Position Partners has acquired Sydney-based Sokkia distributor Total Survey Systems (TSS). This acquisition will make it possible for customers to be offered a wider range of geospatial solutions to better meet their needs.

Position Partners is pleased to add the Sokkia range of geospatial products to its existing geospatial range. 

“We are really excited to add the Sokkia range to our product line. This acquisition will lend more resources to the strengthening of the Sokkia brand: Sokkia is here to stay,” said Adam Burke, Sales Manager – Geospatial NSW/ACT, Position Partners.

”Both the Topcon and Sokkia solutions offer advantages in the geospatial industry. Some of the Topcon product solutions have been engineered specifically for the civil construction industry whereas the Sokkia product solutions are focussed on the geospatial industry. This acquisition will make it possible for customers to be offered a wider range of solutions to better meet their needs.”

To check out the new products available at Position Partners, visit Position Partners.

Landfill operators are increasingly realising the huge productivity and operational gains that machine guidance and reporting solutions can deliver.

These landfill management tools offer a host of benefits to landfill operations such as optimised density, increased safety, reduced leachate and the ability to eliminate overfill. Machine operators typically embrace these systems and learn to use them very quickly, however some sites struggle to see who will have the time or skills to manage and optimise the data these platforms deliver back in the office.

Getting up to speed with new technology can be daunting, especially when everyone is strapped for time. But with a little support, even if it is just to get everything up and running smoothly and give employees all the information they need, the benefits are well worth it. 

How managed services can help

To help you close the skills gap experienced by some landfill site operators, Position Partners has developed a custom-designed managed service for the industry that combines reporting solutions, remote support and diagnostics tools, alongside machine guidance to provide a wholistic solution without the need to upskill or hire extra staff.  

Position Partners Managed Service is designed to save time and eliminate the skills gap headaches many site managers are experiencing by maintaining data integrity, generating and distributing reports and hosting the data on your behalf.

“By eliminating the need to manage the data from machine guidance systems, landfill managers are not adding workload to the business or having to train or hire new employees,” said Andrew Granger, Business Development Manager for Mining and Landfill at Position Partners.

“Of course, many sites choose to handle the workflow internally which is great, however not all landfills have the time or resources to do so – that’s where our Managed Service solution could be a perfect alternative,” he added.

Managed Service incorporates the office reporting suite of the Carlson LandfillGrade solution, Carlson Command, along with Position Partners’ custom-developed Tokara Link remote support tool. It includes:

• RTK Network Base station access
• An array of reports including:
  • AUF (density);
  • Utilisation reports;
  • Volume reports;
  • Efficiency reports;
  • Daily work area;
  • Real-time cut/fill colour map;
  • Customised reports on request
• Access to Command View – Mapping, Project Creation and Project Push
• Remote access to onboard system
• Automated Daily Data Backup
• Position Partners Managed Cloud Server (Microsoft Azure Virtual Machine)
• Additional Customised reports available on request

All reports can be tailored by the Position Partners team so that you get only the most relevant information at time frames to suit your workflow. They can also include comprehensive information on uptime, idle time, delay and downtime tracking, operator time sheets and project tracking.

“Because every project, site and customer has unique requirements, we’ve developed Managed Service to be a fully modular and customisable solution that meets the evolving needs of the waste industry,” Granger said.

“Some customers just want us to manage the data in the early months while they’re getting used to the system and then they’re off and running, whilst others prefer to have our team run reports for them on an ongoing basis. Others want to take it all on from the get-go.”

Optimising your machine guidance platforms from the office

Managed Service aims to give landfill management as much or as little direct involvement with the data as they wish. Data from the machine guidance systems is sent directly to the Position Partners team via the Cloud, enabling technicians to support and send updated design files to the machines directly as well as send a wide variety of reports on a daily, weekly or monthly schedule as required.

Using Carlson Command, managers have the option to keep track of operations from the office (or anywhere with an internet connection) via a web portal.

This control, monitoring and data management system transmits data from the machines to the office and from the office to the machines; increasing both safety and productivity.

Managers can see and monitor multiple machines in multiple views, including plan view, from any remote location as long as they have an internet connection.

Machines’ positions can be viewed, cut/fill and elevation monitored in real time. Managers can even instant message each machine!

The system transmits through cellular, standard wireless and mesh networks. For sites without remote connectivity, data can be stored in the machine and copied to a USB drive for analysis later.

Technical Support from Position Partners

Troubleshooting technology can be time consuming and frustrating when you have deadlines to meet and are juggling multiple tasks simultaneously.

“Feedback from our customers has always highlighted the importance of timely and efficient support,” Granger said, adding: “we’ve prioritised this with the development of Tokara, which enables our technicians to solve most problems without even visiting the site – the time and cost savings are huge.”

Tokara is designed to help you get the most from your landfill machine guidance with fast, comprehensive support when you need it.

The service enables Position Partners’ technicians to connect directly to your machine via a small telemetry link to offer faster, hassle-free remote support.

Tokara puts as it were, a virtual Position Partners technician by your operator’s side. Support solutions for landfill operations incorporate:

• Annual Tokara Link hosting and data;
• Tokara Link phone and email support;
• Web portal access for downloads and support videos;
• No charge for hire equipment during warranty repairs;
• Hire equipment while damaged equipment is repaired;
• Software updates;
• Annual machine inspection;
• Priority response for all support and repairs;
• Annual support summary report.

Position Partners technicians are experts in their field and with the remote service capabilities enabled with Tokara Link, these technicians can solve most technical issues that arise without the need to visit the machine(s) in person, saving you time and keeping you within your budgets.

According to Granger, Position Partners has been able to develop its Tokara suite through the unique set of skills and expertise built up by the company over many years.

“Our unique blend of experience and industry knowledge is the result of the evolution of Position Partners from a close-knit network of state-based businesses to a single national company three years ago.

“This means we are ideally placed to deliver a single industry-wide solution: we understand the business, we understand our customers, and we understand what they want to achieve,” said Granger.

“Tokara has been developed in Australia, using Australian skills and programmers, based around customer requirements, and has been extensively tested with contractors and end-users throughout the country so that we know it works in our harsh environment and with our often-challenging telecommunications networks.”

Position Partners to exclusively distribute the Tiny Surveyor robotic pre-marker tool, across Australia and New Zealand.

Geospatial solutions provider Position Partners announces an exclusive distribution agreement with TinyMobileRobots, the Danish company that builds high-precision, reliable outdoor robots. The new partnership will see Position Partners exclusively distribute the Tiny Surveyor robotic pre-marker tool throughout Australia and New Zealand.

The Tiny Surveyor is a robotic pre-marker tool that saves time, increases safety and enables the user to mark out road lines automatically. It is reliable and repeatable with 2-3cm accuracy and versatile enough to accommodate different spray can sizes.

With the ability to interface to any GNSS as well as Topcon and Sokkia total stations for precise height measurements, the Tiny Surveyor is a versatile and reliable tool that works for eight hours on a single charge.

The Tiny Surveyor is able to work autonomously, once the design file has been uploaded via USB the Tiny Surveyor completes the marking work and its light blinks blue when the job has been completed.

A full-function, long range remote control panel enables the user to stay in control at all times and its high weatherproof rating ensures the Tiny Surveyor can work in even the toughest environments.

“The Tiny Surveyor is a unique piece of equipment,” said Martin Nix, Position Partners CEO. “This exciting, new fully autonomous robotic pre-marker tool both increases safety and makes marking significantly faster than marking out on foot.”

Hazell Bros mmGPS Komatsu grader with laser

GPS/GNSS-based 3D grade control systems have made a major impact on how heavy construction is done, but they still have limitations when it comes to achieving very tight vertical accuracies. This is true regardless of which brand you use.

While multi-constellation (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and more recently Beidou) grade control systems are able to work in more places and under more adverse conditions, these systems are still subject to various orbital errors and environmental factors, which can degrade the vertical accuracy.

Many contractors use GNSS-based 3D grade control exclusively for earthmoving tasks and even finishing. However, the manufacturers of these systems will confirm they cannot guarantee that the vertical accuracy will be good enough for finishing.

The various GNSS-based 3D machine systems will provide a horizontal accuracy that is adequate for any earthmoving and grading task. The challenge is to find a way to improve the vertical portion of your position.

Combining GNSS and lasers to improve vertical accuracy

To improve vertical accuracy, it is possible to combine the GNSS position with a terrestrial vertical reference, such as a rotating laser.

Such a system will use the GNSS signal to position the grader horizontally and the laser signal to get a very accurate vertical position, within a few millimetres.

There are two ways this can be done: by using a conventional, construction grade laser or by using a purpose-designed, ‘fan-beam’ laser.

Hazell Bros mmGPS Komatsu grader

Why use a conventional, construction-grade laser?

With a conventional laser, you have the benefit of being able to use the laser you already own, but you will be limited to working within a vertical range that cannot be wider than the physical length of the laser receiver you put on the grader.

What this means: If you have a laser receiver on the grader which is physically 1m long, then you must keep your grader working within ±10cm from the height at which the laser is set up. Once benched, the laser will have a working window of around 20cm that it must stay within to remain accurate.

If your grader travels further than 20cm vertically, you will need to re-bench to maintain accuracy.

Why use a purpose-designed, fanned-beam laser?

Instead of sending out a single plane of light like a standard grade laser, this laser sends out a fanned-beam that lets the operator work to high vertical precision within a 10m elevation range.

A fanned-beam laser will also let you use a ‘normal’ sized laser receiver on your grader, which is far less susceptible to failure from mechanical shock and vibration.

Choosing the right laser for your project

No matter which solution you choose, a combined GNSS antenna and laser receiver 3D grade control system is incredibly versatile.

For most of your earthmoving tasks GNSS alone will be accurate enough, but when you need additional vertical accuracy a simple way to achieve this is to combine your GNSS 3D grade control system with a conventional, construction grade laser or a purpose-designed, fanned-beam laser.

Which of these two options you choose will be dependent on the details of your project.

The benefits of using lasers to improve vertical accuracy

The main benefit of using a laser guidance to improve vertical accuracy is that an unlimited number of machines can run off of a single laser. This not only lowers the cost of achieving high vertical accuracy, it also reduces the potential for set-up errors, because all machines are working from the same laser.

If you have five graders with GNSS systems already installed, you may only have to purchase two additional laser add-ons, since they can easily be shared between all the graders.

One thing to be aware of with a combined GNSS/laser system is that you are now faced with maintaining two lines of sight to your grader:

 

• One from the GNSS antenna to the satellites;
• One from the laser receiver on the grader to the rotating laser on the job site.

 

However, the benefits of the combined GNSS/laser system far outweigh the additional planning that will be necessary to ensure disruption stemming from people, other equipment, vehicles or trucks breaking the line of sight will be kept to a minimum.

Hazell Bros mmGPS Komatsu grader 

Using robotic total stations to improve vertical accuracy

Another way that 3D grade control systems achieve high vertical accuracy is to use a robotic total station as the positioning device.

This system does not make use of satellite signals for positioning and therefore works indoors or in places where there is a severe obstruction of the sky, such as directly underneath an overpass or underground.

A robotic total station automatically tracks a target mounted on a mast on the blade of your grader, placed where you would otherwise mount the GNSS antenna.

Because the robotic total station always knows where it is in the local co-ordinate system, it will also know where the target (your grader) is at all times – simply by locking onto the target and following it.

The robotic total station feeds the 3D position of the target to the control box in your grader many times per second via a radio link.

These positions are then used by the on-board computer to determine cut/fill for where the blade is at a given moment, in the same manner as a 3D position derived from GNSS would be used. 

These systems are highly accurate and have been field-proven for more than a decade.

Although outnumbered by GNSS systems in the field, the ability to work underground and indoors will ensure that these systems will be around for a long time to come.

However, as with a combined GNSS/laser system, you must maintain clear line of sight between your grader and the robotic total station tracking it.

But, unlike a combined GNSS/laser system, the robotic total station can only track a single target at a time, so a dedicated robotic total station will be required for each machine.

Choosing the right system to improve your vertical accuracy

The various positioning technologies available for 3D grade control systems each solve a particular problem and are particularly well suited for a specific application.

It is unlikely that a single positioning technology will solve all the earthmoving and grading tasks faced by your company, so it is important that you stay educated about the various solutions available.

For many contractors, the ease with which various sensor technologies can be switched around is crucial, so speak to your positioning system sales representatives to ensure you have the maximum flexibility from whatever solution you choose.

Something else to look for is a consistent operator interface between different positioning technology, so the operator screen remains unchanged and familiar no matter which type of positioning is currently being used.

That means shorter learning curves and the ability for operators to very quickly switch from one type of system to another.

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