SURVEYING poor multipath performance, and field-data-collector operating systems and software that are obsolete or no longer supported. Despite the immediate need, it’s generally less desirable to hire people with no surveying experience and train them from scratch. However, newer rovers and field software often do not have the same steep learning curve posed by legacy systems and methods. Productivity Now It is hard to say how much of the productivity gains, stated by various manufacturers for their newest systems, will be realized for your specific workflows, but simple testing can give you an idea. When surveyors try out new rovers, they tend to find themselves so impressed by the first unit tried, they conclude it must be “the best” and eschew due diligence in the selection process. That aside, I believe it is safe to say that there is a near across-the-board productivity improvement with the latest generation of rovers. A Confluence of Factors JASON POITRAS (left) and MARC VEINOTTE of MicroSurvey test a multi-constellation OEM rover with the FieldGenius for Android field controller software. All Photos: Gavin Schrock Peak Times Surveying always has been a feast-or-famine prospect; the rises and dips in economics are felt sharply within the profession. In many places, there is more work than surveyors can accommodate, with competition to recruit and retain enough field personnel to meet demand. It is unclear how long this peak will last. Surveying firms recognize this and do their best to take on as many projects as they can. Staffing is an acute challenge. Firms have had to dip into incentives beyond the usual pay and benefits packages to attract and retain qualified field personnel. Having the latest gear is a definite plus. Experienced surveyors know much they struggled with legacy gear: GPS-only or GPS + GLONASS only, slow processors, We haven’t seen such a sea change in GNSS rover technology in decades; most gains have been incremental. Similar jumps in the past included going from the static-only world to real-time and the first additional constellation beyond GPS. While the early days of GLONASS were rocky, and most manufacturers were hesitant to productize an unreliable and noisy solution, it did eventually improve. The effect of nearly doubling satellites in view translated to productivity gains. But that was two decades ago. The recent advent of true, multi-constellation GNSS has had a profound impact on the state of rovers. In 2020, both the Galileo and BeiDou constellations reached a full level of global coverage and signal integration. Many rovers were already equipped to utilize some (but not all) of the newest satellites and signals. Interface control documents (ICD) for some of the signals have only been released by the constellation providers in the past few years. ICDs provide signal specifics that manufacturers need to integrate them into GNSS solutions. Some rovers (and base receivers) developed four or more years ago may not be able to take advantage of the full complement of signals. And many did not have the processing power to utilize so many signals from so many satellites in real-time solutions. By contrast, nearly every new GNSS board released in the past few years has greatly increased processing power, often double that of legacy gear. Newer rovers are able to work better in sky-view-See Surveying , page 28. >> JULY 2022 | WWW.GPSWORLD.COM GPS WORLD 27
GPS World July 2022: Page 27
