A high-tech robot has joined the Craigieburn Road upgrade on the front line to make the job of surveyor’s line marking the road easier and safer.
Major Road Projects Victoria (MRPV) said the state-of-the-art three-wheeler will help surveyors complete work more safely without the strain of bending over to mark dots on the road next to live traffic and allow the line marking of the road to be carried out more efficiently.
The robot – about the size of a domestic lawnmower – will ensure surveyors on the project continue to have the best equipment, and the flexibility to respond to the evolving challenges of road construction, MPRV said.
Dubbed the ‘TinySurveyor Terra’, it is equipped with advanced GPS and automation technology to deliver precise, reliable measurements faster than traditional methods and can autonomously paint extremely precise points, with accuracy of between one and three centimetres.
MRPV and construction partner Fulton Hogan have invested in the surveying technology, which saves surveyors countless hours of manual work and minimises risks to human safety on site.
On the Craigieburn Road upgrade, the robot has been completing surveying activities in around one-fifth of the time that it would normally take to do the job on foot.
This has helped keep surveyors out of the elements and away from live traffic – getting the job done more efficiently, MPRV said.
A major factor of its use is that the surveyor is more situational aware, without the need to constantly look down to the screen attached to the survey device.
The TinySurveyor Terra has been online since July with other similar type robots to hit the beat later this year on other road projects, including the nearby Sunbury Road upgrade.
MPRV senior project manager Dimuth Gammampila said the next-gen surveying robot has quickly become an important tool for the Craigieburn Road upgrade.“Our surveyors are able to be so much more efficient with this newer and technologically advanced robot, as part of our investment to give our team the resources they need to work safely in all areas of construction.”
The Craigieburn Road upgrade is expected to be completed in 2025.
