TOTAL STATION:

A total station (TS) or total station theodolite(TST) is an electronic/optical instrument which is used for surveying and construction of buildings.It is an electronic transit theodolite which is integrated with ELECTRONIC DISTANCE MEASURENT (EDM) to measure both vertical and horizontal angles and the slope distance from the instrument to a particular point, and an on-board computer to collect data and perform triangulation calculations.

PARTS OF TOTAL STATION ITS WORKING:

It has some same components like theodolite but four of them are main components;

1.     EDM determine distance from total station to a reflector by measuring the time of travel of EM signal, it also uses signal structure and determine phase shift. The EM wave has sinusoidal wave form which repeats every 360°.

2.     ELECTRONIC THEODOLITE measures the horizontal and vertical angles and works by combining the optical plummet, level bubble and calibrated circles to find the said angles.

3.MICROPROCESSOR: Before accompanying microprocessor to a total station

   the surveyor had to do all the calculations on their hands which results in errors. But now total station has been provided with microprocessor which saves a lot of work which the surveyor has done eliminate the chances of maximum errors. It typically performs the following functions but the inherent program varies widely from manufacturer to manufacturer;

·        Averages multiple angle measurements

·        Averages multiple distance measurements

·        Computes horizontal and vertical distances

·        Provides corrections for temp, pressure and humidity

·        Computes inverses, polars and resections

·        Computes X, Y and Z coordinates

 

4.ELECTRONIC DISPLAY  provide a visual of what is happening in the total station. Depending on the button pressed it helps the user navigate to the various menu items. It also enables input of instrument and reflector heights as well as access to the stored data. It displays horizontal distance, vertical distance, horizontal and vertical angles, difference in elevations of two observed points and all the three coordinates of the observed points (XYZ).

APPLICATIONS:

Total stations are mainly used by land surveyor and civil engineers, either to record features as in topographic surveying or to set out features (such as roads, houses or boundaries). They are also used by archaeologists to record excavations and by police, crime scene investigators, private accident reconstructionists and insurance companies to take measurements of scenes.

Market Value:

Its price is US $1000 to $1600 which is in PKR 139883.82 to 223814.11 .