DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: A New Modeling Approach for a Priori Uncertainties of Laser Tracker Angle Measurements

Journal Article · · Journal of Surveying Engineering

Methods for modeling the uncertainty in laser tracker angle measurements vary within the metrology industry, leading to confusion and questionable stochastic modeling for survey network adjustments and error propagation analysis. Interpreting the published laser tracker manufacturer performance specifications to determine an a priori sigma value for weighting azimuth and zenith angle measurements can be confusing and has led to differing implementations. Furthermore, this paper proposes a unique way to model survey network a priori laser tracker angular uncertainties based on laser tracker manufacturers’ published maximum permissible error (MPE) values referenced to current standards for weighting survey network measurements. This paper’s proposed model takes into account the disparate effects that pointing errors, target centering errors, and leveling errors have on azimuth and zenith angular uncertainties for measurements with steep sightings and at near ranges.

Research Organization:
Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0000661
OSTI ID:
1986434
Journal Information:
Journal of Surveying Engineering, Vol. 149, Issue 4; ISSN 0733-9453
Publisher:
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (6)

Three-Dimensional Network Adjustment of Laser Tracker Measurements for Large-Scale Metrology Applications journal February 2021
ASME B89.4.19 Performance Evaluation Tests and Geometric Misalignments in Laser Trackers journal January 2009
Measuring scale errors in a laser tracker's horizontal angle encoder through simple length measurement and two-face system tests journal September 2010
Measurement Uncertainty, Traceavility, and the GUM journal August 2007
Efficient empirical determination of maximum permissible error in coordinate metrology journal July 2021
Performance evaluation of laser trackers using the network method journal December 2020

Figures / Tables (11)