Guidelines & Criteria for Instrument Testing & Reports

For GPS Tests, see also Deliverables List for GPS Instrument Tests

Introduction

The Instrument Work Group of the Federal Geodetic Control Subcommittee (FGCS) provides the coordination and means to test, evaluate, and report on instruments or equipment used to establish geodetic control.  This paper describes the guidelines and procedures for manufacturers, vendors, and/or service companies to request demonstrations and/or tests, and specifies the criteria used in approval of these requests.

General

Requests for demonstrations or tests will be made in writing to the FGCS Secretariat at least eight weeks in advance of the proposed test date.  This will allow adequate time for the FGCS Chairman and Instrument Work Group to determine whether or not the instrument is an appropriate candidate for testing and, if the request is approved, identify Work group members to coordinate planning with the sponsor and, to notify the geodetic community accordingly.  Only instruments or equipment having special features and/or unique characteristics which result in their having sufficient interest to the geodetic community to justify expenditure of the resources involved will be considered for demonstrations or tests and evaluations.

Demonstrations

Only advanced prototypes or production models of equipment will be considered for Work group sanction of the demonstration.  The written request will provide the following information:

1. A complete description of the equipment purpose, characteristics, and capabilities.

2. A desired date for the demonstration.   (Not less than eight weeks in the future.)

3. Any special considerations such as type of location or desired time of day.

4. Requests by vendors and/or service companies will include a letter from the manufacturer of the equipment verifying that a representative of the manufacturer will be present 'at the demonstration for technical support purposes.

If the request is approved by the Work group, the sponsor will be notified by the most expeditious means, and a Work group representative will be identified to begin the coordination.  At the time of the demonstration, the sponsor will be expected to provide appropriate briefings on the equipment features, demonstrate its operation or use, and explain the reduction of observed data, if appropriate.

The Work group representative will prepare a brief report on the demonstration.  This report will be incorporated in Work group's reports to the FGCS.  The report will contain such information as date and location of demonstration, model, type of instrument, etc.

Tests & Evaluations

Only production models of equipment will be considered for testing and evaluation by the Work group.  The written request will provide the following information:

1. A complete description of the equipment purpose, characteristics, and capabilities.

2. A statement of the proposed objectives of the tests.

3. Desired date for the testing to begin.   (Not less than eight weeks in the future.)

4. Any special considerations such as type of location or desired time of day.

5. Requests by vendors and/or service companies will  include a letter from the manufacturer of the equipment verifying that a representative of the manufacturer will be present at the test for technical support purposes.

If the request is approved by the Work group, the sponsor will be notified by the most expeditious means, and a Work group representative will be identified to begin the coordination.

Requests by Manufacturer/Vendor/Service Companies

The following conditions will normally apply in the case of approved requests for testing and evaluation of equipment:

1. Representatives of the sponsor will work closely with Work group representatives in the setup, operation, and monitoring of equipment during the tests.

2. To the extent possible, on-site processing with the equipment processor or a microprocessor will be done in the presence of observers from the Work group.

3. If practical, Work group representatives assigned to tests will gain hands-on-experience with operation of equipment, and, where appropriate, processing of data on-site with the equipment processor.

4. If a public meeting is scheduled following the tests, the sponsor will be invited to provide briefings on the equipment features, and descriptions of its operation and data reduction.  The Work group representative will be responsible for presentation of the on-site processed results of the test, and preliminary conclusions, if appropriate.

5. Following the test, the Work group will publish and distribute, as soon as practical, its test objectives, findings, results, and conclusions as an official FGCS report.  Reports will be published as follows:

a. Reports will be prepared and published in the format of a technical publication.

b. The report will be an FGCS publication and will be numbered in sequence; i.e., FGCS-IW-82-1; "IW" is the Instrument Work group, "82" is the last 2-digits of the fiscal year when the report is published, and "I" is the sequence number.

c. Reports will be reviewed by sponsors. Instrument Work group, and full FGCS before publishing.  Reports will also receive an appropriate editorial review by the National Geodetic Survey editor before printing.

The Work group will consider including, as an appendix to the report, a separate report prepared by the manufacturer or sponsor.  This appendix would include information to supplement that provided in the basic report.  Also included as an appendix will be a copy of the public notice of the test and evaluation.  The FGCS will reserve the right to review the appendix and request changes or deletions which would tend to be inappropriate as part of an official FGCS publication, i.e., advertisement material.

Requests by FGCS Agencies

Requests may be made by member agencies of the FGCS to have the Work group test and evaluate specified pieces of equipment.  A determination would need to be made as to whether the interest was broad enough to warrant a Work group effort.  If the interest was deemed too narrow, the agency having the special need will likely be asked to perform its own tests.