Archive for category: Topcon

Centralised team to lead sales, delivery and services process for condition monitoring applications throughout Australia, with advisory support for New Zealand and South East Asia.

Position Partners is pleased to announce a centralised monitoring team that will support customers with tailored solutions for the civil, geospatial, mining and building industries.

Heath Low, who has worked for Position Partners for more than 10 years, has been appointed as a Business Development Manager for monitoring solutions, with responsibility  for Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory. He will also act in an advisory role for projects in New Zealand and South East Asia.

Heath has a background in monitoring solutions for the mining industry and has held sales and product management roles at Position Partners for a range of geospatial solutions, including 3D mobile mapping solutions and 3D laser scanning systems.

Jason Clark has recently joined Position Partners as our second Business Development Manager for monitoring solutions, with responsibility for New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.

Jason has worked in the geospatial industry for more than 20 years in a wide range of roles with AUSLIG, BAE Systems, Amcor and more recently with Thiess as Corporate GIS Manager and Leighton Contractors as Manager – GIS & Survey Solutions.  Jason holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Land Information) and a Master of Science in Remote Sensing.

Position Partners offers two industry-leading monitoring solutions including Senceive, an innovative wireless platform and Topcon Delta, a comprehensive optical or GNSS-based system with advanced reporting and integrated communications technology.

Since its introduction to the Oceania region last year by Position Partners, Senceive has been gaining significant interest for a wide range of projects including rail, roads, tunnels, buildings and infrastructure. With its ability to perform in some of the most challenging landscapes and provide high accuracy whilst eliminating the expense of maintaining prisms, Senceive nodes are entirely wire and mains power free, with a battery life of up to 12 years.

Topcon’s Delta can be configured using either GNSS or optical measurement technology to deliver a solution that combines hardware, software and automated alerts to mitigate risk in deformation monitoring applications. Ideal for mining and infrastructure projects, Delta is a versatile and highly accurate system that can be tailored to all projects with a range of communication and power options to ensure the system is backed up and reliable in even the harshest environments.

 

 

State-Wide Earthworks is achieving fine tolerance results with an EasyGrade grader attachment and total station machine control technology.

Specialising in design, civil contracts, vegetation control, earthworks, traffic control, demolition, plant hire and heavy haulage, State-Wide Earthworks is a Tasmanian company that caters for clients throughout the state.

The company’s earthworks division offers road construction and reconstruction, stormwater upgrades, council work and general earthworks services and has recently invested in the latest survey and machine control technology to save time, increase accuracy and improve productivity.

Installed on an EasyGrade grader attachment for the company’s CAT 259D skid steer, State-Wide Earthworks uses Topcon LPS machine control technology to achieve 10-15mm accuracy.

“We find the EasyGrade setup is ideal for the work we do, which is often on 200-300 metre stretches of road,” said Manager, Rob Dobie. “A standard size grader gave us too much overspill over the kerbs, damage to existing infrastructure and was generally too cumbersome in tight, built up areas.

“The box system on the other hand just picks up the material and carries it where it needs to go so there’s a lot less waste and tidy up,” he added. “We also find we can construct new roads without having to close them as the EasyGrade is small and accurate enough to be able to work in one lane, using traffic management, which we have never been able to do with a standard size grader.”

Mr Dobie explained the skid steer grader attachment was more versatile, with the ability to work on a variety of applications. “It’s a handy machine for smaller jobs like subdivisions and commercial developments as well,” he said.

LPS machine control utilises a high precision robotic total station and a prism mounted to a pole on the machine blade to deliver accurate positioning information and automatically adjust the grader’s cutting edge to work to the design.

“We chose LPS because of the accuracy it delivers and its ability to work in all environments including under dense tree coverage,” Mr Dobie said.

In addition to the grader machine control system, State-Wide has a Topcon 3D GPS excavator system on an 8-tonne Komatsu digger and a Topcon base and rover for survey set-out and as-built checks.

Before upgrading to its new 3D positioning technology, the company relied on more traditional stringline methods and 2D laser levelling systems.

“Our use of stringlines and lasers is now down to a minimum, we only use stringlines for the kerb machine to follow these days,” Mr Dobie said.

3D machine control technology is more versatile for the company’s work, Mr Dobie explained, giving them the ability to grade more complex designs and work to 2 or 3 gradients.

“Since installing the grader system earlier this year it’s been a great bonus, we regularly achieve 10mm accuracy for our road reconstruction and stormwater upgrade jobs,” he added.

Training the team on the new systems has been integral to their success. “Our operators needed some training initially to understand the layers and what the technology is capable of, which is when Tokara remote support was a great help,” Mr Dobie said.

Tokara is a remote support and telematics platform developed by Topcon’s Australian distributor Position Partners, specifically for the Australian construction industry.

With the ability to login to State-Wide’s machines or survey rover remotely, Position Partners technicians are able to diagnose technical problems, upgrade software and train the operator in a real-world environment.

Tokara also gives project managers and surveyors the option to transfer design files remotely without having to visit the machine in person. “We’ve used the file transfer option a few times now but in these early days the support side has been more valuable to us,” Mr Dobie said.

“Tokara has been key to our business in terms of getting us up and running with the 3D systems and learning the ropes with this new technology,” he added.

 

Connelly & Associates Surveyors are a Melbourne-based cadastral survey firm that offers services throughout the greater metro area as well as regional Victoria. Having recently upgraded one of the company’s robotics to the new Topcon GT series, Senior Surveyor Luke Considine said it came out top of all the brands they tested. 

With some twenty staff including full time and casual employees, Connelly & Associates Surveyors specialises in all manner of cadastral survey work including subdivisions, boundary surveys, levels and features throughout Melbourne as well as regional Victoria.

As a Senior Licensed Surveyor for the company, Luke Considine continues to split his time between field and office tasks. Speaking to Position Partners, Luke explained his reasons for choosing the Topcon GT robotic total station when it came time to upgrade an older model robotic.

“Our old Sokkia instrument was about 10 years old so it was in need of an update, but then there was an accident on site where it was damaged so that prompted us to upgrade,” he said. “Unlike a lot of cadastral firms that like to keep consistency with one brand, Connelly’s has a mix of different makes of equipment as our CEO doesn’t want to get locked into one brand.”

When researching which model to purchase, Luke explained he tested out a few of the leading brands. “All of the instruments were fit for the job, however I just felt most comfortable using the Topcon GT and I particularly like the new FC-5000 tablet and MAGNET Field software as well,” he added. 

Luke added that some of the other brands felt “over-engineered” and too complicated. “One of the models we trialled could only be used as a 1-person instrument, and although I often do use it that way I wanted something that had the flexibility to be used in a one or two-person crew.”

Comparing the new GT robotic with the older instrument, Luke said: “the Topcon system is obviously a lot faster and more responsive than our 10-year old model, and it maintains lock very well so it keeps up with you and you can get through work quickly,” he said.

What Luke enjoys most about the new system is the increased functionality and clarity of the FC-5000 tablet paired with MAGNET Field. “The Field software is really easy to use and has lots of great features such as automatic solutions for resections that save time,” he said. 

“Viewing data on the tablet also gives me a lot more detail so I can see the line work and numbers, not just a series of crosses,” he added. “The FC-5000 feels robust and it also doubles as a tool I use to check my email and receive design updates from MAGNET Office. It’s a great survey tablet.”

For office work, Luke explained he’s an experienced Civilcad user who has now migrated to MAGNET Office. “I have used other software platforms but I find MAGNET Office easy to use and ideally suited to the work we do,” he said.

Luke said the support he’s received from Position Partners has been great and was also a key factor in the company’s decision. “I got along with the local Sales Consultant who was supportive and didn’t push me into a purchase,” he said. Connelly’s has also taken up a Survey Support & Maintenance contract that includes Position Partners’ unique Tokara remote support technology.

“As the instrument’s new we haven’t had much opportunity to use Tokara but while we were trialling the system someone from the Position Partners team was able to remotely login and show me around a few features,” Luke said. “That was really handy because I’m based in Geelong so it’s not as though they are just around the corner.”

Overall, Luke said the company has been very happy with its decision to add a Topcon GT robotic total station to its fleet. “It’s doing everything we need it to and doing it efficiently. It’s certainly saving me time in the field and making life easier for me,” he added.

 

Topcon Positioning Group announces its MAGNET® system of software solutions has expanded to offer a package designed to consolidate and facilitate the working environment for point cloud data processing and visualisation — MAGNET Collage.

The system offers an “all-in-one” solution for professionals using laser scanners, mobile mapping devices, modern paving scanners, and traditional surveying instruments.

“With MAGNET Collage, mass data users with multiple sensors, such as mobile and static instruments, can stay in one software environment to process point cloud data and imagery,” said Jason Hallett, vice president of Topcon global product management. “Traditionally, each mass data sensor would require standalone software. Now with Collage, processing can be completed more quickly by combining all the raw scanning data into one holistic 3D environment.”  

The system uses advanced matching and ground control functionality for quicker results. “Collage lets users rely on automatic cloud matching with ground control, instead of going through the process of manually matching multiple clouds,” said Hallett.

Collage is designed to offer up to eight times faster processing of scan data than previously available solutions.

For more information, visit topconpositioning.com or contact us on 1300 867 266   

 

Topcon Positioning Group announces an update to its entry-level machine control system for excavation — the X-52. The 2D system is designed to offer cost-effective indicate grade control.

“The X-52 system features the all-new MC-X1 controller, which offers compatibility with all brands and models of excavators,” said Kris Maas, director of construction product management. “Operators with limited exposure to machine control systems will find the system intuitive and very easy to use. Its reliable and rugged TS-i3 tilt sensors detect the precise positioning of the boom, stick and bucket at all times.”

The system is designed to provide a forward-thinking investment for contractors who want to enhance its capabilities in the future. “Later this year the X-52 will be upgradeable to a full 3D system, which allows it to expand along with business needs.

“The X-52 not only allows operators to work faster and with better accuracy, but also promotes a safer work site by keeping grade checkers out of the trenches,” said Maas.

The system is designed to pair with the GX-55 touchscreen control box to offer sunlight-readable indicate grade reference in any climate condition.

PLEASE NOTE: We do not as yet have an arrival date for this product in Australia, so if you are interested please drop us an email http://www.positionpartners.com.au/online-enquiry or call 1300 867 266