A total station is one of the most important pieces of equipment during land surveys. Conventional total stations and robotic total stations can be equally accurate, but robotic total stations can drastically increase the productivity of staff and save money in labor costs. Robotic total stations are more expensive than conventional total stations, but in this post, we’ve listed two ways that a robotic total station can save your company money.
Labor Costs
Using a conventional total station requires two staff members. One person must hold a prism at the point of measurement while another adjusts the total station until the crosshairs are in the center of the prism.
With robotic total stations, a single staff member can hold the prism while the total station takes measurements. A robotic total station can be programmed to seek a prism, which eliminates the necessity to make manual adjustments to the equipment. This reduces labor costs by removing the second staff member from the project.
Incredible Speed
Robotic total stations are undeniably faster than conventional total stations. A two-person team using a conventional total station may be able to collect data for three hundred points in eight hours depending on skill level, but a motorized robotic total station can measure points as quickly as a staff member can move the prism. If a staff member can move the prism to three hundred points in four hours, then an entire day’s work has been cut in half. That leaves more time for the staff member to make corrections or any adjustments to the programming of the total station.
Consider the time and effort that measuring an entire grid of points takes. If a robotic total station is programmed to seek prisms on a grid, then measuring the points on the grid would take a shorter amount of time. This increases the productivity of staff because there is more emphasis on accuracy rather than time management.
Ultimate Efficiency
Upgrading to a robotic total station can improve your company’s productivity if you have a high volume of land surveying jobs. Robotic total stations can reduce staff hours, leaving time for corrections or other tasks that need to be done in a single day. Dedicating an entire day to using a manual total station could hinder company growth. There are many types of total stations to choose from in the survey equipment industry, and evaluating all options is necessary to find the best value. Visit for more information.
