Trimble SCS900 User Manual

Download

Page 1

TOTAL STATION USER GUIDE

Trimble® SCS900 Site Controller

Software

Page 2

NORTH AMERICA

Trimble Construction Division 5475 Kellenburger Road Dayton, Ohio 45424

USA

800-538-7800 (Toll Free) +1-937-245-5600 Phone +1-937-233-9004 Fax

EUROPE

Trimble GmbH Am Prime Parc 11 65479 Raunheim

GERMANY

+49-6142-2100-0 Phone +49-6142-2100-550 Fax

ASIA - PACIFIC

Trimble Navigation Australia PTY Limited Level 1/120 Wickham Street Fortitude Valley, QLD 4006

AUSTRALIA

+61-7-3216-0044 Phone +61-7-3216-0088 Fax

www.trimble.com

Page 3

TOTAL STATION USER GUIDE

Trimble® SCS900 Site Controller Software

Version 2.50 Revision A February 2009

Page 4

Contact Information

Trimble Navigation Limited Engineering & Construction Group 5475 Kellenburger Road Dayton, Ohio 45424-1099 USA

800-538-7800 (toll free in USA) +1-937-245-5600 Phone +1-937-233-9004 Fax

www.trimble.com

Support Offices

For registered product users: 1 800 SOS 4 TAC (USA-based support)

[email protected]

Legal Notices

Terramodel, Tracklight, and TSC2 are trademarks of Trimble Navigation Limited, registered in the United States and in other countries. VRS and SiteNet are trademarks of Trimble Navigation Limited.

The Bluetooth word mark and logos are owned by the Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by Trimble Navigation Limited is under license.

Microsoft, Windows, and Windows Mobile are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

The Trimble SCS900 Site Controller software is covered by the following U.S. patents: 6021376, 6016118, 5986604, 5614913 and other patents pending.

Release Notice

This is the February 2009 release (Revision A) of the SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide. It applies to version 2.50 of

the SCS900 Site Controller software.

Product Limited Warranty Information

For applicable product Limited Warranty information, please refer to Legal Notices in the Release Notes, or consult your local Trimble authorized dealer.

2 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 5

Safety Information

Before you use the Trimble® Site Controller software, make sure that you have read and understood all safety requirements, as well as all equipment and job site safety requirements.

Warnings

WARNING – This alert warns of a potential hazard which, if not avoided, can cause severe

injury.

Cautions

Always observe safety instructions that are presented in the following format:

CAUTION – A Caution alerts you to a possible risk of damage to the equipment and/or loss of data. A Caution describes how to protect the equipment and/or data from this risk.

Vehicle safety

WARNING – When you select the Vehicle mode, the following warning message appears:

Do not interact with the touch screen, keyboard, or software in any way while the vehicle is moving. While the vehicle is moving, the software provides a continuous display of position and data that can be seen at a glance. Operating the device or interacting with the software while the vehicle is moving can be a distraction for the operator, and may result in collision causing property damage or personal injury.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 3

Page 6

Safety Information

Servicing

Do not attempt to repair a Trimble ACU, TSC2®, or Trimble CU controller. There are no user-serviceable parts inside. To arrange for a controller to be serviced, please contact your Trimble dealer.

Accessories

CAUTION – Use only approved accessories with this equipment. In general, all cables must be high quality, shielded, correctly terminated, and normally restricted to two meters (6.56 feet) in length. AC adaptors approved for this product employ special provisions to avoid radio interference and should not be altered or substituted. Unapproved modifications or operations beyond or in conflict with these instructions for use may void authorization by the authorities to operate the equipment.

4 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 7

Contents 1

Safety Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Cautions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Vehicle safety. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Servicing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

About the SCS900 Site Controller Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Related information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Technical assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Your comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

2 Connecting to a Total Station and Setting up the Controller . . . . . . . . 11

Starting the SCS900 software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Connecting to a total station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Leveling the total station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Correcting for atmospheric conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Selecting the external battery type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Setting up the controller. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Units and Formats option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Instrument Setup Tolerances option. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Data Output Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

3 Creating a Site and a Work Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Organizing data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Work orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Global data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Creating a new work order and a new site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Opening an existing work order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Completing a work order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

4 Main Menu Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Work Orders menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Measurement menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Stakeout menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Settings menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Volume & COGO menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

System Setup menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

5 Setting up Control Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Types of control points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 5

Page 8

Contents

Entering control point coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

6 Establishing the Position and Orientation of the Total Station

on the Jobsite (Station Establishment)41

Setting up at an arbitrary location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Setting up on a known point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Reading station setup data from the total station. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Completing a station establishment where the height of the setup point has not been

determined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

7 Setting Up an ATS or SPSx30 Total Station for Machine Control . . . . . . 57

Using the ATS or SPSx30 UTS for machine control applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

8 Using Basic Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Icon panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Total Station Basic mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

DR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

EDM mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Tracklight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Turn-to . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Autolock mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Laser. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Joystick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Set HA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

HD/VD or VA/SD mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

9 Advanced Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Stockpile scan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Profile scan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Automated measurement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

10 Setting up the Total Station for Robotic Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Starting with the controller connected directly to the total station. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Starting with the controller connected over the radio to the total station . . . . . . . . . . . . .102

11 Rechecking the System Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Checking a control point using a prism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107

Checking a control point without a prism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

12 Measuring a Control Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Measuring a new point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114

Measuring an existing control point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

13 Measuring Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Measuring modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Standing mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120

6 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 9

Contents

Walking mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Vehicle mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121

Averaging mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124

DR Single Point mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124

DR Scanning mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124

Changing the measuring mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124

14 Other Total Station Settings and Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Target height and target type settings from the map view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

DR Target Settings dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Stakeout Settings menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

General Stake Placement & Marking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130

Auto Aim Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131

COM Port Data Output Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132

Instrument Functions menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133

External Battery Type Settings option. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134

Atmospheric Corrections option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Instrument Settings option. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135

DR/IR target settings option. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136

Radio Settings option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

15 Adjusting the Total Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Types of checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .140

Mechanical checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .140

Electronic system checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .140

Electronic/software driven checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Compensator Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

HA VA Collimation test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Trunnion Axis Tilt test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Tracker Collimation test. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 7

Page 10

Contents

8 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 11

Introduction 1

This SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide covers all aspects of the SCS900

software that relate to total station operation.

For measurement and stakeout operational guidelines that are common to both total station and GPS systems, please refer to the other SCS900 guides that are available (see Related

information).

About the SCS900 Site Controller Software

The SCS900 software can be used with the following systems:

• Total stations – The software can be used

either with a total station using Servo, Autolock technology.

• Precision GPS – Covers centimeter GPS

positioning techniques including Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) using a site base station (over radio), local base station (off-site over the Internet, cell phone, or rebroadcast radio), or a VRS Internet, cell phone, or rebroadcast radio). For more information, refer to the SCS900

Site Controller Software Precision GPS User Guide.

, Robotic, or Reflectorless

™

network (VRS over the

CHAPTER

and MSAS), DGPS (reference station and rover operations), OmniSTAR VBS, XP, or HP services, and Location RTK (decimeter-level RTK positioning). In addition, it includes moving baseline operations to determine both position and heading of a moving vessel providing the ability to rapidly position objects such as piling rigs, marine dredgers, or bridge sections in real time. For more information, refer to the SCS900 Site

Controller Software Location GPS User Guide.

The software is operated using a tablet PC ( for the SCS900 Tablet Edition software), a Trimble ACU, TSC2, or Trimble CU controller.

The SCS900 software supports the following total stations:

• Trimble 5600 Total Station

• ATS Total Station

• SPS610 Total Station

• SPS700 Total Station

• SPS710 Total Station

• SPS630 Universal Total Station

• SPS730 Universal Total Station

• SPS930 Universal Total Station

• Location GPS – Covers decimeter to

submeter GPS positioning techniques including Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) (such as WAAS, EGNOS,

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 9

Page 12

1 Introduction

Related information

The following documents are available from the SCS900 Documentation folder on

www.trimble.com:

• SCS900 Site Controller Software Office Guide

• SCS900 Site Controller Software Location GPS

User Guide

• SCS900 Site Controller Software Measurement

User Guide

• SCS900 Site Controller Software Precision GPS

User Guide

• SCS900 Site Controller Software Road and

Side Slope Stakeout User Guide

• SCS900 Site Controller Software Stakeout User

Guide

• SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station

User Guide

• SCS900 Site Controller Software Release Notes

Technical assistance

If you have a problem and cannot find the information you need in the product documentation, contact your local Trimble dealer.

Your comments

Feedback about the documentation helps us to improve it with each revision. Please email your comments to [email protected].

• SCS900 Site Controller Software Product

Registration Form

Tip – For convenience, Trimble recommends

that you install all documentation from the website to the hard drive of the office computer.

Each total station system has its own user guide containing instrument specific information. Use this manual with the material contained in those guides.

10 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 13

CHAPTER

Connecting to a Total Station and Setting up the Controller

In this chapter:

 Starting the SCS900 software

 Connecting to a total station

 Setting up the controller

This chapter guides you through the following actions you must do before you start working in the field:

1. Start the SCS900 software.

2. Check that the controller is connected to the total station.

3. Level the total station. If you enable the compensator inside the total station, it automatically corrects for instrument mislevel.

4. Correct the total station for atmospheric conditions.

5. Select the type of external battery that the total station is using, so that the battery can be characterized (SPSx10, SPS700, or SPSx30 only).

6. Select your preferred choice of units and formats.

7. Specify the instrument setup tolerances.

8. Select options for how you want data to be output.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 11

Page 14

2 Connecting to a Total Station and Setting up the Controller

Starting the SCS900 software

To start the SCS900 software on your controller, do one of the following:

• Select Start / Programs and then select SCS900 from the icons that appear.

• Double-tap the SCS900 software icon on the desktop.

The SCS900 software starts and the main menu appears:

Connecting to a total station

When you start the SCS900 software, it automatically looks for a connection to the total station through a cable connection (TSC2) or through a direct connection (Trimble CU). When the connection is made, the Level Compensator dialog appears:

Note – If you use a Trimble CU controller in GPS mode and then attach it to a total station, the controller will not automatically connect to the total station unless you are in Total Station mode (select controller in GPS mode, it cannot find the connection even if it is connected directly to a total station.

 System Setup /  Switch to Total Station Setup). If you leave the

12 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 15

Connecting to a Total Station and Setting up the Controller 2

If you are using Bluetooth® wireless technology to connect to the total station (SPSx10, SPS700, or SPSx30 only), you must first turn on the total station and enable Bluetooth (using the face 2 display menu), and then manually force the connection to it.

If you are using a radio to connect to the total station, you need to manually force the connection to it. For more information, see Chapter 10, Setting up the Total Station for

Robotic Operation.

To force either a radio or Bluetooth wireless connection:

1. Select

2. Select

3. Select either

 System Setup. The System Setup Menu – Instrument appears.

 Connect Instrument. The Connect Instrument menu appears.

Connect via radio or  Connect via Bluetooth.

4. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen.

Leveling the total station

The compensator inside the total station provides dual-axis correction for any mislevel of the instrument during operation, for a working range of up to 6' of arc. The display enables you to level the total station accurately using the foot-screws on the tribrach.

To level the total station:

1. Align the front face of the total station with two tribrach foot-screws.

2. Adjust the horizontal bubble in the display using those same two foot screws.

3. Adjust the vertical bubble using the third foot screw.

4. Once level, tap

Note – You can disable the compensator, however, only do this in extreme working conditions such as when working:

• in close proximity to a piling rig, vibratory compactor, or other source of extreme

ground vibration which would continuously affect the compensation effect on the total station

OK.

• on a mobile platform where the level is continuously changing, but where all

measurements are needed in the reference frame of the platform itself, for example on a marine vessel or oil platform

• in extremely windy conditions where wind buffet on the total station is significant,

and again would continuously affect the compensation of the total station.

If the compensator is switched off, the total station stops correcting for instrument mislevel. In these situations, watch and adjust the level on a regular basis.

At this point, Trimble assumes that the total station is set up accurately over a known point or that you have set it up in a convenient location, and will establish its position using the arbitrary location method (also known as free station or resection). For more information, see Setting up at an arbitrary location, page 43.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 13

Page 16

2 Connecting to a Total Station and Setting up the Controller

Correcting for atmospheric conditions

The following dialog appears, if the Show corrections on start up check box was left selected during a previous operation:

Tip – Alternatively, open this dialog from the Instrument Functions menu (see page 133).

When measuring distances, the total station’s Electronic Distance Meter (EDM) is affected by the temperature and pressure at which the instrument is being operated. Accurate entry of the ambient air temperature and barometric pressure correctly adjusts the EDM measurements for the PPM (parts per million) error associated with this effect.

The Trimble SPS610, SPS700, SPS710, SPS730, and SPS930 total stations automatically detect the pressure, but you have to enter the temperature. For high accuracy work or long range measurements, you should measure the temperature using a thermometer. For normal site work, estimating temperature or getting it from a weather forecast is normally sufficient. You must also enter the pressure on the Trimble 5600 total station and the Trimble ATS total station; it can be taken from a weather forecast or measured with a barometer.

Note – When working at high altitudes, your barometric pressures will be considerably lower than if you are operating at sea level, which can have a significant effect on the PPM errors. Average daily changes in temperature have a far less impact on the PPM error and if estimated to within a few degrees are adequate for the normal operating ranges of the total station (<500 m, <1500 ft). When working at the maximum ranges of the total station (5,000 m, 15,000 ft), use more accurate values, as the errors become more significant with extended range of operation.

14 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 17

Connecting to a Total Station and Setting up the Controller 2

Selecting the external battery type

The Instrument External Battery Type dialog appears, if the Show screen on start up check box was left selected during a previous operation:

Tip – Alternatively, open this dialog from the Instrument Functions menu (see page 133).

Select the type of external battery that is to be used by the SPSx10, SPS700, or SPSx30 total station. Enter its specifications to characterize the battery. Characterizing the battery does two things:

• It protects the battery from the total station taking its voltage too low thereby

prohibiting damage

• It ensures that the total station can maximize the use of the battery assuring the

longest operational time from the battery

For more information, see page 134.

Setting up the controller

From the main menu, select  Settings:

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 15

Page 18

2 Connecting to a Total Station and Setting up the Controller

The settings that you should set up now are:

• Units & Formats

• Instrument Setup Tolerances

• Data Output Options

These settings will then be used in every site and every work order created and opened.

 Units and Formats option

The first time that you use the SCS900 software, you need to set the units and data formats correctly before you take a measurement or associate a design with a site. It is important that you do this before you take a measurement or associate a design with the site. All files that relate to a single site must be stored and operated with the same units. Once a measurement has been taken, or a design has been selected, you cannot change the units.

Set up the SCS900 software to operate in your units and formats of choice and to operate in the correct coordinate system.

From the Settings menu, select

Field Description

Distances Distance units supported include Meters, US Survey Feet, and International

Feet. The distance units are applied to all imported data, computed information, and measured positions.

Select the setting appropriate to your region of operation.

Angles Angle units can be measured in Degrees or Gons. The specified angle units

are applied to all computed and displayed angular information. Select the setting appropriate to your region of operation.

Stationing Stationing (also known as chainage) formats currently supported include

0.000, 0+00.000, and 0+000.000. The selected stationing format is applied to all measured, computed, and displayed station (chainage) values.

Select the setting appropriate to your region of operation.

 Units & Formats:

16 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 19

Connecting to a Total Station and Setting up the Controller 2

Field Description

Coordinate Order

Grid Coord Supported grid (Cartesian) coordinate systems include that where the axes

Azimuth Azimuth direction options currently include north or south. Azimuth

The order in which coordinate values will be interpreted within control point and stakeout point files can be either P,N,E,Z,D or P,E,N,Z,D where:

P = Point Name or Number N = Northing E = Easting Z = Elevation D = Description or Point Code

The selected coordinate order dictates the way that those point files will be read and used, and how coordinates will be entered, displayed, and recorded by the software.

Note – Reading a control points or stakeout point file where the data items are actually in a different order to that defined by this setting causes the software to incorrectly use the values in the file.

of increasing positive coordinates extend north and east, and that where they extend south and west. The Grid Coord field dictates the direction of increasing coordinate values. In most regions, coordinates typically increase to the north and east direction. However, in a few countries the coordinates increase in a different direction, for example in South Africa, the coordinates increase to the south and west.

Select the setting appropriate to your region of operation.

direction in most regions has its zero origin direction as true north. However, in some countries the origin or zero direction is set to a different direction, for example in South Africa, a zero azimuth is in the direction of the south axis.

Select the setting appropriate to your region of operation.

 Instrument Setup Tolerances option

From the Settings menu, select Instrument Setup Tolerances:

When setting up the total station, and while measuring or staking points, the total station checks the values measured against a set of entered tolerances for operation, and notifies you if the measurements are in or out of tolerance.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 17

Page 20

2 Connecting to a Total Station and Setting up the Controller

Setting tolerances too low results in failure to generate appropriate warnings; setting tolerances too high results in frequent warnings. You should ensure that the values that you enter for the tolerances are:

• accurate enough for the work being carried out

• within the capabilities of the total station

For example, if stakeout has to be achieved to an accuracy of better than 5 mm (.016 ft), do not set the stakeout or instrument setup tolerance to 15 mm (.049 ft). If the total station in use has a horizontal angle accuracy of 5" arc, do not set the instrument setup tolerance to 1" arc as this will never be achieved.

The following table shows the specified accuracy of the supported total stations:

Total station Horizontal angle Vertical angle Distance

5605 DR200+ 5” 5” 3 mm +/- 2 ppm

ATS 1” 1” 2 mm +/- 2 ppm

SPS610 5” 5” 2 mm +/- 2 ppm

SPS700 5” 2” 3 mm +/- 2 ppm

SPS710 3” 2” 3 mm +/- 2 ppm

SPS730 3” 2” 3 mm +/- 2 ppm

SPS930 1” 1” 3 mm +/- 2 ppm

 Data Output Options

The last settings to consider are what data you want to store during operation and then output on completion of a work order.

From the Settings menu, select

 Data Output Options:

To record raw measurement data (HA VA SD) along with all computed positions etc, select the Store raw data to Record.txt file check box. Raw data will be stored with each measured or staked location.

18 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 21

Connecting to a Total Station and Setting up the Controller 2

To add a 3D Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN) surface model to the DXF CAD file output, select the Surface in DXF 3D Faces format check box.

On completion of a work order, the software optionally creates a CAD compatible DXF file of all the measurements and stakeout records taken during execution of the work order. The Measurements in DXF format and the Surface in DXF 3D Faces format options enable you to add the following output to the DXF file:

• measurements only (points, lines, areas, boundaries measured, and staked

locations)

• surface only (that is, the triangulated model of the surface)

• measurements and the surface

The resulting DXF file comprises a number of layers, depending on the options selected. It includes the following:

• Surface-Data (measurements)

• Surface-Faces (3D TIN surface model)

• Surface-Boundary (outer boundary of the model)

• Survey-Data (site features i.e., non surface data)

• COGO (computed points)

• Staked-Points (as-staked locations)

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 19

Page 22

2 Connecting to a Total Station and Setting up the Controller

20 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 23

CHAPTER

Creating a Site and a Work Order 3

In this chapter:

 Organizing data

 Creating a new work order and a

new site

 Opening an existing work order

 Completing a work order

All SCS900 operations are carried out on a specific site. Work orders are associated with that same site. Before you can begin work, you need to create a work order or open an existing work order.

A work order contains a record of every measurement or stakeout operation completed. Work orders also allow tasks to be monitored in terms of progress towards completion, and allow different types of tasks to have different settings and tolerances. Work orders also record every setting and change of setting made while you work.

Many tasks such as setting up a new site, design, or work order, and the settings or operational parameters for those operations can be established using the SCS900 software or the SCS900 support utilities ( for example, the SCS Data Manager, the Trimble Business Center software, or the Terramodel and then transferred to the controller. Establishing these tasks and settings in the office enables the supervisor to control and manage the quality of all the operations.

Field Data Module)

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 21

Page 24

3 Creating a Site and a Work Order

Organizing data

Data is organized by site. Within each site, data is further divided into designs and work orders.

Sites

An SCS900 site is a project that contains records of all activities that a crew does on a jobsite. The site contains the following:

• all settings and information that would be considered a requirement for the

execution of any type of task (known as a work order)

• a background map

• a control points file

• the GPS site calibration information

• a geoid model for GPS operations

• all software settings that would be considered applicable as the default settings

for any task executed on the project

Site information is available to all work orders carried out on the site.

Storage of sites

SCS900 sites are stored in the Trimble SCS900 Data folder or root folder.

• If you are using a controller that runs Windows

CE .NET (for example, the

TCU), then the root folder is \Disk\Trimble SCS900 Data.

• If you are using a controller that runs Windows Mobile

Pocket PC, ( for example, the TSC2), then the root folder is \<StorageCard>\Trimble SCS900 Data.

• If you are running the SCS900 Tablet Edition on a laptop or tablet PC, then the

root folder is \Trimble Synchronizer Data\PC\Trimble SCS900 Data.

In this way, if you synchronize other SCS900 controllers with the tablet PC using Trimble Office Synchronizer, they will be added as additional devices beneath the \Trimble Synchronizer Data folder so their information can easily be seen and reviewed using the SCS Data Manager.

Designs

A site can contain one or more designs. Each design contains all the information relating to a specific aspect of the construction of the project, for example, original ground, finished grade, utilities such as sewers, electrical, gas, water, pads, roads, and other similar groupings. A single SCS900 design for example, can comprise a CAD drawing, one or two surfaces or roadway models, and a stakeout point list.

22 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 25

Creating a Site and a Work Order 3

Information stored at this level includes foreground maps, stakeout data, and a design surface or road model.

Work orders

A work order is a job or task (or a set of tasks) that needs to be carried out on a particular site. The following are typical tasks:

• checking grade on a completed surface

• staking out a parking lot

• measuring a stockpile volume

• measuring a progress volume

The Trimble SCS900 Site Controller software is task-oriented. When you open a work order, the software automatically retrieves the data that you need to complete that work order.

A work order defines the site. It can also, but does not have to, reference:

• a design, which has the data needed to carry out the task

• an underlying surface design, which has any previously-measured, saved

surfaces that can be used for material thickness checking

For a material thickness check, only an underlying surface design is required. For a grade check and material thickness check, a design and an underlying surface design are required.

Two surfaces can be used to display cut/fill when using Location GPS with a poor vertical precision. The cut/fill values are the difference between a recent topo survey of the surface and the desired design surface.

A work order can also include basic written instructions to the operator that outline the requirements for the task.

Tasks such as setting up the base station, carrying out a station establishment with a total station, carrying out a measurement of the original ground levels for a site, and so forth, do not require the work order to have a referenced design.

Tasks such as carrying out a grade check of a finished surface, carrying out any stakeout operation, or displaying real-time cut and fill around the site require the work order to have a referenced design.

There can be many work order subfolders within the main work orders folder. Each work order subfolder contains:

• An initialization file called <Work Order Name>.ini that references the relevant

design files and define the settings for the work order.

• An Output folder that contains all data stored or output during the execution of

the work order. This includes the data collected in the field, computed by the SCS900 software, or generated during field operations.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 23

Page 26

3 Creating a Site and a Work Order

The following files are continually updated and stored in the Output folder:

– <Work Order Name>-Record.txt – Contains a record of every point

measured or staked out, and includes station establishment and control point measurement records.

– <Work Order Name>-Report.txt – Contains a record of every function

used and every result reported on-screen during the execution of a work order. This is effectively a log file of activities and the results generated.

The following file is created when you complete a work order:

– <Work Order Name>-Measure.dxf

• An optional work order instruction file called <Work Order Name>.txt.

Global data

The following data is used by all sites:

• Lists of feature codes

• Lists of operator names

• Geoid files

Creating a new work order and a new site

Before you can set up the SCS900 software to use with a conventional system and collect site measurements, you must create or open a work order. Every SCS900 field operation requires a work order, or task-related folder, into which field results are written.

You can create work orders in the following ways:

• In the office – Using the SCS Data Manager or the Terramodel Field Data

Module, you can assign it to a field crew and then use the Trimble Office Synchronizer utility to transfer the work order to a controller. For information about these utilities, refer to the SCS900 Site Controller Software Office Guide.

• In the field – Directly on the controller by the crew in the field, as and when

required, for example, to carry out a site measurement task.

24 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 27

To create or open a work order in the field:

Creating a Site and a Work Order 3

1. From the main menu, select

2. To start a new work order on a new site, select

 Work Orders:

New:

Tip – If you are working on a site that already exists, select the site from the list and then tap Next. Then go to Step 7.

3. Tap New Site:

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 25

Page 28

3 Creating a Site and a Work Order

4. Enter the name of the site (for example, Road Job 2) and then tap Next:

5. Confirm or change the unit settings for the new site. These values default to the ones that you have already set up (see page 16).

Note – Always set the distance units correctly before taking a measurement or associating a design with the site. All files that relate to a single site must be stored and operated with the same units. Once a measurement is taken, or a design is selected, you cannot change the units.

6. Tap

For this example, the following items are not available: a site background map (provides a reference map for the site in all work orders), a site calibration file (used for GPS operations), or a control points file (needed to set up the total station when known control points exist).

26 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 29

7. Tap Finish:

Creating a Site and a Work Order 3

8. Enter a name for the work order and then tap

Tip – Give work orders a meaningful name to make it easy to identify them when multiple work orders are created for a particular project. If you are using the total station only for machine control work, that is, no site measurement or stakeout operations, then name the work order something like Daily Total Station Setups. If you are staking, for example, a sewer line, then name the work order Stake Sewer Line. If relevant, you can also add the date to the name of the work order so you know when the task was started, for example Stake Sewer Line 120606.

The following dialog appears:

Next.

9. The dialog lists all designs associated with the opened site. At this stage, you only want to establish the total station position and carry out a site calibration; you do not have a design requirement (typically needed for stakeout or grade checking operations). Select <No design needed> and then tap software enables you to select a maximum of two design surfaces. Use the Primary tab to select the main design surface and use the Underlying tab to select the secondary design surface.

Tip – If you require only one design surface, select <No design needed> on the

Underlying tab.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 27

Finish. The

Page 30

3 Creating a Site and a Work Order

Note – With every task, the operator’s name is stored with the task as a part of the recorded information.

The work order is now open on the new site.

Opening an existing work order

To open a work order that was created in the office, or previously created in the field:

1. From the main menu, tap

The Select a Work Order dialog appears. It lists all the work orders for the current site. To choose a work order from a different site, tap

2. Select the work order from the list and then tap

3. Review the information that appears on the screen. Check the site name, the work order name, and any design(s) associated with the work order. Tap

Confirm or press = to continue.

Completing a work order

On completion, the work order contains the following:

• Reference to the site that it was carried out on.

• Reference to the design data that was used in completing the task (surface, CAD

drawings, road models, or stakeout point data).

• A record of all the settings and tolerances that were used in the execution of the

task.

• A record of all measurements made, all in-field reports generated, and a log of all

activities carried out to complete the task.

Work Orders /  Open.

Change Site.

Next or press the Enter key

• Optionally, an output CAD (.dxf ) file containing all of the measured, COGO, and

as-staked information. It may also contain a 3D faces model for the surface created from the measurements made.

On completion, the results from a work order can be reviewed and analyzed using the SCS Report Utility, viewed in the SCS Data Manager, or imported into the Trimble Business Center software – HCE software, the Terramodel software or the SiteVision Office software for more in-depth analysis.

28 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 31

CHAPTER

Main Menu Structure 4

In this chapter:

 Work Orders menu

 Measurement menu

 Stakeout menu

 Settings menu

 Volume & COGO menu

 System Setup menu

The SCS900 software is a menu-driven system, for ease of use and learning. When you open the software, the main menu appears, providing access to six submenus:

Once set up, whether being used by GPS or by a total station, there are two main functions:

1. Measurements – This function enables you to measure and record the location, or as-built location, of features or surfaces or objects on a project, or to collect information that allows you to create a surface model, from which you can make volume computations, and grade or material thickness checks.

2. Stakeout – This function enables you to stake or relocate any aspect of the site including point features (such as manholes), line features (such as curbs, foundations, and footings), planar surface features (such as pads), or surfaces (such as site terrain models, side slopes and catch points, or road surface models).

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 29

Page 32

4 Main Menu Structure

Work Orders menu

The Work Orders menu contains the tools to create, open, and complete work orders. The menu also provides the capability to change the design referenced by the current work order, and output new design data from the current work order, for example, the original ground topographic measurements.

This menu also provides the ability to export measured information or selected design information to a CompactFlash card for use in the GCS900 Grade Control System or the SiteVision

Command Description

 New Create a new work order in the field as required for a

Open Open an existing work order. This can be:

Change Design Select a different design, which provides different information

Complete Work Order Complete the currently open work order and write the

Export/Import Data (TCU

and TSC2 controllers)

 Save surface as design Write the surface data that was measured in the field, to a new

machine control systems.

requested task, for which no work order has been provided. The SCS900 software creates a new work order that references a specific site and design.

• a new work order, created by the supervisor, which you are to carry out

• an in-progress work order, which you need to retrieve data from or add data to

• a previously completed work order, which you need to reopen to retrieve information or to add information to

to that currently loaded, as a result of a change in the design for the project, or a request to do something within the current work order that requires different design data.

Work-Order Measure.dxf file.

Write the surface data that was measured in the field to a new design surface; export the site calibration file to a CompactFlash card; export a design to a CompactFlash card for use with the GCS900 Grade Control System, save site calibration data to a memory card; and send or receive files from “intelligent” emails.

design surface.

30 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 33

Measurement menu

The Measurement menu contains all site measurement functions. With the dedicated functions, you can check grades and material thickness, take topographic measurements to create surface models ( for example, volume computations), take site feature measurements to record the location of non-surface features, and provide real-time cut/fill information against a selected design model.

Before you enter this menu, set up the system using the System Setup menu. If you do not, when you select an option in this menu, the software automatically puts you through either the station establishment process (for a total station) or the rover setup (for GPS).

Command Description

Check Surface Grade Check the grade of a surface against a selected design.This

Check Grade of Roadway

Check Material Thickness Check the thickness of laid materials against the specified

Measure Surface Measure a surface: points, break-lines, volume boundaries, and

Measure Site Features Measure site features not used in the creation of a surface.

Display Real-Time Cut/Fill Check current cut and fill at any location on the project against

Intelligent Scanning Scanning options for use with total stations, specifically for

Main Menu Structure 4

option is available only when the current design is not a road.

Specify a high or low tolerance for the finished grade and check whether or not the grading operations have achieved tolerance.

This option is available only when the current design is a road.

thickness.

the site boundary.

the original ground, finished design, or any other surface.

scanning stockpiles or recording profile lines of objects like quarry walls or high walls.

For information about how to use the site measurement functions, refer to the SCS900 Site Controller Software Measurements User Guide.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 31

Page 34

4 Main Menu Structure

Stakeout menu

The Stakeout menu contains all SCS900 stakeout functions including staking points, lines and alignments, planes, surfaces, side slopes, catch points, and road features.

Command Description

 Point Stake individual point data. The software guides you directly to

Line Stake lines and alignments or offsets to lines using station and

Side Slope & Catch Point Stake an earthwork operation that involves a tie to the current

Plane Create and stake out a level plane, a sloping plane, or a 3-point

Surface Stake out from a design surface. The software guides you

Road Stake roadway features, sideslopes, and catch points or any

Enter/Edit Stakeout Points Add, edit, or delete any stakeout points that are in the current

the point.

offset methods. The software guides you directly to the line.

ground surface.

plane. The software guides you directly to points on the plane.

directly to points on the surface. This option is available only when the SCS900 road module is

not installed.

point on the surface. This option is available only when the SCS900 road module is

installed.

design.

For information about how to use the site stakeout functions, refer to the SCS900 Site Controller Software Stakeout Guide, or if you have the Road module installed, refer to the SCS900 Site Controller Software Road and Side Slope Stakeout User Guide.

32 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 35

Settings menu

The Settings menu contains all the SCS900 system settings that control the units of measurement, how the software operates, and what tolerances the software will use for different functions during operation.

The settings provide control over Internet connectivity for VRS or remote base station GPS operations.

The settings also control what data is recorded during operation and then exported when a work order is complete.

Command Description

Page 1 of 2:

 Units & Formats Specify the measurement units and the order of coordinates.

GPS Precision Settings Specify GPS measurement and site calibration tolerances.

Internet & VRS Settings Configure your Internet connection for use with “intelligent”

Instrument Setup &

Adjustment

Stakeout Settings Specify stakeout methods to be used, stake writing

Data Output Options Specify .dxf file output options (surface measurements and/or

Page 2 of 2:

 COM Port Data Output

Option

Radio Baud Rate Change the receiver to radio baud rate for third-party and

Main Menu Structure 4

email functions, a VRS system, or create a new connection with the New Connection wizard.

Specify horizontal, vertical, and angle setup tolerances and the type of corrections to apply to the measured distance.

information, stakeout tolerances, and auto-aim controls for use with a total station. Select map view options.

3D faces). Specify whether or not raw data will be output with each record.

Enable the controller to output the instrument measurement data through a COM port.

Trimble PDL 450 radios.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 33

Page 36

4 Main Menu Structure

Volume & COGO menu

The Volume & COGO menu contains a number of calculation (area, distance, bearing, slope) and point generation functions (free point, offset points, radius point) that can be used to generate points for stakeout operation from CAD data in the currently loaded design.

The menu provides access to the contour generation function, which you can use to review a measured surface before you use the Compute Volume option, to determine stockpile or progress volumes. The menu also provides access to review and edit functions for editing breaklines and deleting points or lines to resolve surface modelling problems.

Command Description

 Review & Edit Surface View or delete point and lines, add breaklines and boundaries,

 Review Design Features Calculate volumes based on the design data, and calculate

Compute Distance & Area Compute areas, distances, and angles from measured or

Create Stakeout Points Create points by a variety of methods including free point,

Create/Edit Road Data Enter a roadway and perform COGO functions based on a road.

contour surface and calculate surface volumes (stockpiles) or periodic progress volumes.

distances and areas.

stakeout data.

radius, and offset to a line. Free points can be created by tapping the screen or entering coordinates.

This option is available only when the SCS900 road module is installed.

34 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 37

System Setup menu

The System Setup menu contains the control and system setup functions for GPS or total station operation:

• For total stations, use the menu to connect the instrument and carry out station

establishment to establish the position and orientation of the instrument. The menu provides access to all total station control functions and calibration procedures.

• For GPS, use the menu to start the base station, start the rover receiver, and then

carry out the site calibration process.

General functions include being able to enter and edit control point information, measure new control points for the project, and recheck the system setup on a control point.

The menu also provides the ability to switch between GPS and total station operations.

Main Menu Structure 4

Command Description

GPS

 Set up Base Set up and start a Precision GPS base station.

 Set up Rover Set up and start a GPS rover.

Calibrate Site Perform or resume a single-point, two-point, or multi-point

site calibration.

Recheck System Setup Check an existing site calibration on a known control point.

 Enter/Measure Control

Points

Edit and enter control point coordinates.

Switch to Total Station Setup Access the Total Station System Setup menu.

Total Station

 Connect Instrument Connect to the total station using a radio for robotic

operation or using Bluetooth Servo, Autolock, or Reflectorless operation.

wireless technology for

Set up Total Station Position Set up the total station and establish its position and

orientation on the site using the known point or arbitrary location (also known as free station or resection) methods.

Instrument Functions Menu Provides access to all total station specific functions and

settings in addition to calibration procedures for angle collimation, tilt axis, and tracker collimation errors.

Recheck System Setup Check the current instrument setup on a known point

location.

Enter/Measure Control Points Edit and enter control point coordinates; measure new

control points.

 Switch to GPS System Setup Access the GPS System Setup menu.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 35

Page 38

4 Main Menu Structure

36 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 39

CHAPTER

Setting up Control Points 5

In this chapter:

 Types of control points

 Entering control point

coordinates

A control point is a location on site that is clearly and permanently marked with a peg, nail, target, or other permanent feature. Typically, it is in a location that is unlikely to be disturbed or destroyed. A qualified surveyor should establish the known coordinates of a control point.

Each day when you set up the total station, you will do one of the following:

• Set up over a known control point and

observe to one or more known control points to establish the position, elevation, and orientation of the instrument in relation to the site coordinate system.

• Set up in a convenient but arbitrary

location and observe to two or more known control points to establish the position, elevation, and orientation of the instrument in relation to the site coordinate system.

Before you establish the total station’s position and orientation on the project in order to carry out a site calibration, you first need some control points and their coordinate values stored in the control points file for the site.

Control points are also required when you recheck the system setup. For more information, see Chapter 11, Rechecking the System Setup.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 37

Page 40

5 Setting up Control Points

Types of control points

The control point file is available every time you open any work order on a site. Control points can be one of the following:

• 1D – Elevation only ( for example, a benchmark)

• 2D – Horizontal position only

• 3D – Horizontal position and elevation

Note – A 1D point appears only in the control point list and is not shown in the graphics of the map view because its position is not known. A 2D or 3D point appears in the control point list and in the graphics of the map view. A control point is marked with a black triangle and you can control its visibility in the map by using the Map Display options.

Entering control point coordinates

After you create a new site, add the control point coordinates to a control points file. To do t h is:

1. From the main menu, select

 System Setup:

Note – If your System Setup Menu does not look the same as that shown above, you are currently in GPS mode. To change to Total Station mode, select

 Switch to Total Station

Setup.

Select Enter / Measure Control Points:

At this stage, you should have a list of control points for the project. Control points are normally marked on the plans or provided as a list by the project surveyor.

38 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 41

3. Select  Enter / Edit Control Points:

Setting up Control Points 5

4. Tap

Add:

5. In the Add a New Point dialog, do the following:

a. Enter the control point name (which might commonly be a point number):

– For 1D points, select the Elevation check box and then enter the

elevation for the point.

– For 2D points, select the Northing check box and then enter the

northing and easting for the point.

– For 3D points, select both check boxes and then enter the northing,

easting, and elevation for the point.

b. Enter a code to identify what type of point it is, for example, Nail, Peg,

Ta rg e t .

c. Once you finish entering the data, tap

OK.

6. Repeat this process for all the control points provided. Once all points are entered, tap

Save.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 39

Page 42

5 Setting up Control Points

The control points that you entered are added to a file called Control.csv, which is stored in your Site folder. These coordinate points are always available on this site. You can add more control points at any time, or measure new control points (see ) as required.

You can also create the control point file in the office and then transfer it to the controller.

40 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 43

CHAPTER

Establishing the Position and Orientation of the Total Station on the Jobsite (Station Establishment)

In this chapter:

 Setting up at an arbitrary location

 Setting up on a known point

 Reading station setup data from

the total station

 Completing a station

establishment where the height of the setup point has not been determined

The total station position and orientation is necessary if the instrument is to be used for site measurement, stakeout, or machine control operations where the positions computed are related to a site coordinate system.

There are two methods of establishing the position and orientation of the total station:

• Arbitrary location (also known as free

station or resection)

• Known point

Once the station has been established, the total station can be used for measurement, stakeout, or machine control operations.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 41

Page 44

6 Establishing the Position and Orientation of the Total Station on the Jobsite (Station Establishment)

1. From the main menu, select System Setup. The following menu appears:

Note – If you have not established the position of the total station and you select a measurement or stakeout function, the software automatically forces you into this process when connected to a total station.

Note – If you have not entered any control point data for the site, the station establishment process will only allow you to set up at a manually entered coordinate location and orientation of the angle system to 0.0000 in a chosen direction. This method is acceptable only if you are measuring a new site that has not been measured before and provided that you are not trying to measure or stake anything from a loaded design. In most cases, you should have control points available.

2. Select

Set Up Total Station Position. The following menu appears:

42 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 45

Establishing the Position and Orientation of the Total Station on the Jobsite (Station Establishment) 6

Setting up at an arbitrary location

The arbitrary location setup allows you to set up the total station at a location that is convenient for the operation to be carried out (and not over a known point). It measures the angle and distance to two or more known points to determine the total station’s position and orientation.

To set up a total station at an arbitrary location:

1. Select

 Set up at an arbitrary location. The map view appears:

2. Pick the first point using one of the following methods:

– tap the point (marked with a triangle)

– tap the list icon and then select the point from the list that appears

– if you need to add or edit a control point at this stage, tap and then

enter or edit the control point (see Step 2 on page 39)

When you select the point, it is highlighted with a blue circle as shown.

3. Tap

Next. The Measure Control Point dialog appears:

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 43

Page 46

6 Establishing the Position and Orientation of the Total Station on the Jobsite (Station Establishment)

4. Select the Use averaging mode check box to make multiple observations to the target in face 1 and face 2 and then tap

Measure:

5. In the Measurement Sets field, enter a value for how many measurement sets you want to make. For example, entering

3 results in three measurements in face 1

and three measurements in face 2. Set the standard deviation tolerance for the Angle and Distance fields. Select the Turn On Autolock check box to use the Tracker for measurements in both faces. Leaving this box unselected means you need to manually sight the instrument for all rounds in both faces. Tap

OK.

6. Enter the target height and target type for the point being measured. Point the total station at the target.

7. Tap

Measure to measure the first control point. On completion of the

measurement, the software shows you that one point has been measured and the precisions of that measurement. The blue circle changes to a green circle.

8. Repeat Step 2 through Step 7 to select and measure a second control point.

Once you have measured two points, you have a solution and at least some redundancy of information. At this point, you are informed if you are in or out of tolerance, based on the settings entered earlier for total station instrument use:

44 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 47

Establishing the Position and Orientation of the Total Station on the Jobsite (Station Establishment) 6

9. Select from one of the following options:

Option Description

If the setup is OUT of tolerance

Retake or take a new point Allows you to measure another point or remeasure a

point, if for example, the measurements to date are out of tolerance and you suspect that you have measured the wrong point or measured incorrectly.

Complete instrument setup Allows you to accept a failed tolerance if it is "close

enough" for what you are doing. This overrides the tolerance setting for the system for this specific setup.

Edit setup components Allows you to view all the measured points, and to

review the errors in horizontal and vertical components for each point. The most suspect observation is highlighted, and allows you to select, deselect, or reselect components for use in the position computation.

Cancel instrument setup You can cancel the total station setup and restart the

station establishment process or move to another location and try again.

If the setup is IN tolerance

 Retake or take a new point Allows you to measure another point or remeasure a

point, if for example, the setup is within the tolerance specified, however you think the precision could be improved by eliminating or remeasuring a point or point component.

Complete instrument setup You can complete the station establishment process

and store the computed station position and orientation, and then move on with measurement or staking operations.

Edit the setup components Allows you to view all the measured points, and to

Cancel instrument setup You can cancel the total station setup and restart the

station establishment process or move to another location and try again.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 45

Page 48

6 Establishing the Position and Orientation of the Total Station on the Jobsite (Station Establishment)

As each point is measured, the software recomputes and displays the error analysis, providing the same options:

Unless there has been a gross error, for example, observing the wrong point, Trimble recommends that you measure as many points as you can before you try to resolve any out of tolerance issues. The only exception is if you are moving long distances between points, and you believe that you should remeasure a point before moving to the next one because it may be suspect.

10. If the computed position is in tolerance on completion of all point measurements, then you have achieved the set instrument setup tolerance (see

page 17). Do one of the following:

– Select  Complete instrument setup

– If you feel that you can improve the accuracy of the computed location by

manipulating some of the measured points, select

 Edit Setup

Components. The following dialog appears:

This screen shows all the measured control points and the computed errors associated with each point.

46 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 49

Establishing the Position and Orientation of the Total Station on the Jobsite (Station Establishment) 6

a. Enable or disable a complete point, or just the horizontal distance or

the vertical distance component to see what effect it has on the solution.

b. When you are satisfied with the solution, tap

message appears:

11. Tap

Yes to save the computed position as a new control point in the control

point file.

Note – If you tap

No, the point is not stored in the control point file, and is not available to

you for later use.

The following dialog appears:

Save. The following

12. Enter the code, point name, and the instrument height, so that the software can compute the true ground elevation of the point before storing it in the control point file.

Tip – When using an SPSx10, SPS700, or SPSx30 total station, enter the instrument height either as a vertical height to the upper marking (at the telescope height) or as a slope height to the lower marking near the base of the total station on the side cover (easier to measure). To change how the total station height is measured, click Change. The software then computes the vertical height.

13. Tap OK. You are returned to the System Setup menu.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 47

Page 50

6 Establishing the Position and Orientation of the Total Station on the Jobsite (Station Establishment)

If you are using an ATS or SPSx30 total station, you can proceed with site measurements or continue the setup for machine control (see Chapter 7, Setting Up an

ATS or SPSx30 Total Station for Machine Control).

Setting up on a known point

This allows you to set up the total station over a known control point location and then measure to one or more reference control points to establish its position and orientation on the jobsite. In most cases, a single reference control point may be all that is required. In other cases, where the accuracy of the work is higher, measuring more than one reference control point can provide better control over the orientation of the total station and a further check that the control point at the total station position or any of the measured reference control point locations has not moved.

To set up a total station on a known point:

1. Select

 Set up on a known control point. The map view appears:

2. From the map view, select the control point over which you are set up. Pick the point using one of the following methods:

– tap the point (marked with a triangle)

– tap the list icon and then select the point from the list that appears

– if you need to add or edit a control point at this stage, tap and then

enter or edit the control point (see Step 2 on page 39)

When you select the point, it is highlighted with a blue circle as shown above.

48 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 51

Establishing the Position and Orientation of the Total Station on the Jobsite (Station Establishment) 6

3. Tap Next. The instrument icon appears at the selected location in the map, indicating that it is the instrument setup point:

4. Select the first reference control point to be measured in the same way. The reference control point is now highlighted with a blue circle:

5. Tap

Next. The following dialog appears:

6. Select the Use averaging mode check box to make multiple observations of the reference point in face 1 and face 2.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 49

Page 52

6 Establishing the Position and Orientation of the Total Station on the Jobsite (Station Establishment)

7. Enter the instrument height and the target height and then select the type of target that will be used at the reference control point location.

If you intend to measure more than one reference control point, you should measure all points (but you are not forced to) using a complete angle and distance. If you only want to orientate the total station to any of the reference control points and not measure the distance to it, before you take the measurement select the Shooting angle only check box. The shooting angle only function measures a horizontal and vertical angle to the reference point only.

8. Tap

Measure. If the Use averaging mode check box is selected, the following

dialog appears:

9. In the Measurement Sets field, enter a value for how many measurement sets you want to make. For example, entering

3 results in three measurements in face 1

OK.

Unlike the arbitrary location method, once you measure a single reference control point, the information shown below appears on the screen. You can follow similar steps to those used in the arbitrary location method of station establishment.

Tip – To set the instrument’s angle measurement system orientation to a value other than

0.0000, add two control points to the control point file that will generate the required orientation when used for a known point establishment. When using the known point method, select the Shooting angle only check box since you will not have a real control point to use as a reference. For example, to set a reference angle of 45.0000 (50.0000 gon) enter two coordinate points, the first one (point A) at, for example, 1000 N, 1000 E, 100 Elv, and the second one (point B) at 1100 N, 1100 E, 100 Elv. In the known point setup process, set up at point A and use point B as your reference. The computed orientation along the reference line used will then be 45.0000 degrees (50.0000 gon).

10. Tap Measure to measure the reference control point. On completion of the measurement, the software shows that one point has been measured and the precisions of that measurement.

50 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 53

Establishing the Position and Orientation of the Total Station on the Jobsite (Station Establishment) 6

11. Tap Next. The Set Up Instrument Position dialog appears, which shows that you have measured one control point. Click

Next. To add extra points, select 

Retake or take a new point and then repeat Step 4 through Step 10.

Tip – When the map view appears, the first measured point is highlighted with a green circle, which indicates that it has already been measured.

On completion of the reference control point measurements, the following screens appear if the measurement is out of tolerance:

12. Select from one of the following options:

Option Description

If the setup is OUT of tolerance

Retake or take a new point Allows you to measure another point or remeasure a

point, if for example, the measurements to date are out of tolerance and you suspect that you have measured the wrong point or measured incorrectly.

Complete instrument setup Allows you to accept a failed tolerance if it is "close

enough" for what you are doing. This overrides the tolerance setting for the system for this specific setup.

Edit setup components Allows you to view all the measured points, and to

Cancel instrument setup You can cancel the total station setup and restart the

station establishment process or move to another location and try again.

If the setup is IN tolerance

 Retake or take a new point Allows you to measure another point or remeasure a

point, if for example, the setup is within the tolerance specified, however you think the precision could be improved by eliminating or remeasuring a point or point component.

Complete instrument setup You can complete the station establishment process

and store the computed station position and orientation, and then move on with measurement or staking operations.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 51

Page 54

6 Establishing the Position and Orientation of the Total Station on the Jobsite (Station Establishment)

Option Description

Edit the setup components Allows you to view all the measured points, and to

Cancel instrument setup You can cancel the total station setup and restart the

station establishment process or move to another location and try again.

13. If you feel that you can improve the accuracy of the computed location by manipulating some of the measured points, select

Edit Setup Components. The

following dialog appears:

This screen shows all the measured control points and the computed errors associated with each point.

14. Enable or disable points that contribute to the solution, and see what effect it has on the solution.

15. When you are satisfied with the solution, tap

Save. The following screen

appears:

52 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 55

Establishing the Position and Orientation of the Total Station on the Jobsite (Station Establishment) 6

16. Select Complete instrument setup to set the correct orientation of the total station. You can either proceed with site measurements or set up the total station for use with machine control (ATS, or SPSx30 only) (see Chapter 7,

Setting Up an ATS or SPSx30 Total Station for Machine Control).

Tip – If you do not know the name of the reference point being selected when carrying out either station establishment process, simply move the target to the point that you want to measure, or point the total station at an already established target. The target indicator moves in the map to that location, making it easy to identify and select the correct point from the map view.

Tip – When selecting the third or subsequent point in either station establishment process, an Aim button appears in the display. To turn the total station to the selected point location, tap Aim. The total station turns directly to the selected point.

Reading station setup data from the total station

After you have performed a station establishment, the total station stores the information in its memory, so that other controllers running the SCS900 software can access it. Subsequent users can save time by simply retrieving the station setup information from the total station’s memory without setting up at an arbitrary location or on a known control point again.

A machine control system can also retrieve the position and orientation of the total station, so that the machine can be correctly positioned.

To use the total station’s position and orientation as established from the last performed total station establishment, select instrument:

 Read station setup data from

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 53

Page 56

6 Establishing the Position and Orientation of the Total Station on the Jobsite (Station Establishment)

Completing a station establishment where the height of the setup point has not been determined

If the height of the total station has not been established at the end of the station establishment process, the software prompts you to either enter a known height for the setup point or to height from a known benchmark location defined as a 1D or 3D point. This occurs when:

• setting up at an arbitrary location, the reference control points measured were

all 2D points

• setting up a known point, the known point and reference control points selected

were all defined as 2D points

The benchmark point is measured in the same way as any other control point. It is used in combination with the target height and instrument height to determine the setup point elevation.

When you tap

determined, the following dialog appears:

Complete instrument setup where Height has not been

54 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 57

Establishing the Position and Orientation of the Total Station on the Jobsite (Station Establishment) 6

To measure a 1D or 3D control point to transfer the elevation to the setup point:

1. Select

Measure a benchmark to transfer elev.:

2. If the control point does not exist in the control point file, enter the elevation of the benchmark elevation and the target height to be used. Go to Step 4.

3. If the control point is in the control point file:

a. Tap

Select:

The control point list shows all 1D and 3D points. 2D points are excluded.

b. Select the point from the control point list and tap

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 55

OK.

Page 58

6 Establishing the Position and Orientation of the Total Station on the Jobsite (Station Establishment)

The Measure Benchmark dialog now shows the elevation of the selected control point:

c. Enter or accept the target height and the type of target.

4. Tap

Measure to take the measurement.

To enter the elevation of the instrument setup point to provide elevation to the instrument setup:

1. Select

2. Enter the elevation of the total station and then tap

Enter elevation of the instrument point:

OK.

The instrument 3D setup is complete.

56 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 59

CHAPTER

Setting Up an ATS or SPSx30 Total Station for Machine Control

In this chapter:

 Using the ATS or SPSx30 UTS for

machine control applications

This chapter describes how to set up the Trimble ATS (Advanced Tracking Sensor), or SPSx30 total stations with the SCS900 Site Controller software for use with a Trimble machine control system.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 57

Page 60

7 Setting Up an ATS or SPSx30 Total Station for Machine Control

Using the ATS or SPSx30 UTS for machine control applications

Having completed the ATS or SPSx30 total station setup, you can now complete additional steps to prepare the instrument to work with machine control (Trimble BladePro SiteVision

3D grade control system, GCS900 Grade Control System, and the

software).

1. From the following screen, select

The following dialog appears:

 Setup for use with machine control.

If you are tracking a machine and the target becomes lost for any reason, the total station continues to turn at a constant horizontal and vertical speed for a short period, in the expectation that the target will appear on the same trajectory when it clears the obstruction. A line-of-sight obstruction, a passing vehicle, or simply losing the target because of movement speed (for example, speed that is too high at short range) can cause the total station to lose the

58 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 61

Setting Up an ATS or SPSx30 Total Station for Machine Control 7

target. When the target is ‘lost’, that is, the above method failed to reacquire the target, the total station searches for the target. The total station has two search modes:

Mode Description

Quick Search Initiated as soon as the target is ‘lost’.

This search is centered on the last known location, and inside a window defined by a horizontal angle width (e.g., 15°) and a vertical angle width (e.g., 15°). The machine control software sets the values for the search window.

Full Search This search looks inside a larger window, defined by the dialog shown

previously. When the Quick Search mode fails to locate the target, the Full Search mode is initiated.

2. Set the window for the Full Search mode; do the following:

– Accommodate the fact that the prism can be mounted on an electric mast,

and that the window of operation at close range will be higher or lower than at longer ranges.

– Ensure that you set the window of operation to cover the extents of all

grading operations to be completed from that location (instrument setup).

– Ensure that if the machine is taken outside that window, to turn around or

to bench on a known height point, those locations are also included in the search window.

3. You can define either the upper left/lower right extents of your search window or the upper right/lower left extents of your search window. Ensure that you take a good look at any high or low points in the area where you will be working and then define your search window to what most closely resembles the actual working area in front of you. Do one of the following:

– Point the total station to an upper left location and then to a lower right

location; tap the appropriate

– Point the total station to an upper right location and then to a lower left

location, tapping the appropriate

Tip – As soon as the first corner is defined, the only option available in the software is to define the opposite corner. For example, if you define the upper right extent first, the lower left corner is only made available to define. If the lower right corner is set first, then the upper left corner is only made available to define.

Set button at each pointing.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 59

Page 62

7 Setting Up an ATS or SPSx30 Total Station for Machine Control

The total station measures the horizontal and vertical angles to those locations using its angle sensors, and the gray circle changes to green to indicate that the location has been accepted:

4. Tap

A single SPSx30 total station can be shared by multiple machines and a single SPS robotic rover pole at, for example, at a bridge structure. Only one user can use the total station at a time, but when not in use, it continually scans a predefined list of radio channels assigned to different machines and the last used site positioning system channel in sequence, looking to see if anyone needs access to the total station. When a machine or site positioning system calls the total station, it connects and provides a positioning service. When completed, the total station returns to standby mode and becomes available to the radio channels previously loaded to the instrument. To facilitate this process, in the set up for machine control process, you can create a list of machines, each with a name and a specified radio channel, for example:

– CAT 140H Grader 1 33

60 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 63

– CAT D6 Dozer 1 34

Tap … to …

Add

Edit machine list

Delete

Get machine list

create a new radio channel/machine name pair entry to the machine list. The machine list can contain a maximum of 10 entries. Each radio channel can be used only once in the machine list.

change the entry that is currently highlighted.

delete the entry that is currently highlighted.

get the current machine list from the total station’s memory to review and edit it.

Setting Up an ATS or SPSx30 Total Station for Machine Control 7

B B

Tip – Ensure that all assets in the machine list have the same network ID.

Tip – The machine list is scanned sequentially whenever the total station is placed in

standby for machine control. The more entries in the list, the longer the scan takes to complete a full cycle and therefore the slower the initial connection will be with the total station. If you are not continually using the entries in the list in earthmoving operations, delete the entries from the list to speed up initial connection times.

5. Enter the name of the total station and then tap Finish. The following dialog appears:

6. If you are operating at the total station, point it at the MT900 target on the machine. When the machine connects to the total station, this speeds up the initial search and lock-on process for the total station as it instantly “sees” the target and locks to it.

The total station goes into standby mode for machine control and then it scans the machine list in chronological order until a machine is found calling the instrument on one of the channels.

7. Tap

OK. The SCS900 software now disconnects from the total station.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 61

Page 64

7 Setting Up an ATS or SPSx30 Total Station for Machine Control

8. Move to the machine and initiate connection to the total station. Do one of the following:

– If you are operating the ATS with an external SNB900 radio for

compatibility with the on-machine radio system (SiteNet

™

900 radio or SNR900 radio-modem), detach the controller from the total station and then connect the SNB900 radio-modem.

– If you are using an ACU controller, the radio can be connected at all times.

For details of how to configure and set up the system for use with the SNB900 radio, refer to the SNB900 User Guide, version 1.20 or later.

9. Tap

OK.

62 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 65

CHAPTER

Using Basic Mode 8

In this chapter:

 Icon panel

 Total Station Basic mode

When connected to a total station, an icon panel appears at the bottom of the screen. To access frequently used total station functions, tap the icons. The icons in the panel change based on the current operation mode and the status of the total station.

The Basic mode is available from all menus and all map screens during measurement or stakeout. The Basic mode enables you to make simple measurements and to quickly access frequently used functions. Some items may be unavailable or disabled because of the current settings.

Trimble recommends that you use the measuring mode to control the operational characteristics of the total station and that you use Basic mode only when necessary.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 63

Page 66

8 Using Basic Mode

Basic mode. For more information, see page 65.

Internal power level of the total station.

Note – When working in Robotic mode, the panel shows the total station battery level while working at the rod.

shows the current battery level of the handheld controller (TSC2)

The black line indicates that Autolock

technology (the tracker) is switched on and is locked to the target. A red line indicates that the laser pointer is switched on.

The current total station measurement mode:

• T for Tracking (TRK) mode

• S for Standard (STD or Single shot) mode

* indicates that the total station can see the prism or target and can measure a distance.

No * means that the total station is not getting a return signal from the prism or target and cannot measure a distance.

External power source when using the Trimble CU controller on the total station.

Battery strength of the controller when working robotically.

Side view of the total station – the total station is locked to the target.

Front view of the total station – the total station is not locked to the target.

Icon panel

Note – The laser pointer and Autolock functions are mutually exclusive. The Autolock and DR Reflectorless modes are also mutually exclusive. Turning on Autolock automatically turns off DR mode and the laser pointer. Turning on DR mode automatically turns off the Autolock function.

64 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 67

Total Station Basic mode

See page 66

See page 67

See page 71

See page 67

See page 70

See page 69

See page 68

See page 71

See page 72

See page 66 See page 66

Tap the instrument icon to open the Basic mode.

Figure 8.1 Basic mode functions

The following functions enable you to change the default behavior of the total station or access specific tools:

Using Basic Mode 8

• EDM mode

• Tra ckl ight

• Level – Electronic level and dual axis compensator

• Turn-to – Turn the total station to a specified location

• Joystick – Use to reacquire the target after a loss of lock when working in

Robotic mode

For example, when staking a point, the default EDM mode is TRK. For more accurate work, you may want to change the default mode to STD. Using Basic mode allows you to change the default behavior of the total station. However, changing the EDM mode does not change the EDM mode for navigating to and locating a point; it only changes the behavior when you tap

Record to record a shot or tap Stake to stake a point. While

moving around the jobsite between points, the total station is always in TRK mode so it can provide a real-time map update of your position.

The measuring modes described in Chapter 13, Measuring Modes are how the performance settings of the total station are typically selected ( for example, Standing, Walking, Vehicle, DR, or DR Scanning modes). These modes directly control the use of the DR mode, Laser Pointer, Autolock, and EDM mode as shown below:

Action EDM mode Autolock mode Laser pointer DR mode

Standing STD or TRK On (if available) Off only Off only

Walking TRK only On only Off only Off only

Vehicle TRK only On only Off only Off only

DR STD or TRK Off only On or Off On only

DR Scanning TRK only Off only On or Off On only

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 65

Page 68

8 Using Basic Mode

EDM mode

Controls whether or not the total station can measure without a reflector to a target using the system’s DR Reflectorless capability.

The options are:

• STD (Standard – also known as Single Shot mode)

• TRK (Tracking – also known as Continuous Measurement mode). This is the

default mode.

In STD mode while working with Autolock or in Robotic mode, the total station averages the HA and VA angle readings for a period of time before measuring the distance. A complete measurement takes approximately three seconds. The averaging of the HA and VA allows for more accurate measurements to be achieved to a handheld pole. Distance accuracy in STD mode is higher than in TRK mode.

Tracklight

Use the Tracklight mode to provide a visible guide light for stakeout and robotic operations. The next time the total station is turned on, the last used setting becomes the default setting.

The light is a split-field red and green light. You will see a red or green light depending on where you are standing referenced to the instrument’s pointing.

When operating at longer ranges or in very bright sunlight, select the High intensity option to increase the visibility of the tracklight.

While working at the rod, a glance to the total station indicates whether or not it is tracking you. If the total station is turned towards the desired location while staking, you can navigate into the correct line using the tracklight.

66 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 69

Using Basic Mode 8

Level

The electronic level appears when you start the total station (see page 12).

Use the electronic level to check and relevel the total station, and to change the status of the compensator.

In most scenarios, the compensator should always be enabled. However, where the total station is used on a platform that is moving, or if it is set up near a source of heavy vibration ( for example, near compaction, piling, or drilling equipment), you may need to turn off the compensator. By default, the compensator is turned on each time you start the system.

Turn-to

Use the Turn-to function to automatically aim at a specified location. There are three ways to specify the location:

• Turn from last tracked position

Enables you to pace out the distance while moving past an obstruction such as a parked vehicle, and then turn the total station to an estimated location based on the estimated horizontal and vertical distances moved and in the last known

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 67

Page 70

8 Using Basic Mode

direction of movement. The distances entered are used to compute the angle change based on the last known measured position to bypass the obstruction.

• Turn to point

Enables you to select a previously measured or staked out point in the map view and then turn the total station to that location. This can be used to send the total station to a point that can easily be located on the ground such as a curb corner, and then quickly navigate to that position to continue operation.

• Turn to specified angles

Enables you to enter a horizontal and vertical angle, or to step the current angles by an even increment from the last known location to bypass an object, beyond which work can continue. Step the last measured angle reading using the arrow keys beside the angle values, or simply enter new values to which to turn the total station.

Ta p

OK. The total station turns to the selected location. When working in Robotic

mode or with Autolock technology, walking into the total station’s line-of-sight causes it to automatically lock to the target. Use the tracklight to define the current line-of-sight to make it easier for the total station to reacquire the target.

Autolock mode

Autolock technology enables the total station to lock onto the target and track it while moving about the jobsite.

For total stations equipped with Autolock technology, the default mode is on when not using the system’s DR reflectorless capability. For Walking and Vehicle modes, the total station must be equipped with the Autolock technology and Autolock will always be switched on.

68 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 71

Using Basic Mode 8

Search

When the target is ‘lost’ (the total station cannot see the selected target type), the total station search functions are automatically initiated during all operations.

In the search view, tap anywhere on the map to automatically turn the total station horizontally to point at that location. The current pointing direction for the total station is displayed as a red line connected to the instrument location icon (as shown above).

When using a TSC2 or Trimble CU as your field controller, the spider key is active when the software is in the Search view:

• To turn the total station using the spider key, you must deselect the pan and

zoom keys. The spider key will work in joystick function.

• To pan the map view using the spider key, select the pan or zoom keys.

Access the search control settings through the Trimble Key icon in the top right of the search view:

Use the settings in this screen to define the default search window. Define the horizontal range and vertical range of your search window. The total station then uses the search window whenever it initates an automated search. This happens when loss

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 69

Page 72

8 Using Basic Mode

of lock occurs while working. The joystick is available from the search window, so that you can manually steer the total station to your location if, for example, the total station has not yet been oriented and a standard automated search would not work.

Tap to open the Turn-to dialog (see page 67). Use this dialog to turn the total station to a location defined by a horizontal and vertical distance moved, to a measured or defined stakeout point, or to a specified horizontal and vertical angle.

Ta p

Start to initiate the search function based on the current pointing of the total

station. The search function is executed within the currently defined search window.

Laser

Tip – The best way to use the search function is to turn the total station horizontally to your current location using estimated screen taps to get the total station close, then use the vertical movement arrows to get the total station pointing close in 3D (you typically know that you are now above or below the last measured location, so moving the total station up or down accordingly is relatively easy to do). Once you are close, walk and place the target in the total station’s line-of-sight, or tap Start to initiate the search process at the current total station pointing location.

Use the laser pointer to provide a visible red spot at the current pointing location of the total station.

The laser pointer should be coaxial with the cross-hair of the telescope; adjust it if necessary. For more information, refer to your instrument manual.

Typically, the laser pointer is used in combination with DR reflectorless mode to highlight the point to be measured, so that viewing the point through the telescope is not always necessary. The laser pointer allows heads up pointing of the total station without needing to look through or to focus the telescope on the point.

The icon changes to show either Laser ON or Laser OFF. The default is Laser ON when DR (see page 66) is on.

70 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 73

Using Basic Mode 8

Joystick

Use the joystick to quickly steer the total station to the current location, for example, after loss of lock.

Tap the outer arrows for fast movement or tap the inner arrows for slower or finer adjustment of the total station pointing.

The arrow keys are also mapped to the arrow keys on the Trimble CU controller or to the spider key on the TSC2 controller.

Set HA

Use the Set HA function to set the angle reading to a temporary value. This function is available only in Basic Mode.

For example, you can point along a specific line, set the horizontal angle to 0.0000 and then use the Turn to function to turn out a right angle.

Setting the HA in Basic mode does not affect the orientation of the total station for main measurement or stakeout operations.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 71

Page 74

8 Using Basic Mode

HD/VD or VA/SD mode

The HD/VD and VA/SD functions simply change the displayed data values after measurement in Basic mode only.

• HD/VD mode – Displays HA/HD/VD (shown above left)

• VA/SD mode – Displays HA/VA/SD information (shown above right)

Abbreviation Definition

HA Horizontal Angle

VA Vertical Angle

SD Slope Distance

HD Horizontal Distance

VD Vertical Distance

In TRK mode, the total station automatically measures and updates the above values.

In STD mode, tap

Measure to trigger a distance measurement.

Measurement can be made using a target or using the total station DR reflectorless mode to measure to any surface in range.

72 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 75

CHAPTER

Advanced Features 9

In this chapter:

 Stockpile scan

 Profile scan

 Automated measurement

Direct reflex (DR) technology is included in your 5600, SPSx10, SPS700, and SPSx30 total stations. This technology offers many advantages such as:

• Stockpile scanning for accurate volume

calculations.

• Creation of profile lines for applications,

like monitoring quarrying walls for movement, as-builts of deep cuts such as side slopes along highways, as well as monitoring high walls.

The range varies depending on the total station you are using:

• The SPS610 total station offers DR

Standard technology, which allows you to measure reflectorlessly, to a maximum distance of 150 m (492 feet).

• The 5600 total station features DR200+

technology, allowing reflectorless measuring up to 200 meters (656 feet) from the instrument.

• The SPS700, SPS710, and SPSx30 total

stations offer DR300+ technology, allowing reflectorless measurement of objects up to 300 meters (984 feet) from the instrument.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 73

Page 76

9 Advanced Features

Stockpile scan

The Stockpile scan is designed to collect very accurate data for reporting on the volume of material that you have or that you have excavated. By scanning the stockpile or excavation, the need to place a worker in potentially unsafe conditions is eliminated. Reflectorless measurement technology enables you to set up the total station and measure to surfaces without using a target or prism.

Tip – Given the line of sight restrictions when using a total station, you need to perform a minimum of two station setups to collect all sides of the stockpile. From your first setup, measure new control points around the stockpile in locations that will give you the fewest setups and the best vantage points to scan the largest surface area of the stockpile. This enables you to collect all sides of the stockpile and have the surface points correctly related to each other. Once the whole stockpile has been scanned, define a volume boundary in the Volume & Cogo menu by tapping the points to be used to define the boundary, and then perform a volume calculation in the field.

To set up stockpile scanning:

1. From the main menu, select

 Measurements:

2. Select

74 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

 Advanced Features:

Page 77

Advanced Features 9

3. Select Stockpile Scanning. The SCS900 software sets the instrument to DR Mode, and opens the following dialog:

4. Define the shape of your stockpile. Start by tapping the gray dot at the highest point of the stockpile image on the screen. The map view appears:

5. Manually sight your instrument to the highest point of the stockpile and then tap

Measure. The following dialog appears:

6. You are then asked for an optional point code and point name. Enter values at this screen and then tap

OK. The Stockpile Scanning Setup screen reappears.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 75

Page 78

9 Advanced Features

7. Repeat Step 4 through Step 6 to define the bottom left, bottom right, and bottom most points of your stockpile. Once successfully measured the points appear green:

8. Tap

9. Define your minimum and maximum distances. Proper use of these settings helps you collect only relevant points in the field. The software will default to the recommended Timeout value depending on which instrument is being used.

CAUTION – The values stored in Step 9 are overwritten by the min/max values set in the

DR Target Settings dialog (Chapter 14, Other Total Station Settings and Functions). Ensure that you check the values set in the DR Target Settings dialog to eliminate confusion by another operator when they are setting the Stockpile Scan settings. Setting the minimum distance to 2 meters (6.56 feet) and maximum distance to 300 meters (984 feet) in the DR Target Settings dialog will eliminate any errors when setting the Stockpile Scan settings.

76 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 79

Advanced Features 9

Tip – When working at the maximum ranges of the DR technology, the Timeout Setting should be increased. When adjusting the timeout settings, be aware the material being measured affects the strength of the response signal. Also, the instrument's technology affects the time it takes to record each individual point. Tap Next. The following dialog appears:

10. Enter a point name and code and set the distance intervals.

Tip – Setting the distance intervals low results in more measured points; setting the distance intervals high results in fewer measured points. Keep the size and shape of the stockpile in mind when entering these values.

11. Tap Next:

The Scanning Area Estimates screen displays the total number of points to be collected as a result of the dimension and distance intervals previously entered and an estimation of the time it will take to record the points. This time is an estimate only and the reflectivity of the material, distances involved, and type of instrument used will alter the total time once the scan has started.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 77

Page 80

9 Advanced Features

12. Either tap Esc to go back and change any settings before starting the scan or tap

Start to start the scan.

A grid is displayed as the scan proceeds:

– Scan time remaining is displayed in the Estimated Time Remaining field.

– If you need to change the minimum and maximum distance settings tap

Pause and then tap . Change the minimum and maximum settings and

then tap

Next. The scan will resume.

– Tap in the lower left to display the map view so you can see the points

being collected.

– To obtain an explanation of the different grid sector colors, tap in the

upper right of the screen:

78 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 81

Advanced Features 9

13. Once scanning is complete, the Points Recorded field reports how many points were collected:

14. To rescan any cells tap

OK to return to the measured cells display. Tap the

associated grid sectors with your stylus. Selected sectors turn blue. Once the selection is made, tap satisfactory and then tap

Rescan. Repeat the rescan function until results are

Finish.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 79

Page 82

9 Advanced Features

Profile scan

The Profile Scan collects very accurate profile lines of features like quarry walls, high walls, and steep side slopes where deep cuts are designed in highway construction. Using reflectorless technology the areas can be measured without sending staff to a location that could be unstable or impossible to access.

To set up profile scanning:

1. From the main menu, select

2. Select

 Advanced Features:

 Measurements:

80 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 83

Advanced Features 9

3. Select Profile Scanning. The SCS900 software sets the instrument to DR Mode, and then opens the following dialog:

4. Define the high point and the baseline of the wall or steep slope. Start by tapping the gray dot at the highest point of the image on the screen. The map view appears:

Manually sight your instrument to the highest point of the object being measured and then tap

Measure. The following dialog appears:

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 81

Page 84

9 Advanced Features

5. You are then asked for an optional point code and point name. Enter values at this screen and then tap

OK. The Profile Scanning Setup screen reappears.

6. Tap the bottom dot to define the baseline:

7. From the map view create a new line segment by tapping . At the prompt enter a name for the line and then tap

OK. To define the baseline of the wall you

want to measure, point the instrument at any point of tangency on the base of the wall so that the wall's base is accurately represented in the software. The baseline can be defined by an irregular line made up of multiple points.

The line appears on the screen and you will hear a tone to indicate the line was created succesfully:

82 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 85

8. Tap Esc to go back to the profile scan:

Advanced Features 9

9. The line you just defined is already selected. Tap

OK:

10. Decide how to determine the 3D elevation of the line. Either:

– Select  Use the line’s 3D elevation to use the lines current elevation.

– Select  Enter an elevation to manually enter an elevation and then tap OK.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 83

Page 86

9 Advanced Features

11. The shape of the object you are scanning is now defined. The color of the dots marking the top and bottom are now green. Tap

12. Define your minimum and maximum distances and then tap of these settings will help you collect only relevant points in the field. The software will default to the recommended Timeout value depending on which instrument is being used.

84 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

CAUTION – The values stored in Step 9 are overwritten by the min/max values set in the

DR Target Settings dialog (Chapter 14, Other Total Station Settings and Functions). Ensure that you check the values set in the DR Target Settings dialog to eliminate confusion by another operator when they are setting the Profile Scan settings. Setting the minimum distance to 2 meters (6.56 feet) and maximum distance to 300 meters (984 feet) in the DR Target Settings dialog will eliminate any errors when setting the Profile Scan settings.

Tip – When working at the maximum ranges of the DR technology the Timeout Setting should be increased. When adjusting the timeout settings, be aware the material being measured affects the strength of the response signal. Also, the instrument's technology will affect the time it takes to record each individual point.

Next. Proper use

Page 87

Advanced Features 9

13. Enter a profile line name and set the distance intervals:

– Defining the Station value determines how many profile lines you have

once the scan is complete. For example, if your baseline length is 10 meters (~33 feet) and the Station Interval is set at 1 meter, you will have 10 profile lines when the scan is finished. A shorter station interval results in more profile lines, and the scan will take more time to complete.

– The Verti cal value determines how many points vertically you record along

each profile line. A flat surface requires fewer vertical points, an uneven surface requires more. Enter a larger variable for flat surfaces, a smaller variable for uneven surfaces.

– The Station Tolerance field defines how close to the projected profile line

each point is recorded. With the Station Tolerance set to .1 meter the instrument continually adjusts as it scans each profile line until every point collected is within ± .1 meter of the line.

14. Tap

Tip – The Profile Scan routine can be used for performing as-builts of side slopes. Defining the high point and baseline of the side slope, and then setting the station tolerance to a very loose value will create profile lines that are not true vertical and will give a very good representation of a side slope.

Next.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 85

Page 88

9 Advanced Features

15. The Profile Scanning Estimates screen displays the total number of lines and points to be collected as a result of the dimensions and distance intervals previously entered and the time it will take to record the points. This time is an estimate only and the reflectivity of the material, distances involved, and type of instrument used will alter the total time once the scan has started.

16. Either tap

Start to start the scan.

Esc to go back and alter any settings before starting the scan or tap

17. A grid is displayed as the scan proceeds:

– Scan time remaining is displayed in the Estimated Time Remaining field.

– If you need to change the minimum and maximum distance settings tap

Pause and then tap . Change the minimum and maximum settings and

then tap

– Tap in the lower left to display the map view so you can see the points

Next.

being collected.

– To obtain an explanation of the different grid sector colors, tap in the

upper right of the screen:

86 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 89

Advanced Features 9

18. Once scanning is complete the Points Recorded field reports how many points were collected.

19. To rescan any cells tap associated grid sectors with your stylus. Selected sectors will turn blue. Once the selection is made tap satisfactory and then tap

20. Once the scan results are satisfactory, tap

Automated measurement

Automated measurement with total stations is a useful tool for many applications where the specifications of the project require that certain objects such as retaining walls, bridge sections, or fly walls are continually measured over a defined period of time to make sure that they do not move. This enables you to set up a total station, set out some targets on the object you want to watch for movement, and then leave the system to observe the object.

If you also use the built-in email capabilities, the system emails you if pre-defined tolerances are exceeded. You can also enable other notifications such as a low battery warning.

This frees you to work on other site tasks, and eliminates the need for you to manually sight the instrument at each target you want to measure.

To setup Advanced Measurement:

OK to return to the measured cells display. Tap the

Rescan. Repeat the rescan function until results are

Finish.

1. Establish the total station establishment as normal—either Known Station or Arbitrary Location. See Chapter 6, Establishing the Position and Orientation of

the Total Station on the Jobsite (Station Establishment).

2. From the main menu, select (2) Measurements

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 87

Page 90

9 Advanced Features

3. Select (6) Advanced Features:

4. Select (3) Automated Measurements:

5. When prompted, select the points to measure and then tap

88 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Tip – At this time, set up the targets or prisms used to measure object movement. This reduces the time needed to measure the prisms locations the first time, as you can remain at the instrument and then simply turn it to each target and record its location.

Add:

Page 91

6. At the map screen, tap the New icon :

Advanced Features 9

7. Once the total station is locked to the target, tap

Measure:

8. Code the point and name it according to your company's conventions. Tap

9. Repeat step 7 and step 8 until you record all the required targets.

10. Once finished, tap

Esc from the Measure Points screen. The screen that appears

shows the measured points:

OK.

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 89

Page 92

9 Advanced Features

11. Tap OK and then tap Next in the dialog that appears:

12. In the dialog that appears, do the following:

a. Set the tolerances. The Horizontal Tolerance and Vertical Tolerance relate

to the allowable threshold before the software reports that a point is out of tolerance.

b. Set error reporting as ΔHD, ΔVD, ΔSD or as ΔE, ΔN, ΔZ.

c. To set the time between rounds of measurement, enter a number and then

select either minutes or hours from the drop-down list.

d. If required, select the Averaging Mode check box, which results in a more

accurate point measurement. See Averaging mode, page 124.

e. Tap

13. In the dialog that appears, do the following:

a. Enter your email address.

b. Select to be emailed when there is an error (a measured point lies outside

tolerances), or for a general progress report.

c. Set the frequency for receiving a progress report.

90 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 93

d. If not already done so, configure the email settings.

Advanced Features 9

e. Tap

Tip – For an explanation of the error reports you will receive, tap the question mark:

The Internet connection is tested for you; once verified, the summary screen appears. Tap

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 91

Page 94

9 Advanced Features

Note – The default target type for standing mode is where you define the target type you used for the targets you mounted to the object to be monitored. You must use the same target type for each point. Otherwise, the prism constant applied to some points will not be correct and the resulting data is unreliable.

14. When prompted in the dialog that appears, select the default target height and type for standing mode and then tap

Next.

The total station now starts to automatically measure to each point you recorded earlier, at the time interval and with the tolerances you set up. A status screen shows the following information:

Column Information

1 Point name

2 Point status

3 Number of the last round completed

4-6 Changes from the original measured value in HD, VD, and SD (as

specified during the setup)

15. Tap

Map to open a screen that shows a plan view of the points and the total

station position, as well as changes from the originally stored values for the point at which the instrument is currently aimed:

92 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 95

Advanced Features 9

16. Tap Log to open a screen that shows a list of actions that occurred on that data collector, as well as results of each round of automated measurements:

If a measured point does not meet the specified tolerances, the system notifies you by email that the point has moved:

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 93

Page 96

9 Advanced Features

If you chose to receive a progress report, that is also emailed at the selected interval, and includes the battery life of the data collector and the instrument. This assists you to plan when to change the batteries:

Note – If the system failed to send an email, the progress screen shows an icon in the upper right of the screen. Once an email is successfully sent, this icon disappears:

94 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 97

Advanced Features 9

Once you finish watching the points for the intended time period, you can synchronize your data collector with your laptop and then view the Report.txt file in the SCS Report utility. You can save this concise record of the measured points as an Excel spreadsheet file for delivery to the project authority:

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 95

Page 98

9 Advanced Features

96 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide

Page 99

CHAPTER

Setting up the Total Station for Robotic Operation

In this chapter:

 Starting with the controller

connected directly to the total station

 Starting with the controller

connected over the radio to the total station

When working in Robotic mode, the total station is connected to the controller using the integrated radio.

You can start the system in Robotic mode in two ways:

• with the controller connected directly to

the total station

• with the controller connected over the

radio to the total station

SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide 97

Page 100

10 Setting up the Total Station for Robotic Operation

Starting with the controller connected directly to the total station

In this method, you first connect the controller to the total station, follow the procedure outlined below, then move the controller to the rod and reconnect to the total station over the radio. This method is typically used at one of the following times:

• When the station position and orientation needs establishing first, while at the

total station position using the total station as a Servo, Autolock, or Reflectorless system, before starting robotic operation

• When the instrument station is used for machine control operation (ATS and

SPSx30 only)

You can carry out station establishment for robotic operation either while at the total station, or after the total station has been put into Robotic mode from the rod. In either case, the station establishment process described in Chapter 6, Establishing the

Position and Orientation of the Total Station on the Jobsite (Station Establishment) is

the same.

This method of operation involves the following basic steps:

1. Set up and level the total station.

2. Switch on the total station and the controller.

Tip – When a Trimble CU controller is connected directly to the total station, it will also power on when the total station is turned on.

Note – If the SCS900 software was last used in GPS mode, it will not automatically detect the total station. Select

 System Setup /  Switch to Total Station Setup to automatically

dectect it.

3. Start the SCS900 software and allow the controller to make the connection with the total station:

– For the ATS and 5600 total stations, the controller is connected through a

cable (TSC2) or through the keyboard attachment plate (ACU).

– For an SPSx10, SPS700, or SPSx30 total station, when connected through a

cable (TSC2) or the keyboard attachment plate (Trimble CU), the controller automatically connects to the total station. However, if you use Bluetooth wireless technology (TSC2) to connect to the total station, you will need to force the connection to the total station (select Instrument /

Connect via Bluetooth).

 System Setup /  Connect

Note – If the SCS900 software was last used in GPS mode, it will not automatically detect the total station. Select

 System Setup /  Switch to Total Station Setup to automatically

dectect it.

4. Once connected, fine level the total station. See page 13.

5. Initiate the compensator (ATS and 5605 total stations only). See page 12.

6. Set the atmospheric corrections. See page 14.

98 SCS900 Site Controller Software Total Station User Guide