I had heard of a theodolite before (my dad’s company uses it) but had never seen it in use. The man was using a traditional theodolite. He told me that these days digital theodolites are available but he prefers to use the traditional one, because he can use it better as he has quite a lot of experience with it. I asked him about any problems he faced with the functioning and he told me that initial adjustment takes a lot of time and it is difficult to set up if the ground is very hard and/or smooth. The digital theodolites available these days have taken care of the initial adjustment process. I guess the man needs to start using the digital to avoid initial adjustment time, because reaching precision with the traditional device takes time as everything needs to be done manually and there is always a scope for human error. In case of the digital one the error is reduced to a great extent because the device is computerized. To make the object work on smooth and hard surfaces, I feel that the stand should be given one more leg and the base should be made big and flat. This would ensure more friction and keep the device steady on the ground.
Theodolite stand
Theodolite
Digital Theodolite
Working of a theodolite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9U0xlmCzGI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wdJTDosq8o&feature=related
While I admire your analysis of this man's troubles, I think there's another issue here: What could be done to ease the transition between traditional and digital theodolites for long-time users like him? Is there a particular feature on the digital ones that makes them confusing, difficult to adapt to, or hard to use? How could you remedy this?
ReplyDeleteI would suggest that instead of adding a fourth leg, the base should be made to self level itself. Adding a fourth leg would only increase setup time because now instead of having to adjust three legs the surveyor would have to adjust four legs to setup the device. But I think the best solution would be to get a digital theodolite that would take the measurements much faster than a human could.
ReplyDeleteI don't think adding a fourth leg would solve the problem. If the ground isn't level or is too soft or hard to insert a leg into, then if inserting three legs is already troublesome enough, how would adding a fourth leg ease the setup? I think it would be better instead to add a ball joint to the top of the tripod (above the legs) so that it wouldn't take much effort to make the platform level, and somehow find a way to make the ball joint lock into place.
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