Total station - uses and mining:

Uses:-

Total stations are mainly used by land surveyors and Civil Engineers, either to record features as in Topographic Surveying or to set out features (such as roads, houses or boundaries). They are also used by archaeologists to record excavations and by police, crime scene investigators, private accident reconstructionists and insurance companies to take measurements of scenes.

Mining:-Total stations are the primary survey instrument used in miningsurveying. A total station is used to record the absolute location of the tunnel walls , ceilings (backs), and floors as the drifts of an underground mine are driven. The recorded data are then downloaded into a CAD program, and compared to the designed layout of the tunnel.

The survey party installs control stations at regular intervals. These are small steel plugs installed in pairs in holes drilled into walls or the back. For wall stations, two plugs are installed in opposite walls, forming a line perpendicular to the drift. For back stations, two plugs are installed in the back, forming a line parallel to the drift.

A set of plugs can be used to locate the total station set up in a drift or tunnel by processing measurements to the plugs by intersection and resection.