Tunnelsurveyor looks at new Leica ATRplus
The new automatic target recognition – ATRplus – and the new field software Leica Captivate significantly increase the automation performance of the Leica Viva and Leica Nova total stations and MultiStations. Dynamic laser energy control, history logs of the reflected laser spots and a reliable detection of foreign reflections are examples of the automation technology in ATRplus. ATRplus is integrated in the latest generation of total stations (TS16 / TS60) and MultiStations (MS60).
Picture is courtesy of Leica Geosystems
With previous generations of total stations, the measurement professional operating the instrument had to consider environmental conditions to achieve the best results. The user had to set the visibility settings correctly, high dynamics at short ranges, and lock in on the fly. However, environmental conditions can change during the measurement period and many combinations of the various settings exist (+200 possible combinations). To increase user comfort and reduce the complexity of the system, which are potential sources of errors caused by applying wrong settings, ATRplus simplifies handling of the total stations and MultiStations. ATRplus with a dynamic and automatic energy control and new algorithms can automatically find the optimal parameters in challenging and changing environmental surroundings. This function results in higher measurement ranges for any conditions without the necessity of changing the settings manually. Besides the increased measurement performance on static targets, ATRplus has also been optimized on dynamically moving targets. When the target moves, the visibility and environmental conditions can change. A reliable detection of reflections from the sun and other sources is a must when following a target. The new image processing of ATRplus can detect such foreign “spots” as non-targets. The velocity of the moving prism relative to the instrument has a great impact on the ability to reliably follow a prism. To follow a highly dynamic moving prism with stability, a tight control loop in combination with better temporal measurement synchronisation was developed for the latest generation of total stations and MultiStations. ATRplus allows faster changes of the prism’s moving direction without losing it. The new instruments can follow moving targets to a maximum speed of up to 50 km/h.
Following ATRplus- Picture is courtesy of Leica Geosystems
Search, Lock and Re-Lock of a prism by a total station establishes the foundation of the automation cycle. When the instrument is locked on the prism, the distance can continuously be measured onto the prism and 3D positions of the prism are delivered. The measurement professional requires accurate 3D positions with a high update rate and high availability. ATRplus plays a dominant role in this automation cycle. High productivity strongly relates to the uptime of the instrument on the prism. Dynamic energy control, history logs, intelligent algorithms for spot verification, target search, and tighter sensor synchronisation are the main characteristics of the automation performance with ATRplus. The integration of ATRplus technology is a crucial factor in making the latest generation of total stations and MultiStations more intelligent and bringing automation performance to the next level. Using ATRplus technology reduces possible error sources such as wrong user settings and expands the boundaries of automated surveying in terms of range and dynamics. ATRplus technology in combination with the PowerSearch filter and CubeSearch functionality accelerates the measurement performance on static and dynamic targets.
It will be interesting to see if and which impact this new feature has on the daily Tunnelsurveyor life.
For a demo video of the new ATRplus click here.
