Methods, apparatus and systems for onsite linking to location-specific electronic records of locate operations

• US 9,311,614 B2
• Filed: 12/19/2014
• Issued: 04/12/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Certusview Technologies LLC (Dycom Industries Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Certusview Technologies LLC (Dycom Industries Incorporated)
• Inventors: Nielsen, Steven E., Chambers, Curtis, Farr, Jeffrey
• Primary Examiner(s): Zee, Edward
• Application Number:
  US14/577,353
• Publication Number:
  US 20150269500A1
• Time in Patent Office: 480 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/60 Protecting data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6209 to a single file or object, e.g. in a secure envelope, encrypted and accessed using a key, or with access control rules appended to the object itself
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0833 Tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 5/22 using electric transmission; using electromagnetic transmission

Abstract

Providing access at a jobsite to an electronic record of a locate operation. Data related to the locate operation is acquired by locate equipment and transmitted to a data repository for storage in the electronic record of the locate operation. A site-specific access mechanism is provided that establishes a link to the electronic record of the locate operation. In one example, the site-specific access mechanism is a physical mechanism, such as a printout of a website address, a barcode, or an RFID tag. In another example the site-specific access mechanism is a virtual mechanism, such as geographic location information provided by a location tracking system (e.g., GPS apparatus) and/or derived from information available to a wireless communications system or WiFi network. In one aspect, the access mechanism may be configured for use at the jobsite only by a person particularly authorized to access the electronic record of the locate operation.

Claims

1. A method for providing access to an electronic record of a locate operation, the locate operation performed by a locate technician in response to at least one work order and comprising locating and applying, by the locate technician, at least one physical locate mark on ground, pavement, or other surface to indicate a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility at a jobsite, wherein at least a portion of the jobsite is planned to be excavated or disturbed by an excavator during excavation activities, the method comprising:

acquiring, by locate equipment used by the locate technician to perform the locate operation, electronic data related to performance of the locate operation by the locate technician to locate and mark the presence or the absence of the at least one underground facility;

transmitting, by the locate equipment, the acquired electronic data to a data repository for storage in the electronic record of the locate operation, the electronic record comprising at least one of;

an electronic manifest of the locate operation, the electronic manifest including a first digital image of the jobsite and at least one electronic marking electronically drawn on the first digital image by the locate technician via the locate equipment and corresponding to the at least one physical locate mark applied by the locate technician to the ground, pavement, or other surface during the locate operation, so as to graphically depict the locate operation performed by the locate technician; and

geographic coordinates for the at least one electronic marking corresponding to the at least one physical locate mark applied by the locate technician to the ground, pavement, or other surface; and

providing a site-specific access mechanism that establishes a link to the electronic record of the locate operation, the access mechanism configured for use at the jobsite by an authorized person to access the electronic record of the locate operation.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the access mechanism comprises generating at least one of:

a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag including the link to the electronic record;

a barcode tag including the link to the electronic record;

an address that serves as the link to the electronic record;

a work order number that serves as the link to the electronic record; and

geographic coordinates of the jobsite that serve as the link to the electronic record.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the geographic coordinates of the jobsite are generated from the acquired electronic data.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the access mechanism is associated with a process for at least one of:

authenticating a user as being authorized to access at least part of the electronic record;

authorizing different levels of access to the electronic record for different users;

logging an instance of use of the access mechanism to access the electronic record; and

determining a number of instances of use of the access mechanism to access the electronic record.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the access mechanism includes an association with at least one of:

the electronic record; and

an expiration date.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the access mechanism stores at least a part of the electronic record.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic record further comprises at least one of:

a work order for performing the locate operation to locate the presence or the absence of the at least one underground facility at the jobsite;

a virtual white line image for the jobsite including a second digital image of the jobsite marked up for indicating an area, point, and/or line of planned excavation to be performed at the jobsite;

a facilities map relating to the locate operation, the facilities map including an electronic representation of a geographic location, type, and/or number of one or more facilities at the jobsite;

time-stamp information to provide proof of a time relating to the locate operation;

place-stamp information to provide proof of a geographic location relating to the locate operation;

marking material information regarding a characteristic of a marking material dispensed by the locate technician during the locate operation;

locate signal information regarding at least one of a signal strength, a signal frequency, and a depth relating to the locate operation;

a user identification identifying the locate technician;

status information regarding a status of the locate technician;

historical information relating to the locate technician;

at least one member code assigned to a facility owner of the at least one underground facility;

environmental information regarding at least one environmental condition present at or near the jobsite during the locate operation;

a quality assessment relating to the locate operation; and

a risk assessment relating to the locate operation.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the work order is at least one of a locate request and a locate request ticket.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the characteristic of the marking material is at least one of a color and a type of the marking material.

10. A method for accessing an electronic record of a locate operation, the locate operation performed by a locate technician in response to at least one work order and comprising locating and applying, by the locate technician, at least one physical locate mark on ground, pavement, or other surface to indicate a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility at a jobsite, wherein at least a portion of the jobsite is planned to be excavated or disturbed by an excavator during excavation activities, the method comprising:

obtaining a site-specific access mechanism that establishes a link to the electronic record of the locate operation, the access mechanism configured for use at the jobsite by an authorized person to access the electronic record of the locate operation, the electronic record comprising electronic data related to performance of the locate operation by the locate technician and acquired, by locate equipment used by the locate technician to locate and mark the presence or the absence of the at least one underground facility, wherein the electronic record comprises at least one of;

an electronic manifest for the locate operation, the electronic manifest including a first digital image of the jobsite and at least one electronic marking electronically drawn on the first digital image by the locate technician via the locate equipment and corresponding to the at least one physical locate mark applied by the locate technician to the ground, pavement, or other surface during the locate operation, so as to graphically depict the locate operation performed by the locate technician; and

geographic coordinates for the at least one electronic marking corresponding to the at least one physical locate mark applied by the locate technician to the ground, pavement, or other surface; and

using the access mechanism at the jobsite to access the electronic record of the locate operation.

11. A locate operations system for providing access to an electronic record of a locate operation, the locate operation performed by a locate technician in response to at least one work order and comprising locating and applying, by the locate technician, at least one physical locate mark on ground, pavement, or other surface to indicate a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility at a jobsite, wherein at least a portion of the jobsite is planned to be excavated or disturbed by an excavator during excavation activities, the system comprising:

at least one communication interface;

a memory to store processor-executable instructions; and

at least one processor communicatively coupled to the communication interface and the memory, wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by the at least one processor, the at least one processor;

acquires electronic data related to performance of the locate operation by the locate technician to locate and mark the presence or the absence of the at least one underground facility, via the at least one communication interface from locate equipment used by the locate technician to perform the locate operation;

transmits the acquired electronic data, via the at least one communication interface, to a data repository for storage in the electronic record of the locate operation; and

controls a site-specific access mechanism that establishes a link to the electronic record of the locate operation, the site-specific access mechanism configured for use at the jobsite by an authorized person to access the electronic record of the locate operation;

a data repository component for receiving the acquired electronic data for storage in the electronic record of the locate operation, the electronic record comprising at least one of;

an electronic manifest for the locate operation, the electronic manifest including a first digital image of the jobsite and at least one electronic marking electronically drawn on the first digital image by the locate technician via the locate equipment and corresponding to the at least one physical locate mark applied by the locate technician to the ground, pavement, or other surface during the locate operation, so as to graphically depict the locate operation performed by the locate technician; and

geographic coordinates for the at least one electronic marking corresponding to the at least one physical locate mark applied by the locate technician to the ground, pavement, or other surface.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor controls the access mechanism by generating at least one of:

a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag including the link to the electronic record;

a barcode tag including the link to the electronic record;

an address that serves as the link to the electronic record;

a work order number that serves as the link to the electronic record; and

geographic coordinates of the jobsite that serve as the link to the electronic record.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one processor generates the geographic coordinates of the jobsite from the acquired electronic data.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the access mechanism is associated with a process for at least one of:

authenticating a user as being authorized to access at least part of the electronic record;

authorizing different levels of access to the electronic record for different users;

logging an instance of use of the access mechanism to access the electronic record; and

determining a number of instances of use of the access mechanism to access the electronic record.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the access mechanism includes an association with at least one of:

the electronic record; and

an expiration date.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the access mechanism stores at least a part of the electronic record.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the electronic record further comprises at least one of:

a work order for performing the locate operation to locate the presence or the absence of the at least one underground facility at the jobsite;

a virtual white line image for the jobsite including a second digital image of the jobsite marked up for indicating an area, point, and/or line of planned excavation to be performed at the jobsite;

a facilities map relating to the locate operation, the facilities map including an electronic representation of a geographic location, type, and/or number of one or more facilities at the jobsite;

time-stamp information to provide proof of a time relating to the locate operation;

place-stamp information to provide proof of a geographic location relating to the locate operation;

marking material information regarding a characteristic of a marking material dispensed by the locate technician during the locate operation;

locate signal information regarding at least one of a signal strength, a signal frequency, and a depth relating to the locate operation;

a user identification identifying the locate technician;

status information regarding a status of the locate technician;

historical information relating to the locate technician;

at least one member code assigned to a facility owner of the at least one underground facility;

environmental information regarding at least one environmental condition present at or near the jobsite during the locate operation;

a quality assessment relating to the locate operation; and

a risk assessment relating to the locate operation.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the work order is at least one of a locate request and a locate request ticket.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the characteristic of the marking material is at least one of a color and a type of the marking material.

20. A locate operations system for accessing an electronic record of a locate operation, the locate operation performed by a locate technician in response to at least one work order and comprising locating and applying, by the locate technician, at least one physical locate mark on ground, pavement, or other surface to indicate a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility at a jobsite, wherein at least a portion of the jobsite is planned to be excavated or disturbed by an excavator during excavation activities, the system comprising:

an access mechanism reader for reading a site-specific access mechanism that establishes a link to the electronic record of the locate operation, the access mechanism configured for use at the jobsite by an authorized person to access the electronic record of the locate operation, the electronic record comprising data related to performance of the locate operation by the locate technician and acquired, by locate equipment used by the locate technician to locate and mark the presence or the absence of the at least one underground facility, wherein the electronic record comprises at least one of;

an electronic manifest for the locate operation, the electronic manifest including a first digital image of the jobsite and at least one electronic marking electronically drawn on the first digital image by the locate technician via the locate equipment and corresponding to the at least one physical locate mark applied by the locate technician to the ground, pavement, or other surface during the locate operation, so as to graphically depict the locate operation performed by the locate technician; and

geographic coordinates for the at least one electronic marking corresponding to the at least one physical locate mark applied by the locate technician to the ground, pavement, or other surface; and

a memory to store processor-executable instructions;

at least one processor communicatively coupled to the access mechanism reader and the memory, wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by the at least one processor, the at least one processor uses the link to access the electronic record of the locate operation.