including infrared. In addition, simultaneous frontal, lateral and rear views are recorded. With the combination of GPS and inertial systems, and the use of the Leica ALS50 Lidar system, exact recording position data and precise topographical data on the earth’s surface can be ascertained. Since this data is immediately available in digital form, the creation of three-dimensional landscape models and remote sensing analyses can be performed quicker and much more simply. With a ground resolution of 15 centimeters, the Leica ADS40 produces much more precise information than satellites. It is used in agricultural and “When the Beetle Seeks the Tiger” in St. Margrethen by Jonny Müller. Using strips of green corn and grains, the artist modeled a structure based on a tiger hide in the fertile Rhine floodplain. The “beetles” were sown as ovals surrounding three fruit trees in the meadow at the upper right. Right: “Defining the orientation” in Kriessern by Spallo Kolb. Three fields were aligned along a precise north-south axis. The Leica ADS40 image shows the near infra-red band captured with this first aerial digital sensor. Below: “Emergency Exit” in Diepoldsau by Sunhild Wollwage. The globe can’t cope.
Leica Geosystems’ ADS40 is the world’s most powerful digital aerial imaging sensor. It records the landscape and its objects for environmental and cartographic purposes with a ground pixel resolution of 15 centimeters. A total of ten channels include infrared and forward, lateral and rear views for three-dimensional interpretation. forestry documentation for the entire United States, in Japan for tracking maps of large metropolitan areas as well as in Russia for creating land property documents. In addition, slides measuring 9” x 9” were produced for the LandArte works by Swisstopo with a “classic” Leica RC30 aerial imaging system. The slides document highresolution ground details to the centimeter. The Ikonos satellite sensor also recorded the entire Rhine Valley in St. Gallen with the artworks on July 22, 2003, at 10:25 a.m. from a distance of 600 km using a object resolution of one meter. Leica Geosystems converted the satellite data into images and animated 3D video sequences using Erdas Imagine 3D remote sensing software – the leading product world-wide in this area – to produce a virtual flight through the Rhine Valley and the LandArte works of art.
30
Earthman was gazing at the heavens in green, in July he turned wheat yellow, and, during the middle of this year’s once-in-a-lifetime heat wave, he gazed heavenward
“ A unique combination of art, man, nature, and technology!” LandArte-Besucher Alfred Gächter with blue lupin eyes. Forty kilometers downstream, where the Rhine flows past St. Margrethen, is the most northerly artwork in this “astronaut’s gallery”. Here, near the Ruderbach rest stop on the A1 highway, Jonny Müller created a fascinating artwork entitled “When the Beetle Seeks the Tiger”. Oval scarab beetles appeared poppy-red and cornflower-blue around three fruit trees. Equally impressive was the “Emergency Exit” symbolism by
Liechtenstein’s Sunhild Wollwage in Diepoldsau. Any passing extraterrestrial observers would have focused on the floral imagery of artist Kuspi: he set up his symmetrical UFO docking station “Space Contact” in the wine-growing village of Berneck. LandArte was impressive in many ways – the largest work “Humans Leave Tracks” by Erna Reich, incorporated the villages of Frümsen, Sax and Gams and extended over a distance of more than three kilometers. Thanks to purchase commitments negotiated early on, the plants used for the growing images could eventually be sold, used for personal consumption by the farmers, or used for selective soil fertilization. For example, the marigolds, cultivated for the first time in the Rhine Valley especially for the LandArte project are used in naturopathy, the corn is the main ingredient for the local dish “Ribelmais”, and the violet and blue Phacelia are ecologically stabilizing agents for soil.
Coordinated Progress
Setting out made easy The setting out was easy work for the landscape gardening students of Professor Peter Petschek from the Rapperswil Technology University. After digitising the artworks and transferring this data into the local grid, students Urs Haerden and Daniel Baur performed the staking out together with the farmers. Student Daniel Baur said: “We had never worked with a GPS instrument before, but after two hours of training we were able to easily stake out all of the LandArte. We especially enjoyed working with the handy and light Leica GS20 which was able to provide us with accuracies to the decimeter. It was only for very fine structures in the artworks, where centimeter accuracy was required, did we have to use the GPS 500, but this was very seldom. When we complete our studies in 2004, we would highly recommend to our future employers to have such a device available – to speed up work and make landscape gardening more accurate. For example, with a Leica GS20 it is possible to design far more precise plans and undertake more accurate calculations about the quantity of land to remove, ultimately enabling work to be completed in less time.“
Artists, farmers, engineers, economists, social scientists, prisoners, the unemployed and students were in constant communication for LandArte, coordinating their requirements and solutions together with project initiator Bernarda Mattle and project manager Kuno Bont. For example, in Autumn 2002, Austrian artist Herbert Fritsch set about procuring the seed for the Winter wheat in Rüthi. The golden yellows were evident in his work of Summer 2003, better contrasting the optical effect of his 1.2-kilometer long Earth Signal from the green meadows around it. Following digitalization of the artist’s drawing, the surface calculation produced a much larger wheat acreage than Bernhard Schneider’s farming family actually needed. Instead of reducing the work’s dimensions, artist Herbert Fritsch “downsized” the line widths of his Earth Signal lines, which is
“Space contact” in Berneck by Kuspi. The diagonal of this landing sign measures 250 metres.
reminiscent of the old master builders’ signs of Walser people culture, by over twenty percent. LandArte was the anniversary project with the largest number of visitors (200,000), its images radiating far beyond national borders and the timeframe of its occasion. Stfi
31
High-Definition Surveying™ - by Leica
Laser Scanning Re(de)fined Leica Geosystems has coined a new name for laser scanning technology: High-Definition Surveying, or HDS™. Why? First, HighDefinition better describes its single most distinguishing feature – high density data and rich images – compared to point-bypoint surveying. Second, by describing it as High-Definition Surveying, Leica is stating that its new family of hardware and software products is fully fit and friendly for surveying and engineering. For example, the new Leica HDS3000 not only has the look and feel
of a surveying instrument, but now you can geo-reference to local or assumed coordinates more efficiently by setting up over a survey point. Other surveyor-friendly features include a standard tribrach mount, H.I. measurement capability, efficient battery swapping, and improved weight/portability. In addition, Leica's Cyclone™ and CloudWorx™ are feature-richsoftware products that make creating surveying and engineering deliverables easier than ever before. Welcome to the world of HDS!
HDS3000 HDS2500
HDS4500
Cyclone & CloudWorx Learn more about the HDS family of products by attending a free web seminar at www.cyra.com
Geosystems