THE USE OF
TOTAL STATION
BY: ENGR. JUDY-ANN A. ESCUÑA
INTRODUCTION
• A total station is an
electronic/optical instrument
used in modern surveying.
• The instrument can be used to
measure horizontal and vertical
angle as well as sloping distance
of object to the instrument.
• It has also a memory card to store
the data. It also consists of
battery socket which houses the
battery.
• A fully charged battery works for
about 3 to 8 hours continuously.
Total station is a
combination of:
• EDM
• Theodolite
• Auto leveler
• Microprocessor with
specific memory
• Battery/spare which
works about 5 working
hours
DIFFERENT
PARTS OF
TOTAL
STATION
HANDLE
HANDLE
SECURING
SCREW
TELESCOPE EYEPIECE
TELESCOPE
FOCUSSING RING
VERTICAL FINE
MOTION SCREW
VERTICAL CLAMP
DISPLAY
OPERATION PANEL
HORIZONTAL FINE
MOTION SCREW
HORIZONTAL
CLAMP
LEVELING
SCREWS
CIRCULAR VIAL
PLATE LEVEL
VIAL
OBJECTIVE LENS
POWER
ON/OFF
ACCESSORIES FOR TOTAL STATION
• Depending upon the prism measuring distance vary lengths up to
about 2 km can be measured with a single prism, and up to
about 6 to 7 km with triple prism.
• The accuracy achieved with total station is mainly depends on
operator procedure of careful centering and leveling of the
instrument.
• Accurate pointing at targets.
• Taking averages of multiple angle measurements made in both
direct and reverse positions.
Peripheral equipment that can affect accuracy includes:
• Plate level vial
• Optical plummets
• Prism
• Prism poles
• Plate level vial must provide a snug fit without slippage
ADVANTAGES OF TOTAL STATION SURVEYING
• Great accuracy in area computation
• Quick setting of instrument on tripod using laser plummet
• Multiple surveys can be performed at one set-up location
• Relatively quick collection of data
• On-board display of measurements of coordinates areas etc.
FUNCTIONS PERFORMED BY TOTAL STATIONS
• Total stations, with their micro processors, can perform a
variety of functions and computations, depending on how
they are programmed. The capabilities vary with different
instruments, but some standard computations include.
• Averaging multiple angle and distance measurements.
• Correcting electronically measured distances from prism
constant, atmospheric pressure, and temperature.
FUNCTIONS PERFORMED BY TOTAL STATIONS
• Making curvature and refraction corrections to elevations
determine by trigonometric levelling.
• Reducing slope distances to their horizontal and vertical
components.
• Calculating point elevations from the vertical distance
components (supplemented with keyboard input of instruments
and reflector heights.
• Computing coordinates of survey points from horizontal angle
and horizontal distance.
ACCURACY OF A TOTAL STATION:
• Accuracy depending upon the instrument and varies from
instrument to instrument.
• The angular accuracy varies from 1” to 10”.
• Distance accuracy depends upon two factors.
• Instrumental error which ranges from ±10mm to ±2mm
• Error due to the length of measurement. It can be from
±10mm to ±2mm per kilometer.
Advantages of digital levels:
• Fatigue-free observation as visual staff reading by the observer is not
require.
• User friendly menus with easy to read, digital display of results.
• Measurement of consistent precision and reliability due to
automation.
• Automatic data storage eliminates booking and its associated errors.
• Automatic reduction of data to produce ground levels, thereby
eliminating arithmetical errors.
• Fast, economic surveys resulting in saving time (up to 50% less effort
has been claimed by manufacturers)
• Data on the storage medium of the level can be downloaded to a
computer enabling quick data reduction for various purposes
THANK YOU!!!
