The Metamorphosis from Surveying Company to System Manufacturer


Within the scope of the many years' activities of CENTERLINE GmbH, we became increasingly aware of customers' problems and wishes with respect to special applications which - as market research disclosed - were hardly or not at all available.

CENTERLINE GmbH’s traditional activities concerned surveying of tunnel drives in the range of 1200 to 3800mm, inside diameter. Geodetic surveying had been employed in the past for such drives; this method, however, is very time-consuming and - thus - expensive. There was a great need, therefore, for an automatic surveying system for tunneling. Such systems should be able to autonomously survey a tunnel drive rapidly and at low cost. The efficiency goal for a tunnel drive is the maximum number of meters per day with the greatest-possible accuracy.

As a result of such considerations, a number of surveying systems based on theodolites and lasers were developed by CENTERLINE GmbH. At the same time, a cooperation agreement was signed by Bodenseewerk Gerätetechnik (a company of the Diehl Group); this assumed considerable importance in the further technical development of CENTERLINE GmbH's program of products.