Geodimeter 600 - Position (Passive Radio Link) - 12

Description

Position driver for Geodimeter 600 total station or an equivalent system, e.g. Trimble S8/VX, Trimble SPS730, that will be connected to Qinsy directly via a serial cable or over the Geodimeter telemetry link.
The Geodimeter should be set up to output it's measurements in a grid format (X/Y/Z) on either primary or secondary (survey) datum. The driver will convert the local grid coordinates to Geographical coordinates with the projection parameters as defined in the template.

The driver can operate in either active or passive mode. In active mode the driver will interrogate the Geodimeter regularly for new position data, in passive mode the driver will only decode data.

Note that the same driver is also used to decode range and angles.

Driver Information

Interfacing Notes

Geodimeter interface parameters can be set using the keyboard, and are default 9600 baud, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity. The latency of the Geodimeter system is the interval between the time of receiving the first byte of the standard output data transmission and the time at which the actual measurements have been made. The Geodimeter telemetry output is an ordinary RS232 output.

Geodimeter Setup and Initialisation

Set up the Geodimeter instrument over a known point (fixed station node). Press the [PWR] button to switch on the instrument. Perform a calibration to determine the corrections to the observations (C-O values) and a station establishment procedure to determine the fixed coordinates of the station node, if needed. Refer for the calibration and station establishment procedures to the GEODIMETER SYSTEM 600 USER MANUAL.

Press the [RPU] button to set up the Geodimeter instrument for remote control. Press [3] to choose remote mode and [1] if no station establishment has to be performed. Set the limits of the search sector and measure towards a reference object, if needed. Press [ENT] or another button to switch over to the remote control.

Geodimeter Radio Channel and Address

The radio channel, telemetry radio address and Geodimeter radio address are read from file GEORADIO.txt which is located in the Qinsy program directory. This file is created the first time the Geodimeter driver is started. It's contents can be changed (before going or while being) online, after which a "Reset I/O" can be given to re-initialise the telemetry link. Only change the numbers; do NOT change the comment strings.

1   GEORADIO CHANNEL
1   GEORADIO ADDRESS
1   GEODI600 ADDRESS

Database Setup

Add an "Object" for the vessel with the target unit. Add a "Fixed Node" for the Geodimeter station. Add a "Variable Node" (on the vessel object) for the target unit to be used for online positioning. Be sure to enter right offsets.

Add a "Position Navigation System" with driver "Geodimeter 600 - Position ....." and the active or passive version. If your instrument outputs the X/Y coordinates in a swapped order then select the "Swap X/Y" version of the driver.
Select on the next page of the wizard the vertical and horizontal datum on which the Geodimeter outputs the positions. This will usually be the secondary (survey) datum.

For the coordinate conversion it is assumed that the Geodimeter outputs it's coordinates in the same survey units as is setup in Qinsy.

Drivers IO Notes

Command line parameter description for "drivers.io" file in Qinsy directory. By default, the Geodimeter 600 driver is initialized in actively radio controlled tracking mode, with a 10 seconds timeout for a lock failure.

Parameter "C" can be used for a RS-232 link; parameters "R" and "A" indicate an active radio link while "P" and "N" initialize a passive radio link (not sending commands). Parameters "L" or "TRK" can be used for tracking mode, while "F" or "STD" are used for standard mode. An integer number (less than 100) can be used to set the count of consecutive lock failure status responses (i.e. the "RG,32" responses), before a message (and target search command) is given. An integer number (greater than 100) can be used to set the time interval (milli­seconds) between sending a command (i.e. the "RG" request) and reading a response.

If the update rate of the Geodimeter system is set to more than one second, the integer number will represent the number of seconds. See below for the driver entries that a presently available in the "drivers.io" file.

In case of an active radio link, using a command delay of 750 ms and with the target check enabled, will mean that only one set of measurements every 1.5 seconds will be read.
Using "NTC" as command line parameter will decrease the measurement interval to 0.75 seconds, but then the driver will not be able to determine of the target lock is lost.
In (default) tracking mode, 0.4 seconds is needed to measure a distance, plus some time to send the data over the radio link, so do not use command delays less than 500 ms.