A Total Station is an electronic theodolite used to calculate angles and distances in the mining, meteorology, and construction industries. It is the most modern surveying instrument available today, measuring horizontal and vertical angles in less than 3 seconds.
The equipment is related to two instruments used during surveying: a digital distance meter for measuring distance and an angle sensor or right-angle optical prism for measuring horizontal or vertical angles.
It can calculate distances and angles between lines, the elevations of points on an object, the area and volume of an object measured from its sides, the slope angle between two directions on the ground, and so on.
A total station is, therefore, two fundamental surveying equipment in one. When combined with other technologies, such as mapping software, it may provide the ‘total’ surveying solution, from surveying to mapping.
What Purpose does a Total Station Serve in Surveying?
A total station is an inventory and control instrument used to acquire digital survey measurements. The development has significantly enhanced productivity in the surveying profession.
Total stations have proved incredibly beneficial for the following:
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Angle Measurement
The total station’s electronic theodolite measures vertical and horizontal angles. Any direction can be used as a reference for measuring horizontal angles. The vertical upward (zenith) direction is used to measure vertical angles.
The finest total stations can measure angles down to 0.5 arc-second.
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Distance Measurement
The electronic distance measurement (EDM) equipment is a critical component of the total station. A typical total station may measure lengths of up to 1,500 meters but can reach as far as 4.2 kilometers.
The precision of measurement ranges from 5 mm to 10 mm per kilometer.
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Coordinate Measurement
To determine an absolute location, a total station requires line-of-sight observations that can be set up with free stationing. As a result, LYNX total stations feature a Global Navigation Satellite System receiver to determine coordinates without requiring a direct line of sight.
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Data Processing
Some types include internal electronic data storage to record measured distance and horizontal and vertical angles. Others can write these measurements to an external data collector, such as a hand-held computer.
When total station data is transferred to a computer, application software may be used to compute results and produce a map of the surveyed region.
The most recent generation of total stations may also display the map on the instrument’s touch-screen immediately after measuring the points.
Applications of a Total Station
Land surveyors and civil engineers mostly use total stations to record features, as in topographic surveying or mark out features (such as roads, houses, or boundaries).
- Archaeologists use them to record excavations, while police, crime scene investigators, private accident reconstructionists, and insurance firms use them to collect measurements of scenes.
- In mining surveying, total stations are the principal survey instrument. As drifts of an underground mine are driven, a total station is utilized to record the location of the tunnel walls, ceilings, and floors. The captured data is then imported into a CAD tool and compared to the tunnel’s intended architecture.
- Total stations have established the gold standard for most types of building planning. Construction engineers use it to plan land and do construction-related activities such as earthworks, grading, leveling, and shape design.
- The total station may be used for civil engineering construction and associated operations. It may be used to create maps and plans, demarcate property borders, conduct land surveys, and determine the alignment of highways, bridges, and tunnels, among other things.
- The layouts for both the electrical and mechanical structures may be simply calculated. The total station may be used for various tasks such as underground pipe installation, utility, cable laying, etc.
- Because increasingly commercial and industrial construction contracts are based on building information modeling, precise digital coordinates for practically every pipe, conduit, duct, and hanger support are accessible.
Before utilizing the instruments, the surveyor should ensure that the total stations are in good working order. Contact Lynx Lawrence & Mayo for high-performance total stations with prompt service support. Discover our range of advanced surveying instruments on our website.