There's a lot of discussion in the media lately about robotics (when they're not freaking out about UAVs) with particular emphasis on whether or not robots are good or bad for society, particularly their effect on the work force.
Much of the discussion centers on the near future, focuses on the negatives of robotics, and entirely misses that the land surveying industry has and is already going through this robotic revolution. I am writing an article on this subject and would appreciate your feedback on the influence of robotics in our industry- good and bad.
Related to this discussion, I came across this Popular Science article titled "THIS BRICKLAYING ROBOT CAN BUILD A HOUSE IN TWO DAYS". You can read it here: http://www.popsci.com/australian-robot-will-shift-bricks
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My observation is not "how many jobs have robots replaced?" but "how many jobs (companies) have robots already saved?" I'm using "robot" here is a stand-in for technology generally, GPS included. Technology, including remote deed and project research, in-house printing, voicemail, smart phones, etc., has enabled me, and others, to be incredibly productive with very few people. I have little doubt that technology has saved my company. Clients are not willing to pay overhead for both me and a large staff. Were it not for technology, I would have had to close my doors many years ago. We barely survived the housing crash as it is. I know many who didn't. Technology is a blessing that has made me far more productive and profitable that I would otherwise be, not a curse.
I think that’s the line of thinking that has caused our profession to increase the freefall into nonexistence.
Technology has enabled you to replace people and potential future survey professionals with machines and lower your prices to the point that it is not profitable for other professionals to continue in the survey field. Saying that lowering your prices to perform a task is good for the profession is a shame. Business is controlled by supply and demand not price. If it takes a 3 person crew to do a job and the price comes to $3000 and all the surveyors are using a three person crew to do the work they all will probably end up similar in price. When one company decides they can purchase some new tech equipment and spend less than they could for two employees so they can do the job for $2000 they are not creating work they are simply getting less money for the same product. They are doing the work because they are charging less than their competitors not because the client would choose not to do the work if it cost the $3000 it used to.
If all the satellites got taken out because of a solar flare that would not be the end of surveying it would simply mean that the effort would need to increase and the costs would go up.
I think striving for the lowest cut rate prices is the wrong direction for something that is supposed to be a professional product.
One thing technology has done is allow a huge percentage of what used to be done by professional surveyors to be done by people that have very little qualifications.
I am a land surveying business owner and I replaced an instrument man with a robot. Not because I wanted to but because my competitors had done the same and driven the price down to a point that an employee was more $ costly than a machine. I think “robots” will continue to be the reason the profession is disappearing and it is now thought of more as a “trade” like mechanic or brick layer.
I don't think you are looking very hard...ground penetrating radar was used on a 150 year old "major intersection" in Adelaide, South Australia a few years ago. They produced a centimeter accuracy map of everything between 150mm and 6m below the intersection and adjacent - only 3 weeks of field work....it took 3 years to re-cable and redirect the pipes, drains etc before they could create an underpass. Without this "Robot" it would have taken 10 years to relocate everything; this was more a case of a robot making a project possible rather than replacing manpower.
Its one thing to get a robot to perform a repetitive, automated task such as bricklaying or moving containers, it's another to have one solve an ident survey or make changes in the field as they are needed. I think a long bow is being drawn here.
Yes! you are right but the emphasis on surveying skills in the field is important in geodetic disciplines. However, for surveying and engineering the skill set has changed dramatically since the year 2000. In many western countries the Degree in Surveying has been replaced by degrees in Geographical Resource Management....including a small section on Geodetic Survey. The legal application side of Surveying has moved to a smaller niche realm as the technology has developed into a computer based modelling system rather than plotting a set of information on the ground. I have seen complete infrastructure systems designed from a detailed topographical model produced by survey technicians then the whole virtual and completed model fed into machines controlled by the desktop design....Engineers and Surveyors only monitoring the progress with Robotic TS and/or GPS to confirm the model on the ground as built. Unfortunately, the technology is $ driven so the need for the specialist surveyor and engineer in the field will be about in many countries for another 10-15 years.
I don't think there is as much to worry from intrusion of Robots (Total Station) as we will see with the introduction of RTK GPS technology....the field surveyor is fast being replaced by field technicians collecting position data and the CAD operator using advanced survey programs (Carlson products) is becoming the designer and expert.
In a develop world nearly but in Africa continent not yet there,may be in next two generation to come
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