PIPE MAPPING SYSTEMS AND METHODS

• US 20150350506A1
• Filed: 05/11/2015
• Published: 12/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Seescan, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Seescan, Inc.
• Inventors: Olsson, Mark S., Cox, David A.
• Application Number:
  US14/709,301
• Publication Number:
  US 20150350506A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 15/00 Surveying instruments or accessories not provided for in groups G01C1/00 - G01C13/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/8803 Visual inspection measuring projectors G01B9/08
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 37/005 Photographing internal surfaces, e.g. of pipe, G03B37/02 - G03B37/06 take precedence; instruments for performing medical examinations of cavities or tubes of the body by photographic inspection A61B1/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/04 Texture mapping
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 17/05 Geographic models
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10016 Video; Image sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10028 Range image; Depth image; 3D point clouds
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30108 Industrial image inspection
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/0004 Industrial image inspection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/555 for picking-up images in sites, inaccessible due to their dimensions or hazardous conditions, e.g. endoscopes or borescopes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/60 Control of cameras or camera modules
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/63 by using electronic viewfinders
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/185 from a mobile camera, e.g. for remote control

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method for mapping pipes under inspection includes receiving, at a locator, magnetic field signals from a sonde deployed in a pipe or cavity, generating, in the locator, positional information associated with the pipe or cavity from the received sonde signals, and storing the positional information in a non-transitory memory of the locator. Depth information may be further determined for the pipe or cavity and the positional and/or depth information may be provided on a display device of the locator as an overlaid map display.

Claims

1. A method for mapping pipes under inspection, comprising:

receiving, at a locator, magnetic field signals from a sonde deployed in a pipe or cavity;

generating, in the locator, positional information associated with the pipe or cavity from the received sonde signals; and

storing the positional information in a non-transitory memory of the locator.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining depth information of the buried pipe or cavity based at least in part on a magnetic field signal emitted from the pipe or cavity and storing the depth information in the non-transitory memory.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the magnetic field signal emitted from the pipe or cavity is generated from the sonde.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the magnetic field signal emitted from the pipe or cavity is generated from a current flowing in the pipe or cavity.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a display of the positional information on a display device of the locator.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the positional information is overlaid on a graphical map display provided on the locator.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the positional information and the depth information is overlaid on a graphical map display provided on the locator.

8. A system for mapping pipes under inspection, comprising:

a sonde for insertion into a pipe during inspection;

a locator for receiving signals from the sonde and generating position information associated with the pipe from the received sonde signals;

a processing element programmed to receive the position information from the utility locator and generate mapping information associated with the pipe; and

a non-transitory memory for storing the generated mapping information.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising a display device for providing a display of the mapping information.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the processing element further determines depth information of the buried pipe or cavity based at least in part on a magnetic field signal emitted from the pipe or cavity and wherein the depth information is stored in the non-transitory memory.

11. The system of claim 10, further comprising a display device for displaying the mapping information and/or the depth information overlaid on a map.