Total Station: Prof. Sahil Sharma Department of Civil Engineering Global Group of Institutes, Amritsar

TOTAL STATION
Prof. Sahil Sharma

Department of Civil Engineering
Global Group of Institutes, Amritsar
WHAT IS A TOTAL STATION?
Total
 station is a Surveying equipment combination of
Electromagnetic Distance Measuring Instrument and electronic
theodolite.
Itis
 alsointegrated with microprocessor, electronic data collector
and storage system.
The
 instrument can be used to measure horizontal and vertical
angles as well as sloping distance of object to the instrument
TOTAL
STATION
CAPABILITY OF A TOTAL STATION
Microprocessor unit in total station processes

the data collected to compute:
1. Average of multiple angles measured.
2. Average of multiple distance measured.
3. Horizontal distance.
4. Distance between any two points.
5. Elevation of objects and
6. All the three coordinates of the
observed points.
• Data collected and processed in a Total Station
can be downloaded to computers for further
processing.
• Total station is a compact instrument and
weighs 50 to 55 N.
• A person can easily carry it to the field.
• Total stations with different accuracy, in angle
measurement and different range of
measurements are available in the market.
• One such instrument manufactured by
SOKKIA Co. Ltd. Tokyo, Japan.
Fig: Parts of Total
station
Important Operations of Total Station
• Distance Measurement
• Angle Measurements
• Data Processing
• Display
• Electronic Book
DISTANCE MEASUREMENT
• Electronic distance measuring (EDM) instrument is

a major part of total station.
• Its range varies from 2.8 km to 4.2 km.
• The accuracy of measurement varies from 5 mm to
10 mm per km measurement.
• They are used with automatic target recognizer.
• The distance measured is always sloping
distance from instrument to the object.
ANGLE MEASUREMENTS
• The electronic theodolite part of total station is used
for measuring vertical and horizontal angle.
• For measurement of horizontal angles any
convenient direction may be taken as reference
direction.
• For vertical angle measurement vertical upward
(zenith) direction is taken as reference direction.
• The accuracy of angle measurement varies from 2 to
6 seconds.
DATA PROCESSING
• This instrument is provided with an inbuilt
microprocessor. The microprocessor averages
multiple observations. With the help of slope
distance and vertical and horizontal angles
measured, when height of axis of instrument and
targets are supplied, the microprocessor computes
the horizontal distance and X, Y, Z coordinates.
• The processor is capable of applying temperature
and pressure corrections to the measurements, if
atmospheric temperature and pressures are
supplied.
DISPLAY
• Electronic display unit is capable of displaying various values
when respective keys are pressed.
• The system is capable of displaying horizontal distance,
vertical distance, horizontal and vertical angles, difference in
elevations of two observed points and all the three coordinates
of the observed points.
ELECTRONIC BOOK
• Each point data can be stored in an electronic note
book (like compact disc).
• The capacity of electronic note book varies
from 2000 points to 4000 points data.
• Surveyor can unload the data stored in
note book to computer and reuse the note book.
USES OF TOTAL STATION
• The total station instrument is mounted on a

tripod and is levelled by operating levelling
screws. Within a small range instrument is
capable of adjusting itself to the level position.
Then vertical and horizontal reference
directions are indexed using onboard keys.
• It is possible to set required units for distance,
temperature and pressure (FPS or SI).
Surveyor can select measurement mode like
fine, coarse, single or repeated.
ADVANTAGES OF USING TOTAL
STATIONS
• The following are some of the major
advantages of using total station over the
conventional surveying instruments:
• Field work is carried out very fast.
• Accuracy of measurement is high.
• Manual errors involved in reading and
recording are eliminated.
• Calculation of coordinates is very fast and
accurate. Even corrections for temperature and
pressure are automatically made.
• Computers can be employed for map making
and plotting contour and cross-sections.
Contour intervals and scales can be changed in
no time.
APPLICATIONS
• Total stations are mainly used by land

surveyors and civil engineers, either to record
features as in topographic surveying or to set
out features (such as roads, houses or
boundaries).
• They are also used by archaeologists to record
excavations and by police, crime scene
investigators, private accident reconstruction
and insurance companies to take
measurements of scenes.
• Because more commercial and industrial
construction jobs have become centered
around building information modeling (BIM),
the coordinates for almost every pipe, conduit,
duct and hanger support are available with
digital precision.
• The application of communicating a virtual
model to a tangible construction potentially
eliminates labor costs related to moving poorly
measured systems, as well as time spent
laying out these systems in the midst of a full
blown construction job in progress.
VIDEO LINK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_c_QqSNYCM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_DoEB4zWEQ

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TOTAL STATION

Prof. Sahil Sharma

Microprocessor unit in total station processes

• Electronic distance measuring (EDM) instrument is

• The total station instrument is mounted on a

• Total stations are mainly used by land

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