The term “Robotics” applies to Geodimeter (Trimble 5600), Leica robotic and Topcon robotics instruments. The Robotics tab has some variations per equipment type.

Arrow Keys for Joystick

Alt J will take you directly to the robotics dialog from elsewhere in the program.  The arrow-key motion is sometimes referred to as the Joystick Speed.

Leica: Tapping in the direction you want (e.g. up) once goes slow, two taps medium and 3 taps fast speed.  Tapping the other direction (e.g. down) stops the movement.

Geodimeter/Trimble: Press the arrow key once. After a small delay, the instrument will move an incrimental amount. Do not rush too many presses as they all will be completed.

Topcon: Holding down the arrow keys on the keypad of the CE data collector allows you to move the base instrument up and down, left and right.  When you release the key, the motion stops.

• Search: Search will initiate a Search and look for the prism or reflector.  For Leica Search initiates an ATR search. Pressing the Search or Quick-Lock buttons will lock the instrument to the prism and put the instrument back into “tracking” mode.
• Powersearch: For Leica, the PowerSearch option will conduct a “fast search” taking typically less than 10 seconds.  PowerSearch will find the prism no matter what direction the instrument is pointing.
• QuickLock: Topcon has an additional search option called Quick-Lock which appears when configured for Topcon 800/8000 Remote using RC2.  A Quick-Lock search will find the prism in less than 15 seconds.
• Standby: Standby takes the instrument out of “tracking” mode and allows the user to set the prism pole down to drive a stake for example.
• Turn to Angle: This button opens an additional dialog that prompts you for the angle to turn (which can be entered, picked from the Map, or point-based). See the figure below. You can turn to a known point number or to an entered horizontal and zenith angle using “Turn Angle”.  “Search After Turn” searches and locks on a prism after turning the angle (potentially changing slightly the computed angle).  Change Face reverses the face.  The lower three buttons (Turn Left 90, Turn 180 and Turn Right 90) are common angle turns and minimize user entry when needed.

• Settings: This button leads to a series of Settings screens that allow you to dial in the speed of motion, range of motion and other factors governing arrow key-driven movement and automatic searching.