I’ve just started using my RS2. It hasn’t skipped a beat as yet however I wanted to ask a couple of questions,
All surveyors use point classification codes when in the field. Sure RS2 has the ability to manually provide a name to a point and/or provide a description however this is very time consuming on each point. Being able to upload a standard code list to the device/app and then assign those would see this device a much more attractive option for professional use.
I am not a Land Surveyor, I operate a commercial UAV company and use the RS2 for fairly basic work, the odd GCP, the odd point collection in areas not suitable for UAV survey and the odd stake out. I did a cadastral field survey yesterday with the RS2 and captured around 200 points. When processing the data it soon became very obvious that the lack of point classification alignment would soon become problematic. My son is a land surveyor and took a look at the data and the RS2 and although impressed with its price point and capability immediately identified that for a professional user the lack of point codes is a deal breaker rendering it unsuitable for use which is a shame as I dont think it would hard to solve this.
The other issue is the coordinate system, being locked in to a single option and the need to reproject coordinates post survey. This would also be a massive advantage.
I’m throwing these observations up for comment and discussion from the user group.
Hi Mike, survey points are coded according to type i.e. edge of bitumen, drain top/ toe etc, a numerical code. When processing the survey points taken you can then string the points according to code otherwise you have hundreds of survey points that are not associated by type. If you use something like Stringer you have to assign numerical codes to points. It’s really not dissimilar to classifying Lidar or photogrammetry generated point clouds through point group classification. They are still just points. If you want to quickly and accurately identify your kerbs, pits, drains, fences etc you need to assign a code if you are intending to string them, create a surface etc. Code lists are used to also provide consistent description of civil infrastructure features among professionals. I’ll attach list as an example.
A standard list of codes to be used when undertaking work for the road authority in my area. Sure I could enter each one in the comments section when taking each point and then group them via the CSV file, but being able to import a list and simply assign a code to a point on the fly would be the way to go. This is how its done using other equipment.
Yeah after purchasing two units realized I was locked to WGS84 which is useless in the states for professional work. You can convert a known point, and manually enter codes. It’s not a perfect system by any means and you get what you pay for. I’m waiting on any recommendations to fellow users in the states until they can get the software to a functional state that is ready to go.
When you have these requirements, I would use the Microsurvey Fieldgenius software instead. Then you can have everything mentioned here, and use the same data-collector and software for your total station and so on.
Survey Master application for Android does exactly that. And its free
It also provide on site calibration/grid shift (localization), cogo, prefix point naming etc.
I tested this back in 2016 but had issues with connection. Its works better now but be aware of issues as its not been fully tested.
Use T300 model and NMEA over bluetooth.
We’re continuously working on improving our ReachView app and it’s important for us to get feedback and feature requests from our users.
We’re working on new versions of our app that will work with different coordinates systems. We’re also considering adding point classification, however, I can’t provide any timelines for now.
Oh, I think I have a bunch of updates for this thread!
The first one is that our mobile app to operate the receivers, Emlid Flow (ex. ReachView 3), supports working with plenty of coordinate systems. Moreover, a while ago, we added a new CRS registry in the app. So now it’s easier to navigate in all the coordinate systems. You can find the needed one by its name or your country name.
And one more update is that we added codes support in Emlid Flow under the Survey plan. So you can set codes for different types of objects to ease future work with the collected data. More details on working with the codes you can find in this article.
