Applications of knowledge-based systems in technical surveying

In this paper the application of knowledge-based systems for the analysis and evaluation of geodetic measurements is described. The first part gives a nontechnical overview over existing software products like GeoFit and current research activities (e.g. TUNCONSTRUCT, KASIP) with special focuses on tunneling and natural disaster management. The second part of the paper describes a case study from technical surveying in detail: the knowledge-based evaluation of the quality of free stationing on construction sites (e.g. tunnel sites). One main goal of the knowledge-based approach is to automate the time consuming daily process of manually checking lots of datasets by human experts. The paper shows the development of the knowledge-based system ranging from knowledge acquisition over knowledge analysis and representation up to the software prototype. A practical example is presented which indicates the capability of the system even to reproduce the often intuitive ratings of human experts.