USER INTERFACES FOR UTILITY LOCATORS

• US 20140340086A1
• Filed: 03/14/2014
• Published: 11/20/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Seescan, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Seescan, Inc.
• Inventors: Olsson, Mark S.
• Application Number:
  US14/214,263
• Publication Number:
  US 20140340086A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 324/326
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 3/081 the magnetic field is produced by the objects or geological structures characterised by the method of magnetic field measurement G01R33/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 3/088 operating with electric fields G01V3/082 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 3/12 operating with electromagnetic waves operating with millimetre waves G01V8/005
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 3/165 operating with magnetic or electric fields produced or modified by the object or by the detecting device with electromagnetic waves G01V3/17
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 3/38 Processing data, e.g. for analysis, for interpretation, for correction

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to user interfaces for enhanced utility locators. Such enhanced utility locators may include a myriad of sensors and other such technologies for determining information regarding the buried or otherwise inaccessible utility line. Such information may be displayed in a myriad of ways to convey relative characteristics among multiple utilities, or to convey relative characteristics of one or more utilities with respect to a locator.

Claims

1. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, said computer readable program code adapted to be executed to implement a method for controlling access to position information by one or more location applications on a receiver, the method comprising:

visually communicating, on a display, information regarding one or more sensed utilities, including one or more of information relating to a depth of at least one sensed utility with respect to a first position of the locator, information relating to a type of the at least one sensed utility, and information relating to a direction of current relating to the at least one sensed utility.

2. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the visually communicated information includes:

information relating to a first depth of a first sensed utility with respect to a first position of the locator; and

information relating to a second depth of a second sensed utility with respect to the first position of the locator and the first depth of the first sensed utility.

3. The computer program product of claim 2, wherein the visually communicated information further includes:

information relating to a height of a third sensed utility with respect to the first position of the locator, the first depth of the first sensed utility, and the second depth of the second sensed utility.

4. The computer program product of claim 2, the method further comprising:

visually communicating a first color relating to the first depth relative to the first position of the locator; and

visually communicating a second color relating to the second depth relative to the first position of the locator.

5. The computer program product of claim 2, the method further comprising:

visually communicating a first length relating to the first depth relative to the first position of the locator; and

visually communicating a second length relating to the second depth relative to the first position of the locator.

6. The computer program product of claim 5, wherein the second length is shorter than the first length when the second depth is greater than the first depth, and the second length is longer than the first length when the second depth is less than the first depth.

7. The computer program product of claim 5, the method further comprising:

displaying the shorter of the first length and the second length within an inner section of the user interface; and

displaying the longer of the first length and the second length within both the inner section and an outer section of the user interface so as to depict its longer length with respect to the shorter of the first and second lengths.

8. The computer program product of claim 2, wherein the visual communication of the information relating to the first depth depicts a first width relating to the first depth relative to the first position of the locator, and the visual communication of the information relating to the second depth depicts a second width relating to the second depth relative to the first position of the locator.

9. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the information includes information relating to a first type of a first sensed utility, and a second type of a second sensed utility.

10. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the first type designates an electric utility line and the second type designates a water utility line.

11. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the information includes information relating to a first direction of current relating to a first sensed utility.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein information includes one or more arrows or other directional indicators pointing in the first direction of current.

13. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein a true depth or soil attenuation correction is visually represented on sensed utility lines based on percentage of current loss.

14. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein a single line is visually depicted on the user interface to identify a single-phase electric utility line and three lines are visually depicted on the user interface to identify a three-phase electric utility line.

15. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein a passively connected AC line is visually depicted on the user interface as above ground.

16. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the visually communicated information includes:

information relating to a first directional orientation of a first sensed utility with respect to a first position of the locator; and

information relating to a directional orientation of a second sensed utility with respect to the first position of the locator and the first directional orientation of the first sensed utility.

17. A utility locator, comprising:

an antenna array for sensing a buried utility;

a memory;

a processing element coupled to the memory for generating information associated with the buried utility; and

a display coupled to the processing element and/or memory, wherein the display provides a user interface for visually communicate information regarding one or more sensed utilities by rendering information on the display, the displayed information including one or more of a representation of detected utility represented as a cluster of lines, a representation of a detected utility represented as an envelope of lines, and a representation of one or more detected utilities as a grouped line.