Leica Captivate – Did you know…

Leica Captivate offers a wide range of apps and it’s likely you’ve never heard of most of themAs you know, your Smartphone does not come with all available apps loaded – there are loads of additional apps which you can install as needed. It’s the same for Leica Captivate. Therefore, we are starting a series of articles, each of which is introducing a Leica Captivate app. So let’s get started with the first app – one, that could save you a lot of time when staking points 

The Stakeout Auto Points app
You may already know that it is possible to get a Total Station to turn to a point being staked via a Hotkey. However, this is never really accurate if the point does not lie exactly on the actual, physical surface, as is often the case. In this case the Total Station will only roughly turn to the correct position. See what I mean in the image below.

In order to turn to the correct position, the instrument has to measure to the actual, physical surface, compute the difference to the point being staked, turn closer towards the point, measure again and so on, until the correct position is found. In order to this, one of the three dimensions needs to be “ignored”, meaning the instruments needs to work on a plane along the actual, physical surfaces. 
There are two different methods in the app to accomplish this, which are described below. 

1. Position & measure
This method allows the selected points to be automatically aimed at by the instrument, but only in 2D (easting and northing). If needed, the instrument will ignore the height of the point being staked and iterate to the easting and northing of the point.

This is probably most useful when wanting to automatically locate the 2D position (easting and northing) but the height is not important.

For example, imagine you need to drill holes in a concrete floor. You have been given a list of points to stake which represent the drill locations. But the height of the concrete floor is not “correct” – it is not the same as the height of the point to be staked. Using the Position & measure method and reflectorless measurements, the instrument will iterate to the true drill location.

 

2. Vertical plane projection
This method is similar to the Position & measure method but uses a user-defined vertical plane. The points to be staked will be projected perpendicularly to the plane. The instrument will then iterate to the desired location.

For example, imagine you need to drill holes in a concrete wall. You have been given a list of points to stake which represent the drill locations. But the concrete wall is not “correct” – the points you have been given do not “lay” on the surface of the wall (they are either “inside” or “outside” the actual wall). Using the Vertical plane projection method and measuring reflectorless, the instrument will iterate to the correct drill location (assuming you want to drill a hole perpendicular to the wall).

 

The app also offers a third method for a purpose different from the first two described.

3. Position & height
This method allows the selected points to be aimed at automatically by the instrument. If the “automation” setting is activated, all selected points will be aimed at, one after another. The instrument will pause by a defined amount of time before aiming at the next point.

This functionality is most useful when a quick check is needed, if points are in the correct location.

 

If you are interested in this app, please contact your local Leica representative.

By Elke Hacker, Senior Product Manager Leica Geosystems AG

 

Website Leica Geosystems

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