definition for: #4thWaveSurveyingInstruments

Indicates an era of high precision surveying and mapping field instrument development where the imitators have now become innovators. Distinct from the 1st wave of surveying instruments from antiquity to the middle of the 19th century, and the 2nd that saw the industrialized manufacturing of optical instruments, to the 3rd in the mid 20th century with the rise of a small number of major brands and the integration of mechatronics (e.g. laser EDM, digital data capture, etc), to the 4th wave (early 21st century)where the imitators are now becoming innovators and the rise of many new manufacturers with their own non-OEM independent portfolios.