Leica Geosystems Announces v7 of LISCAD

Leica Geosystems (Switzerland) has released version 7 of LISCAD Surveying & Engineering Software. LISCAD, designed for Microsoft Windows, is a complete field-to-finish system which interfaces with all popular surveying instrument brands as well as all popular surveying, engineering and CAD software systems. LISCAD’s comprehensive feature set includes rigorous geodetic computations, unlimited model size, traverse and least squares network adjustment, 2D/3D transformations, volume computations, georeferenced background images, profiles, and powerful engineering design capabilities.

Version 7 editing capability is enhanced with Undo/Redo functionality integrated throughout the system. Numerous new field sensors and data formats are supported including Leica System 1200, Leica SmartStation, Leica Geo Office, Leica Roadrunner and Leica GradeStar.

Through LISCAD’s comprehensive support of XML, data exchange and reporting is now completely open. Numerous additional data exchange formats and reports are built into version 7, but the most significant aspect is that customers or third parties are now able to create customised HTML or ASCII reports and data exchange formats. LISCAD is able to both read and write the new industry standard format which means you can exchange sophisticated designs with other systems including MX, InRoads, and Autodesk Land Desktop. AutoCAD 2004/ 2005 DWG files are also supported and can now include background images.

Geodetic enhancements see several new methods for transforming between any projections. New transformations available include Grid File (NADCON and NTv2), Bursa-Wolf and Molodensky-Badekas. Georeferenced MrSID, ECW and GeoTIFF files can be directly imported as background images.

Version 7 also allows the Surveyor to combine data from local survey and geodetic worlds. Data on a local plane bearing and distance datum may be entered in a projection project and viewed in local, ground or projection values. For example, the Surveyor can work in the geodetic projection required, while entering cadastral bearings and distances, then view, plot or exchange data in cadastral or projection values. This feature will also be extremely popular with Surveyors working on extensive projects such as pipelines, major roads and railways, where geodetic accuracy is essential, but much localised survey/cadastral/historical data needs to also be incorporated in the project.