Virtual profilograph for road surface quality assessment

• US 20070233327A1
• Filed: 03/31/2006
• Published: 10/04/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Topcon Positioning Systems Incorporated (Topcon Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Topcon Positioning Systems Incorporated (Topcon Corporation)
• Inventors: McCain, Steven
• Granted Patent: US 7,689,351 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: E01C 19/004 Devices for guiding or controlling the machines along a predetermined path for graders or bulldozers E02F3/841; for other soil-shifting machines E02F9/2045
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 7/04 involving a vehicle which moves along the profile to be traced
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/14 specially adapted for specific applications

Abstract

A virtual profilograph is disclosed that can provide measurements indicative of the ride quality of a roadway as the road is being constructed. As a result, a more timely, less costly indication of the ride quality of a roadway is obtained as compared to prior methods. In a first embodiment a Global Navigation Satellite System antenna is attached to a vehicle. When the vehicle travels over a roadway, measurements of the position of the antenna are recorded at different times. A profile of the roadway is created by measuring the elevation of the antenna as a function of the distance traveled from a starting point. In another embodiment, tilt sensors are used to measure the slope of the roadway and the tilt of the vehicle so that a precise orientation of the vehicle and, hence, the contours of the roadway, can be determined.

Claims

1. A method for use with a vehicle adapted to move across a surface, said vehicle comprising a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) antenna receiver, said method comprising:

calculating a plurality of locations of said GNSS antenna at a corresponding plurality of different times;

storing said plurality of locations; and

generating a representation of said surface based on said plurality of locations and said corresponding plurality of times.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said surface is a roadway.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said vehicle is an asphalt compactor adapted to compact the surface of said roadway.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said representation of said surface is displayed on a computer display.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

storing said representation of said surface in computer memory.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said plurality of locations correspond to the different locations of the antenna as the vehicle moves across said surface.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said representation comprises a graph of the distance a component of said vehicle has traveled compared to a starting location as a function of the elevation of said component.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein said component comprises said GNSS antenna.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein said component comprises a roller on said vehicle.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining the ride quality of a vehicle across said surface as a function of said representation.

11. Apparatus for use with a vehicle adapted to move across a surface, said vehicle comprising a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) antenna, said method comprising:

means for calculating a plurality of locations of said GNSS antenna at a corresponding plurality of different times;

means for storing said plurality of locations of said antenna; and

means for creating a representation of said surface based on said plurality of locations and said corresponding plurality of times.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said surface is a roadway.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein said vehicle is an asphalt compactor adapted to compact the surface of said roadway.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said representation of said surface is displayed on a computer display.

15. The apparatus of claim 11 further comprising:

storing said representation of said surface in computer memory.

16. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said plurality of locations correspond to the different locations of the antenna as the vehicle moves across said surface.

17. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said representation comprises a graph of the distance a component of said vehicle compared to a starting location as a function of the elevation of said component.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein said component comprises said GNSS antenna.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein said component comprises a roller on said vehicle.

20. A computer readable medium storing computer program instructions which, when executed on a processor, define the steps of:

calculating a plurality of locations of said GNSS antenna at a corresponding plurality of different times;

storing said plurality of locations of said antenna; and

creating a representation of said surface by displaying said plurality of locations as a function of said corresponding plurality of times.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 20 wherein said surface is a roadway.

22. The computer readable medium of claim 21 wherein said vehicle is an asphalt compactor adapted to compact the surface of said roadway.

23. The computer readable medium of claim 20 wherein said representation of said surface is displayed on a computer display.

24. The computer readable medium of claim 20 further storing computer program instructions which, when executed on a processor, define the step of:

storing said representation of said surface in computer memory.

25. The computer readable medium of claim 20 wherein said plurality of locations correspond to the different locations of the antenna as the vehicle moves across said surface.

26. The computer readable medium of claim 20 wherein said representation comprises a graph of the distance a component of said vehicle has traveled compared to a starting location as a function of the elevation of said component.

27. The computer readable medium of claim 26 wherein said component comprises said GNSS antenna.

28. The computer readable medium of claim 26 wherein said component comprises a roller on said vehicle.

29. The computer readable medium of claim 20 further storing computer program instructions which, when executed on a processor, define the step of:

determining the ride quality of a vehicle across said surface as a function of said representation.

30. A virtual profilograph comprising:

at least a first GNSS antenna/receiver adapted to be attached to a construction vehicle capable of moving on a surface; and

a processor for determining and storing a plurality of locations of said at least a first GNSS antenna at a corresponding plurality of times, said processor adapted to create a representation of said surface as a function of said plurality of locations and said corresponding plurality of times.

31. The virtual profilograph of claim 30 wherein said surface is a roadway.

32. The virtual profilograph of claim 31 wherein said construction vehicle is an asphalt compactor adapted to compact the surface of said roadway.

33. The virtual profilograph of claim 30 wherein said representation of said surface is displayed on a computer display.

34. The virtual profilograph of claim 30 further comprising:

storing said representation of said surface in computer memory.

35. The virtual profilograph of claim 30 wherein said plurality of locations correspond to the different locations of the antenna as the vehicle moves across said surface.

36. The virtual profilograph of claim 30 wherein said display displays a graph of the distance a component of said construction vehicle compared to a starting location as a function of the elevation of said component.

37. The virtual profilograph of claim 36 wherein said component comprises said GNSS antenna.

38. The virtual profilograph of claim 36 wherein said component comprises a roller on said construction vehicle.