Methods and apparatus for overlaying electronic locate information on facilities map information and/or other image information displayed on a locate device
First Claim
1. A locate receiver to detect a presence or an absence of an underground facility, the locate receiver comprising:
- a housing;
an RF antenna for receiving a magnetic field and outputting an output signal;
a processing circuit, for receiving the output signal from the RF antenna and determining a magnetic field strength of the magnetic field indicative of the presence or the absence of the underground facility;
at least one sensor, coupled to the housing, to output first geographic information indicative of at least one geographic location of the locate receiver;
a display device coupled to the housing;
at least one memory; and
at least one processor, coupled to the processing circuit, the at least one sensor, the display device, and the at least one memory, the at least one processor configured to;
display on the display device a digital image that is generated based on the at least one geographic location of the locate receiver and based on digital image data including at least one of facilities map data, survey map data, land survey data, photographic image data, construction drawings, and engineering drawings; and
overlay on the displayed digital image, based at least in part on the first geographic information output by the at least one sensor, a plurality of electronic markings indicating respective geographic locations of the locate receiver, and detection of the presence or the absence of the underground facility at the respective geographic locations of the locate receiver.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A locate device for a locate operation to detect a presence or an absence of one or more underground facilities is configured to access and display facilities map information, and/or other image information, as a visual aid to facilitate the locate operation. In various aspects, methods and apparatus relate to: selection of an appropriate “base” facilities map, or information from a database of facilities map data, relating to a given work site/dig area; selection of an appropriate pan and/or zoom (resolution) for displaying facilities map information; appropriately updating displayed facilities map information while a locate device is used during a locate operation (e.g. changing pan, zoom and/or orientation); overlaying on the displayed facilities map information locate information and/or landmark information relating to the locate operation; and storing locally on the locate device, and/or transmitting from the locate device, facilities map information and/or overlaid locate/landmark information (e.g., for further processing, analysis and/or subsequent display).
312 Citations
65 Claims
-
1. A locate receiver to detect a presence or an absence of an underground facility, the locate receiver comprising:
-
a housing; an RF antenna for receiving a magnetic field and outputting an output signal; a processing circuit, for receiving the output signal from the RF antenna and determining a magnetic field strength of the magnetic field indicative of the presence or the absence of the underground facility; at least one sensor, coupled to the housing, to output first geographic information indicative of at least one geographic location of the locate receiver; a display device coupled to the housing; at least one memory; and at least one processor, coupled to the processing circuit, the at least one sensor, the display device, and the at least one memory, the at least one processor configured to; display on the display device a digital image that is generated based on the at least one geographic location of the locate receiver and based on digital image data including at least one of facilities map data, survey map data, land survey data, photographic image data, construction drawings, and engineering drawings; and overlay on the displayed digital image, based at least in part on the first geographic information output by the at least one sensor, a plurality of electronic markings indicating respective geographic locations of the locate receiver, and detection of the presence or the absence of the underground facility at the respective geographic locations of the locate receiver. - 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, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
-
-
33. A method for displaying information on a locate receiver having a housing, an RF antenna for receiving a magnetic field and outputting an output signal, a processing circuit, for receiving the output signal from the RF antenna and determining a magnetic field strength of the magnetic field indicative of a presence or an absence of an underground facility, at least one sensor coupled to the housing to output first geographic information indicative of a first geographic location of the locate receiver, a display device coupled to the housing, at least one memory, and at least one processor, communicatively coupled to the processing circuit, the display device, the at least one sensor and the at least one memory, the method comprising:
-
displaying on the display device a digital image that is generated based on the first geographic location of the locate receiver and based on digital image data including at least one of facilities map data, survey map data, land survey data, photographic image data, construction drawings, and engineering drawings; and overlaying on the displayed digital image, based at least in part on the first geographic information output by the at least one sensor, a plurality of electronic markings indicating respective geographic locations of the locate receiver, and detection of the presence or the absence of the underground facility at the respective geographic locations of the locate receiver. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
-
-
65. At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions that, when executed on at least one processor in a locate receiver having a housing, an RF antenna for receiving a magnetic field and outputting an output signal, a processing circuit, for receiving the output signal from the RF antenna and determining a magnetic field strength of the magnetic field indicative of a presence or an absence of an underground facility, at least one sensor coupled to the housing to output first geographic information indicative of a first geographic location of the locate receiver, a display device coupled to the housing, at least one memory, and at least one processor, communicatively coupled to the processing circuit, the display device, the at least one sensor and the at least one memory, causes the at least one processor to perform a method comprising:
-
displaying on the display device a digital image that is generated based on the first geographic location of the locate receiver and based on digital image data including at least one of facilities map data, survey map data, land survey data, photographic image data, construction drawings, and engineering drawings; and overlaying on the displayed digital image, based at least in part on the first geographic information output by the at least one sensor, a plurality of electronic markings indicating respective geographic locations of the locate receiver, and detection of the presence or the absence of the underground facility at the respective geographic locations of the locate receiver.
-
Specification