Surface mapping system and method

• US 8,364,405 B2
• Filed: 12/18/2009
• Issued: 01/29/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Caterpillar Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Caterpillar Incorporated
• Inventors: Sprock, Christopher M., Hodel, Benjamin J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bui, Bryan
• Application Number:
  US12/641,889
• Publication Number:
  US 20110153214A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,138 Days
• Field of Search: 702/5, 345/419, 701/2
• US Class Current: 702/5
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 17/00 Three dimensional [3D] modelling, e.g. data description of 3D objects

Abstract

A surface mapping system including a controller configured with a plurality of instructions, the plurality of instructions including instructions to receive position data from each machine in a plurality of machines located on a worksite and to generate, utilizing the received position data, a display signal for providing a visual depiction of a surface of the worksite.

Claims

1. A surface mapping system comprising:

a sensor on each of a plurality of machines located on a worksite;

a display for providing a visual depiction of a surface of the worksite;

a controller configured to

receive position data comprising a plurality of discrete points from the sensors on each of the plurality of machines;

remove outlying points from the plurality of discrete points;

generate visual depiction information of a surface of the worksite from non-outlying points; and

transmit the visual depiction information to the display.

2. The surface mapping system of claim 1, wherein the visual depiction of the surface of the worksite is three-dimensional.

3. The surface mapping system of claim 1, wherein the visual depiction information further comprises a grid from non-outlying points in the plurality of discrete points.

4. The surface mapping system of claim 3, wherein the visual depiction information further comprises removing the outlying points from the plurality of discrete points by dividing a three-dimensional space defined by the plurality of discrete points into a plurality of volumetric units and determining which volumetric units in the plurality of volumetric units contain less than a preselected minimum number of discrete points, and omitting the discrete points contained in such volumetric units from the generation of the grid.

5. The surface mapping system of claim 3, wherein the visual depiction information further comprises removing the outlying points from the plurality of discrete points by determining which discrete points are beyond a preselected distance from any other discrete points and omitting such discrete points from the generation of the grid.

6. The surface mapping system of claim 3, wherein the visual depiction information further comprises removing the outlying points from the plurality of discrete points by scanning the plurality of discrete points with a three-dimensional form having preselected dimensions, determining which discrete points appear in the three-dimensional form with less than a preselected minimum number of discrete points, and omitting such discrete points from the generation of the grid.

7. The surface mapping system of claim 3, wherein the visual depiction information further comprises generating the grid from the non-outlying points by averaging values of adjacent points among the non-outlying points.

8. A method for mapping a surface, comprising:

receiving position data from a sensor on each of a plurality of machines located on a worksite, the position data comprising a plurality of discrete points;

generating visual depiction information of a surface of the worksite by removing outlying points from the plurality of discrete points and generating a grid from non-outlying points in the plurality of discrete points; and

displaying the visual depiction information of the surface of the worksite on the display.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the visual depiction information of the surface of the worksite is three-dimensional.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein said removing of the outlying points from the plurality of discrete points comprises dividing a three-dimensional space defined by the plurality of discrete points into a plurality of volumetric units, determining which volumetric units in the plurality of volumetric units contain less than a preselected minimum number of discrete points, and omitting the discrete points contained in such volumetric units from said generating of the grid.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein said removing of the outlying points from the plurality of discrete points comprises determining which discrete points are beyond a preselected distance from any other discrete points and omitting such discrete points from said generating of the grid.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein said removing of the outlying points from the plurality of discrete points comprises scanning the plurality of discrete points with a three-dimensional form having preselected dimensions, determining which discrete points appear in the three-dimensional form with less than a preselected minimum number of discrete points, and omitting such discrete points from said generating of the grid.

13. A controller for mapping a surface, the controller comprising:

an input for receiving position data comprising a plurality of discrete points from a sensor on each machine in a plurality of machines located on a worksite;

wherein the controller is configured to remove outlying points from the plurality of discrete points, generate visual depiction information of a surface of a the worksite from non-outlying points, and transmit the visual depiction information to a display.

14. The controller of claim 13, wherein the visual depiction of the surface of the worksite is three-dimensional.

15. The controller of claim 13, wherein the visual depiction information further comprises a grid from non-outlying points in the plurality of discrete points.

16. The controller of claim 15, wherein the visual depiction information further comprises removing the outlying points from the plurality of discrete points by dividing a three-dimensional space defined by the plurality of discrete points into a plurality of volumetric units and determining which volumetric units in the plurality of volumetric units contain less than a preselected minimum number of discrete points, and omitting the discrete points contained in such volumetric units from the generation of the grid.

17. The controller of claim 15, wherein the visual depiction information further comprises removing the outlying points from the plurality of discrete points by determining which discrete points are beyond a preselected distance from any other discrete points and omitting such discrete points from the generation of the grid.

18. The controller of claim 15, wherein the visual depiction information further comprises removing the outlying points from the plurality of discrete points by scanning the plurality of discrete points with a three-dimensional form having preselected dimensions, determining which discrete points appear in the three-dimensional form with less than a preselected minimum number of discrete points, and omitting such discrete points from the generation of the grid.

19. The controller of claim 15, wherein the visual depiction information further comprises generating the grid from the non-outlying points by averaging values of adjacent points among the non-outlying points.