二十世纪五十年代以前,世界各国在大地测量仪器方面研制和生产了光学经纬仪、自动归算测距经纬仪以及具有平行玻璃板和测微器的精密水准仪等。近二十年来,由于光学、电子和激光技术的迅速发展,给大地测量仪器的自动和半自动化创造了有利的条件。目前,各国生产了多种类型的自动化程度较高的经纬仪 Before the 1950s, all countries in the world developed and produced optical theodolites, autoregressive ranging theodolites and precision level gauges with parallel glass plates and micrometers in geodetic instruments. In the recent two decades, due to the rapid development of optics, electronics and laser technology, favorable conditions have been created for automatic and semi-automatic geodetic instruments. At present, various types of highly automated theodolites are produced in various countries