Just when you thought there was nothing new in the world of Total Stations…
Appearances can be deceptive. If you’re thinking that this is just another total station, you might be pleasantly surprised by the following look under the hood. But why a new total station? Didn’t the technology of such instruments peak in the 1990s? That misconception is a key part of the story. Aside from innovations like hybrid robotic total stations that integrate scanning capabilities, in many ways, robotic total stations have reached a certain familiar combination of form and function that has stood the test of time for decades. Advances along the way may have seemed incrementally subtle.
However, it was inevitable that other technological advances, like AI, would be integrated into these ubiquitous and essential instruments. Various product lines had not added significantly new models in many years. A new wave was overdue, and the new Leica TS20 from Leica Geosystems is one of the first to emerge from this new wave. It may look all too familiar, but that is one of its strengths. Why mess with already effective form factors and features that might require training and altering workflows? Instead, why not focus on solving universal points of pain for users, reducing common sources of error, making it more secure, faster to operate, and improving integration for digital workflows?
Total Stations Rule
If you know, you know. For many surveying activities, a total station is the most effective, if not the only piece of kit that can get the job done. Unlike other tools, it can work indoors, outdoors, and even deep underground, delivering precision and accuracy that other instruments and systems cannot. Every time another tool comes along, some predict it will dethrone total stations. GPS/GNSS did not, scanners did not, and drones did not. There was even the case of a GNSS manufacturer that was developing a (rather comical looking) contraption that some hoped would make total stations obsolete. Apparently, development was suspended years ago.
While other tools can do some aspects of topographic mapping, which had traditionally been done with total stations, the need for discrete, high-precision positions and measurements is still the domain of these essential instruments. The art of total station technology and design has, thankfully, not stood still. What features and innovations are in the new TS20, and what user-identified wish-list items and issues were addressed? Plenty of these, but also, a lot of thought was given to making it ready for the future.
What Leica Geosystems had in mind for a successor to the TS16 was not so much a splashy new type of instrument, but more about taking that which works very well and making it work even better. I often see new instruments that fall into the trap of feeling obligated to add features or design elements to punctuate that something is new. It happens in the design of consumer products, like early electric vehicles that producers felt people might pass up if it did not look like some futuristic ‘land speeder’. And the questionable practice of dropping tactile controls in favor of touch screens. E.g., How many screens full of icons do I have to scroll through just to turn down the radio volume? And there are safety considerations. Thankfully, the TS20 looks, feels, and operates like a total station, no gimmicks, no major changes in the layout of controls, and the housing even looks a lot like previous models.
Familiarity
“It is what our customers value and expect today, and for the future, from a Leica Geosystems total station,” said Hans Martin Zogg, Business Director for Total Stations at Leica Geosystems, part of Hexagon. “It’s accurate. It is of high quality and reliability. It works within our ecosystem, for instance, with Leica Captivate. Users will be very familiar with how to operate our total stations; it connects seamlessly to our GeoCloud Drive online for data transfers, and it can be used with the same accessories. It even comes in the same red boxes; users do not have to change how they work to take advantage of the improvements that come with the TS20. We intend to bring this familiarity to our existing as well as new customers—but it’s also more.”
The development team had a rich resource in customer feedback: comments and suggestions through the distribution, support, and sales network. A lot of “If you make a new total station, could you please integrate this and that?”
While the TS20 might not appear to be much different from, say, the TS16, it was essentially designed from scratch to accommodate improvements and technological advances.
Speed
The Leica TS20 introduces a major departure from the TS16 in its motor technology. While the TS16 uses geared drives, which were an optimal choice at the time, the TS20 features direct drives powered by brushless DC technology.
Now, advanced control integrated with improved angular reading capabilities has the advantage of being not only faster, but quieter and more efficient. Even though it was a web interview with Zogg, when he contrasted the sound and speed of a TS16 with the TS20, I could hear that the latter was noticeably quieter. While magnetic drives, in some other total stations, can be fast and quiet, they can also be annoyingly oversensitive to vibration and problematic in some work environments. The new direct drive in the TS20 is not as susceptible to such external influences.
“We read up to 2500 angles per second,” said Zogg. “This triggers motorization and works like a closed loop. In the past, some manufacturers would have to resort to trade-offs, like a good motor and a slow angle system. Now, we bring both speed and clever steering guidance. This gives us unmatched automation in searching, finding, aiming, and following.” And there’s some AI sauce that we’ll examine later.
Connectivity and Security
The TS20 flips the script on field connectivity. For typical field instruments, the controller/tablet is the connectivity hub (I.e., built-in modem/SIM, or Wi-Fi). To upload data to the cloud, many legacy total stations go through the controller. The TS20 has its own web connectivity, transferring data directly from the instrument. This is also a plus for folks who prefer to work directly through the faceplate.
This mobile connectivity is part of what they call the sensor and data services. There’s an integrated 4G LTE modem with eSIM support. And there is a noteworthy upgrade to instrument location management and theft protection services. The TS20 features indoor and outdoor positioning, leveraging A-GNSS, WLAN, and Cellular locating, with up to 1-minute position update rate. The battery can provide location for up to 5 days. Through the desktop, or with a phone app, you can locate and manage your instruments.
You can lock your instrument for the night, weekend, etc., via the app. If stolen, you report it through the app, and this will automatically trigger the Leica Geosystems database to essentially “brick” the unit and flag it if it is ever submitted for service. While theft is an often unavoidable reality, it is hoped that the prospect of facing such lockout measures will make these units much less attractive for the illicit resale market. And, if someone tries to tamper with a TS20, like opening a panel, it will lock itself.
IP66 Protection
“We have seen that surveyors basically just set up the total station without any protection like umbrellas,” said Zogg. “They need to survey whether it’s raining, whether it’s very hot, whether there’s sandstorms, and more. It’s the first robotic total station with IP66 protection to really ensure that it will run independent of the environmental conditions.”
The process to achieve an IP66 rating requires tests with water deluge, dust exposure, etc., done in the lab and factory. There were also practical field trials to make search, aim and measure more robust in challenging conditions. For example, field training of the new AI-powered ATR and PowerSearch were done in the harsh wet climates of the west coast of Wales. The TS20 had no issues. I find this particularly noteworthy, as we share a similar harsh climate here along the coast of the Pacific Northwest of the U.S., where skipping rainy days is not an option.
AutoPole Operation
The TS20 can be used with standard poles and targets, but also in conjunction with a Leica AP20 AutoPole (the first prism pole with tilt, auto measure-up, and target recognition), with a few improvements. With an MS60 Multistation or TS16, you need a special dual-radio handle. The TS20 has done away with radio handles; the radio is built in. “This total station delivers an up to 25 Hertz distance measurement rate,” said Zogg. “This not only speeds up machine guidance usage, but it also means a fast initialization of the AP20 tilt. You almost don’t need to move the pole; it immediately gets initialized.”
AI Detect
Imagine not having to worry about inputting the wrong prism constant, like when new crew members mistake prism types. There might be a lot of AI hype out there, but in geomatics and surveying, both in instruments and processing, AI is doing some amazing behind-the-scenes heroics. A reality capture example is point cloud classification (PCC). While PCC has been around for decades, typically using machine learning type AI, now, with neural network-type AI, much more can be processed in less time. It was inevitable that the leveraging of AI would come to total stations.
“This is the first total station with a neural processing unit in it; we use a lot of AI,” said Zogg. “We trained this total station with thousands of pictures and continue to train it to recognize prisms and tape targets in challenging conditions. And we do this in different environmental conditions: time of day, lighting conditions, through vegetation, and in different weather.”
“I compare target type detection to a warning system in my car,” said Zogg. “When a traffic sign comes into view, it recognizes it and gives me a warning. It is the same with the TS20; it gives you a warning from prism to minimize mistakes. With this, we can make the target aiming stronger and a lot more reliable in recognizing the right prism type.”
The training to detect prisms and targets will continue. This is not done directly on the user’s instrument. Instead, new prisms and targets can be trained by the Leica Geosystems R&D and added via software updates. This is in keeping with the user data security goals: the user’s data is their own and controlled by them alone.
AI Follow
A feature to be added to the TS20, sometime in 2026, is a new tracking function. Leveraging AI for recognition, but also prediction, could help with another common point of pain. For example, I was impressed with the AP20 AutoPole but had to be a bit careful and deliberate when moving around and behind things on the site. While the addition of, say, the small GS05 GNSS rover to the pole can help with tracking, this pending AI enhancement sounds even better. If it works as planned, this should greatly reduce the loss of lock.
This example of computer vision and AI for target recognition will be added via a software update. And who knows what others could be added. I’m sure I will not be alone in coming up with suggestions of what we hope could be done with the onboard AI.
Because of all the new automation and data processing, the TS20 has a new, bigger 6-cell battery which typically lasts 5 hours.
As Zogg noted, the tag line for the TS20 is “Be Ready”. This is a nod to the IP66 rating to work in more environmental conditions, the automation features, and the ability to get up to speed rapidly on the instrument as it operates in a familiar manner within the existing Leica Geosystems ecosystem. But also, as Zogg said: “The total station itself is ready… ready for the future. It can grow. It will grow in the future, with software upgrades and additional functionalities, which will come over time”.
I would suggest looking at the datasheet for the TS20; there are some other performance enhancements. There are 3 models, depending on which features you prioritize. Overall, the TS20 is an intriguing example of valuing familiarity while making this essential instrument much smarter. Beep on!