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Definition:
EDM stands for Electronic Distance Meter, it uses electromagnetic waves or super-sonic waves
aided by electronic circuitry to measure the distance between two points.
The EDM makes distance measurement precise and easy.
Ordinary lights travels at a velocity of 186,000 miles per second, therefore the time taken will be
very small to cover a short distance. This idea was soon dropped but the scientists succeeded in
finding a low velocity light beam in form of Infra-Red Rays generated by solid state Gallium
Arsenide Diode (GAD). This was put into laboratory experimentations in 1960 and finally
instrument called Electronic Distance Measurement came into existence. Initially the instruments
were very expensive but as the demand increased the price was within the reach of most
professionals.
The latest developments in EDM equipment provide plug-in recording modules, capable of
recording many thousand blocks of data for direct transfer to the computer. There is practically
no surveying operation which does not utilize the speed, economy, accuracy and reliability of
modern EDM equipment. For example the EDM instrument Model # LEICA RM100 BUILDER
POWER have the following particulars,
Hence, the advent of EDM equipment has completely revolutionized all surveying procedures,
resulting in a change of emphasis and techniques. Taping distance, with all its associated
problems, has been rendered obsolete for all base-line measurement. Distance can now be
measured easily, quickly and with great accuracy, regardless of terrain conditions.
traversed
by the wave is;
Where,
= the measured phase difference,
= the modulated wavelength,
n = the number of complete wavelength contained within the double distance (an unknown), and
k = a constant.
To evaluate n, different modulated frequencies are deployed and the phase difference of the
various outgoing and measuring signals are compared.
If c0 is the velocity of light in vacuum and f is the frequency, we have;
Where n is the refractive index ratio of the medium through which the wave passes. Its value
depends upon air temperature, atmospheric pressure, vapour pressure and relative humidity. The
velocity of light c0 in vacuum is taken as 3 108 m/s.
The infrared based EDM Equipments fall within the electro-optical group. Nowadays, most local
survey and setting out for engineering works are being carried out using these EDMs. The
infrared EDM has a passive reflector, using a retrodioptive prism to reflect the transmitted
infrared wave to the master. The distances of 1-3 km can be measured with an accuracy of 5
mm. Many of these instruments have microprocessors to produce horizontal distance, difference
in elevation, etc.
Over long ranges (up to 100 km with an accuracy of 50 mm) electronic or microwave
instruments are generally used. The remote instrument needs an operator acting to the
instructions from the master at the other end of the line. The signal is transmitted from the master
station, received by the remote station and retransmitted to the master station.
Geodimeter:
Geodimeter emits carrier waves or modulated pulses of light from a tungsten filament
that are returned by a reflector system having prism at the other station. The reflected
light is then converted into electrical pulses by photocell and distance is calculated. This
instrument can be used for measuring distance up to 25 km.
Types on basis of Range of Instrument
Short Range EDM:
Centering
Centering of EDM means, its marking point must be vertically above the survey station
marked by pointed peg or pined arrow. This means that the EDM must be put on right
point of start of line whose length is to be measured.
Levelling:
Levelling of EDM essentially means its optical/beam line to be accurately perpendicular
to the vertical line on which it is centered on. As the tilt in horizontal line in vertical
plane will definitely affect the accuracy, it is of very great importance to properly level
the instrument before using it.
Focusing:
For telescope mounted EDM, the focusing is making telescope in proper functioning
conditions and configuration so that the object which in this case is receiver, may be
sighted clearly and easily.
Specifications
maps, including streets maps, displayed in human readable format via text or in a graphical
format
turn-by-turn navigation directions to a human in charge of a vehicle or vessel via text or
speech,
directions fed directly to an autonomous vehicle such as a robotic probe,
Traffic congestion maps (depicting either historical or real time data) and suggested
alternative directions, information on nearby amenities such as restaurants, fueling stations,
and tourist attractions.
1. These GPS receivers not only track the exact location but can also compute velocity and
time. The positions can even be computed in three-dimensional views with the help of
four GPS satellite signals. The Space Segment of the Global Positioning System
consists of 27 Earth-orbiting GPS satellites.
GPS Receiver
A GPS Receiver is a L-band radio processor capable of solving
the navigation equations in order to determine the user position, velocity
and precise time (PVT), by processing the signal broadcasted by GPS
satellites.
The GNSS Market Report, Issue 3, provided by European GNSS Agency, has estimated
that the number of GPS enabled devices in 2012 were about two billion units.
Any navigation solution provided by a GNSS Receiver is based on the computation of its
distance to a set of satellites, by means of extracting the propagation time of the incoming signals
traveling through space at the speed of light, according to the satellite and receiver local clocks.
Notice that satellites are always in motion, so previous to obtaining the navigation
message, the satellites signal is detected and tracked. The receivers functional blocks that
perform these tasks are the antenna, the front-end and the baseband signal processing (in charge
of acquiring and tracking the signal).
Once the signal is acquired and tracked, the receiver application decodes the navigation message
and estimates the user position. The Navigation Message includes:
Ephemeris parameters, needed to compute the satellites coordinates.
Time parameters and Clock Corrections, to compute satellite clock offsets and time
conversions.
Service Parameters with satellite health information.
Ionospheric parameters model needed for single frequency receivers.
Almanacs, that allow computing the position of all satellites but with a lower accuracy
than the ephemeris.
The ephemeris and clocks parameters are usually updated every two hours, while the almanac is
updated at least every six days.
IS-GPS-200E:
Interface between the
space segment of the
Global Positioning
System and the
navigation user
segment of the GPS for radio frequency link 1 (L1) and link 2
(L2)
IS-GPS-705A: interface between the space segment of the
Global Positioning System and the navigation user segment of
the GPS for radio frequency link 5 (L5).
IS-GPS-800: interface between the space segment of the Global Positioning System
and the navigation user segment of the GPS for signal L1 Civil (L1C) transmitted in the
frequency band of L1.
Multi-constellation
With the emergence of multiple satellite navigation systems (both regional and global),
multi-constellation receivers are becoming widely available. This has been encouraged at system
design level by working towards interoperability and compatibility among all systems, allowing
for seamless combination of the different signal spectra and processing chains into a single,
multi-constellation GNSS solution. This approach reflects on the four global GNSS receiver
implementations:
Galileo Receivers
GPS Receivers
GLONASS Receivers
BeiDou Receivers
From the receiver perspective, multi-constellation brings a key added value on solution
availability, especially in urban environments: with the increased number of constellations
available, the number of satellites visible to the user is bound to increase. This allows several
algorithm implementations to be further refined, and the final solution can be computed with
higher accuracy and availability (for instance, see the improvements due to higher availability in
Dilution of Precision (DOP)).
Multi-frequency
Several GNSS signals are allocated to different frequencies - for instance, the L1 and L2
bands. Whether in single or multi-constellation approaches, receivers can benefit from multi-
frequency signal processing for removal of the frequency-dependent errors on the signals, hence
improving receiver accuracy. The most important example is the correction for ionospheric
delays, since these usually represent the main contributors to the overall measurement error.
Multi-frequency receivers, however, bring forth a new challenge, since there is a need for
increasing RF hardware sections. Typical antennas, front ends, and filtering/sampling circuits are
centred on one of the desired frequencies, and in most cases the same amount of RF hardware is
replicated for the other frequency (or frequencies) to process. For this fact, there is also trade-
offs implied between cost, size, power consumption, performance, signal and band filtering, and
analogue circuitry quality.
Augmentation
GNSS receivers can also benefit from corrections or
measurements provided by the available augmentation systems to
improve their accuracy and performance. As the name implies, such systems aim at providing
augmentation information to the GNSS users, consisting of corrections and/or auxiliary
measurements that increase precision and accuracy in the calculated solution. As examples of
receivers that use satellite augmentation information, see:
EGNOS Receivers
WAAS Receivers
Differential
Differential techniques enable improved receiver accuracy by providing the receiver with
additional information, such as measurements from other receivers in the vicinities, or
corrections computed independently. Such external information is then used within a receiver in
a differential way, e.g. improving the solution accuracy. Some of the most widely used
differential techniques available in current receiver technology are:
Assistance
The definition of assisted-GNSS (A-GNSS) gathers many different concepts, but can be split into
two main categories:
Data processing and solution computation is performed in the server: in this case, the
receiver can send measurements like visible satellites, pseudoranges or phase information
to the servers, where the heavier computational load for generating an accurate solution is
performed, and the results are sent back to receiver.
The assistance information can be accessed by the receiver beforehand (e.g. via Internet),
or received on request (usually through wireless communications). So, assisting information can
be provided by different technologies, such as Wi-Fi, GPRS/UMTS, or the internet. Depending
on the solution envisaged, this might have an impact at several levels, such as availability,
Assistance data is also used in indoor environments, where receivers struggle to get
anything out of GNSS. These environments are very stringent in terms of GNSS signal reception,
and the solutions often include integrating different sensors and technologies to use all available
data to provide a navigation solution.
Software receivers
Besides the wide variety of hardware platforms and their evolution, the so-called
software receivers have proliferated lately, thanks to its additional flexibility, reconfiguration
capabilities, upgradeability and expandability.
The concept behind a software receiver is depicted in Figure 1, which identifies the key
processing blocks of a GNSS receiver, and shows the differences in approach between hardware
and software implementations. Since the algorithmic and signal processing tasks are performed
The Control Segment: This part consists of 5 worldwide unmanned base-stations that monitor
the satellites to track their exact position in space, and to make sure that they are operating
correctly. The stations constantly monitor the orbits of the satellites and use very precise radar
to check altitude, position and speed. Transmitted to the satellites are ephemeris constants and
clock adjustments. The satellites in turn, use these updates in the signals that they send to GPS
receivers.
The User Segment: This part consists of user receivers which are hand-held or, can be placed in
a vehicle. All GPS receivers have an almanac programmed into their computer, which tells them
where each satellite is at any given moment. The GPS receivers detect, decode and process the
signals received from the satellites. The receiver is usually used in conjunction with computer
software to output the information to the user in the form of a map. As the user does not have to
communicate with the satellite there can be unlimited users at one time.
GPS Receivers
Apart from the technology, the user interface is packed in form of a handheld or box device,
called the GPS receiver or simply, the GPS.
It is the instrument which receives the GPS signals and calculates the 4D components, X,Y,Z and
V (velocity)
The following picture shows multitude of GPS Devices (Receivers).
Advantages of GPS
GPS is extremely easy to navigate as it tells you to the direction for each turns you
take or you have to take to reach to your destination.
GPS works in all weather so you need not to worry of the climate as in other
navigating devices.
The GPS costs you very low in comparison other navigation systems.
The most attractive feature of this system is its100% coverage on the planet.
Disadvantages of GPS
Sometimes the GPS may fail due to certain reasons and in that case you need to carry a
backup map and directions.
If you are using GPS on a battery operated device, there may be a battery failure and you
may need a external power supply which is not always possible.
Sometimes the GPS signals are not accurate due to some obstacles to the signals such as
buildings, trees and sometimes by extreme atmospheric conditions such as geomagnetic
storms.
Total Station
Introduction
Total-Stations are a fine example of evolution of things, from humble
chains and erroneous compasses to more accurate tapes and compasses then to EDMs and
Theodolites and Transits.
Later on, the two were merged to form Total Station.
Definition
The total station is an electronic theodolite (transit) integrated with an electronic distance meter
(EDM) to read slope distances from the instrument to a particular point. Robotic total stations
allow the operator to control the instrument from a distance via remote control. Its a
combination of EDM, Theodolite, Transit, Data Collector, Calculator and a Microprocessor.
A key factor is price, the higher the price (usually due to higher technology), higher the
accuracy.
Distance measure with:
Single Prism : up to 2.5 Km
Two Prisms : 5 to 7 Km
Three Prisms : 10 to 12 Km
Sokkia SET 550 Total StationSokkia SET 550 Total Station Keys/ScreenKeys/Screen
Advantages
The following are some of the major advantages of using total station over the conventional
surveying instruments:
4. Calculation of coordinates is very fast and accurate. Even corrections for temperature and
pressure are automatically made.
5. Computers can be employed for map making and plotting contour and cross-sections. Contour
intervals and scales can be changed in no time.
However, surveyor should check the working condition of the instruments before using. For this
standard points may be located near survey office and before taking out instrument for field
work, its working is checked by observing those standard points from the specified instrument
station.
Disadvantages or Limitations:
1. It is not a Rugged instrument (Sensitive).
2. Prism verticality is questionable.
3. Visibility is must.
4. More Expensive.
5. Requires calibration at every six months.
6. Amount of error is greater at short distances.
7. Height of instrument and prism is to fed.
8. Awareness on battery maintenance.
9. To establish north- compass is required.
Safety Precautions
Focusing directly at the sun, can result - loss of eyesight on the spot. Use a filter when observing
the sun.