Dealers and end-users flocked to San Jose, California to get their hands on the new Triumph V.S.—the latest creation of the “GNSS Godfather” Javad Ashjaee. The Triumph V.S. is a composite 216 channel GNSS (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo) receiver, geodetic antenna and field computer in one. But the V.S. is even more than that, with on-board tilt sensors, two (yes TWO) onboard cameras, precision digital compass and the highest resolution (800×480 pixels) screen ever seen on any survey controller to date, the V.S. is unlike any other survey device on the market.
The workshop kicked-off on Monday, January 10th with the distribution of a V.S. for each participant. Thanks to the hi-tech auditorium (compete with indoor re-radiated GPS signals from a roof-top antenna) the V.S. could be used fully from the comfort of an auditorium seat. Javad himself dove right in to the V.S. going through configuring a new V.S. “out-of-the-box”. Javad ran though the device settings as well as the various operation modes of the V.S. pointing out some of the device-s innovative features. Features such as Lift & Tilt where, in RTK mode, the receiver automatically begins collecting data when the unit is within 5 degrees of level can aid significantly in production work. Oh, and don’t let the 5 degrees concern you, the V.S. automatically adjusts for out-of-level thanks to the aforementioned on-board tilt sensors!
After a thorough run through of the unit, it was time to go outside. In the Javad Parking lot, six 1 meter by 1 meter “parcels” where previously defined by Javad staff for workshop participants to “survey”. After the survey was complete, it was back inside to the auditorium to evaluate the results. Next, it was time to run through the stake-out routines on the V.S. by staking back to points in the field. For the stakeout lesson it was the same format—a classroom walkthrough followed by an outdoor hands-on working session.
Tuesday brought about one-on-one training with participants and concluded with an open forum for feedback on the Triumph V.S.. Javad was extremely receptive to suggestions for the device and noted that suggestions can be incorporated into new versions of the software (which at this point are being released almost daily). Cumbersome software updates? “No sir,” said Javad, “You see the button on the V.S. screen under Support that says Update Software? Click it.” After about two minutes as the update downloaded, the V.S. rebooted with the latest release of the on-board software – all settings and job data intact. Javad also demonstrated the on-board feedback system which V.S. users can submit questions or issues directly to technical support personnel via the device. When one submits a technical support request via they device the status and health, software versions, configuration and other non-personal data from the unit is also sent to provide the Javad technical support staff all the information they need to diagnose any issue the user may be having.
For photographs of the event, please click HERE.