Methods, apparatus and systems for generating searchable electronic records of underground facility locate and/or marking operations and assessing aspects of same
First Claim
1. A method for assessing at least one aspect relating to a locate and/or marking operation performed by a locate technician based on an electronic representation of the locate and/or marking operation, the method comprising:
- A) digitally representing, on a display device, at least one underground facility and/or at least one physical locate mark so as to generate an electronic visual representation of the locate and/or marking operation, the locate and/or marking operation being performed by the locate technician in response to a locate request ticket and comprising locating the at least one underground facility within a dig area, and/or identifying using at least one physical locate mark a presence or an absence of the at least one underground facility within the dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities;
B) determining, by at least one processor, a length associated with at least a portion of the digitally represented at least one underground facility and/or the digitally represented at least one physical locate mark that is present in the electronic visual representation of the locate and/or marking operation; and
C) based at least in part on the length determined in B), automatically assessing, by the at least one processor, the at least one aspect relating to the locate and/or marking operation,wherein the at least one aspect includes a cost associated with the locate and/or marking operation, and wherein in C) the cost associated with the locate and/or marking operation is automatically assessed by the at least one processor based on the length determined in B) and at least one of;
a price per unit length associated with the digitally represented at least one underground facility and/or the digitally represented at least one physical locate mark that is present in the electronic visual representation of the locate and/or marking operation;
at least one environmental feature that is present in the electronic visual representation of the locate and/or marking operation;
a number of tie-downs that are present in the electronic visual representation of the locate and/or marking operation;
at least one type of the at least one underground facility; and
a location of the dig area.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method is disclosed for assessing an aspect relating to a locate and/or marking operation performed by a locate technician based on an electronic representation of the operation. The operation includes locating and/or identifying, using a physical locate mark, a presence or an absence of an underground facility within a dig area. A portion of the dig area may be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities. The method includes digitally representing, on a display device, the facility and/or the physical locate mark to generate an electronic visual representation of the operation. The method further includes determining a length associated with a portion of the digitally represented facility and/or physical locate mark in the electronic visual representation of the operation. The method further includes, based on the determined length, automatically assessing the aspect relating to the operation.
363 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method for assessing at least one aspect relating to a locate and/or marking operation performed by a locate technician based on an electronic representation of the locate and/or marking operation, the method comprising:
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A) digitally representing, on a display device, at least one underground facility and/or at least one physical locate mark so as to generate an electronic visual representation of the locate and/or marking operation, the locate and/or marking operation being performed by the locate technician in response to a locate request ticket and comprising locating the at least one underground facility within a dig area, and/or identifying using at least one physical locate mark a presence or an absence of the at least one underground facility within the dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities; B) determining, by at least one processor, a length associated with at least a portion of the digitally represented at least one underground facility and/or the digitally represented at least one physical locate mark that is present in the electronic visual representation of the locate and/or marking operation; and C) based at least in part on the length determined in B), automatically assessing, by the at least one processor, the at least one aspect relating to the locate and/or marking operation, wherein the at least one aspect includes a cost associated with the locate and/or marking operation, and wherein in C) the cost associated with the locate and/or marking operation is automatically assessed by the at least one processor based on the length determined in B) and at least one of; a price per unit length associated with the digitally represented at least one underground facility and/or the digitally represented at least one physical locate mark that is present in the electronic visual representation of the locate and/or marking operation; at least one environmental feature that is present in the electronic visual representation of the locate and/or marking operation; a number of tie-downs that are present in the electronic visual representation of the locate and/or marking operation; at least one type of the at least one underground facility; and a location of the dig area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions that, when executed on at least one processing unit, perform a method for assessing an aspect relating to a locate and/or marking operation performed by a locate technician based on an electronic representation of the locate and/or marking operation, the method comprising:
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A) digitally representing, on a display device, at least one underground facility and/or at least one physical locate mark so as to generate an electronic visual representation of the locate and/or marking operation, the locate and/or marking operation being performed by the locate technician in response to a locate request ticket and comprising locating the at least one underground facility within a dig area, and/or identifying using at least one physical locate mark a presence or an absence of the at least one underground facility within the dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities; B) determining a length associated with at least a portion of the digitally represented at least one underground facility and/or the digitally represented at least one physical locate mark that is present in the electronic visual representation of the locate and/or marking operation; and C) based at least in part on the length determined in B), automatically assessing the at least one aspect relating to the locate and/or marking operation, wherein the at least one aspect includes a cost associated with the locate and/or marking operation, and wherein in C) the cost associated with the locate and/or marking operation is automatically assessed by the at least one processor based on the length determined in B) and at least one of; a price per unit length associated with the digitally represented at least one underground facility and/or the digitally represented at least one physical locate mark that is present in the electronic visual representation of the locate and/or marking operation; at least one environmental feature that is present in the electronic visual representation of the locate and/or marking operation; a number of tie-downs that are present in the electronic visual representation of the locate and/or marking operation; at least one type of the at least one underground facility; and a location of the dig area.
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24. An apparatus for assessing at least one aspect relating to a locate and/or marking operation performed by a locate technician based on an electronic representation of the locate and/or marking operation, the apparatus comprising:
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a display device; a memory to store processor-executable instructions; and a processing unit coupled to the display device and the memory, wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by the processing unit, the processing unit; A) controls the display device to display at least one digitally represented underground facility and/or at least one digitally represented physical locate mark so as to generate an electronic visual representation of the locate and/or marking operation, the locate and/or marking operation being performed by the locate technician in response to a locate request ticket and comprising locating the at least one underground facility within a dig area, and/or identifying using at least one physical locate mark a presence or an absence of the at least one underground facility within the dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities; B) determines a length associated with at least a portion of the at least one digitally represented underground facility and/or at least one the digitally represented physical locate mark that is present in the electronic visual representation of the locate and/or marking operation; and C) based at least in part on the length determined in B), automatically assesses the at least one aspect relating to the locate and/or marking operation, wherein the at least one aspect includes a cost associated with the locate and/or marking operation, and wherein in C) the cost associated with the locate and/or marking operation is automatically assessed by the at least one processor based on the length determined in B) and at least one of; a price per unit length associated with the digitally represented at least one underground facility and/or the digitally represented at least one physical locate mark that is present in the electronic visual representation of the locate and/or marking operation; at least one environmental feature that is present in the electronic visual representation of the locate and/or marking operation; a number of tie-downs that are present in the electronic visual representation of the locate and/or marking operation; at least one type of the at least one underground facility; and a location of the dig area. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification