The remote software can control a GSI or GeoCOM based Leica Total Station such as the TCA1800L or TM1100.

One key design feature of the SlopeMon system is that the Remote software is designed to run independent of the Base software.  If for any reason the data connection between the remote and base software fails or is intermittent, which is not uncommon at a mine site, the remote software will continue to gather target data until the connection is reestablished.  The remote will buffer the data and automatically send it to the base station when the connection is reestablished; thus preventing any loss of data.  This type of setup requires a computer at each Total Station, but the minor additional cost is greatly offset by the reliability.

Remote - Main Window

The remote main window displays a list of user defined targets (prisms) the software is going to direct the Total Station to shoot (survey).

The last shot status of the target is displayed as a blue triangle to the left of the target name.  A hollow blue triangle means the target has not been shot in the current cycle.  Solid blue means the target has been shot.

The current Distance, Northing, Easting and Elevation are also displayed.

The Face column shows what face (I or II) is going to be used when shooting the target.  Both faces can be used if required to increase the shot accuracy.

At the bottom of the main window is the status box.  It displays the current status of the communications with the Total Station and the Base software.  Any errors are display in this area.

Defining a new target is as simple as pointing the Total Station at the target and clicking the New Target button.  The software will automatically read the location of the new target and add it to the list.

The frequency of the cycle can be defined.  If full time monitoring is required the cycle frequency can be set to 0 and the remote software will continuously cycle through the target data.  If less data is required a cycle can be setup to run at any user defined frequency.

It's not uncommon that a target can't be shot at a particular moment due to dust, vehicle traffic, animals or other items momentarily blocking the target.  If a target cannot be shot in the current cycle, the software can be setup to automatically retry any missed targets at the end of the current cycle.  The number of retries is user defined.  This ensures that for each cycle the greatest number of targets are shot.

A user defined "search box" is used to prevent the Total Station from finding targets that are inline with other targets.  If the software detects the Total Station has found the wrong target, a target outside the user defined search box, it will reject the target data and retry the search.  This is an important feature to prevent the remote station from sending the wrong target data back to the base station.

The remote stations communicates with the base station using radio modem, phone line (wired or cell) or TCP/IP wired or wireless.