Surveying system
First Claim
1. In a system for surveying the contour of an area of land including a stationary transmitter for generating a rotating laser beam in a plane above the area of land to be surveyed, and a receiver movable about the area of land and responsive to the rotating laser beam for generating an elevation signal representing the elevation of the land at the receiver location relative to a predetermined reference level, a control circuit connected to receive the elevation signal from the receiver, said control circuit comprising:
- input means for inputting a direction signal representing a predetermined side of the area of land;
means for generating grid signals representing a predetermined grid pattern having a plurality of grid points representing locations on the area of land at which an elevation reading is to be taken; and
means for storing said direction signal and the elevation signal of a selected one of said grid points when the receiver is located at the corresponding location on the area of land.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for surveying the contour of land and for automatically determining the most efficient movement of dirt in order to obtain a desired grade utilizes a stationary transmitter which generates a rotating laser beam plane across the field to be surveyed. A receiver and a control circuit are mounted on a vehicle which is adapted to drive across the field. After providing the control circuit with certain initialization data, an operator drives the vehicle over the field in a predetermined manner to enable the control circuit to take elevational readings at selected points. After the survey has been completed, the operator can use the control circuit to display graphical information relating to the surveyed field. The operator can also utilize the control to calculate the amount of dirt which must be moved in order to obtain a desired grade on the field. The initialization and calculation routines are performed by the operator in response to prompting questions and statements displayed by the control circuit. One feature of the control circuit is the interchangeability of language modules which determine the language of the prompts. Another feature of the control circuit is a removable memory unit for the storage of the elevational data which can be connected to a remotely located computer for further processing of the elevational data.
31 Citations
29 Claims
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1. In a system for surveying the contour of an area of land including a stationary transmitter for generating a rotating laser beam in a plane above the area of land to be surveyed, and a receiver movable about the area of land and responsive to the rotating laser beam for generating an elevation signal representing the elevation of the land at the receiver location relative to a predetermined reference level, a control circuit connected to receive the elevation signal from the receiver, said control circuit comprising:
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input means for inputting a direction signal representing a predetermined side of the area of land; means for generating grid signals representing a predetermined grid pattern having a plurality of grid points representing locations on the area of land at which an elevation reading is to be taken; and means for storing said direction signal and the elevation signal of a selected one of said grid points when the receiver is located at the corresponding location on the area of land. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. In a system for surveying the contour of an area of land including a stationary transmitter for generating a rotating laser beam in a plane above the area of land, and a moveable receiver responsive to the laser beam for generating an elevation signal representing the height of the land at the location of the receiver with respect to a reference level, a control circuit connected to the receiver and the control circuit comprising:
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input means for generating a bag signal representing a location at which an elevation signal is to be generated; means for storing the elevation signal; means responsive to said bag signal for enabling said means for storing to store the elevation signal corresponding to the location of the receiver; means for generating grid signals representing a predetermined pattern of grid locations on the area of land at which elevation readings are to be taken including first grid signals representing grid locations for which elevation signals have been stored in said means for storing a second grid signal representing the next grid location at which one of the elevation signals is to be generated; and display means responsive to said first grid signals for displaying a solid dot and responsive to said second grid signal for displaying a flashing dot. - View Dependent Claims (29)
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Specification