Tag: survey

Form Factor and Portability of Triumph LS: As High as Your Pole Can Reach

By Matt Sibole

I follow the surveyor connect message board and have seen some general discussion of the form factor of the Javad Triumph LS. I wanted to go into a little more detail on the form factor and portability of a couple of the receivers in the Javad GNSS lineup.

Most surveyors that have been using RTK GPS equipment have been trained to keep their rod height at 2 meters to reduce error in rod height adjustment and to be able to get above general multipath hardships. This is not required with the Javad Triumph LS. The advanced multipath reduction of the Triumph LS gives the surveyor the flexibility to have the receiver anywhere from just over 1-foot high to as high as your pole may reach. The Triumph LS comes standard with a collapsible monopod pictured here.

With the Triumph LS being an advanced GNSS receiver and data-collection system all in one, you may ask. “But what if I have to raise the pole above an obstruction to get a shot?” The Triumph LS is equipped with an audible tone and time-delayed shot setting, an internal level, an internal compass and a flashing LED light on the bottom of the receiver that all work together to allow the surveyor to collect points on objects with the receiver high above the surveyor’s head (out of sight). The LS is also equipped with a proximity sensor that will allow you to take a shot even if you cannot reach the receiver’s screen. For instance, you are out in a swamp and you can reach out and get the pole generally level (with internal tilt compensation turned on), but you cannot reach up and start collecting the shot. Wave your hand or a lath in front of the LS, and it will start recording your shot. So no matter your height or the height of the obstructions, you can still get the shot that you need.

The form factor of the LS, while it is much different than what we are used to using, works extremely well. The LS rover paired with a Triumph 2 base is one of the most portable systems on the market as well. The Triumph LS, Triumph 2, 4-watt external UHF radio and UHF power cable all fit into a small camera bag.

This is the system that I personally use on a regular basis. I find that the ability to collapse the monopod allows me to easily use both hands while riding on a four-wheeler along with the ability to easily pack up the system on the four-wheeler to set up the base in more remote locations. With nearly two years of using this system, the form factor has not once been an issue. Quite the contrary — the form factor makes it much easier to navigate dense brush and have more control over the equipment.

For more information on Javad’s J-Field software, the Triumph LS or other Javad GNSS solutions, please feel free to visit www.javad.com, email [email protected] or call 1-888-550-5301 or 1-408-770-1770.

July 29, 2015
Steep Questions: How Tall is K2?

A Mountaineering Survey Team Determines K2’s Actual Height

Surveying the world’s highest peaks is a daunting task. One international survey team set out to measure the Himalaya’s K2 peak, the second highest in the world after Mount Everest.

In 2004, 50 years after an Italian team led by Ardito Desio first summited, a team tried to measure K2 with GNSS surveying equipment, but the attempt to bring the GNSS receiver to the top failed when a climber fell.

For the most recent attempt, a Pakasti-Italian team took along a rugged industrial survey system 60 years after the first summiting, in June–August 2014.

The team performed measurements at five different climbing campsites and on the K2 summit, using GNSS technology to collect the most accurate measurements ever made of K2.

The measurements were accomplished by Pakistan’s Rehmat Ullah Baigh and Italy’s Michele Cucchi, who set up the receiver at each stop and allowed it to remain for approximately 20 minutes to collect the latitude, longitude and altitude of each point from the available satellites.

Setting up camp also meant setting up a GNSS receiver to gather
data.

One reference receiver was permanently positioned by team technical leader Maurizio Gallo close to the K2 Base Camp at the Gilkey Puchot Memorial, which is dedicated to climbers who died on K2. A second reference receiver was placed in Skardu, a final stop before heading up the mountains. At Skardu, computer expert Fida Hassain from Central Karakorum National Park helped install and process the transmitted data along with researcher Aamir Asghar and Giorgio Poretti, professor at the University of Trieste. The coordinated network of two permanent GNSS stations allowed data from the summit to be processed with excellent precision and is still in operation today.

After the climb, the data was downloaded from the receivers and analyzed. The GNSS survey results lowered K2’s height from its previous altitude of 8,610.34 meters (28,248.03 feet) to 8,609.02 meters (28,244.75 feet) — 1.5 meters (3.3 feet) shorter than previously believed.

The route to K2’s summit.

Yet the biggest surprise was at K2’s Camp Four on the Abruzzi Spur, where expeditions on this route begin their final ascent to the summit. Previous measurements stated that the route began at 7,900 meters (25,920 feet). The new data collected proves that the route starts at 7,747.029 meters (25,416.667 feet), making the climb 150 meters (492 feet) longer than previously recorded. This is a challenging difference for K2 climbers, who at this point are struggling for weeks with the weakening effects of altitude sickness
and the stress of staying focused.

The team also plans to climb Mount Everest, where a reference station is located very close to the EVK2CNR’s Pyramid International Laboratory on the Nepali side of Mount Everest.

Manufacturer

The survey team used the Leica Viva GS14 GNSS receiver and two GX1230+ reference receivers and antennae provided by Leica Geosystems. Leica Geosystems used the opportunity to test its equipment’s portability, resistance to very low temperatures and rugged use on rough tracks.

Adapted from an article by Katherine Lehmuller and Marco Mozzon in the Reporter (#72), the Leica Geosystems customer magazine, and other sources.

July 29, 2015
Map Technology Takes Center Stage in San Diego

Esri President Jack Dangermond will deliver the keynote speech at Esri UC.

More than 16,000 people from 120 countries around the world are expected to converge in San Diego to discuss the power of maps and applying geography at the 2015 Esri User Conference (Esri UC). The Esri UC and related events will take place from July 18–24, featuring a variety of speakers from a presidential candidate to global first responders. Attendees will share ideas and best practices for improving our world through maps.

GPS World/Geospatial Solutions staff will also attend, and will be posting news and videos from the show. Follow us on Twitter at @GPSWorld and @GSS_NCM. Follow our coverage here.

“We have millions of users around the globe who do amazing things with our technology every day,” said Esri president Jack Dangermond. “The User Conference is our opportunity to recognize their important work, learn from them, and empower them with even better tools and techniques to continue their mission.”

Other featured speakers will include operations staff from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, executives from JPMorgan Chase, the director of Strategic Cooperation at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), and the president and CEO of the National Geographic Society. Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley headlines a list of innovators from across every industry who will demonstrate how geospatial technology can make government smarter, combat global health challenges, ensure public safety, and drive greater revenues for businesses.

With a full week of activities, the 2015 Esri User Conference is shaping up to be the biggest yet.

Starting Off the Week with a Bang. Before the Esri UC even kicks off, a series of concurrent events related to business; education; national security; architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC ); and 3D mapping will take place July 18 and 19 in and around the San Diego Convention Center. These focused events will give attendees a deeper dive into various functional areas and equip them with an action plan to immediately invigorate their own organizations.

Real Stories from Real People. Throughout the week, more than 1,000 users will deliver presentations detailing how GIS helps their organizations in a number of ways. Whether they’re onstage for Monday’s Plenary Session or leading one of the nearly 300 moderated paper sessions, speakers will share lessons learned and best practices that can help their peers succeed.

Celebrating 100 Years of Mapping. The National Geographic Society will be on hand to continue celebrating the organization’s 100 years of making maps. A chronicle of the history of maps and the American presidency, from future President Dwight Eisenhower carrying maps into battle during World War II to President Barack Obama receiving official presidential maps in the White House, will present the art and science of where. Gary E. Knell, president and CEO of the National Geographic Society, will also speak at the Plenary Session about the importance of geography in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education.

Innovation on Display. From hundreds of expert-led technical workshops to the expansive GIS Solutions EXPO featuring more than 300 technology companies and start-ups, attendees will immerse themselves in the latest and greatest in mapping and spatial analysis. Attendees will find a range of demos, talks, and resources about hot topics—big data, 3D visualization, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and more.

The Esri UC and related events will span seven days and offer opportunities for both technologists and managers to understand how geography can be applied to every organization’s challenge to drive better outcomes. For more information, visit esri.com/uc.

July 16, 2015
Get Full Advantage from Many Profitable Features In One Compact RTK Rover
The TRIUMPH-LS receiver, by JAVAD GNSS.

The TRIUMPH-LS and its field software, J-Field, have many revolutionary and innovative features compared to current GNSS systems. Here is a quick overview of its most salient features, making it an ideal unit for surveyors in the field and managing from the office.

The TRIUMPH-LS contains everything needed to function as a complete RTK rover in one small, compact, ergonomic and very portable unit:
- an 864-channel GNSS receiver
- a UHF or spread spectrum radio, a GSM modem
- a Wi-Fi adapter
- two internal cameras
- a flashlight
- a bright 800 x 480 pixel display.
Also included with the system is a collapsible monopod rover pole which allows the unit to be quickly folded up to fit in a very small space, perfect for carrying the system in the field or quickly stowing inside a vehicle. The lack of a data collector bracketed to the rover pole further increases its portability; the user can carry the system through the woods without having to worry about an extruding data collector getting caught in brush.

This system was ergonomically engineered; the head-height vertical display allows the user to operate the TRIUMPH-LS while standing in an upright position and looking forward. Users do not need to bend their neck to look down to view the display, as is traditionally done with a system having a data collector attached to a rover pole. This Triumph feature allows the system to be used without the neck soreness that can plague a user after working for extended periods of time.

The TRIUMPH-LS contains a built-in compass and tilt sensors. The compass enables quick and efficient stake-out of points. Forward/back and left/right offset readings relative to the face of the display show precisely where the stake-out point is located. This stakeout method reduces the time required for this task, compared to using traditional north/south and east/west offsets. The built-in tilt sensors can be used in lieu of having to plumb the rover pole. Taking advantage of the tilt sensors is also a “Lift & Tilt” mode that means topo points can be collected without pressing any buttons. In this mode, when the TRIUMPH-LS is plumbed, a point will automatically start collecting and can be programmed to collect a set number of epochs or to stop collection when the unit is tilted. After the point is collected, the user tilts the TRIUMPH-LS and walks to the next point, which will be collected when the unit is plumbed again.

Software. The field software, J-Field, is included at no extra charge with the system. There is no need for an external data collector or software. J-Field is constantly being improved, and updates will always be available free of charge with the system. The updates can be downloaded through Wi-Fi and are very simple to install, requiring only a couple of button presses to update the system.

J-Field features six separate, parallel RTK engines that all run simultaneously with separate assumptions. This allows for fixes to be obtained quicker than if only a single RTK engine were used. It has an advanced RTK verification system that can be used in difficult RTK environments where there is high multipath and/or tree canopy cover. This process will automatically reset the RTK engines and eliminate points from being collected with bad RTK fixes that often plague other systems in difficult locations.

With the built-in GSM modem, it is very easy to connect to real-time networks (RTNs). Alternately, it can also be connected through Wi-Fi using a mobile hotspot.

Full CAD features are in the process of being developed for use with the map screen. The ability to draw lines, polylines, circles and arcs will be supported. Using the planned move, copy, offset and rotate commands, much of the same CAD work that is traditionally done in the office will now be able to be completed in the field. This very beneficial feature can reduce the number of return visits to a project site.

J-Field has many customization features that can be used to increase productivity as your knowledge of the system grows. The stake and collect screens have eight white boxes that are easily customized to display a number of fields that the user may desire.
June 19, 2015
Pinnacle Uses Leica System to Keep NYC High-Rise Plumb

When the new Extell luxury high-rise building goes up at 217 West 57th Street in Manhattan, the vertical alignment of the core-wall structure will be crucial to success. This internal core structure will rise almost 1,500 feet above the ground and will be the reference for all other building construction, making its construction one of the most mission-critical aspects of the entire project, according to Leica Geosystems.

Pinnacle Industries, the concrete contractor responsible for building the structure, has invested in an innovative core-wall alignment system. Consisting of advanced GNSS and robotic total station solutions, the Vertical Alignment System from Leica Geosystems will be used as each floor is constructed to ensure the overall vertical geometry of the structure. High-end training from Leica Geosystems will provide the support and knowledge transfer needed to achieve successful adoption of this innovative approach.

The project is noteworthy for a number of reasons. With an overall roof height of 1,479 feet (1,775 feet to top of spire), the new building will dominate the Midtown skyline and will be the tallest residential building in the world. It will also mark the introduction of Nordstrom Inc. to New York City. The architect of record, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, is the firm behind Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the tallest commerical building in the world.

According to David Rutledge, director of structural monitoring for Leica Geosystems’ Monitoring Solutions business in North America, Pinnacle Industries chose the Leica Geosystems Vertical Alignment System for its ability to reliably and quickly make alignment adjustments to the forming traveler that will be used to construct each floor. The Leica GM10 GNSS instruments in particular were chosen for their ability to produce highly accurate 3D position coordinates.

“It’s very exciting to be involved with the soon-to-be tallest residential building in the world,” Rutledge said. “Pinnacle is an industry leader in this type of construction, and we feel honored to have been selected by the team. Leica Geosystems’ solutions provide exceptionally high accuracy and outstanding performance, making them ideally suited for the high productivity demanded on projects like this. We’re thrilled to be able to play a supporting role in this significant and historic project.”

June 17, 2015
Highest Peak in North America to be Surveyed

At 20, 320 feet, Mount McKinley is North America’s highest peak. (Photo courtesy of Todd Paris, UAF).

A new GPS survey of Mount McKinley, the highest point in North America, will update the commonly accepted elevation of McKinley’s peak, 20,320 feet. The last survey was completed in 1953.

The USGS, along with NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey (NGS) and the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), are supporting a GPS survey of the Mount McKinley apex. Surveying technology and processes have improved greatly since the last survey and the ability to establish a much more accurate height now exists, the USGS said.

The Mount McKinley survey team, and their equipment, are expected to face temperatures well below zero, high winds and frequent snow. Current forecast, courtesy of NOAA. (Photo courtesy of Todd Paris, UAF).

An experienced team of four climbers, one from UAF and three from CompassData, will start the precarious trek to the summit with the needed scientific instruments in tow, in the middle of June. They plan to return on or before July 7 and begin work with the University of Alaska Fairbanks and NGS processing the data to arrive at the new summit elevation.

With the acquisition of new elevation (ifsar) data in Alaska as part of the 3D Elevation Program, there have been inquiries about the height of the summit. The survey party is being led by CompassData, a subcontractor for Dewberry on a task awarded under the USGS’ Geospatial Products and Services Contract (GPSC).

Using modern GPS survey equipment and techniques, along with better gravity data to improve the geoid model in Alaska, the partners will be able to report the summit elevation with a much higher level of confidence than has been possible in the past.

According to CompassData, the survey equipment includes two Trimble R10 antennas and one Trimble Net-R9 with a Zephyr-2 antenna. Also being taken up the mountain is a 10-meter specialized glacier avalanche probe and a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

It is anticipated the newly surveyed elevation will be published by the National Geodetic Survey in late August.

Climbing Mount McKinley, North America’s highest peak, is a daunting task for even the most experienced mountaineers at Denali National Park in Alaska. (Photo courtesy of National Geographic).

June 16, 2015
Hemisphere GNSS Debuts Atlas GNSS Correction Service
Hemisphere has released Atlas, its new entrant into the GNSS global correction services market. Atlas is delivered via L-Band or the Internet at accuracy levels ranging from meter level to sub-decimeter level. Atlas support is being introduced across a wide range of hardware, including Hemisphere’s new AtlasLink smart antenna, also launched.

“Atlas comes out of a change of culture and focus,” Hemisphere CEO Chuck Joseph told GPS World in an extensive interview that also included Rodrigo Leandro, Hemisphere’s director of engineering, GNSS Positioning Systems. For the full interview, see the second half of this news story.

Starting June 19, Atlas will be available for subscription at the dedicated Atlas web portal across a range of Hemisphere’s multi-frequency, RTK-capable products, such as AtlasLink, R330u, V320 and VS330u. Atlas will also be available from a number of Hemisphere’s channel partners and OEMs such as Carlson Software, Inc.

“Since joining Hemisphere I have heard from customers large and small that they need a different option when it comes to high-accuracy corrections, one they can buy from their provider of choice and with little to no impact on their operating budgets,” said Chuck Joseph, Hemisphere GNSS CEO and president. “We listened hard to what they told us and built Atlas to answer their needs — a totally new service that delivers freedom of choice to our customers along with industry leading corrections at dramatically reduced prices.”

“We formed a team of our most experienced GNSS professionals with the task of developing a roadmap for the future of correction services business and technology in the world — assessing current needs, and also what users across the globe will be looking for over the next decade or two,” said Rodrigo Leandro, Hemisphere director of engineering. “Atlas not only introduces Hemisphere as a business and technology leader in the correction services industry today, it also provides an essential platform for delivering multiple levels of correction services to a very wide range of users spanning commercial business and consumer application use.”

Systems supporting Atlas utilize the newly released and proven Athena GNSS engine. To be able to utilize Atlas corrections, users of supported systems will simply need to update to Athena firmware and purchase a subscription through the Atlas portal.

To build Atlas, Hemisphere GNSS put together a team of seasoned developers whose collective experience matches the best in the GNSS industry. Together they have developed a GNSS correction service, available via L-Band satellite broadcast, which utilizes the most powerful technologies available to deliver a service that matches or exceeds competitive systems across a range of metrics:
- Positioning accuracy: Atlas provides competitive positioning accuracies down to 2 cm RMS in certain applications.
- Positioning sustainability: Position quality maintenance in the absence of correction signals, using Hemisphere’s Tracer technology.
- Scalable service levels: Atlas is designed to serve all. It is capable of providing virtually any accuracy, precision and repeatability level in the 5 to 100 cm range.
- Convergence time: Convergence times of 10-40 minutes.
- Exclusive agnostic capability: Atlas is an agnostic positioning system. SmartLink technology allows an AtlasLink antenna to be used as an Atlas signal extension for any GNSS system compliant with open communication standards.
- Network RTK augmentation: BaseLink technology allows Atlas-capable receivers to self calibrate, self-survey, and automatically manage the transmission of RTK correction data to augment or extend established or new GNSS reference networks in areas of poor Internet connectivity.
“High-quality corrections are essential to our customers,” said Randy Noland, director of Machine Control, Carlson Software, Inc. “The way all the existing services are purchased, delivered and supported is completely separated from the rest of the positioning ecosystem. We see Atlas as an opportunity for us to deliver corrections under our own brand as part of a holistic package — all of which means empowering our ability to provide a stronger solution and a better experience for our customers.”

“Atlas completely changes how augmentation services are delivered and supported,” said Andy Smith at Saderet Ltd. “For the first time, distributors and dealers can fully participate in selling to and supporting our customers, strengthening our relationships by providing them with a much better experience.”

“I’ve extensively tested Atlas, and the performance is exceptional, making it a great fit for our GIS and survey customers” said Jean-Yves Lauture at Eos Positioning Systems, Inc. “Even better, we can now offer global augmentation services with our Arrow GNSS receivers to our customers as part of an integrated solution. After many years in this industry, that’s a major change.”

Atlas service levels and position accuracies can be customized to meet OEM needs, the company said.

Exclusive Interview with Hemisphere’s Chuck Joseph and Rodrigo Leandro

A Startup Inside a Reinvention

“Atlas comes out of a change of culture and focus,” Hemisphere CEO Chuck Joseph told GPS World, in an extensive interview that also included Rodrigo Leandro, Hemisphere’s director of engineering, GNSS Positioning Systems. “We are reinventing a storied brand, and to do that we have to act more like the startups I have directed since leaving Trimble — move fast, be flexible, and focus on innovation. Effectively we are building a startup inside of a reinvention.”

“On my first day on the job, we divided the staff into five working groups and told them: you are now startup companies, entrepreneurs, with six people each team. Go away and come back with big ideas. Go build a business plan. Out of that we got Athena, released last month, Atlas, AtlasLink, and a couple more new products coming out in the months to come.”

A Different Kind of Corrections Service

Joseph and his colleagues at Hemisphere describe the distribution, pricing, and overall business model of Atlas as “disruptive.”

“Our approach comes directly from talking to customers in agriculture, machine control, and to our channel partners. Other corrections service providers did not allow them to participate, forced them to give up their end user list, and to buy directly from [the service provider] — who in some cases was their competitor in that market.”

“When you step back you can see the impact of those restrictions — after 10 plus years the corrections service marketplace generates probably $150 million in total revenue — it should be bigger than that by now. We think a different approach combined with a very aggressive price point will substantially broaden the marketplace.”

“We’ll be making announcements of OEM signings in the months to come. For us it’s all about what works for our partners — some of them will private-label the service, some will choose to use the Atlas brand. We really don’t care if our name is on the product or not — we’re an OEM play. Whatever brand they choose, we will provide them with the infrastructure to be successful, even down to the portal their customers will use to manage their devices and subscriptions — we will develop that for them, and provide the back-end e-commerce.”

A Look at the Technology

Rodrigo Leandro added, “The basic architecture is not extremely different from other L-band reference services. However, within that, we have really pushed to develop leading-edge technology. For example, our correction method format is well-developed for new constellations and different applications it can serve, and our corrections message structure is the most advanced of those available today. As a result, we have a number of patents pending on technologies included in Atlas.”

Chuck Joseph interjected, “When we were doing the initial planning for Atlas we agreed that it was absolutely critical that our performance meets or beats the competition’s, otherwise we wouldn’t want to offer it to customers out there. We have been benchmarking the competition at every stage of our development, and know that we are delivering a market leading product.”

“This slide shows the same, single antenna connected to Atlas and to a competitor, and it shows being able to converge down to decimeter level.

“This one gives more details on time to converge.

“And here, this one shows pass-to-pass results, the relative accuracy between 2 tracks of the tractor — this is important for people more interested in agriculture applications. We can get down to 2.5 centimeters.”

“The new AtlasLink antenna is designed to be a main channel for customers of our service. It can be used in GIS, machine control, marine applications and so on. Features inside it include a very big internal memory storage, a web server application, multi-GNSS multi-frequency capability, L-band and RTK — it supports Atlas and Athena out of the box. Other innovations will come later, for instance, incorporating Galileo. We believe it is the most powerful multi-purpose GNSS smart antenna in the industry.”

“At the same time there is easy support and easy configuration by the user. It takes literally about six clicks from log-in to register the receiver, out of the box. In 20 minutes you’re running Atlas. It’s very easy to get up and running.”

Broadening the Market

Leandro continued, “The Atlas service isn’t the only area of innovation however. We also spent a lot of time working on how we could deliver the service to the broadest possible audience, and the resulted in two key features of our AtlasLink antenna — SmartLink and BaseLink. Those features free customers from the restrictions of their current hardware and current service — they really change the game.”

“Customers don’t want to have to buy a new $10-$20K receiver [in order to get a corrections service]]. If you’re happy with the hardware you’re currently running, there’s no need to change it, you can still get this service. We are not in the business of using the service to sell hardware. We are using the hardware to sell the service.”

Joseph concluded, “This is all good for OEM customers. For them the SmartLink and BaseLink capabilities are huge. They can go back into their installed base and not have to push people to upgrade receivers or get a brand new receiver. At the same time, it enables them to go after their competitors installed base, and opens up markets that previously weren’t available such as recreational marine service, for example, the lower end of the marketplace. Fundamentally, we want to change this market — enable more users to get access to correction, and deliver real choice to those that have it already.”
June 15, 2015
FOIF GNSS Receivers Aid with Australian Pipeline Survey

Three years ago, engineering survey company G & C Sadlier Design was engaged to perform a route selection and centerline pegging survey for a gas pipeline duplication between Somerton in Victoria and Young in New South Wales, Australia. To accomplish the work, G & C Sadlier Design turned to FOIF GNSS receivers.

So far, about 225 kilometers have been surveyed and constructed, with 306 kilometers still to be surveyed, designed and built, according to surveyor Greg Sadlier. The current focus is a 100-kilometer section in Victoria and a 70-kilometer section in New South Wales. Recently completed are two linear static control surveys over 80 kilometers in Northern Victoria and 70 kilometers at the end of the project near Young in New South Wales.

“These surveys have been done using a FOIF F60 Base GNSS receiver and two FOIF A30 Rover receivers. (Two one-man survey crews are used),” Sadlier said. The procedure is to set up the F60 base over a point with known coordinates and elevation, approximately in the center of the alignment to be surveyed.

The base was set first, to record 1-second data to the datacard over the duration of the survey. One surveyor started the base, and surveyed forward to the end of the alignment, and the other rover crew started at the beginning of the alignment and surveyed towards the base. The rovers were also set to record 1 second data to the datacard.

“The control points were 0.75-m steel star pickets driven flush with the ground surface, and witnessed with a galvanized 1.5-m steel star picket,” Sadlier explained. “Each rover point was surveyed for 20 minutes plus 1 minute per kilometer of the distance to the base. That is, a point that is 35 Km from the base will be occupied for 55 minutes or 3300 epochs. With the control points at easy accessed positions, usually roads crossing the alignment, at intervals of about 8 kilometres mean that the survey of 80 Km is completed in one day.

“We have found the FOIF GNSS receivers are very easy to use, and the epoch readout on screen is very reassuring that the data is being stored, and easily confirms that the correct amount has been stored. The data is easily downloaded from the card and converted to Rinex format with FOIF RnxTransform. The data was post processed by a third party.”

The control survey results were adjusted (Helmert adjustment) onto check Permanent Marks at both ends. “This made a rotation of 0°00’00.001” and a shift of 0.007 meters E and 0.005 meter N. An elevation difference of .035 meters was manually adjusted out over the 80 kilometers,” Sadlier said.

“We are now using the control survey while surveying the route selection and features survey,” Sadlier said. “We have two RTK base locations at the 25-kilometer mark and 52-kilometer marks, and using our VHF radio solution have coverage over the entire job with a 10-kilometer overlap in the center.

“We have found that RTK observed control readings of 180 epochs return residuals of less than 010 meters for both coordinate and elevation for all the static control points. Very impressive results considering the length of the survey,” Sadlier said.

The engineering firm has yet to process the New South Wales data, but expects the same or better, Sadlier said, as the overall length is a little less and the surveyed control points were in more open country with less tree cover.

June 8, 2015
JAVAD GNSS Remote Assistance and Monitoring Services

Together with free live technical support provided by practicing professional land surveyors via phone, email, message board and text messaging, JAVAD GNSS is pleased to announce the release of another innovative product, RAMS, Remote Assistance and Monitoring Services for J-Field software. J-Field is the field controller software developed for the TRIUMPH-LS GNSS receiver and the VICTOR-LS field controller. RAMS is currently available to all users of J-Field, JAVAD’s powerhouse software for survey data collection, stakeout, and computations.

With the J-Field enabled receiver/controller connected to the Internet (via internal GSM SIM card, Wi-Fi hotspot or Ethernet), users can make their receiver/controller accessible to JAVAD’s customer support team from anywhere in the world with three button presses. “It’s like having the support person looking over the user’s shoulder,” said Shawn Billings, a surveyor from Texas.

While the TRIUMPH-LS is connected to RAMS, the user and support person share control of the receiver, giving the support person the ability to make changes to settings on the receiver or train the user remotely. “It has changed the way support is conducted, making us more efficient at determining issues and more effective in training users,” said Billings. The connection is password-protected to ensure that only those intended have remote access to the receiver.

Beyond technical support, RAMS server access is available to the user community as well. This offers the ability for project managers to remotely supervise crew efforts in the field. Because operational control of the TRIUMPH-LS/VICTOR-LS is shared between the server user and the field user, the server user (project manager) could perform the more complex operations of land surveying, such as COGO calculations and localizations, as necessary, and then allow the field user (crew member) to continue the more routine tasks of data collection.

Should the task be simpler to accomplish with office software, RAMS allows file transfer directly from the LS to the server user’s own computer and vice versa, thus enabling the project manager to easily export points, linework (dwg, dxf, shape), vectors, photos and other project-related data from the LS to his desktop. From there, he can manipulate the data in his desktop application and then copy files, with newly computed coordinates or linework, back to the LS for the crew to work with in the field. In this way, RAMS uniquely supports the obligation surveyors have to exert responsible charge over their field crews.

The full receiver control, the access to receiver files, the robust RTK features of the TRIUMPH-LS and the fully customizable collection settings in J-Field make site monitoring possible as well.

RAMS server can be accessed with almost any device with an Internet browser and Internet access. “I’ve used RAMS server to assist customers from my desktop computer, laptop, android tablet and even my cell phone,” Billings added. “Using JAVAD’s RAMS server requires no installation of software on the remote device, only an Internet connection and web browser.”

For those wanting to operate RAMS on their own server, the RAMS Server application is available from JAVAD GNSS. An Android version of RAMS Server is also available, allowing users to connect an Android device directly to the TRIUMPH-LS without the need for an Internet connection. RAMS for Android creates a local network between the Android device and the LS and allows a field user to see and manipulate J-Field with the Android device should it be necessary to work with the LS beyond the reach or view of the user.

For more information on RAMS, J-Field, TRIUMPH-LS, VICTOR-LS and other JAVAD GNSS solutions, visit www.javad.com, email [email protected] or call 408-770-1770.

June 3, 2015
$100 for 300 Well-Chosen Surveyor Words

If you are a professional land surveyor, we’d like to hear from you! Send us a brief account of how you use GNSS in your surveying work, what tips and tricks you can share with other surveyors, and what other hardware and software you are combining with GNSS to get the job done.

Submit around 300 words, although you can certainly go longer if you wish. Five winners will be chosen from the submissions received at [email protected]; winners will be chosen on the basis of clarity, liveliness, and, in some small measure, the unusual nature of the surveying tasks you perform or the way you go about them. Winners will receive $100 gift cards.

But we’re interested in hearing about straight run-of-the-mill jobs, too! Send your entries to [email protected]. Some entries may also be chosen for further development into articles for this newsletter, or GPS World magazine, or other publishing opportunities.

June 2, 2015
Hemisphere GNSS Releases Next-Generation GNSS RTK Engine
Hemisphere GNSS has released Athena, its next-generation GNSS engine. Offering significantly enhanced performance, Athena provides Hemisphere with a new, future-oriented foundation providing strong performance, flexibility and reliability, according to the company.

Athena has yielded outstanding performed in virtually every environment where high-accuracy GNSS receivers can be used, the company stated. Hemisphere customers have tested Athena’s performance in long baseline, in open-sky environments, under heavy canopy, and in geographic locations experiencing significant scintillation.

Hemisphere has designed its new core engine to maximize the company’s ability to excel at the rigorous GNSS requirements in multiple market segments, supplying its customers in machine control, survey and GIS, with a design for now and in the future, Hemisphere said in a statement.

The release of Athena is a significant milestone for Hemisphere, which promises another new product entry into the market in the coming months.

Features of Athena include these capabilities:
- Initialization time — A reliably consistent initialization performance, less than 15 seconds at better than 99.9 percent reliability.
- Robustness in difficult operating environments — Extremely high productivity under the most aggressive of geographic and landscape oriented environments for GNSS, while delivering up to 50 percent better performance in user tests matched against competitive systems.
- Performance on long baselines — Position stability for long baseline applications, with position quality often times exceeding the performance of other leading RTK systems on the market.
- Performance under scintillation — Sustained accuracy under ionospheric scintillation activities, providing one of the most reliable means to work with GNSS in scintillation-affected areas.
Rodrigo Leandro, Hemisphere’s director of engineering, GNSS Positioning Systems, gave this description of the design process for Athena.

“Development of Athena started shortly after I came to Hemisphere in August of 2013. The company has been a leader in RTK solutions for many years. During those years, we focused in certain specific market segments such as agriculture, and under new leadership we determined there was a need to address a wider spectrum of market segments, with very high accuracy and feature rich capabilities built on the strong legacy platform we had already established. So, working with Mike Whitehead, the company CTO and our main RTK technologist, we identified the goal of reengineering our RTK engine to match the needs of RTK for the next 10 years, and to provide a foundation for future product development.”

Leandro continued, “As part of this, we made a decision to build an expanded, world-class software development team, pulling great talent from around the industry to create a group of 11 totally focused on what we should do to move GNSS technologies forward — looking at all types of positioning techniques, not just RTK. Athena is just the first result of that work to become publicly available — you will see plenty more coming from the team over time.

“Looking at Athena specifically, we did a complete review, touching every part of the engine — from how we deal with the atmosphere, quality-control of the data, modeling the clock of the receiver, and so on, through to how to do external corrections, whether single-based or network-based. We even looked at and modified the receiver system, improving the multitasking architecture to more actively use the CPU for our computational work,” Leandro said.

“I’m proud to say that the results of all that work match up to what we envisioned. RTK is a pretty mature technology at this point, so improving on what is available in the industry is a tough ask. However, our extensive competitive testing shows that the engine performs really well in terms of initialization, accuracy, and stability across a range of different environments, for instance in long baselines and under tree canopy, and our tests of scintillation are showing great results as well. Overall, we have seen excellent accuracy coming out of this engine compared to legacy as well as others in the marketplace. It’s hard to win every single time in a toe-to-toe comparison, as systems and conditions differ in every test, but our broad testing shows us not only matching, but beating competitive systems pretty consistently.”

“In our user base, both Hemisphere branded products and our OEM boards, we get exposed to a wide variety of applications and environments, from agriculture and marine, through machine control applications and survey systems,” Leandro said. “Our goal from the start was to build a system that performed across that user base, and we are proud to say that we have delivered with Athena.”

“In terms of availability, we want to get the Athena engine on as many current and legacy systems as possible, so our users have the best possible experience. However, we have also been improving the legacy engine as well, delivering gradual steps of improvement to our customers, so whatever version they are using, their experience should be much improved,” Leandro concluded.

Test Reports

Hemisphere GNSS provided the following statements by an independent tester and from customers, widely distributed around the industry.

“I’ve had an opportunity to thoroughly test Athena in both moderate and extreme environments,” said Andy Carbognin, an independent GNSS test specialist at Vecto Geomatics of Ottowa, Canada. “I’m very impressed with the performance, and we’ve tested alongside the current industry leaders’ top-of-the-line products. In every situation, Athena is proving to be a tremendous improvement over Hemisphere’s most widespread legacy firmware versions, at a minimum, matching the industry’s best while in many cases exceeding their performance.”

“Carlson Software has extensively tested Hemisphere’s new Athena RTK engine on the Carlson BRx5 GNSS receiver,” said Butch Herter, director of Hardware Development, Carlson Software. “The Athena RTK engine provides precise, reliable, and repeatable positions. Athena exceeds or matches the performance of all other GNSS receivers it has been tested against. We have been particularly impressed with the performance of the Athena engine, when using a long baseline or in areas where there is a limited view of the sky. Athena is a first class RTK engine.”

“We’ve been working with Hemisphere’s technology for a number of years,” states Randy Noland, vice president of business development and director of Machine Control, Carlson Software. “I’m amazed at the team they’ve brought together and how they’re radically modernizing their technology. Collaborating with the ‘new’ Hemisphere has been an eye-opening experience, and I’m excited at how their innovative technologies will positively impact our future business.”

“In the marine construction and hydrographic survey markets, time is money. We’ve seen very high system reliability and impeccable results using the Athena RTK engine, which ensures we are achieving maximum up-time,” said Harrison Steves, operations manager at Cable Arm. “As well, not being tied to a specific make of RTK base gives us flexibility with our equipment deployment.”

“We’ve found Athena to offer exceptional performance, especially their RTK fix times and maintaining RTK lock on long baselines,” said David Vaughn, CEO, Novariant. “With the latest competitive performance testing completed, Novariant is excited about adding Hemisphere’s Athena offering to the list of the Novariant-recognized certified receivers that, when combined with our precision steering solution, can assure centimeter-level steering control in the toughest environments in the world.”

CEO Statement

“Our goal is to be nothing short of the best GNSS technology partner in the industry, and a key component of that is delivering market-leading technologies tailored to our customer’s needs,” said Chuck Joseph, Hemisphere GNSS CEO and president. “To that end, we have put together a world-class team that is totally rethinking our product family, and our new Athena engine is just the first, powerful proof of our fresh approach. Watch this space!”

Availability

Before the end of this month, Athena will be included in all Hemisphere multi-frequency, RTK-capable products, such as the A325, R330, S320 and VS330. To download and install Athena, visit Hemisphere’s Software page.
May 7, 2015
CHC Offers LT500 Series Handheld for GIS
The CHC LT500.

CHC has launched the LT500 series of handheld GPS receivers. The LT500 series LT500N /LT500T/LT500H covers three accuracy ranges from sub-meter to centimeter accuracy and is a cost-effective full GNSS positioning solution for survey, construction and GIS professionals.

Powered by the Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5 operating system, the LT500 is accurate, rugged and versatile, CHC said. User productivity is enhanced with the built-in gyroscope, an innovative laser plummet for positioning the accurate handheld receiver over a point, an E-compass for showing the direction and G-sensors for leveling.

The LT500 series is competitively priced and comes with several bundled software programs, including SurvCE, DigiTerra, MapCloud and other third-party software.

“CHC’s LT500 series is our brand-new GNSS handheld, which has amazing features and specifications. It meets more customers’ needs with more options and affordable prices,” said George Zhao, CEO of CHC. “The introduction of the LT500 demonstrates CHC’s commitment to provide the GIS community with a full spectrum of rugged, cost-effective professional GPS handhelds.”

The LT500 series features these specifications:
- 1-GHz high-speed CPU with 512-MB RAM and 16-GB flash memory built-in
- Three tracking options:
  - LT500H 120 channel GPS L1/L2/L2C,GLONASS G1,G2,BeiDou B1, Galileo E1 Tracking
  - LT500T 220 channel L1,G1,B1
  - LT500N 12 channel L1
- 13-hour battery: 11.1V, 2600mAh
- Gyro, laser-plummet, E-compass, G-sensor
The LT500 series is available immediately through CHC’s worldwide distribution channel.
April 29, 2015