Scholarly record

TESTING THE PRECISION OF GEODETIC INSTRUMENTS ACCORDING TO INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

G. Novakovic, Z. Kapovic, R. Paar, A. Bakija

Abstract

Standardisation and participation in the processes of developing standards are becoming increasingly important for the surveying profession. Application of standards is a very important part in the process for Quality Management (QM). A key role in developing standards has The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), a worldwide federation of national standards bodies from almost 150 countries. However, in many cases the prescribed standards are not appropriate for practising professionals, so that the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) involved in process of standardisation, closely working with other international bodies representing surveyors at some ISO Technical Committees (e.g. ISO/TC 172 Sub-Committee 6 – Geodetic and Surveying Instruments), attempting to make standards more relevant to practising surveyors. Except this, for testing geodetic instruments, two or three standards existed for each type of instruments, which complicated the choice for their application. The result of this cooperation is revised standards in the ISO 17123 series, which define two sets of tests – one for the practitioner and the other for the calibration facility. Standards for geodetic instruments prescribe the procedure to determine the precision of the measuring system used, so that the users can evaluate the performance of their instruments in relation to the manufacturer/s specifications. This paper describes some activities on standardisation in the field of geodetic instruments, accomplished with the example of "full test procedure" for determining of the achievable precision of Leica TCR 1203 Total Station, according to ISO 17123-3 (test procedures for horizontal directions and vertical angles) and ISO 17123-4 (test procedures for distances).

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