Survey Robot Using Satellite GPS

In Japan, many large projects have been undertaken such as the 513-hectare artificial island of Kansai International Airport and the about 1,000-hectare offshore development project of Haneda International Airport. In case of civil engineering works involving such a wide area, it is important from the view point of construction management that daily topographic survey be made quickly. GPS is an abbreviation for Global Positioning System, which measures three dimensional coordinates by receiving microwaves from artificial satellites. By loading this receiver on a vehicle, the survey robot measures the topography at 0.5 second intervals while the vehicle is running. This robot was used in the reclamation work of Kansai International Airport development project. It has accomplished the three-dimensional topographic survey at 4,000 points in an area of 20 ha in only two hours. One further application of this robot is unmanned surveying for golf courses.