ELECTRONIC MANIFEST OF UNDERGROUND FACILITY LOCATE MARKS

• US 20090202101A1
• Filed: 02/12/2008
• Published: 08/13/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Certusview Technologies LLC (Dycom Industries Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Dycom Technology, LLC
• Inventors: Nielsen, Steven, Chambers, Curtis
• Granted Patent: US 8,532,342 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/08 Construction
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/60 Editing figures and text; Combining figures or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2210/62 Semi-transparency
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/422 Technical drawings; Geographical maps

Abstract

A method performed by a device may include receiving information regarding a particular geographic area; retrieving an aerial image of the particular geographic area; displaying the aerial image; determining an approximate geographic location of a mark denoting an underground facility; overlaying, on the displayed aerial image, information concerning the approximate geographic location of the mark denoting the underground facility; and storing the aerial image and the information concerning the approximate geographic location of the mark denoting the underground facility.

Claims

1. A method performed by a device, comprising:

receiving information regarding a particular geographic area;

retrieving an aerial image of the particular geographic area;

displaying the aerial image;

determining an approximate geographic location of a locate mark denoting an underground facility;

overlaying, on the displayed aerial image, information concerning the approximate geographic location of the locate mark denoting the underground facility; and

storing the aerial image and the information concerning the approximate geographic location of the locate mark denoting the underground facility.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining an extent corresponding to a geographic address; and

associating the geographic address with the aerial image of the geographic area based on the extent.

3. The method of claim 1, where determining the approximate geographic location of the locate mark denoting the underground facility includes:

receiving user input that identifies the approximate geographic location of the locate mark denoting the underground facility within the geographic area.

4. The method of claim 3, where receiving input that identifies the approximate geographic location of the locate mark denoting the underground facility within the geographic area includes receiving user input from an input device.

5. The method of claim 3, where receiving input that identifies the geographic location of the locate mark denoting the underground facility within the geographic area includes receiving data from a global positioning system (GPS)-enabled device.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a distance from an environmental landmark selected by the user to the locate mark denoting the underground facility; and

displaying the distance from the environmental landmark to the locate mark denoting the underground facility on the displayed aerial image.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

converting the information concerning the approximate geographic location of the locate mark denoting the underground facility to a data set of global positioning system (GPS) coordinates.

8. The method of claim 1, where overlaying, on the displayed aerial image, information concerning the approximate geographic location of the locate mark denoting the underground facility includes:

permitting a user to draw a shape on the displayed aerial image; and

indicating global coordinates corresponding to the drawn shape.

9. The method of claim 1, where overlaying, on the displayed aerial image, the information concerning the approximate geographic location of the locate mark denoting the underground facility includes:

receiving location information from a global positioning system (GPS)-enabled device; and

presenting the location information from the GPS-enabled device on the displayed aerial image.

10. The method of claim 9, where the GPS-enabled device is a locating device or a marking device.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a type of the underground facility corresponding to the locate mark denoting the underground facility; and

overlaying information on the displayed aerial image indicating the type of the underground facility that was marked.

12. The method of claim 1, where determining the approximate geographic location of the locate mark denoting the underground facility includes:

receiving, from a global positioning system (GPS)-enabled device, information that identifies the approximate geographic location of the locate mark denoting the underground facility within the geographic area.

13. The method of claim 1, where overlaying, on the displayed aerial image, the information concerning the geographic location of the locate mark denoting the underground facility includes:

providing a graphical object, corresponding to the type of underground facility, on the displayed aerial image to show the approximate geographic location of the locate mark denoting the underground facility on the displayed aerial image.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting the aerial image and the information concerning the approximate geographic location of the of the locate mark denoting an underground facility as a single image file.

15. A device, comprising:

a memory to store aerial images of a plurality of geographic areas; and

a processing unit to;

receive information regarding a particular one of the geographic areas,

retrieve one of the aerial images from the memory based on the received information,

receive information concerning an approximate geographic location of an underground facility locate mark located within the particular geographic area,

present, on the retrieved aerial image, the information concerning the approximate geographic location of the underground facility locate mark, and

store the retrieved aerial image and the information concerning the approximate geographic location of the underground facility locate mark.

16. The device of claim 15, where the processing unit is further configured to associate a geographic address with the retrieved aerial image of the particular geographic area.

17. The device of claim 15, where the processing unit is further configured to convert the information concerning the approximate geographic location of the underground facility locate mark to a data set of global positioning system (GPS) coordinates.

18. The device of claim 15, where the processing unit is further configured to:

permit a user to draw shapes on the retrieved aerial image; and

indicate global coordinates corresponding to the drawn shapes.

19. The device of claim 15, where the processing unit is further configured to:

receive location information from a global positioning system (GPS)-enabled device; and

display the location information from the GPS-enabled device on the retrieved aerial image.

20. The device of claim 15, where the processing unit is further configured to:

receive input from a user that identifies a type of the underground facility locate mark; and

present information on the retrieved aerial image concerning the type of the underground facility locate marks.

21. The device of claim 15, further comprising:

a communication interface, where the processing unit is further configured to transmit to a server through the communication interface the retrieved aerial image and the information concerning the approximate geographic location of the underground facility locate mark.

22. A system, comprising:

means for identifying a geographic area;

means for retrieving an aerial image of the geographic area;

means for displaying the retrieved image;

means for receiving input from a user concerning an approximate geographic location of underground facility locate marks that are located within the geographic area;

means for presenting, on the displayed aerial image, a marking that identifies the approximate geographic location of the underground facility locate marks within the geographic area; and

means for storing the displayed aerial image with the marking that identifies the approximate geographic location of the underground facility locate marks.

23. A system, comprising:

a central server to store a plurality of aerial images of a corresponding plurality of geographical locations; and

a user device to;

identify a particular geographic location,

determine whether the user device stores an aerial image corresponding to the particular geographic location,

retrieve the aerial image from the central server when the user device does not store the aerial image corresponding to the particular geographic location,

retrieve the aerial image from a local memory when the user device stores the aerial image corresponding to the particular geographic location,

display the aerial image,

receive information regarding an approximate location of underground facility locate marks located at the particular geographic location,

present, on the displayed aerial image, a marking that identifies the approximate location of the underground facility locate marks.

24. A method performed by a device, comprising:

receiving information regarding a particular geographic area;

retrieving an aerial image of the particular geographic area;

receiving, from a global positioning system (GPS)-enabled device, information regarding an approximate location of underground facility locate marks;

displaying, as a combined image, the aerial image and the information regarding the approximate location of underground facility locate marks; and

storing the combined image.