Photo: Bad Elf
Bad Elf has introduced a base/rover feature built upon its Bad Elf Flex GNSS receiver. The new base/rover feature brings affordable centimeter-level accuracy to surveyors and geospatial professionals working anywhere in the world.
The solution consists of two Flex GNSS receivers and two UHF radios, allowing customers to perform high-accuracy field data collection in areas where traditional real-time kinematic (RTK) corrections or cellular coverage is not available. Existing Flex customers can upgrade by adding Flex radio kits.
Bad Elf designed the base/rover feature with emphasis on accuracy, affordability and versatility. The Bad Elf Flex enables reliable data collection either as a standalone receiver or paired with apps on iOS or Android phones and tablets. A checklist-based workflow ensures consistent results and eliminates many common issues associated with setup and deployment of a base/rover solution.
Photo: Bad Elf
“The Bad Elf app walks the user through these steps and more, and it doesn’t let the project proceed until each checklist is complete,” said Larry Fox, vice president of Marketing and Business Development at Bad Elf. “The automated checklists simplify every process, so that geospatial professionals and surveyors of every experience level get reliable results.”
The base feature requires only one Flex Extreme and a radio kit. Customers may choose to use either Standard or Extreme Flex with a radio kit for rovers. Using Flex Standard and one daily token provides access to the rover feature.
Bad Elf’s flexible hardware-as-a-service model provides a mechanism for customers to further reduce the capital cost of a complete base/rover system. In addition, customers can deploy multiple rovers in either configuration for larger projects.
“For about one-third of the purchase price of competing products available today, our base/rover feature makes survey-grade one-centimeter accuracy a reality worldwide,” said Fox. “And our pay-as-you-go Flex Token model dramatically reduces operating expenses by allowing users to activate — and pay for — just the service levels needed on a given day.”
Complete base/rover kits are available immediately, along with à la carte options for existing Flex customers. The Flex base/rover solution is compliant with FCC operating standards in the United States. Bad Elf provides customers with complete instructions for acquiring a radio operator license and call-sign designation.