Total Station or Laser Tape Measure: How It Works

The limits of linear measurement

A laser tape measure returns the linear distance between two points. Building up a complex outline means laying these measurements end to end, and the error in each one accumulates along the chain. Over a large room or an intricate layout, the resulting error can become significant.

How a total station measures

A total station fixes the coordinates of each point in a single coordinate system, independent of the distance from the previous point. Any dimension between two points is then calculated in AutoCAD by drawing a line between their coordinates directly — with no error carried over from a chain of intermediate measurements.

Accuracy on non-right angles

Rooms are rarely bounded by right angles alone. Where a tape measure only allows an angle to be estimated, a total station records the coordinates of the points that define it, so the angle — whatever its value — is calculated exactly.