The combination of surveying and machine control technology helps Ängö Entreprenad to be on time, on specs and on budget

Author:Per Norell

Ängö Entreprenad AB is a Swedish company specialized in earthworks for housing development, plumbing and drainage for residential areas. The company was founded back in the 1980’s by Dan Johansson. Today, the company employs approximately 25 people and a handful of independent contractors.

We meet the crew on a sunny Wednesday in September on a job site close to Gothenburg, Sweden. Five people work here full time on preparing the construction of four semi-detached houses. The project was started in the spring of 2020 and must be finished by autumn 2021.

“It has been challenging in a number of ways”, explains Mikael Persson who works as surveyor on the project.

The terrain is mountainous, cramped and located in the middle of an existing residential area, but until now everything goes according to the plan. We have good people and our machines equipped with the latest machine control technology, the Leica MCP80 control panel and the MC1 software. We also have poles, iCG70 T GNSS rovers and CC80 tablets from Leica Geosystems that allow us to make the stake-outs continuously so that our excavator operators know what to do all the time, thanks to the real-time available information on the machine control panel.

Staking out much faster and safer

Ängö Entreprenad started with measuring and stake-out in 2009, but it was not before 2014 when the company truly understood and experienced all of the benefits of digitalisation. Today, they have six of their excavators equipped with machine control solutions from Leica Geosystems and two surveying poles with iCG70 T GNSS rovers and iCON CC80 field tablets. This allows the company to perform measurements themselves in addition to the surveying services they currently outsource.

“We purchased the new iCG70 T rover and CC80 field tablet in 2009. Before that, we used the GS14 GNSS smart antenna and CS35 tablet controller from Leica Geosystems", explains Persson. “The new model iCG70 T, with tilt compensation is a major improvement for me, who only works with measuring. I get a perfectly precise measurement without even having to hold the pole straight. This GNSS rover solution is very easy to use, and I can stake out much faster and safer, when I don’t have to hold the pole vertical at the exact point. It’s enough that the tip of the two-meter long carbon pole is placed at the measuring point, saving us a lot of climbing”.

Sharing real-time data with the entire team

All the data that Persson measures with his equipment is shared directly with the machine operators via Leica ConX, a cloud-based collaboration platform, as well as with his colleague that works with the other GNSS rover.

This gives a very good overview and transparency of the construction site and what needs to be done and where, as Persson and his colleague supplement each other depending on who is closest to the actual location.

“I am actually not a data specialist, but Leica Geosystems’ solutions are so accurate, logical and user-friendly that it has been easy for me to learn how to use them,” said Persson. “Our surveying equipment communicates directly with the machine control solutions through ConX, as well as, we, who are responsible for the measurement can also communicate with each other through the cloud-based services. In addition, Leica Geosystems offers a platform called ‘myWorld’ that gives a really good overview of all the products that we have, when they need service and the subscriptions that are available. It sounds more complicated that it is,” assures Persson. “If there any questions, Leica Geosystems offers excellent support.”

Working independently and more efficient with machine control

One of the excavators on site is a Volvo ECR235EL equipped with the latest technology from Leica Geosystems. The control panel mounted on the excavator is the MCP80 where the one-for-all MC1 software is running. Henrik Wirkstrøm is in charge of the excavators, and he has worked for Ängö Entreprenad for five years.

“I have been driving excavators for approximately 15 years, but I only came into contact with machine control five years ago, when I started here,” says Wirkstrøm. “Machine control has in general allowed me to work more independently and thereby made me more efficient. I can move around on the site without waiting for stake-out, resulting in very little downtime. I really liked the old excavator system, but the new solutions are more efficient.”

Wirkstrøm also continues with the advantages of the direct communication with the tilt rotator sensor and the design of the user interface of the panel.

“The biggest difference is that MC1 now communicates with the sensor for tilt rotator, which is a great advantage because I use the tilt rotator 99% of the time. It’s also nice that the panel is bigger. It’s easier to see and press the right button. What is most important for me is that the remote support from Leica Geosystems works well and they are always there if we run into any issues,” concludes Wirkstrøm.

Hexagon’s Heavy Construction portfolio, including Leica Geosystems, offers several tools that will increase the productivity of your team, make your construction site, communication and workflows more transparent and seamlessly integrated. With the combination of the right surveying tools, such as the Leica iCON iCG70 T GNSS rover, the multipurpose Leica MC1 3D machine control solution and with the cloud-based collaboration platform, Leica ConX, you are able to work more efficient, accurate thus saving time, costs and extra climbing.