Topcon Positioning Group announces the release of the latest edition of its suite of software solutions — MAGNET® 5. Packed with new features, the release includes upgrades to the MAGNET Field, Office and Enterprise applications designed for advanced performance, third-party integration, and construction planning and oversight capability. The updates include new functionality that spans the suite. “With MAGNET 5 we have focused on key improvements that put positioning professionals and contractors in more control of the work that they perform,” said David Ahl, director of software product management. “MAGNET Field operators can now avoid losing time switching between screens thanks to new flexible display options. Users can simply select and stake surfaces, and drive survey sessions directly from
Brendan Walsh and his team at Ground Technique have been working on a 20-lot Tran Civil development in Diamond Creek, Victoria. This project is on a large sloping block that is very undulating and requires a substantial amount of cut and fill. To complete this project, Walsh installed the Topcon 3D GPS+ machine control from Aptella on his Hitachi Zaxis 13-ton excavator. “The Topcon 3D GPS+ system has meant that we have no people on the ground for starters and I think we’ve saved ourselves up to maybe four blokes on the ground. It means we can use smaller excavators if required because we’re so much more efficient with what we do,” said Brendan Walsh, Director, Ground Technique.
Sokkia introduces the latest addition to its iM line of manual total stations designed to provide powerful performance in an affordable package — the iM-50. “Whether operators need an instrument for jobs such as site layout or perhaps as-built survey, the iM-50 offers the perfect solution with high-end performance and exceptional functionality,” said Ray Kerwin, director of global surveying products. The iM-50 EDM features a prism range of up to 4,000 m and up to 500 m in reflectorless mode with a 1.5 mm/2 ppm accuracy. “The beam can precisely measure walls, corners, manholes on the road surface, even chain-link fences and tree branches. It offers a rapid distance measurement of 0.9 seconds regardless of the target,” he
Topcon Positioning Group announces an addition to its GM line of manual total stations designed to provide fast and accurate measurements in a cost-efficient package — the GM-50. “In a compact and sleek design, the GM-50 offers high-end performance and exceptional functionality for jobs such as site layout or as-built survey,” said Ray Kerwin, director of global surveying products. The beam is designed to offer a rapid distance measurement of 0.9 seconds regardless of the target. “The GM-50 EDM features a prism range of up to 4,000 m and up to 500 m in reflectorless mode with an incredible 1.5 mm/2 ppm accuracy for accurate measurements in most any entry-level survey or layout application,” said Kerwin. The instrument
Aptella is investing in the expertise, infrastructure and research to future proof the AllDayRTK national Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) network solution. Aptella has teamed up with Ricoh, a leader in hyperconverged infrastructure solutions, to design and implement a new processing platform to improve the AllDayRTK national CORS network. The main aim of this collaboration is to minimise the latency, or time of processing, when computing very large amounts of CORS data. Hyperconverged architecture is hardware that can combine the processing resources of CPU/RAM with the storage device into a single hardware unit. The platform reduces the amount of data flow between different hardware elements (such as servers and storage devices) because all these devices are physically on
Hiring machine control for graders: why ownership is not nine-tenths of the job! By Joel Seddon Previously, I have explored the current situation with grader machine control in Australia, the different options available and why there is still so much to be gained from the technology with so many more motor graders yet to realise its benefits. This time, I will look at how motor graders are used on large-scale projects and the increasing trend towards hiring 3D machine control for this powerful and crucial piece of machinery. In Australia, the uptake of machine control for graders has been high compared with other markets around the world, with between 15-20% of all machines now fitted with some form
Aptella hosted The Constructioneering Academy in Brisbane with Topcon and Bentley Institute. The Constructioneering Academy brought Australian industry leaders together to tackle data silos and accelerate civil infrastructure workflows between contractors, engineers, surveyors and owners. The Constructioneering Academy was designed to allow construction industry professionals to learn best practices for constructioneering, a process of managing and integrating survey, engineering and construction data, to streamline construction workflows and improve project delivery. The Constructioneering Academy was attended by surveyors, engineers, contractors and owners. This event provided civil design build professionals information on the digital construction process and how to leverage mass data, design models and automated machine control to improve project efficiency. Attendees of The Constructioneering Academy were given the
Topcon Positioning Group announces the MAGNET® Enterprise software system has been updated to expand integration with Autodesk solutions through a new Autodesk BIM 360 cloud connection. The integration with BIM 360 is designed to allow MAGNET Enterprise operators to manage 2D plans, 3D models, and any other project documents in the BIM 360 or Autodesk A360 Drive environments. The software is designed to streamline document management bi-directionally between the field and office and provide a dedicated location for sharing and saving the most updated project files. “The BIM 360 integration allows construction teams to perform field layout from building plans stored in the Autodesk cloud or collect survey and positioning data that can be directly uploaded to BIM
