APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR EVALUATING A QUALITY OF A LOCATE OPERATION FOR UNDERGROUND UTILITY
First Claim
1. In a computer comprising at least one hardware processor, at least one tangible storage medium, and at least one input/output (I/O) interface, a method for evaluating a quality of a locate operation to identify a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility at a work site pursuant to an instruction to a field-service technician, the method comprising:
- A) receiving, via the at least one I/O interface, first information describing at least one act of the field-service technician relating to identifying the presence or the absence of the at least one underground facility during performance by the field-service technician of the locate operation following issuance of the instruction to the field-service technician;
B) electronically analyzing, via the at least one hardware processor, the first information received in A) describing the at least one act of the field-service technician;
C) automatically generating via the at least one hardware processor, based on B), at least one indication of a quality assessment of the locate operation, the at least one indication of the quality assessment representing the quality of the locate operation performed by the field-service technician; and
D) electronically storing on the at least one tangible storage medium, and/or electronically transmitting via the at least one I/O interface, the at least one indication generated in C) of the quality assessment of the locate operation so as to provide an electronic record of the quality assessment of the locate operation.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods, apparatus and systems for computer-aided determination of quality assessment for locate and marking operations. In one example, a quality assessment decision is solely under the discretion of a human reviewer, albeit facilitated in some respects by computer-aided display of information, and electronic record keeping and communication functions associated with the quality assessment result(s). In another example, information related to a locate and marking operation is electronically analyzed such that a quality assessment is not based solely on human discretion, but rather based at least in part on some predetermined criteria and/or metrics that facilitate an automated determination of quality assessment.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. In a computer comprising at least one hardware processor, at least one tangible storage medium, and at least one input/output (I/O) interface, a method for evaluating a quality of a locate operation to identify a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility at a work site pursuant to an instruction to a field-service technician, the method comprising:
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A) receiving, via the at least one I/O interface, first information describing at least one act of the field-service technician relating to identifying the presence or the absence of the at least one underground facility during performance by the field-service technician of the locate operation following issuance of the instruction to the field-service technician; B) electronically analyzing, via the at least one hardware processor, the first information received in A) describing the at least one act of the field-service technician; C) automatically generating via the at least one hardware processor, based on B), at least one indication of a quality assessment of the locate operation, the at least one indication of the quality assessment representing the quality of the locate operation performed by the field-service technician; and D) electronically storing on the at least one tangible storage medium, and/or electronically transmitting via the at least one I/O interface, the at least one indication generated in C) of the quality assessment of the locate operation so as to provide an electronic record of the quality assessment of the locate operation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An apparatus for facilitating the evaluation of a quality of a locate operation to identify a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility at a work site pursuant to an instruction to a field-service technician, the apparatus comprising:
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at least one input/output interface; at least one tangible storage medium to store processor-executable instructions; and a processor coupled to the at least one input/output interface and the at least one tangible storage medium, wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by the processor, the processor; A) controls the at least one I/O interface so as to receive first information describing at least one act of the field-service technician relating to identifying the presence or the absence of the at least one underground facility during performance by the field-service technician of the locate operation following issuance of the instruction to the field-service technician; B) electronically analyzes the first information received in A) describing the at least one act of the field-service technician; C) automatically generates, based on B), at least one indication of a quality assessment of the locate operation, the at least one indication of the quality assessment representing the quality of the locate operation performed by the field-service technician; and D) controls the at least one tangible storage medium so as to electronically store, and/or controls the at least one I/O interface so as to electronically transmit, the at least one indication generated in C) of the quality assessment of the locate operation so as to provide an electronic record of the quality assessment of the locate operation. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. At least one computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions that, when executed by a processor in a computer comprising at least one input/output (I/O) interface, perform a method for evaluating a quality of a locate operation to identify a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a work site pursuant to an instruction to a field-service technician, the method comprising:
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A) receiving, via the at least one I/O interface, first information describing at least one act of the field-service technician relating to identifying the presence or the absence of the at least one underground facility during performance by the field-service technician of the locate operation following issuance of the ticket to the field-service technician; B) electronically analyzing, via the at least one hardware processor, the first information received in A) describing the at least one act of the field-service technician; C) automatically generating via the processor, based on B), at least one indication of a quality assessment of the locate operation, the at least one indication of the quality assessment representing the quality of the locate operation performed by the field-service technician; and D) electronically storing on the at least one computer-readable storage medium, and/or electronically transmitting via the at least one I/O interface, the at least one indication generated in C) of the quality assessment of the locate operation so as to provide an electronic record of the quality assessment.
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Specification