×

Methods and apparatus for managing locate and/or marking operations

  • US 9,185,176 B2
  • Filed: 07/09/2010
  • Issued: 11/10/2015
  • Est. Priority Date: 02/11/2009
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
Patent Images

1. An apparatus for managing and evaluating a locate operation to identify, in response to at least one locate request ticket, a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area at a work site of excavation activities, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during the excavation activities, the apparatus comprising:

  • at least one piece of locating equipment;

    a communication interface;

    a memory to store processor-executable instructions; and

    a processing unit communicatively coupled to the at least one piece of locating equipment, the communication interface, and the memory, wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by the processing unit, the processing unit;

    A) controls the communication interface to receive first ticket information relating to the at least one locate request ticket and describing the locate operation to be performed by a field technician, the locate operation comprising;

    identifying the presence or the absence of the at least one underground facility within the dig area using at least one physical locate mark placed by the field technician on ground, pavement, or other surface within the dig area, wherein the first ticket information includes image information and/or geospatial metadata relating to the dig area and/or the work site at which the locate operation is to be performed by the field technician;

    B) controls at least one of the communication interface and the at least one piece of locating equipment to receive field information relating to the locate operation as at least partially performed by the field technician, and environmental information relating to the dig area and/or the work site at which the locate operation is at least partially performed by the field technician, wherein;

    1) the field information comprises;

    a) marking information relating to use of the at least one piece of locating equipment by the field technician to physically mark the dig area, the marking information including at least one of color and geo-location data corresponding to the at least one physical locate mark applied by the field technician to the ground, pavement, or other surface within the dig area to indicate the presence or the absence of the at least one underground facility during the at least partial performance of the locate operation; and

    2) the environmental information comprises;

    a) weather conditions including at least one of temperature, humidity, and light relating to the dig area and/or the work site at which the locate operation is at least partially performed and obtained via at least one sensor in the at least one piece of locating equipment operated by the field technician during the at least partial performance of the locate operation;

    C) automatically scores the field information and the environmental information based on a series of two or more predetermined thresholds to determine a quality assessment of the locate operation as at least partially performed by the field technician under the weather conditions; and

    D) automatically controls at least one of the memory to electronically store, and the communication interface to electronically transmit to at least one entity associated with the locate operation, at least some information relating to the quality assessment so as to facilitate at least one of tracking, auditing, and archiving an indication of at least one of a completeness, an accuracy, and an efficiency associated with the locate operation as at least partially performed by the field technician under the weather conditions.

View all claims
  • 2 Assignments
Timeline View
Assignment View
    ×
    ×