Machine having boundary tracking system

• US 10,036,249 B2
• Filed: 05/31/2005
• Issued: 07/31/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Caterpillar Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Caterpillar Incorporated
• Inventors: Gudat, Adam John
• Primary Examiner(s): Will, Thomas B
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Mai T
• Application Number:
  US11/139,788
• Publication Number:
  US 20060265914A1
• Time in Patent Office: 4,809 Days
• Field of Search: 37348, 37382, 37414, 37413, 37906, 172 2, 172 4, 414699, 299 11, 701 50, 701223, 701300, 342459, 342463
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/245 for preventing damage to underground objects during excavation, e.g. indicating buried pipes or the like detection of pipes in the ground F16L1/11
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/26 Indicating devices E02F5/145 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: E21C 35/08 Guiding the machine

Abstract

The boundary tracking system has a plurality of signal transmitting devices located to represent at least one boundary of a work site. The boundary tracking system also has a receiving device configured to receive signals transmitted from one or more of the plurality of transmitting devices and to generate an output based on the received signals. The boundary tracking system also has a controller configured to determine a location of at least one of the plurality of transmitting devices based on the output from the receiving device.

Claims

1. A boundary tracking system for a work site, comprising:

a plurality of signal transmitting devices configured to be positioned at underground locations and to originate signals to be transmitted from the underground locations to aboveground having frequencies ranging from about 900 MHz to about 2.4 GHz, wherein the plurality of signal transmitting devices are configured to be activated by a query signal;

a receiving device configured to be located aboveground and to receive the signals having frequencies ranging from about 900 MHz to about 2.4 GHz that originate from the plurality of signal transmitting devices and to generate an output based on the received signals; and

a controller configured to determine the underground locations of the plurality of signal transmitting devices based on the output from the receiving device.

2. The boundary tracking system of claim 1, wherein the boundary tracking system includes:

a display unit mounted on a machine; and

the controller is further configured to display, on the display unit, the location of the plurality of signal transmitting devices.

3. The boundary tracking system of claim 2, wherein the receiving device is located on an alternate machine.

4. The boundary tracking system of claim 1, wherein the work site is a mine.

5. The boundary tracking system of claim 2, wherein the display unit is configured to display a location of at least one of the plurality of signal transmitting devices relative to at least one of a tool and the machine.

6. The boundary tracking system of claim 2, wherein the controller is configured to:

determine a location of at least one boundary based on underground locations of the plurality of signal transmitting devices, and

display the location of the at least one boundary.

7. The boundary tracking system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of signal transmitting devices includes first and second groups, each of the signal transmitting devices of the first group being configured to transmit a first signal, and each of the signal transmitting devices of the second group being configured to transmit a second signal.

8. The boundary tracking system of claim 7, wherein the controller is configured to determine a first boundary location based on the locations of the first group of signal transmitting devices and a second boundary location based on the locations of the second group of signal transmitting devices, and display the first boundary location and the second boundary location on a display unit.

9. The boundary tracking system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of signal transmitting devices contains a power source.

10. The boundary tracking system of claim 1, wherein the query signal transmits energy that is received by the plurality of signal transmitting devices and used to activate the plurality of signal transmitting devices.

11. The boundary tracking system of claim 1, wherein the query signal is further configured to deactivate the plurality of signal transmitting devices.

12. A method of tracking a boundary, comprising:

providing a query signal to activate a plurality of signal transmitting devices located to represent at least one boundary of a work site, wherein the plurality of signal transmitting devices are positioned at different underground locations and are configured to originate a plurality of signals having frequencies ranging from about 900 MHz to about 2.4 GHz that are transmitted from the different underground locations to aboveground;

determining the underground locations of the plurality of signal transmitting devices based on the plurality of signals originating from the plurality of signal transmitting devices; and

controlling at least one function of a machine based on the underground locations of the plurality of signal transmitting devices.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the work site is a mine, and the plurality of signal transmitting devices are located to represent at least one ore boundary.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein determining the location of the plurality of signal transmitting devices includes determining the location of at least one of the plurality of signal transmitting devices relative to at least one of a tool and the machine, and wherein the method further includes generating a display representative of a location of the at least one of the plurality of signal transmitting devices relative to at least one of the tool and the machine.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the generated display includes a top view and a side profile view of the area surrounding the at least one of the plurality of signal transmitting devices.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein determining the location of the plurality of signal transmitting devices includes determining a location of the at least one boundary, and wherein the method further includes generating a display of the at least one boundary.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein generating a display includes generating a display of the at least one boundary in three dimensions.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein the query signal transmits energy that is used to activate the plurality of signal transmitting devices.

19. The method of claim 12, further including deactivating the plurality of signal transmitting devices.

20. A machine, comprising:

a frame;

a tool operably connected to the frame;

a receiving device configured to receive a signal having a frequency ranging from about 900 MHz to about 2.4 GHz and transmitted from at least one of a plurality of signal transmitting devices located to represent a boundary and to generate an output based on the received signals, wherein at least one of the plurality of signal transmitting devices is configured to originate signals to be transmitted from an underground location to an aboveground location and having frequencies ranging from about 900 MHz to about 2.4 GHz;

a transmitter configured to transmit a query signal to activate at least one of the plurality of signal transmitting devices;

a controller configured to receive the output from the receiving device to determine a location of the boundary based on the underground location of the at least one of the plurality of signal transmitting devices; and

a display unit configured to display a representation of the boundary.

21. The machine of claim 20, wherein the representation of the boundary includes at least one of a top view and a side view of the boundary.

22. The machine of claim 21, wherein the at least one of the top view and the side view display the boundary in at least two dimensions.

23. The machine of claim 20, wherein the display unit is configured to display a first ore body using a first visual indication and a second ore body using a second visual indication.

24. The machine of claim 20, wherein the receiving device is configured to receive a first signal that originates from a first group of the plurality of signal transmitting devices located underground to represent a first boundary and a second signal that is different to the first signal and originates from a second group of the plurality of signal transmitting devices located underground to represent a second boundary, and the display unit is configured to display a representation of the first boundary and a representation of the second boundary.

25. The machine of claim 24, wherein the display unit is further configured to display the representation of the first boundary and the representation of the second boundary in a two dimensional top view and a two dimensional side view.

26. The machine of claim 20, wherein the query signal transmits energy that is received by the plurality of signal transmitting devices and used to activate the plurality of signal transmitting devices.

27. The machine of claim 20, wherein the query signal is further configured to deactivate the plurality of signal transmitting devices.