I-Site 8810 Integrated Bluetooth GPS Communication

Over the years, laser scanning has continually solved problems for surveyors. Scanners have allowed us to increase our data output and accuracy tremendously. Rather than relying on 10 or 20 points to calculate volumes, we can now do it using millions of points in a fraction of the time. There is no question that laser scanning has increased the amount of work a surveyor can complete in a single day, but that increase in productivity is paired with other demands.

Advancements in laser scanning technology have allowed surveyors to increase their productivity in the field exponentially. Now acres can be covered in a matter of hours. On the other hand, changes in the weather will sometimes make a project almost unrecoverably behind schedule. Today scanners need to be able to operate in the same harsh environments that surveyors are required to work in. The data produced from scanning must also work easily with other technologies. Many surveyors on the cutting edge of technology utilize and combine the strengths of several different hardware components, as well as multiple software packages, to get the job done. This is great, when things work well.

As a professional in the industry, one of the most common problems I hear about is a corrupt file resulting from the export/import/export/import dance that surveyors have to do to get field data into the computer. This issue is a result of many things. It’s sometimes even as simple as re-naming a file, or converting a survey file from txt format to csv. However, it doesn’t really matter how simple the problem is if you can’t use or fix the file at 8:30 p.m. the night before the quarterly progress meeting.

The Maptek I-Site 8810 has integrated Bluetooth that is programmed to work directly with Trimble rovers, solving these issues entirely. What does that mean for the workflow in the field? Simple. Leave the data collector in the office because all you need is the rover. The I-Site tablet will connect directly to it and give you the ability to store the location of the scanner directly in the scan file. This eliminates the need to meticulously watch the naming convention, export, convert, import, format. When the scan is brought into I-Site Studio, ta-da,  it’s registered. The scanner will also work in rain, snow, wind, etc., so downtime is not an issue.

Few professions are influenced by the ever-changing technological advancements as much as surveying. No company adapts to changes in ways that actually matter to surveyors better than Maptek. This statement has never been more true, and the I-Site 8810 proves it.