Augmented stake-out

The Leica GS18 T is the first tilt compensating GNSS solution that is immune to magnetic disturbances. Now you can measure any point faster and easier without the need to hold the pole vertically. In particular, you can stake-out more efficiently and conveniently than ever before.

In this Expert Insights we will take a look at major changes and improvements of staking-out with the Leica GS18 T.

With the GS18 T the iterative process of staking points is not required, as the pole does not need to be hold vertically anymore. When staking-out in a conventional manner, a GNSS RTK rover needs to be oriented either towards the North, the Sun, or to some other typical direction. The user goes close to the stake point, holds the pole vertically and adjusts the pole position. This process is iteratively repeated until the coordinate deviations are within the predefined limits. In addition, it may happen that the user does not know where the North direction is at the moment. On a cloudy day one may not even be able to see the Sun. These problems can now be avoided by using the following arrow in the Stake Points app. With a tilt-compensated pole, the pole tip can be directly guided to the staked point. Therefore, there is no need anymore to orientate the rover and to perform the iterative stake-out process.

Staking points with the following arrow

When staking-out with the following arrow, a GNSS RTK rover does not need to be oriented towards any predefined direction. The following arrow shows in which direction the rover has to be moved according to the current direction of movement.

The direction of movement presents the direction the user with the rover moves towards. It is determined from measured coordinate differences at consecutive epochs. As visualised in the figure below, the direction of movement is expressed with respect to the true North direction.

Using the following arrow makes staking-out much easier and more productive, as the live view on the controller enables users to orientate the GNSS RTK rover much faster. However, it is important to keep in mind that this method is reliable as long as the sensor moves around. Otherwise, the direction of movement cannot be accurately determined since the coordinates at consecutive epochs do not differ from each other anymore. The system can, therefore, not calculate towards which direction the GNSS RTK rover is oriented. Without this information the following arrow cannot navigate users towards the point to be staked-out anymore.

Staking-out with the Leica GS18 T

Due to the inertial measurement unit (IMU) integrated in the GS18 T, the rover has the ability to determine its heading. As visualised in the figure below, the heading describes the direction the controller points towards. This is also the direction the user faces. In order to correctly determine the heading, the GS18 T has to be correctly aligned with the controller. This means, the user interface on the GS18 T has to face the user. The heading is expressed with the respect to the true North direction.

As the direction of movement does not always coincide with the direction that the user faces, the heading of the GS18 T is used for navigating the following arrow in the Stake Point app. In this way, the user can more accurately see towards which direction the sensor has to be moved. Consequently, the performance of staking-out is increased and the time spent on the field is reduced.

Leica Captivate and augmented stake-out

The real-world elements of the area to be staked-out can be visualised within the Leica Captivate software. As shown in the image below, these elements can be either a scan of a building or a drawing in dxf file of the objects located in this area.

Ask for a demo, if you want to try the new way of staking-out with the Leica GS18 T

Readers who want to get their own impression of staking-out with the GS18 T, contact your local Leica Geosystems distributor and ask for a demo. The Leica Geosystems distribution network will be at your service.

 

Metka Majeric
Product Engineer
Leica Geosystems