Introduction to Gear and Apps for Measured Surveys
Table of Contents
This post is a response to many reader questions asking for advice on measured survey gear, kit, tech…
I don’t do so much surveying these days, but my method was always laser disto, tape measure and pen and paper. I never used any phone apps or other more technical kit available. This is partly because I trust my laser more than I would trust a phone app, and in terms of more technical equipment, the size of my surveys did not require it.Â
So, I set about doing some research into the best options for people that want use more than just a laser or tape measure to carry out a survey. There are a wide range of options available – from Leica who specialise in a range of equipment from high end total scanning equipment costing thousands, right down to great quality laser distos for the small time surveyor like me!
We then have a range of apps that claim to be able to measure a room, or create a floor plan from a photo or from your phone…. I was excited to explore these options. After coming across quite a few disappointing apps, I finally found the likes of RoomScan, Magic Plan. These apps seem to work well, and are a step above their competitors. However, if you are working on a renovation project where the dimensions are crucial, I would be slightly concerned about accuracy (but that’s just me).Â
I would really love to hear your thoughts on this, so please, if you have any recommendations or suggestions – let me know in the comments and I can look at adding your ideas to the post.Â
It would be great if this could become a community generated post – taking expertise and advice from my readers – after all, I’m sure you all know more about this than me, so I would be very grateful for your thoughts.Â
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Gear for Measured Surveys
So, to get started.
Leica BLK3D
Leica are the leaders in all things survey and lasers!
This is a fairly new piece from Leica and video below shows it in action. Unfortunately this has a heavy price tag, so it might not be for everyone.
https://leica-geosystems.com/en-gb/products/3d-imager/leica-blk3d
Leica 3D Disto
The 3D disto captures complex 3D measurements using laser achieving highly accurate information. This is an interesting piece of kit from them. It is not for your everyday survey, and has a hefty price tag, but worth a little look.
https://shop.leica-geosystems.com/learn/laser-distance-measuring/3d-disto
I talk about my favourite laser distos in my measured survey post here:
Apps for Measured Surveys
Orthograph
RoomScan Pro by Locometric
https://www.locometric.com/roomscan
RoomScan Pro is an impressive phone app that allows you to create floor plans in three different ways. First, you can use AR to scan the room and it will detect wall dimensions and openings.
Second, you can touch the phone against the walls and the app will detect the lengths of the walls and create the plan.
Finally, you can draw your plans and input the measurements yourself if you have a tape measure or laser disto.
RoomScan LiDAR by Locometric
https://www.locometric.com/lidar
Locometric have also created an updated app built for the iPad Pro that works in a similar way to Roomscan.
MagicPlan
Finally, you can draw your plans and input the measurements yourself if you have a tape measure or laser disto.
Conclusion
My feeling with some of the phone apps that claim to be able to measure accurately (not all of the above) is that you must remember – you are using a phone. It can only be so accurate. If you really need really precise measurements for your survey, I would ALWAYS use a laser or tape measure. Right now I don’t 100% trust the use of an iPhone to measure a building as accurately as required.Â
I also feel that there is a bit jump from using more basic equipment to very technical gear, with not much in between for people that just want to up their game a little and make their process quicker, without having to take out a bank loan to do so.Â
For me, although I would experiment with the apps, I would probably stick with my trusty disto laser and notepad and pen for now!
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Your comments…
So, let me know what you think. What do you use when carrying out your measured surveys? Do you have favourite apps for measured surveys? What lasers and kit do you take with you?
Let me know now in the comments!
As always, thank you for being here, and keep working smart 😉
I can’t get the videos to play?
All fixed now!
Hi Emma,
hope you are well.
Interesting article on the apps for surveying.
I am with you, I use a Disto D810 Touch, which does everything I need although it would be nice to have something draw it automatically, I’m just not too techno minded so I stick to the Disto and pen and paper.
The beauty of the disto 810 is that it has so many more measuring functions than the more basic models.
When mounted on its’ tripod it will measure building heights and lengths from a single point at a distance, it will give window widths, tree widths etc.
As a more mobile unit – roof pitch calculations, Volume and area calcs, levels information e.g. gradients or standing at the top step you can measure the heights of every step without moving, measures up to 100m accurately
In addition it has a camera which can take photos but what is really useful is being able to switch to camera mode to check exactly where your laser is pointing if measuring over a long distance or in bright light.
Hi Clive, thank you for the tip on the disto – camera option sounds very useful for bright days as it can really be a challenge sometimes. The extra features sound excellent too. Thank you for your comments, much appreciated.
Id love an app that allows me to sketch like orthograph and then id use my laser disto and tape to measure.
Basically i just want to replace my rubbish sketching with straight lines