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ISRIMT-2022 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2402 (2022) 012037 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2402/1/012037

The Research on the Mobile Measuring Robot Technology

Kaiqiang Wanga, Di Lib, Lifei Lic, Shengfeng Chid

China Institute of Advanced Technology in Architecture CSCEC.3B Wuhan, China
a
814291651@qq.com
b
544292946@qq.com
c
312442091@qq.com
d
149617323@qq.com

Abstract—At present, the traditional construction method of engineering measurement relies

on the cooperation of many people, who need to manually level the measuring instruments to
measure and set them point by point, which has low construction efficiency and cannot meet
the application requirements of modern engineering construction measurement. Therefore, it is
necessary to develop mobile measuring robots. This paper mainly studies the model, operation
flow, measurement accuracy, and data stability of the mobile measuring robot. The results
show that the mobile measuring robot has high measurement efficiency, measurement accuracy,
and data stability, and can replace the traditional survey for measurement construction.

1. INTRODUCTION
The road is generally composed of multiple functional structure layers. The surface elevation
measurement of each layer is the key to controlling the construction quality and cost [1]. In the
construction process of road engineering pavement, the measurement before construction and
completion should be done adequately to ensure the accuracy of the measurement in the whole
construction process. The traditional road measurement has a large workload, a large number of
personnel, a long period, and poor real-time performance of manual data recording and analysis. This
paper mainly studies the mobile measurement robot model and operation process, the measurement
accuracy, and the data stability of the mobile measurement robot. It can be seen that the use of mobile
measuring robots instead of manual elevation measurements can reduce the number of construction
personnel, improve the efficiency of construction measurement, improve the quality of construction
measurement, and improve the real-time performance of data analysis.
The mobile measuring robot takes prisms with known coordinates on both sides of the road as the
positioning reference and uses the AGV trolley to carry intelligent total station to achieve high
precision measurement of the road. The measurement accuracy can be less than 2 mm, which fully
meets the MM-level accuracy requirements of road construction. The robot has been fully equipped
with the application conditions of the highway construction site and can be extended to bridges, tunnels,
airports, and other application scenarios in the future. Compared with the traditional measurement
method, the robot measurement can not only reduce the measurement personnel by more than 70%,
improve the measurement efficiency by more than 5 times, and increase the density of measurement
data by more than 3 times but also realize the high-precision measurement and lofting at night,
providing technical support for the smooth performance of the project. With the aging of China’s

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ISRIMT-2022 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2402 (2022) 012037 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2402/1/012037

population and the increase in labor costs, it will be an inevitable trend to replace traditional surveyors
with measuring robots, which also has a great market prospect.

2. MODEL AND FLOW CHART OF MOBILE MEASURING ROBOT

The mobile measuring robot uses the triangular elevation method of the total station to replace the
traditional leveling method to realize the high-precision measurement of the surface. The measurement
accuracy is mainly guaranteed by the mobile station setting accuracy of the robot and the prism-free
measurement at close range.

2.1. The model of the mobile measuring robot

The mobile measurement robot is composed of the AVG trolley, the intelligent total station, an
automatic leveling device, and a navigation device, as shown in Figure 1. The mobile measuring robot
uses the AGV trolley to carry the intelligent total station. After the AGV trolley travels to the target
measuring station, it first completes the automatic leveling of the equipment and then irradiates the
prisms with known coordinates distributed on both sides of the road to set up the station. After the
station is set up, the total station obtains its accurate coordinates and then uses the prism-free measuring
function of the total station to complete the measurement tasks of the front and rear sections.

Figure 1. The model of the mobile measuring robot

2.2. The flow chart of the mobile measuring robot

The schematic diagram of the measuring principle of the mobile measuring robot is shown in Figure 2.
After the mobile measuring robot arrives at the construction site, three 360°prisms are set up according
to the planned prism position coordinates, and then the robot system begins to enter the standby state.
When the system receives the instruction from the surveying personnel, it starts to detect the inclination
angle of the positioning base plate of the total station, and then starts the self-leveling device to move
the positioning base plate to the water state. Then, the automatic station setting of the total station is
carried out by using the principle of rear intersection. After the robot station setting is completed, the
robot navigation system will automatically plan a travel route according to the measured coordinates of
the current position and the target position extracted from the BIM model [2] and then start the robot’s
traveling device to stop near the target position [3]. The system will complete the automatic leveling
and automatic station setting of the total station again and then use the prism-free measurement function
to measure the actual coordinates of all the points to be measured. After all the stations are completed,
the prism is moved to the next planned position, and the previous measurement process is repeated. The
operation flow diagram of the mobile measurement robot is shown in Figure 3.

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ISRIMT-2022 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2402 (2022) 012037 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2402/1/012037

Figure 2. Schematic diagram of measuring principle of mobile measuring robot

Figure 3. Operation flow diagram of the mobile measurement robot

3. MEASUREMENT ACCURACY AND DATA STABILITY OF MOBILE MEASURING

ROBOT

3.1. Automatic station setting accuracy of mobile measuring robot

To verify the accuracy of the automatic station setting achieved by the automatic irradiation prism,
three 360°prisms (TW01, TW02, and TW03) and a prism-free measurement marker (TW04) were
arranged on site. Then the total station was set up at any point (TN01), and an initial coordinate and
azimuth Angle was assumed for the total station. The manual operation and the total station
respectively measured three 360°prism and a marker point coordinate data in the assumed coordinate
system, then the coordinates of the measured data were taken as the known points, and the total station
was moved to another designated point (TN02), after opening the automatic station function of total
station, the total station began to automatically search the scene of the three “known” coordinates of a
prism, After the automatic station setting was completed, the coordinate values of three prisms and one
prism-free point were measured. To increase the comparison data, the total station was moved to
another point (TN03), and the above automatic station setting and measurement process were repeated.
Figure 4 shows the test method diagram of the automatic station setting accuracy of the total station of
the mobile measuring robot [4]. The comparison of the accuracy test data of the total station automatic
station setting is shown in Table 1. It can be seen from the test data that the automatic station setting

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ISRIMT-2022 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2402 (2022) 012037 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2402/1/012037

accuracy of the total station at different positions is high, which fully meets the MM-level accuracy
requirements for pavement construction measurement.

Figure 4. The test method diagram of automatic station setting accuracy of the total station of mobile
measuring robot

Table 1. Comparison table of test data of automatic station setting accuracy of total station instrument
Number X (m) Y (m) Z (m) ΔX (mm) ΔY (mm) ΔZ (mm) Remark
TW01 9.2957 -1.953 0.0958 / / / Three 360°prisms
TW02 10.8324 5.7573 0.1102 / / / arranged at known
TW03 4.9746 5.5385 0.1098 / / / coordinate positions
TW04 13.7009 6.0555 0.4621 / / / Known marker point
TW01A 9.2957 -1.9528 0.0956 0.0 -0.2 0.2 Coordinate data and
TW02A 10.8319 5.7571 0.1100 0.5 0.2 0.2 deviation measured
TW03A 4.9751 5.5385 0.1092 -0.5 0.0 0.6 after the first station
TW04A 13.7011 6.0559 0.4621 -0.2 -0.4 0.0 setup
TW01B 9.2959 -1.9537 0.0958 -0.2 0.9 -0.1 Coordinate data and
TW02B 10.8322 5.7576 0.1103 -0.3 -0.5 -0.3 deviation measured
TW03B 4.9746 5.5389 0.1098 0.4 -0.4 -0.5 after the second
TW04B 13.7006 6.0555 0.4619 0.5 0.4 0.2 station setup
TW01C 9.2952 -1.9520 0.0957 0.7 -1.6 0.1 Coordinate data and
TW02C 10.8319 5.7572 0.1103 0.3 0.3 0.0 deviation measured
TW03C 4.9756 5.5376 0.1098 -0.9 1.3 0.0 after the third station
TW04C 13.7008 6.0555 0.4621 -0.2 0.0 -0.2 setup

3.2. Prism-free ranging accuracy of mobile measuring robot

Prism-free ranging, also called contact-free ranging, means that no prism is needed as the irradiation
target, and the total station measures the distance by receiving the laser beam that irradiates the surface
of the object and undergoes diffuse reflection. Assuming that the speed of light propagation in the air is
C, and the time required for A round trip between two points A and B is t, the distance D between two
points A and B can be expressed by Formula 1. In the formula, D represents the distance between two
points of stations A and B, c represents the speed of light propagation in the atmosphere, and t
represents the time required to travel from A to B and back. It can be seen from the formula that the
prism-free range of the total station is achieved by measuring the time difference of the laser beam
between A and B.
D = ct/2 (1)
Seven points to be measured are arranged on the site. To compare the difference in accuracy
between the prism-free total station and the prismatic total station, the total station can be fixed and
erected at the same location, and the coordinates of the calibration points at different distances from the
total station can be measured. The first time the total station is measured by erecting a prism on the
center pole, and the second time the coordinates of the calibration point are directly measured by the
total station without a prism, and then the coordinate data of the two measurements are compared. The
schematic diagram of the prism-free distance measurement verification method of the mobile
measurement robot total station is shown in Figure 5. Table 2 shows the comparison table of prism-
free-ranging test data of the mobile measuring robot’s total station. Through comparison, it is found that
the measurement accuracy of the total station without a prism is extremely high within 15 meters, and it
can basically reach the accuracy level of prism measurement.

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ISRIMT-2022 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2402 (2022) 012037 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2402/1/012037

Figure 5. The schematic diagram of the prism-free distance measurement verification method of the
mobile measurement robot total station

Table 2. Comparison of prism-free ranging test data of total station of mobile measuring robot
360 °Prism measurement Prism free measurement Deviation analysis
Number ΔX ΔY ΔZ
X (m) Y (m) Z (m) X’ (m) Y’ (m) Z’ (m)
/mm /mm /mm
1 -5.5378 0.1192 -1.4924 -5.5356 0.1190 -1.4917 -2.1 0.2 -0.7
2 -10.8096 0.7122 -1.5299 -10.8052 0.7115 -1.5293 -4.4 0.6 -0.6
3 -16.1800 1.1700 -1.5945 -16.1728 1.1690 -1.5938 -7.2 0.9 -0.7
4 -21.4480 1.4272 -1.6633 -21.4187 1.4250 -1.6608 -29.2 2.3 -2.5
5 -26.6822 1.4629 -1.7410 -26.6378 1.4603 -1.7381 -44.4 2.6 -2.9
6 -32.0472 1.9448 -1.8228 -31.9800 1.9406 -1.8188 -67.2 4.2 -3.9
7 -37.4189 2.3589 -1.8831 -37.3080 2.3513 -1.8777 -110.9 7.6 -5.4
8 -42.6005 2.6883 -1.9511 -42.4246 2.6770 -1.9433 -175.9 11.3 -7.8
9 -47.9072 2.9972 -2.0284 -47.7081 2.9844 -2.0203 -199.1 12.9 -8.2
10 -53.1594 3.3727 -2.0887 -53.0299 3.3640 -2.0828 -129.6 8.7 -5.8

3.3. Comprehensive measurement accuracy of mobile measuring robot

In the middle of the two reference points in the test section, the mobile measuring robot evenly laid five
detection points every 10 m in the middle of the vertical road and laid a total of 60 detection points. The
points were marked with spray paint, and the plane coordinates were collected by RTK [5]. Then, the
Leica DNA03 high precision electronic level and indium tile level scale were used to collect the
elevation. The elevation value obtained by leveling measurement was used as the standard value of the
elevation measurement accuracy test of the road robot cross-section fragments [6]. The plane
coordinates of the detection points were organized according to the format read by the software, and the
coordinates and elevation of the control points were set. The road-measuring robot was controlled to
measure the detection point. The elevation measurement accuracy SH is calculated according to
Formula 2, where Hi represents the elevation measurement value of the number i detection point,
Hi represents the elevation datum value of the number i detection point, and N represents the number of
detection points. Table 3 shows the partial data of elevation measurement of the mobile measuring
robot. The elevation measurement error diagram of the mobile measuring robot is shown in Figure 6.
2
SH =
(
 in=1 Hi − Hi )
n (2)
Table 3. The partial data of elevation measurement of the mobile measuring robot
First Second Third
Serial Measurement Measurement Measurement
Number
ΔH (mm) ΔH (mm) ΔH (mm)
1 0.1 -0.6 -1.4
2 -0.7 0.2 0.7
3 -0.5 -0.2 -0.9

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ISRIMT-2022 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2402 (2022) 012037 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2402/1/012037

4 -1.1 -0.8 -1.5

5 -2.4 -1.6 -2.9
6 -1.9 -1.3 -1.9
7 -1.9 -1.1 -2.1
8 -1.8 -1.6 -2.2
9 -3.6 -0.6 -2.3
10 -2.8 -2.3 -2.9
11 -1.1 -0.5 -1.6
12 -0.9 -0.6 -1.7
13 -1.8 -1.1 -1.8
14 -0.8 -0.6 -1.6
15 -1.3 -0.4 -1.3
16 -1.2 -0.9 -1.6
17 -1.5 -0.9 -3.4
18 -2.8 -1.8 -2.9
19 -1.7 -1.3 -2.6
20 -1.6 -1 -2.77
21 -2.6 -1 -2.8
22 -2.9 -1.8 -3.5
23 -1.8 -1.9 -2.8
24 -1.6 -1 -2.1
25 -2.5 -2 -3

Figure 6. The elevation measurement error diagram of the mobile measuring robot

The elevation accuracy SH data calculated according to Formula 2 is shown in Table 4.

Table 4. The elevation accuracy SH data calculated

Number Elevation accuracy/mm Remark
First 1.9 Normal
Second 1.2 Normal
Third 2.0 Normal

Finally, according to the three groups of data, the elevation accuracy SH was calculated to be 2.0 mm.
The height measurement accuracy of the mobile measuring robot can be within 2.0 mm.

3.4. Data stability of mobile measuring robot

Using the mobile measuring robot to select 12 detection points in the same station, the road measuring
robot is controlled to carry out coordinate and elevation measurements. Each detection point is
measured five times, and the elevation measurement stability m H is calculated according to Formula 3,
where Hij represents the number j elevation measurement value of the number i detection point,
Hi represents the average elevation measurement value of the number i detection point, M represents
the measurement times of each detection point, and N represents the number of detection points. A total
of 12 groups of 5 data are collected, with a total of 60 data. The difference distribution between the
measured values and the average values of each group is shown in Figure 7, and the repeatability test
error statistics of the mobile measuring robot are shown in Figure 8.

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ISRIMT-2022 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2402 (2022) 012037 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2402/1/012037

( )
2
 in=1  m
j=1 Hij − Hij
mH =
(
m n −1 ) (3)

Figure 7. The difference distribution between the measured values and the average values of each group

Figure 8. The repeatability test error statistics of mobile measuring robot

According to Formula 3, the measurement stability is 0.2 mm.

4. CONCLUSION
In this paper, through the study of the mobile measuring robot model and operation flow, mobile
measuring robot measurement accuracy, and data stability, it can be seen that the mobile measuring
robot total station in different positions of automatic station setting accuracy is high, which fully meets
the road construction measurement of MM-level accuracy requirements; Within 15 meters, the prism-
free measurement precision of the total station is very high, which can basically reach the precision
level of the prism-equipped measurement. The height measurement accuracy of the mobile measuring
robot can reach within 2.0 mm. The measurement stability of the mobile measurement robot is 0.2 mm.
Through the above research and analysis, it is verified that the measurement robot has high accuracy
and data stability in the measurement and construction, and can completely replace the traditional
manual for road survey construction sites. Further research will be carried out in the following aspects,
such as the distance between prisms set up by mobile measuring robots in the field, the influence of
prism models on station setting accuracy, the influence of windy weather and passing construction
vehicles on station setting and measuring accuracy, and night measurement, which can further improve
the measuring accuracy of mobile measuring robots in various situations.

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ISRIMT-2022 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2402 (2022) 012037 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2402/1/012037

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