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AUTHOR QUERIES

DATE 3/18/2016

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ARTICLE 75102

QUERIES FOR AUTHOR Ahmed Serwa and Hossam H. El-Semary

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Peer Reviewed

Development of Soft Computational Simulatorfor Traversing

Ahmed Serwa and Hossam H. El-Semary

ABSTRACT: Traversing is a plane surveying operation traditionally used to map the earth. The rapiddevelopment in instrumentation and computer dependency has led to the need to develop engineeringsurveying software (SWAU1 ). Plane surveying students suffer from the lack of illustration when studyingtraversing. They cannot fly to view the traverse, so the integration between observations, computations,and visualization made the development of an educational software simulator an optimized solution. Thisresearch work looks at the effects of developing and implementing simulator software into an educationalenvironment. Additionally, an effort has been made to review the main components of the developed SW.

KEYWORDS: Simulator, engineering surveying, traverse, CAD, software development

ReviewAU2

As plane surveying is an important con-cept in surveying, there is a need fordevelopmental plane surveying software

(SW). Presently where educational techniques arebecoming more interactive and attractive with theaid of geomatics tools, the role of developed SWis noteworthy. Civil engineering students needto apply the integration between surveying, SWdevelopment, computerAU3 -aided design (CAD), andWeb. These new integrating tools and techniqueshave been complementing or replacing establishedsurveying techniques and geoinformation produc-tion process (BeekAU4 and Paresi 1996). Sedek andSerwa (2016) developed a new SW system thatprocessed terrestrial laser scanning spatial data.Computer programming is the iterative process ofwriting or editing source code. Editing sourcecode involves testing, analyzing and refining, andsometimes coordinating with other programmerson a jointly developed program. Adejare (2003)wrote a similar algorithm using Microsoft ExcelSpreadsheet (Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA)(Odumosu et al. 2014). Ruchel (2010) developedsoftware package to perform geodetic computa-tion. Hashimi (2004) used Microsoft Excel Solverto apply traverse adjustment. Serwa (2009) devel-oped a remote sensing mapping SW using Artifi-cial Neural Networks. The main objective of this

research was to study the effect on learning whenstudents are provided with an integrated traversecomputation and CAD SW package. An importantpart of this research was to develop a computa-tional simulator for traversing process.

Research Objective

This research aims to develop object-orientedsoftware with a friendly graphical user interfacefor traverse computations and to study the effectsof its incorporation in an introductory civil engi-neering surveying class. In addition, the authorssought to achieve the integration between tra-versing and CAD to improve the understandingof processing plane surveying data. The objectivearray included the examination of improvementin surveying student skills such as the understand-ing of bearings, coordinates, angles, and traversing.In a general point of view, this research is the studyof the effect of using a computational simulatorfor traversing problem in a surveying instruction.

Methodology

Types of Traverses

There are two kinds of traverses: closed and open(depending on the information constraints).Two categories of closed traverses exist: polygonand link. In the polygon traverse, as shown in

F1Figure 1a, the lines return to the starting point,thus forming a closed figure that is both geomet-rically and mathematically closed. Link traverses

Ahmed SerwaAU5 , Faculty of Engineering in El-Mataria, HelwanUniversity, Cairo, Egypt. E-mail: <Dr.A.Serwa@m-eng.helwan.edu.eg>. Hossam H. El-Semary, Faculty of Engineering inShoubra, Benha University, Cairo, Egypt. E-mail: <hossam.elsemary@feng.bu.edu.eg>.

Surveying and Land Information Science, Vol. 75, No. 1, 2016, pp. 1-10

finish upon another station with a predeterminedpositional accuracy equal to or greater than that ofthe starting point. The link type (geometricallyopen, mathematically closed), as illustrated inFigure 1b, must have a closing reference direction,for example, line E-Az Mk. Closed traverses pro-vide checks on the observed angles and distances,which is an extremely important considerationwhen precision matters. Those traverses are usedextensively in control, construction, property, andtopographic surveys (Ghilani and Wolf 2012).Figure 1c shows an example of open traverse.The three types of computational traverses are

as follows:1. Closed polygon traverse2. Closed linked traverse3. Open traverseThe first two types of computational traverses can

be checked mathematically and can be adjusteddue to their geometric constraints. The third typecannot be checked nor adjusted but can onlybe plotted.

Traverse Computations

Closed Polygon TraverseIn a closed polygon traverse, the minimum knownparameters are1. Coordinates of a point (known point)2. Direction of a side (predetermined side with

an endpoint extended by the known point)

3. Observed angles between sides4. Observed side lengthsClosed polygon traverse computa-

tions steps includeStep 1: Computation of angles mis-

closure.Step 2: Balancing angles.Step 3: Computation of preliminary

directions.Step 4: Computation of departures

and latitudes.Step 5: Computation of linear mis-

closure.Step 6: Traverse adjustment.Step 7: Computation of final coor-

dinates.The AU6geometric sum of internal

angles can be computed as

( ¼ n � 2ð Þ180� ð1ÞOr one can sum external anglesusing

( ¼ n þ 2ð Þ180� ð2ÞTo compute angular misclosure, the sum of

observed angles (0must be computed. Using

this summation, the angular misclosure can becomputed as

Angles misclosure ¼(�(0 ð3ÞAdditionally, the permissible angular misclosure Cin seconds is computed as

C ¼ Kffiffiffin

p ð4Þwhere n is the number of observed angles and Ka constant dependent on the desired level oftraverse accuracy. According to Federal GeodeticControl Subcommittee, K can take the valuesshown in T1Table 1. Using Equation (4), the valuesof C are computed and tabulated in Table 1 fordifferent values of n.There are two methods of balancing angles

(Ghilani and Wolf 2012):1. Applying an average correction to each angle

where observing conditions were approxi-mately the same at all stations. The correctionfor each angle is found by dividing the totalangular misclosure by the number of angles.

2. Making larger corrections to angles where poorobserving conditions are found.

The first method is widely used because ofthe lack of knowledge related to observationconditions.

Figure 1. (a) Closed polygon traverse. (b) Closed link traverse. (c) Opentraverse.

2 Surveying and Land Information Science

The preliminary whole circle bearings (WCB)can be computed as

WCBfore ¼ WCBback � corrected angle� 180�

ð5ÞThe contained angle is positive if it was observedclockwise and will be negative if observed anti-clockwise. The departure and latitude of the sidesof the traverse can be computed as

Departure ¼ length sin WCBð Þ ð6ÞLatitude ¼ length cos WCBð Þ ð7Þ

DepartureAU7 misclosure is the algebraic sum of alltraverse departures, and latitude misclosure isthe algebraic sum of the latitudes. The linearmisclosure is computed as

The relative precision is computed as

Relative precision ¼ linear misclosure

traverse lengthð9Þ

Traverse adjustment can be carried out by com-puting the corrections of both departure and lati-tude of any side AB using the following equation:

Then the adjusted departure and latitude can beobtained by adding the corrections to the com-puted departures and latitudes. The final coordi-nates are computed as

XB ¼ XA þ corrected departure of AB ð12ÞYB ¼ YA þ corrected latitude of AB ð13Þ

Closed Linked TraverseIn closed linked traverse, the minimum knownparameters are1. Correct coordinates of both starting and end-

ing points of the traverse.2. Correct directions of both starting and ending

sides (the starting and ending known pointslays on them).

3. Observed angles between sides.4. Observed side lengths.Closed link traverse computations steps include

Step 1: Computation of directional misclosure.Step 2: Balancing directions accumulatively.Step 3: Link starting and ending points to form

a virtual polygon.Step 4: Computation of departures and latitudes.Step 5: Computation of linear misclosure.

Step 6: Traverse adjustment excluding the link-ing side.

Step 7: Computation of final coordinates.The directional misclosure can be computed by

using Equation (5) starting with the first knownWBC and the observed angles between traversesides until reaching the ending of known side.

One can compute directional misclosure by com-paring the computed WCB and the known WCBof the ending side.The adjusted values are obtained cumulatively

using the following equation:

Di ¼ i � 1ð Þ WCBnknown�WCBncomputedð Þi ¼ 1; 2 . . .nð Þ ð14Þ

Traverse Order K (sec) Cn=3 (sec) Cn=4 (sec) Cn=5 (sec) Cn=10 (sec)

First-order class I 1.700 300 400 400 500

Second-order class I 300 500 600 700 900

Second-order class II 4.500 800 900 1000 1400

Third-order class I 1000 1700 2000 2200 3200

Third-order class II 1200 2100 2400 2700 3800

Table 1. Values of K and C according to traverse order and n.

Linear misclosure ¼ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffideparture misclosureð Þ2 þ latitude misclosureð Þ2

qð8Þ

Correction in departure for AB ¼ total departure misclosure

traverse perimeter· length of AB ð10Þ

Correction in latitude for AB ¼ total latitude misclosure

traverse perimeter· length of AB ð11Þ

Vol. 75, No. 1 3

where Di is the directional correction of sideorder i and n the order of the ending traverseside. The rest of the steps of closed linked tra-verse are similar to the steps of closed polygontraverse except that the linking side does not takeany correction in departure and latitude sincethey are known values.

Open TraverseOpen traverses can only be plotted using a knownstarting point and the observed lengths andangles. That is, no adjustment can be carried outfor this type of traverse, and so this type of tra-verse should be avoided in practice.

TravCAD Development

SW Development Life CycleTo achieve the research objective SW develop-ment follows the waterfall software developmentmodel as shown inF2 Figure 2.

Initiation and FeasibilityA review of current systems was performed,followed by a feasibility study on the current sys-tems to see if making a new system was feasible.By the end of the initiation and feasibility study,a project plan for the future stages of the cyclewas determined.

InvestigationA detailed investigation of the user’s needs wasperformed. From this investigation, the inputs,processes, outputs, and data flows necessary forSW development were identified.

Requirement, Analysis, and SpecificationThis step involves the collection of all the infor-mation, and the development of a plan for thecreation of an SW. At this AU8point, TravCAD wasselected for the name of the SW.

DesignThis stage identifies how the TravCAD system willlook and run in detail such as the interface designand coding.

BuildThe developer uses the design stage plan andconverts the acquired information into computercode. Computer programs are written for everypart of the system, normally done in a series ofmodules for the project.

TestingIn this stage, the SW is tested to ensure that itperforms the functions identified during thedesign stage. Data are used to insure the reliabil-ity of the SW.

ImplementationThis step insures that there are very few or noproblems for system users. When the system isbeing installed the users are trained in how to usethe new system.

MaintenanceThis is the final step in the cycle. Users of thedeveloped system can report bugs in the SW theydiscover. Some improvements can be applied tothe system, or the cycle can be returned to the first

stage according to the conclusionsand reports.

TravCAD ModulesTravCAD SW was developed usingVB6 programming language. It hasthe following forms:

Starting FormContains author affiliation and insti-tution as shown in F3Figure 3.

Identification FormIdentifies the SW name and pur-pose as shown in F4Figure 4. It isdesigned to indicate the generalpurpose of the developed system.Figure 2. SW development life cycle using waterfall model.

4 Surveying and Land Information Science

Main FormContains the commands on the left, the CADmodule (F5 Figure 5), and the calculation table(F6 Figure 6). It was designed to indicate the general

layout of the studied traverse. The students areshown the sketching and layout as well as how tocheck the traverse computations.Some advanced tasks are found in the main

form such as� Read traverse file.� Show polygon (1:1 scale)� Show calculation table.� Solve (apply all steps of traverse computations).� Save as BMP (save the traverse image as

displayed).� Save as HTML (save the traverse image and

calculation table in HTML format in order topublish it on the Web).

� Save DXF (export the traverse to the AutoCADenvironment).

� Save as TXT (export the traverse final coordi-nates in ASCii format).

Compass FormThis is a tutorial to familiarize the students withWCB and directions as shown in F7Figure 7. It isdesigned to demonstrate the concepts of bearingand direction.

Components FormThis is a calculator for computing departure andlatitude from known length and WBC accordingto Equations (6) and (7). The polar components(length and WBC) can also be computed as shownin F8Figure 8. It was designed to show the student

Figure 3. Starting form.

Figure 4. Identification form.

Figure 5. Main form with CAD module.

Vol. 75, No. 1 5

the relationship between polar and rectangularcomponents of traverse side.

Coordinates FormIt calculates the coordinates of points from theknown coordinates of the previous point and thecomponents of the containing line. It can alsocalculate the components of a line based on thecoordinates of its endpoints as shown inF9 Figure 9.It was designed to show the student the relation-ship between coordinates and rectangular com-ponents of traverse side.

Angle FormThis form demonstrates the relationship betweentwo lines and their contained angle accordingto Equation (5) as shown in F10Figure 10. It wasdesigned to show the student the relationshipbetween the backside, foreside, and containedangle. The bearings of both the back- and fore-sides can be entered in degrees, minutes, andseconds using scrollbars. This manner of entry isalso available for the contained angle. The usercan compute the contained angle using the bear-ings of the two sides, or the foreside bearing usingthe backside bearing and the contained angle.

Figure 6. Main form with calculation table.

Figure 7. Compass form. Figure 8. Component form.

6 Surveying and Land Information Science

CAD ModuleThe CAD module can perform tasks such as� CAD interaction tasks such as zoom in, zoom

out, zoom window, zoom previous, and pan.� Computing area and perimeter of the traverse.� Display grid scale 1:1.� Display compass on any traverse point.Most of these tasks are shown in F11Figure 11. The

software will link with a Web browser usingHTML output. It also has a CAD interface andoutput, which includes advanced zoom (in, out,window, extent, and undo) in addition to DXFoperations such as point extraction and output.Zoom in, zoom out, zoom window, and zoomprevious, for example, makes the developed SWfamiliar to civil engineers.Compatibility was developed between SW and

AutoCAD, which allows users to store and retrievedata between the two packages. File processingbetween TravCAD and AutoCAD can be per-formed in a DXF file conversion. It can also con-vert points stored in ASCii format to DXF formatto display the adjusted traverse in AutoCAD.

Application

To prove the reliability of TravCAD, a numericalexample was adopted, which is listed as follows.

Figure 9. Coordinates form.

Figure 10. Angle form with anticlockwise state.

Figure 11. CAD module.

Vol. 75, No. 1 7

Given

The data given inT2 Table 2 were obtained for aclosed-loop traverse. The coordinates of the stationA are E500 m and N500 m.

Required

(1) Correct internal angles, (2) compute the bear-ings of the sides, (3) compute components of thesides, (4) adjust the components, (5) compute thecorrected coordinates of the traverse stations, and(6) sketch the traverse. (Note that the adjustmentmethod in this example is Bowditch’s method.)

Solution

F12 Figure 12 shows the layout of the solved problemon TravCAD (CAD module).

The TravCAD file format including the givendata and the method of adjustment is shown in

F13Figure 13. TravCAD file formats differ accordingto the first line of the file (the type of the traverse).The format of closed polygon file is as follows:Type of the traverseNumber of sidesWBC of starting sideSide lengthsInternal anglesCoordinate of starting pointAdjustment method

Results AU9and Analysis

The coordinates of the sample points were com-puted manually to check for the existence of signif-icant differences or discrepancies with TravCAD.The results of TravCAD are shown in Figures 5, 6,11, and F1414. The manual solution gave the sameresults as TravCAD. A solution from TravCADdisplays the computed departures, latitudes,and coordinates in the format of (*.###), and themanual solution agreed with these values. Thecomputed relative error is used in the compu-tations and results. If the relative error exceedsthe allowable limit, no solution will be produced,and the student will see a message informingthem to check the traversing process or to studythe cause.

Internal Angles Length (m) Bearing

A^ = 130�1804500 AB = 17.098 AF = 136�2501200

B^ = 110�1802300 BC = 102.925

C^ = 99�3203500 CD = 92.782

D^ = 116�1800200 DE = 33.866

E^ = 119�4600700 EF = 63.719

F^ = 143�4602000 FA = 79.097

Table 2. Numerical example.

Figure 12. Example of closed polygon traverse.

8 Surveying and Land Information Science

The results of student exams before and afterthe adoption of the SW were compared to studythe effectiveness of using TravCAD in education.Students in plane surveying course in the 2014-2015 educational year were selected before the

adoption of TravCAD, and students from the2015-2016 educational year were selected after itsincorporation into the course. The results of thetwo educational years are tabulated in T3Table 3.

F15Figure 15 shows the histogram distribution of theranks before and after the adoption of TravCAD.The percentage in the excellent rank increasedfrom 28 percent before the adoption to 34 percentafter the adoption. Also the percentage of verygood rank increased from 17 to 26 percent. Thepassed rank in 2014-2015 was 27 percent comparedto 19 percent in 2015-2016, which means that theadoption of TravCAD played a role in raising thestudent from the passed rank to the very good orexcellent ranks.A statistical correlation coefficient was com-

puted to study the correlation between the resultsof both years. The correlation coefficient wasfound to be 81.9 percent. A t test was chosen toexamine the significance of the difference in per-centage of ranks (mean value). The results oft test using the percentage of ranks are tabulatedin Table 3. The level of significance was chosen

as 95 percent (alpha coefficient =0.05). The hypothesized mean dif-ference value was chosen to bezero; that is, there is no statisticaldifference. The test results showthat the actual t value is less thanthe critical value for a one-tail test( T4 ;Table 4 AU12), which means that thehypothesis being there is no dif-ference in means is rejected. Thealternative hypothesis (that thereis significant difference between theranks of the two educational years)

Figure 13. TravCAD format file for traverse.

Figure 14. Example solution given by TravCAD.

Criteria 2014-2015 2015-2016

No. students, n 269 205

Min 20 20

Max 39 40

Mean 29.04 29.97

Standard deviation 5.25 4.80

%F AU100 0

%P 27 19

%G 26 20

%VG 17 26

%Exc 28 34F AU11, fail; P, pass; G, good; VG, very good; Exc, excellent.Table 3. Results of plane surveying experimental exam,2014-2015 and 2015-2016.

Vol. 75, No. 1 9

is accepted with more than a 95 percent levelof confidence.

Conclusion

The research objective was achieved by developingand testing the developed educational SW simula-tor of TravCAD. Although TravCAD uses equa-tions that are common in the field of surveyingcomputations, it also simulates the traversing prob-lem visually. Use of TravCAD in the educationalprocess of plane surveying instruction resulted

in better student learning outcomes.One can use TravCAD to facilitateteaching traverse computations in atime-reduced manner. It also helpsavoid human errors. As an educa-tional tool, TravCADcanease teachingbearings, components, coordinates,angles, and traverse sketching throughthe simulation process.

REFERENCES

Adejare, Q.A. 2003. Comparative Packagefor Surveying Computations using HotSheet. Unpublished B.Eng. Thesis,Department of Surveying and Geo-

informatics, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria.Beek, K.J., and C.M. Paresi. 1996. Geoinformation: A

world in motion. Paper presented on the occasionof the 40th Anniversary of Wuhan Technical Univer-sity of Surveying and Mapping (WTUSM AU13), October16-19.

Ghilani, C.D., and P.R. Wolf. 2012. Elementary surveying:An introduction to geomatics, 13th ed. Upper SaddleRiver, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.

Hashimi, S.R. 2004. Traverse adjustment using MicrosoftExcel Solver. In: ACSM/TAPS Conference, April 19-21,2004, Nashville, Tennessee.

Odumosu, J.O, O.G. Ajayi, P. Ibrahim, V.C. Okorocha,and F.F. Idowu. 2014. Development of an objectoriented program for traverse computation. Inter-national Journal of Scientific Engineering and Technology3(7): 967-73.

Ruchel, J. 2010. Creating applications for geodeticcomputations. Geomatics and Environmental Engineer-ing 4(1): 81-9.

Sedek, M., and A. Serwa. 2016. Development of newsystem for detection of bridges construction defectsusing terrestrial laser remote sensing technology.Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Science.doi:10.1016/j.ejrs.2015.12.005.

Serwa, S.A. 2003. Detailed studies of on the potentials ofhigh scanning resolution and different types of cam-era lenses for digital photogrammetric applications.MSc Thesis, Faculty of Engineering, Assiut Univer-sity, Assiut, Egypt. AU14

————. 2009. Automatic extractionof topographic fea-tures from digital satellite images. PhD Thesis, Facultyof Engineering, Azhar University, Cario, Egypt. m

Figure 15. Paired histogram of experimental exam for the two educationalyears.

2014-2015 2015-2016

Mean 19.6 19.8

Variance 139.3 158.2

Observations 5 5

Pearson correlation 0.81947

Hypothesized mean difference 0

df 4

t stat –0.06075

P(T £ t) one-tail 0.477238

t critical one-tail 2.131847

P(T £ t) two-tail 0.954476

t critical two-tail 2.776445

Table 4. Results of t test assuming no mean difference.

10 Surveying and Land Information Science