ABSTRACT
For a period after its original invention, the laser was often described as being a device or instrument in search of an application. This description was not one which could be supported or repeated by surveyors and engineers who very rapidly adopted lasers for alignment work. This successful application was followed soon after by the incorporation of lasers into instrumentation designed specifically for levelling and setting-out operations and the invention of various devices based on differing measuring principles which could be used to measure distance. The characteristics of these laser-based instruments are often decidedly different to those of traditional surveying instrumentation. In particular, they allow certain operations to be carried out at a larger range or with greater facility or efficiency than can be achieved with standard surveying instruments such as theodolites, levels and EDM devices.
