METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR ANALYZING LOCATE AND MARKING OPERATIONS WITH RESPECT TO HISTORICAL INFORMATION

• US 20100088134A1
• Filed: 10/01/2009
• Published: 04/08/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Certusview Technologies LLC (Dycom Industries Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Certusview Technologies LLC (Dycom Industries Incorporated)
• Inventors: Chambers, Curtis, Farr, Jeffrey, Nielsen, Steven E.
• Granted Patent: US 9,208,464 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 15/00 Surveying instruments or accessories not provided for in groups G01C1/00 - G01C13/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0639 Performance analysis of employees; Performance analysis of enterprise or organisation operations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06393 Score-carding, benchmarking or key performance indicator [KPI] analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06395 Quality analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/165 Land development

Abstract

Methods, apparatus and systems including a computer comprising at least one hardware processor, at least one tangible storage medium (memory), and at least one input/output (I/O) interface for evaluating a quality of a first locate and/or marking operation to identify a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility. First information relating to the first locate and/or marking operation is compared to second information relating to at least one second locate and/or marking operation different from the first locate and/or marking operation. One or more indications of a quality assessment of the locate and/or marking operation is automatically generated based on such a comparison, and the one or more indications of the quality assessment are electronically stored on the at least one tangible storage medium, and/or electronically transmitted via the at least one I/O interface, so as to provide an electronic record of the quality assessment.

Claims

1. An apparatus for assessing a quality of a first locate and/or marking operation to identify a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility at a work site, the apparatus comprising:

a memory storing processor-executable instructions;

at least one I/O interface; and

a processor coupled to the memory and the at least one I/O interface, wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions, the processor;

A) compares first information relating to the first locate and/or marking operation to second information relating to at least one second locate and/or marking operation different from the first locate and/or marking operation;

B) automatically generates, based on A), at least one indication of a quality assessment of the first locate and/or marking operation; and

C) electronically stores in the memory, and/or electronically transmits via the at least one I/O interface, the at least one indication of the quality assessment so as to provide an electronic record of the quality assessment.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first locate and/or marking operation is a current locate and/or marking operation, and wherein the at least one second locate and/or marking operation includes at least one historical locate and/or marking operation.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising at least one display device, and wherein the processor:

displays the at least one indication of the quality assessment on the at least one display device.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first locate and/or marking operation is performed by at least one technician, and wherein in C), the processor:

transmits at least one feedback message to the at least one technician prior to completion of the first location and/or marking operation, the feedback message being generated based at least in part on the at least one indication of the quality assessment generated in B).

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first information is generated by locating equipment used to perform the first locate and/or marking operation, wherein the locating equipment comprises at least one of a marking device, a locate device, and a combined locate and marking device, and wherein prior to A), the processor:

receives the first information from the locating equipment, wherein the first information includes locate information, marking information, and/or landmark information.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the at least one of the marking device, the locate device, and the combined locate and marking device includes the processor.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein A), B), and C) are performed during or immediately following the locate and/or marking operation, and wherein the processor:

D) alters at least one operating characteristic of the locating equipment based on the at least one indication of the quality assessment.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the at least one indication of the quality assessment comprises a numeric score indicative of the quality of the locate and/or marking operation, and wherein the processor:

D1) alters the at least one operating characteristic of the locating equipment if the numeric score is below a predetermined threshold.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein in D) the processor disables the locating equipment if the at least one indication of the quality assessment is unsatisfactory.

10. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the first information includes at least one of:

at least one location at which the locating equipment was used to perform the first locate and/or marking operation;

facility-type information identifying the at least one underground facility detected and/or marked during the first locate and/or marking operation;

facility location information identifying a location of the at least one underground facility detected and/or marked during the first locate and/or marking operation;

marking material type information identifying at least one characteristic of a marking material used to mark the presence or the absence of the at least one underground facility detected and/or marked during the first locate and/or marking operation;

signal information identifying a signal strength measured by the locate device at the location of the at least one underground facility detected during the first locate and/or marking operation;

position information identifying an angle or acceleration of the locating equipment during the first location and/or marking operation; and

environmental information describing at least one environmental condition present during the first locate and/or marking operation.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first information comprises an electronic manifest of the first locate and/or marking operation, the electronic manifest comprising:

at least one image of the work site; and

at least one electronic marking on the image indicating the presence or the absence of the at least one underground facility.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the electronic manifest further comprises first geographic information indicating the location of the at least one electronic marking.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein prior to A), the processor:

A1) selects for comparison at least some of the first information and/or at least some of the second information based at least in part on a dig area indicator that indicates a dig area of the work site on a digital image.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the dig area indicator delimits the dig area on the digital image, and wherein in A1) the processor:

receives, via the at least one I/O interface, dig area indicator geographic information including geographic coordinates for the dig area indicator; and

selects the at least some of the first information, and/or the at least some of the second information, that relates only to a geographic area delimited by the dig area indicator geographic information.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein in A1), the processor:

receives, via the at least one I/O interface, geographic coordinates for the dig area indicator; and

selects the at least some of the first information, and/or the at least some of the second information, that relates only to a geographic area including the geographic coordinates for the dig area indicator.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the geographic area is within a predetermined radius of the geographic coordinates for the dig area indicator.

17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein prior to A), the processor:

obtains the first information from one or more first electronic records relating to the first locate and/or marking operation, based at least in part on a target of comparison corresponding to one or more aspects of the quality the first locate and/or marking operation; and

obtains the second information from one or more second electronic records relating to the at least one second locate and/or marking operation, based at least in part on the target of comparison corresponding to one or more aspects of the quality the first locate and/or marking operation.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the target of comparison based on which the first information and the second information are obtained includes one of:

at least one type of the at least one underground facility detected and/or marked during the first locate and/or marking operation;

at least one location at which at least one facility line of the at least one underground facility was detected and/or marked during the first locate and/or marking operation;

a size, shape and/or location of at least one physical locate mark placed on ground, pavement or other surface to mark the presence or the absence of the at least one underground facility during the first locate and/or marking operation;

at least one characteristic of the at least one physical locate mark;

at least one distance or offset between the at least one physical locate mark and at least one environmental landmark in or proximate to the work site;

a duration of the at least one first locate and/or marking operation; and

at least one event logged by locating equipment used during the first locate and/or marking operation.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein:

the first information includes first facility type information relating to a first facility type;

the second information includes second facility type information relating to the first facility type; and

in A), the processor compares first facility type information to the second facility type information to determine whether the first facility type information is consistent with the second facility type information.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the first facility type information comprises a color of a marking material dispensed during the first locate and/or marking operation to form at least one physical locate mark on ground, pavement or other surface to mark the presence or the absence of the at least one underground facility.

21. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein:

the at least one second locate and/or marking operation includes a plurality of second locate and/or marking operations;

the one or more second electronic records comprise a plurality of second electronic records each corresponding to a different one of the plurality of second locate and/or marking operations; and

prior to A), the processor obtains the second information by;

obtaining at least one piece of information relevant to the target of comparison from each of the plurality of second electronic records so as to collect a plurality of pieces of information; and

aggregate the plurality of pieces of information obtained from the plurality of second electronic records to obtain the second information.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the plurality of pieces of information include numerical information, and wherein the processor aggregates the plurality of pieces of information by determining an average of the numerical information.

23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein a confidence value is associated with each of the plurality of pieces of information, and wherein the processor aggregates the plurality of pieces of information by selecting at least one piece of information from the plurality of pieces of information based on respective confidence values associated with the plurality of pieces of information.

24. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the target of comparison comprises first geographic information relating to at least one location at which at least one facility line of the at least one underground facility was detected and/or marked during the locate and/or marking operation, and wherein:

the first information includes a first set of geo-location data points indicating first geographic locations at which the at least one facility line of the at least one underground facility was detected and/or marked during the first locate and/or marking operation; and

the second information includes a second set of geo-location data points indicating second geographic locations at which at least one corresponding facility line of the at least one underground facility was detected and/or marked during the at least one second locate and/or marking operation,

and wherein in A) the processor;

A1) compares the first set of geo-location data points with the second set of geo-location data points; and

A2) determines a distance between each point in the first set and a nearest point in the second set to generate a vector of distances.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the first set of geo-location data points is expressed in a first reference frame and the second set of geo-location data points is expressed in a second reference frame different from the first reference frame, and wherein the processor transforms at least one of the first set of geo-location data points and the second set of geo-location data points to a common reference frame.

26. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein in B) the processor:

B1) generates the at least one indication of the quality assessment based, at least in part, on the vector of distances generated in A2).

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein in B1) the processor:

generates the at least one indication of the quality assessment based, at least in part, on a statistical analysis of distance values in the vector of distances.

28. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein in B1) the processor:

generates the at least one indication of the quality assessment based, at least in part, on a percentage of distance values in the vector of distances that are less than a first threshold.

29. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein in B) the processor:

generates the at least one indication of the quality assessment as a score or grade having one of a plurality of possible values.

30. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein in A) the processor:

provides at least one quality assessment criterion relating to the second information relating to at least one second locate and/or marking operation;

provides at least two scoring categories for the at least one quality assessment criterion, each scoring category associated with a scoring value or grade;

for each scoring category provides an expected data value or range of expected data values;

determines, for the at least one quality assessment criterion, into which of the at least two scoring categories the first locate and/or marking operation falls by comparing the first information to the expected data value or range of expected data values for at least one of the at least two scoring categories; and

assigns to the first locate and/or marking operation the scoring value or grade associated with the scoring category into which the locate and marking operation falls.

31. An apparatus for automatically assessing a quality of a current locate and/or marking operation based at least in part on reference information relating to one or more historical locate and/or marking operations performed at or near a work site of the current locate and/or marking operation, the apparatus comprising:

a memory storing processor-executable instructions;

at least one I/O interface; and

a processor coupled to the memory and the at least one I/O interface, wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions, the processor;

A) identifies at least one first geographic location at which at least one facility line of at least one underground facility was detected and/or marked during the current locate and/or marking operation;

B) obtains field geo-location data based on A);

C) identifies one or more reference electronic records relating to the one or more historical locate and/or marking operations;

D) obtains reference geo-location data based C);

E) determines a measure of distances between the field geo-location data and the reference geo-location data;

F) assesses the quality of the first locate and/or marking operation based at least in part on E); and

G) generates at least one indication of a quality assessment based on F).

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein in F), the processor statistically analyzes the measure of distances to assess the quality of the first locate and/or marking operation.

33. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein in G) the processor:

generates the at least one indication of the quality assessment based, at least in part, on a percentage of distances determined in E) that are less than a first threshold.

34. In a computer comprising a memory, at least one I/O interface and a processor, a method for assessing a quality of a first locate and/or marking operation to identify a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility at a work site, the method comprising:

A) comparing first information relating to the first locate and/or marking operation to second information relating to at least one second locate and/or marking operation different from the first locate and/or marking operation;

B) automatically generating, based on A), at least one indication of a quality assessment of the first locate and/or marking operation; and

C) electronically storing in the memory, and/or electronically transmitting via the at least one I/O interface, the at least one indication of the quality assessment so as to provide an electronic record of the quality assessment.

35. At least one computer-readable medium encoded with computer-executable instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, perform a method for assessing a quality of a first locate and/or marking operation to identify a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility at a work site, the method comprising:

A) comparing first information relating to the first locate and/or marking operation to second information relating to at least one second locate and/or marking operation different from the first locate and/or marking operation;

B) automatically generating, based on A), at least one indication of a quality assessment of the first locate and/or marking operation; and

C) electronically storing in the memory, and/or electronically transmitting via the at least one I/O interface, the at least one indication of the quality assessment so as to provide an electronic record of the quality assessment.