Patent Application
20110020776
The present invention relates generally to the field of processes for training underground facility locate technicians. In particular, the present disclosure is directed to locating equipment for, and methods of, simulating locate operations for training and/or skills evaluation.
Field service operations may be any operation in which companies dispatch technicians and/or other staff to perform certain activities, for example, installations, services and/or repairs. Field service operations may exist in various industries, examples of which include, but are not limited to, network installations, utility installations, security systems, construction, medical equipment, heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) and the like.
An example of a field service operation in the construction industry is a so-called “locate and marking operation,” also commonly referred to more simply as a “locate operation” (or sometimes merely as “a locate”). In a typical locate operation, a locate technician visits a work site in which there is a plan to disturb the ground (e.g., excavate, dig one or more holes and/or trenches, bore, etc.) so as to determine a presence or an absence of one or more underground facilities (such as various types of utility cables and pipes) in a dig area to be excavated or disturbed at the work site. In some instances, a locate operation may be requested for a “design” project, in which there may be no immediate plan to excavate or otherwise disturb the ground, but nonetheless information about a presence or absence of one or more underground facilities at a work site may be valuable to inform a planning, permitting and/or engineering design phase of a future construction project.
In many states, an excavator who plans to disturb ground at a work site is required by law to notify any potentially affected underground facility owners prior to undertaking an excavation activity. Advanced notice of excavation activities may be provided by an excavator (or another party) by contacting a “one-call center.” One-call centers typically are operated by a consortium of underground facility owners for the purposes of receiving excavation notices and in turn notifying facility owners and/or their agents of a plan to excavate. As part of an advanced notification, excavators typically provide to the one-call center various information relating to the planned activity, including a location (e.g., address) of the work site and a description of the dig area to be excavated or otherwise disturbed at the work site.
A locate operation is initiated as a result of an excavator providing an excavation notice to a one-call center. An excavation notice also is commonly referred to as a “locate request,” and may be provided by the excavator to the one-call center via an electronic mail message, information entry via a website maintained by the one-call center, or a telephone conversation between the excavator and a human operator at the one-call center. The locate request may include an address or some other location-related information describing the geographic location of a work site at which the excavation is to be performed, as well as a description of the dig area (e.g., a text description), such as its location relative to certain landmarks and/or its approximate dimensions, within which there is a plan to disturb the ground at the work site. One-call centers similarly may receive locate requests for design projects (for which, as discussed above, there may be no immediate plan to excavate or otherwise disturb the ground).
Once facilities implicated by the locate request are identified by a one-call center, the one-call center generates a “locate request ticket” (also known as a “locate ticket,” or simply a “ticket”). The locate request ticket essentially constitutes an instruction to inspect a work site and typically identifies the work site of the proposed excavation or design and a description of the dig area, typically lists on the ticket all of the underground facilities that may be present at the work site (e.g., by providing a member code for the facility owner of an underground facility), and may also include various other information relevant to the proposed excavation or design (e.g., the name of the excavation company, a name of a property owner or party contracting the excavation company to perform the excavation, etc.). The one-call center sends the ticket to one or more underground facility owners and/or one or more locate service providers (who may be acting as contracted agents of the facility owners) so that they can conduct a locate and marking operation to verify a presence or absence of the underground facilities in the dig area. For example, in some instances, a given underground facility owner may operate its own fleet of locate technicians, in which case the one-call center may send the ticket to the underground facility owner. In other instances, a given facility owner may contract with a locate service provider to receive locate request tickets and perform a locate and marking operation in response to received tickets on their behalf.
Upon receiving the locate request, a locate service provider or a facility owner (hereafter referred to as a “ticket recipient”) may dispatch a locate technician to the work site of planned excavation to determine a presence or absence of one or more underground facilities in the dig area to be excavated or otherwise disturbed. A typical first step for the locate technician includes utilizing an underground facility “locate device,” which is an instrument or set of instruments (also referred to commonly as a “locate set”) for detecting facilities that are concealed in some manner, such as cables and pipes that are located underground. The locate device is employed by the technician to verify the presence or absence of underground facilities indicated in the locate request ticket as potentially present in the dig area (e.g., via the facility owner member codes listed in the ticket). This process is often referred to as a “locate operation.”
In one example of a locate operation, an underground facility locate device is used to detect electromagnetic fields that are generated by an applied signal provided along a length of a target facility to be identified. In this example, a locate device may include both a signal transmitter to provide the applied signal (e.g., which is coupled by the locate technician to a tracer wire disposed along a length of a facility), and a signal receiver which is generally a hand-held apparatus carried by the locate technician as the technician walks around the dig area to search for underground facilities.
In yet another example, a locate device employed for a locate operation may include a single instrument, similar in some respects to a conventional metal detector. In particular, such an instrument may include an oscillator to generate an alternating current that passes through a coil, which in turn produces a first magnetic field. If a piece of electrically conductive metal is in close proximity to the coil (e.g., if an underground facility having a metal component is below/near the coil of the instrument), eddy currents are induced in the metal and the metal produces its own magnetic field, which in turn affects the first magnetic field. The instrument may include a second coil to measure changes to the first magnetic field, thereby facilitating detection of metallic objects.
In addition to the locate operation, the locate technician also generally performs a “marking operation,” in which the technician marks the presence (and in some cases the absence) of a given underground facility in the dig area based on the various signals detected (or not detected) during the locate operation. For this purpose, the locate technician conventionally utilizes a “marking device” to dispense a marking material on, for example, the ground, pavement, or other surface along a detected underground facility. Marking material may be any material, substance, compound, and/or element, used or which may be used separately or in combination to mark, signify, and/or indicate. Examples of marking materials may include, but are not limited to, paint, chalk, dye, and/or iron. Marking devices, such as paint marking wands and/or paint marking wheels, provide a convenient method of dispensing marking materials onto surfaces, such as onto the surface of the ground or pavement.
In
In some environments, arrows, flags, darts, or other types of physical marks may be used to mark the presence or absence of an underground facility in a dig area, in addition to or as an alternative to a material applied to the ground (such as paint, chalk, dye, tape) along the path of a detected utility. The marks resulting from any of a wide variety of materials and/or objects used to indicate a presence or absence of underground facilities generally are referred to as “locate marks.” Often, different color materials and/or physical objects may be used for locate marks, wherein different colors correspond to different utility types. For example, the American Public Works Association (APWA) has established a standardized color-coding system for utility identification for use by public agencies, utilities, contractors and various groups involved in ground excavation (e.g., red=electric power lines and cables; blue=portable water; orange=telecommunication lines; yellow=gas, oil, steam). In some cases, the technician also may provide one or more marks to indicate that no facility was found in the dig area (sometimes referred to as a “clear”).
As mentioned above, the foregoing activity of identifying and marking a presence or absence of one or more underground facilities generally is referred to for completeness as a “locate and marking operation.” However, in light of common parlance adopted in the construction industry, and/or for the sake of brevity, one or both of the respective locate and marking functions may be referred to in some instances simply as a “locate operation” or a “locate” (i.e., without making any specific reference to the marking function). Accordingly, it should be appreciated that any reference in the relevant arts to the task of a locate technician simply as a “locate operation” or a “locate” does not necessarily exclude the marking portion of the overall process. At the same time, in some contexts a locate operation is identified separately from a marking operation, wherein the former relates more specifically to detection-related activities and the latter relates more specifically to marking-related activities.
Inaccurate locating and/or marking of underground facilities can result in physical damage to the facilities, property damage, and/or personal injury during the excavation process that, in turn, can expose a facility owner or contractor to significant legal liability. When underground facilities are damaged and/or when property damage or personal injury results from damaging an underground facility during an excavation, the excavator may assert that the facility was not accurately located and/or marked by a locate technician, while the locate contractor who dispatched the technician may in turn assert that the facility was indeed properly located and marked. Proving whether the underground facility was properly located and marked can be difficult after the excavation (or after some damage, e.g., a gas explosion), because in many cases the physical locate marks (e.g., the marking material or other physical marks used to mark the facility on the surface of the dig area) will have been disturbed or destroyed during the excavation process (and/or damage resulting from excavation).
Underground facility locate service providers (hereafter referred to as locate companies) conduct training programs and/or other processes for training newly hired locate technicians and/or updating or certifying the skills of locate technicians. For example, locate companies may conduct training exercises over a period of days and/or weeks. Further, locate companies may provide ongoing training and/or certification exercises for all locate technicians due to, for example, changes in policies and/or technology with respect to performing locate operations. These training and/or other processes require planning and resources (i.e., monetary, physical, and/or human resources). As a result, locate companies may have a significant investment with respect to programs and/or other processes for training new locate technicians and/or updating or certifying the skills of locate technicians.
Further, there may be inefficiencies and other drawbacks to current training programs and/or other processes for updating or certifying the skills of locate technicians. In one example, the content of the training, updating, and/or certification programs may be inconsistent from one session to another because of different instructors. Consequently, the outcome of the programs may be inconsistent. Therefore, a need exists for improved training, updating, and/or certification processes for locate technicians that provide consistent content and, therefore, provide consistent outcomes, are readily available, low cost, efficient, suitable for providing individual training as well as group training, and so on.
The present invention relates to training systems for, and methods of, simulating locate operations for training and/or skills evaluation. Facility locating equipment, such as on-site computers and/or locate receivers, may include modules for electronically simulating locate operations. Locating equipment including simulation modules may be used, for example, in locate technician training processes and/or for updating and/or evaluating the skills of locate technicians. In particular, a simulation module is provided for electronically generating “virtual” facilities, the presence and/or absence of which may be indicated to a locate technician during, for example, a training exercise. The actions of the locate technicians with respect to dispensing marking material that corresponds to the presence and/or absence of the virtual facilities are electronically captured, stored, and evaluated.
The training systems for and methods of simulating locate operations of the present invention may provide an improved training, updating, and/or certification mechanism which presents consistent content to locate technicians and which results in consistent outcomes.
The training systems for and methods of simulating locate operations of the present invention are readily available and suitable for providing individual training as well as group training, thereby reducing or eliminating scheduling and class size constraints.
The training systems for and methods of simulating locate operations of the present invention provide a low cost training, updating, and/or certification mechanism. For example, training exercises using the training systems and methods may be performed anywhere, thereby eliminating the need for a dedicated training environment and/or other dedicated resources. Thus, the training and/or skills evaluation methods of the present invention are independent of location and environment.
According to a first aspect of the invention, a method is provided for simulating a locate operation to locate the presence or absence of an underground facility in a dig area. The method comprises loading selected virtual facilities data into a virtual facilities memory in locate equipment, the selected virtual facilities data including geographic coordinates in the dig area and corresponding simulated signal values; sensing current geographic coordinates of the locate equipment with a location tracking device; accessing simulated signal values in the virtual facilities memory according to the sensed geographic coordinates of the locate equipment; and indicating the simulated signal values to a user.
According to a second aspect of the invention, a method is provided for controlling a simulated locate operation to locate the presence or absence of an underground facility in a dig area. The method comprises sending information representative of selected virtual facilities data to locate equipment; receiving marking data representative of a marking operation based on the selected virtual facilities data, the marking data being received from a marking device and including geographic coordinates of the marking device and corresponding marking device actuation data; and processing the received marking data and the selected virtual facilities data to provide an evaluation of the simulated locate operation.
According to a third aspect of the invention, a locate receiver is provided for simulating a locate operation to locate the presence or absence of an underground facility in a dig area. The locate receiver comprises a location tracking device to sense current geographic coordinates of the locate receiver; a virtual facilities memory to store selected virtual facilities data, the selected virtual facilities data including geographic coordinates and corresponding simulated signal values; a memory access module to access simulated signal values in the virtual facilities memory according to the sensed geographic coordinates of the locate receiver; and a user interface to indicate the accessed signal values to a user.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, a training controller is provided to control a simulated locate operation to locate the presence or absence of an underground facility in a dig area. The training controller comprises a control module to send information representative of selected virtual facilities data to a locate receiver; a simulation data memory module to receive and store marking data representative of a marking operation based on the selected virtual facilities data; and a simulation evaluation module to process the received marking data and the selected virtual facilities data to provide an evaluation of the simulated locate operation.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention, a training system is provided for simulating a locate operation to locate the presence or absence of an underground facility in a dig area. The training system comprises a training controller configured to send information representative of selected virtual facilities data to a locate receiver, to receive marking data representative of a marking operation based on the selected virtual facilities data and to process the received marking data and the selected virtual facilities data to provide an evaluation of the simulated locate operation; a locate receiver configured to load the selected virtual facilities data into a virtual facilities memory, the virtual facilities data including geographic coordinates and corresponding simulated signal values, to sense current geographic coordinates of the locate receiver with a location tracking device, to access signal values in the virtual facilities memory according to the sensed geographic coordinates of the locate receiver, and to indicate the accessed signal values to a user; and a marking device configured to receive marking device actuations from a user based on the accessed signal values indicated to the user and to send marking data to the training controller, the marking data including geographic coordinates of the marking device and the corresponding marking device actuation data.
According to a sixth aspect of the invention, a method is provided for training a locate technician to perform a locate operation to locate the presence or absence of an underground facility in a dig area. The method comprises selecting, in a training controller, virtual facilities data for training; sending the selected virtual facilities data from the training controller to locate equipment; loading the selected virtual facilities data into a virtual facilities memory in the locate equipment; sensing current geographic coordinates of the locate equipment with a location tracking device; accessing signal values in the virtual facilities memory according to the sensed geographic coordinates of the locate equipment; indicating the accessed signal values to the locate technician; receiving, by a marking device, actuations by the locate technician based on the indicated signal values; generating, by the marking device, marking data based on the received actuations; sending the marking data from the marking device to the training controller; and processing, by the training controller, the marking data and the selected virtual facilities data to provide an evaluation of the simulated locate operation.
According to a seventh aspect of the invention, a method is provided for generating a virtual facilities file containing virtual facilities representative of underground facilities in a dig area. The method comprises defining tolerances with respect to locate operations using the virtual facilities; defining a complexity level of the virtual facilities; defining a size of a virtual area containing the virtual facilities; defining a reference point of the virtual area of the virtual facilities; defining the number and types of virtual facilities; defining positions of the virtual facilities with respect to the reference point; defining the depths of the virtual facilities; and saving the defined virtual facilities in a virtual facilities file for use during a simulated locate operation.
Glossary:
For purposes of the present disclosure, the term “dig area” refers to a specified area of a work site within which there is a plan to disturb the ground (e.g., excavate, dig holes and/or trenches, bore, etc.), and beyond which there is no plan to excavate in the immediate surroundings. Thus, the metes and bounds of a dig area are intended to provide specificity as to where some disturbance to the ground is planned at a given work site. It should be appreciated that a given work site may include multiple dig areas.
The term “facility” refers to one or more lines, cables, fibers, conduits, transmitters, receivers, or other physical objects or structures capable of or used for carrying, transmitting, receiving, storing, and providing utilities, energy, data, substances, and/or services, and/or any combination thereof. The term “underground facility” means any facility beneath the surface of the ground. Examples of facilities include, but are not limited to, oil, gas, water, sewer, power, telephone, data transmission, cable television (TV), and/or internet services.
The term “locate device” refers to any apparatus and/or device for detecting and/or inferring the presence or absence of any facility, including without limitation, any underground facility. In various examples, a locate device may include both a locate transmitter and a locate receiver (which in some instances may also be referred to collectively as a “locate instrument set,” or simply “locate set”).
The term “marking device” refers to any apparatus, mechanism, or other device that employs a marking dispenser for causing a marking material and/or marking object to be dispensed, or any apparatus, mechanism, or other device for electronically indicating (e.g., logging in memory) a location, such as a location of an underground facility. Additionally, the term “marking dispenser” refers to any apparatus, mechanism, or other device for dispensing and/or otherwise using, separately or in combination, a marking material and/or a marking object. An example of a marking dispenser may include, but is not limited to, a pressurized can of marking paint. The term “marking material” means any material, substance, compound, and/or element, used or which may be used separately or in combination to mark, signify, and/or indicate. Examples of marking materials may include, but are not limited to, paint, chalk, dye, and/or iron. The term “marking object” means any object and/or objects used or which may be used separately or in combination to mark, signify, and/or indicate. Examples of marking objects may include, but are not limited to, a flag, a dart, and arrow, and/or an RFID marking ball. It is contemplated that marking material may include marking objects. It is further contemplated that the terms “marking materials” or “marking objects” may be used interchangeably in accordance with the present disclosure.
The term “locate mark” means any mark, sign, and/or object employed to indicate the presence or absence of any underground facility. Examples of locate marks may include, but are not limited to, marks made with marking materials, marking objects, global positioning or other information, and/or any other means. Locate marks may be represented in any form including, without limitation, physical, visible, electronic, and/or any combination thereof.
The terms “actuate” or “trigger” (verb form) are used interchangeably to refer to starting or causing any device, program, system, and/or any combination thereof to work, operate, and/or function in response to some type of signal or stimulus. Examples of actuation signals or stimuli may include, but are not limited to, any local or remote, physical, audible, inaudible, visual, non-visual, electronic, mechanical, electromechanical, biomechanical, biosensing or other signal, instruction, or event. The terms “actuator” or “trigger” (noun form) are used interchangeably to refer to any method or device used to generate one or more signals or stimuli to cause or causing actuation. Examples of an actuator/trigger may include, but are not limited to, any form or combination of a lever, switch, program, processor, screen, microphone for capturing audible commands, and/or other device or method. An actuator/trigger may also include, but is not limited to, a device, software, or program that responds to any movement and/or condition of a user, such as, but not limited to, eye movement, brain activity, heart rate, other data, and/or the like, and generates one or more signals or stimuli in response thereto. In the case of a marking device or other marking mechanism (e.g., to physically or electronically mark a facility or other feature), actuation may cause marking material to be dispensed, as well as various data relating to the marking operation (e.g., geographic location, time stamps, characteristics of material dispensed, etc.) to be logged in an electronic file stored in memory. In the case of a locate device or other locate mechanism (e.g., to physically locate a facility or other feature), actuation may cause a detected signal strength, signal frequency, depth, or other information relating to the locate operation to be logged in an electronic file stored in memory.
The terms “locate and marking operation,” “locate operation,” and “locate” generally are used interchangeably and refer to any activity to detect, infer, and/or mark the presence or absence of an underground facility. In some contexts, the term “locate operation” is used to more specifically refer to detection of one or more underground facilities, and the term “marking operation” is used to more specifically refer to using a marking material and/or one or more marking objects to mark a presence or an absence of one or more underground facilities. The term “locate technician” refers to an individual performing a locate operation. A locate and marking operation often is specified in connection with a dig area, at least a portion of which may be excavated or otherwise disturbed during excavation activities.
The term “user” refers to an individual utilizing a locate device and/or a marking device and may include, but is not limited to, land surveyors, locate technicians, and support personnel.
The terms “locate request” and “excavation notice” are used interchangeably to refer to any communication to request a locate and marking operation. The term “locate request ticket” (or simply “ticket”) refers to any communication or instruction to perform a locate operation. A ticket might specify, for example, the address or description of a dig area to be marked, the day and/or time that the dig area is to be marked, and/or whether the user is to mark the excavation area for certain gas, water, sewer, power, telephone, cable television, and/or some other underground facility. The term “historical ticket” refers to past tickets that have been completed.
The following U.S. published applications are hereby incorporated herein by reference:
It should be appreciated that all combinations of the foregoing concepts and additional concepts discussed in greater detail below (provided such concepts are not mutually inconsistent) are contemplated as being part of the inventive subject matter disclosed herein. In particular, all combinations of claimed subject matter appearing at the end of this disclosure are contemplated as being part of the inventive subject matter disclosed herein. It should also be appreciated that terminology explicitly employed herein that also may appear in any disclosure incorporated by reference should be accorded a meaning most consistent with the particular concepts disclosed herein.
The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with further objectives and advantages, may be best understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings as set forth below:
The present invention relates to training systems for and methods of simulating locate operations for training and/or skills evaluation. Facility locating equipment, such as on-site computers and/or locate receivers may include modules for electronically simulating locate operations. Locating equipment including simulation modules may be used, for example, in locate technician training processes and/or for updating and/or evaluating the skills of locate technicians. In particular, a simulation module is provided for electronically generating “virtual” facilities, the presence and/or absence of which may be indicated to a locate technician during, for example, a training exercise. The actions of the locate technicians with respect to dispensing marking material that corresponds to the presence and/or absence of the virtual facilities are electronically captured, stored, and evaluated.
The training systems for and methods of simulating locate operations of the present invention may provide an improved training, updating, and/or certification mechanism which presents consistent content to locate technicians and which results in consistent outcomes.
The training systems for and methods of simulating locate operations of the present invention are readily available and suitable for providing individual training as well as group training, thereby reducing or eliminating scheduling and class size constraints.
The training systems for and methods of simulating locate operations of the present invention provide a low cost training, updating, and/or certification mechanism. For example, training exercises using the training systems and methods may be performed anywhere, thereby eliminating the need for a dedicated training environment and/or other dedicated resources. Thus, the training and/or skills evaluation methods of the present invention are independent of location and environment.
A block diagram of a training system including simulation modules for simulating locate operations is shown in
As shown in
Simulation modules 140 and 150 are software modules for controlling the simulated locate operations of the present invention. For example, simulation modules 140 and 150 may generate an arrangement of “virtual” facilities, the presence and/or absence of which may be indicated to a locate technician during a training, updating, and/or certification exercise. The virtual facilities that are generated by simulation modules 140 and 150 eliminate the need for actual underground facilities to be present during locate technician training, updating, and/or certification exercises. As a result, these exercises may occur in any geographic location and environment. Because virtual facilities are generated by simulation modules 140 and 150, the locating equipment for and methods of simulating locate operations of the present invention are independent of geographic location and environment.
Preferably, locate receiver device 120 is, for example, an electronic, geo-enabled locate receiver device. The locate receiver device may include, but is not limited to, components for capturing information about the detection signal strength and frequency, as well as facility depth; components for capturing information about environmental conditions; components for capturing information about the position, orientation, and movement of the locating equipment; and components for capturing image and audio information about locate operations. Details of an example of an electronic, geo-enabled locate receiver device are described with reference to
A pictorial diagram of locate receiver 120 is shown in
The locate receiver 120 shown in
As also shown in
The processor 212 may be any general-purpose processor, controller, or microcontroller device. Local memory 220 may be any volatile or non-volatile data storage device, such as, but not limited to, a random access memory (RAM) device and a removable memory device (e.g., a universal serial bus (USB) flash drive, a multimedia card (MMC), a secure digital card (SD), a compact flash card (CF), etc.). As discussed further below, the local memory may store a locate data algorithm, which may be a set of processor-executable instructions that when executed by the processor 212 causes the processor to control various other components of the locate receiver 120 so as to generate an electronic record of a locate operation, which record also may be stored in the local memory 220 and/or transmitted in essentially real-time (as it is being generated) or after completion of a locate operation to a remote device (e.g., training computer 110).
In one exemplary implementation, a Linux-based processing system for embedded handheld and/or wireless devices may be employed in the locate receiver 120 to implement various components of the control electronics 200. For example, the Fingertip4™ processing system, including a Marvell PXA270 processor and available from InHand Electronics, Inc. (www.inhandelectronics.com/products/fingertip4), may be used. In addition to the PXA270 processor (e.g., serving as the processor 212), the Fingertip4™ includes flash memory and SDRAM (e.g., serving as local memory 220), multiple serial ports, a USB port, and other I/O interfaces (e.g., to facilitate interfacing with one or more input devices and other components of the locate receiver), supports a variety of wired and wireless interfaces (WiFi, Bluetooth®, GPS, Ethernet, any IEEE 802.11 interface, or any other suitable wireless interface) to facilitate implementation of the communication interface 224, and connects to a wide variety of LCD displays (to facilitate implementation of a user interface/display). In yet other exemplary implementations, the processor 212 may be realized by multiple processors that divide/share some or all of the functionality discussed herein in connection with the processor 212. For example, in one implementation, an Atom™ processor available from Intel Corporation of Santa Clara, Calif., may be used alone or in connection with one or more PIC processors to accomplish various functionality described herein.
Communication interface 224 of locate receiver 120 may be any wired and/or wireless communication interface by which information may be exchanged between locate receiver 120 and an external or remote device, such as a remote computing device that is elsewhere in the dig area (i.e., not a part of the locate receiver 120) or outside the dig area. For example, data that is stored in local memory 220 (e.g., one or more electronic records) may be transmitted via communication interface 224 to a remote computer, such as training computer 110, for processing. Examples of wired communication interfaces may include, but are not limited to, USB ports, RS232 connectors, RJ45 connectors, Ethernet, and any combination thereof. Examples of wireless communication interfaces may include, but are not limited to, an Intranet connection, Internet, Bluetooth® technology, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, IEEE 802.11 technology (e.g., operating at a minimum bandwidth of 54 Mbps, or any other suitable bandwidth), radio frequency (RF), Infrared Data Association (IrDA) compatible protocols, Local Area Networks (LAN), Wide Area Networks (WAN), Shared Wireless Access Protocol (SWAP), any combination thereof, and other types of wireless networking protocols. The wireless interface may be capable of capturing signals that reflect a user's intent. For example, the wireless interface may include a microphone that can capture a user's intent by capturing the user's audible commands. Alternatively, the wireless interface may interact with a device that monitors a condition of the user, such as eye movement, brain activity, and/or heart rate.
User interface 226 of locate receiver 120 may be any mechanism or combination of mechanisms by which a user may operate locate receiver 120 and by which information that is generated by locate receiver 120 may be presented to the user. For example, user interface 226 may include, but is not limited to, a display device (including integrated displays and external displays, such as Heads-Up Displays (HUDs)), a touch screen, one or more manual pushbuttons, a microphone to provide for audible commands, one or more light-emitting diode (LED) indicators, one or more toggle switches, a keypad, an audio output (e.g., speaker, buzzer, and alarm), and any combination thereof. In one implementation, the user interface 226 includes a “menu/on” button to power up the locate receiver and provide a menu-driven graphical user interface (GUI) displayed by the display device (e.g., menu items and/or icons displayed on the display device) and navigated by the technician via a joystick or a set of four “up/down/left/right” buttons, as well as a “select/ok” button to take some action pursuant to the selection of a menu item/icon. As described below, the display may also be used in some embodiments of the invention to display various images germane to a locate and/or marking information, as well as information relating to a placement of marking material in a dig area, a location of an underground facility in a dig area, or any other suitable information that may be displayed based on information acquired to create an electronic record.
In various embodiments, the one or more interfaces of the locate receiver 120, including the communication interface 224 and user interface 226, may be used as input devices to receive information to be stored in the memory 220, to facilitate various functions of the locate receiver and/or to be logged as part of an electronic record of a locate operation. In some cases, locate information received via the interface(s) (e.g., via the communication interface 224) may include ticket information regarding underground facilities to be detected during a locate operation. As another example, using an interface such as the user interface 226, service-related information may be input, including an identifier for the locate receiver used by the technician, an identifier for a technician, and/or an identifier for the technician's employer. Alternatively, some or all of the service-related information similarly may be received via the communication interface 224. As also noted above, various image information also may be received via the communication interface 224.
The actuation system 214 of locate receiver 120 shown in the block diagram of
Location tracking system 230 of locate receiver 120 constitutes another type of input device that provides locate information, and may include any device that can determine its geographical location to a certain degree of accuracy. For example, location tracking system 230 may include a global positioning system (GPS) receiver or a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver. A GPS receiver may provide, for example, any standard format data stream, such as a National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) data stream, or other data formats. An error correction component may be, but is not limited to, any mechanism for improving the accuracy of the geographic information provided by location tracking system 230; for example, an error correction component may be an algorithm for correcting any offsets (e.g., due to local disturbances in the atmosphere) in the geo-location data of location tracking system 230. An error correction component may reside at the location tracking system 230 or a remote computing device, such as training computer 110. In other embodiments, location tracking system 230 may include any device or mechanism that may determine location by any other means, such as performing triangulation by use of cellular radiotelephone towers.
In one exemplary implementation, the location tracking system 230 may include an ISM300F2-05-V0005 GPS module available from Inventek Systems, LLC of Westford, Mass. (see www.inventeksys.com/html/ism300f2-c5-v0005.html). The Inventek GPS module includes two UARTs (universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter) for communication with the processor 212, supports both the SIRF Binary and NMEA-0183 protocols (depending on firmware selection), and has an information update rate of 5 Hz. A variety of geographic location information may be requested by the processor 212 and provided by the GPS module to the processor 212 including, but not limited to, time (coordinated universal time—UTC), date, latitude, north/south indicator, longitude, east/west indicator, number and identification of satellites used in the position solution, number and identification of GPS satellites in view and their elevation, azimuth and SNR values, and dilution of precision values. Accordingly, it should be appreciated that in some implementations the location tracking system 230 may provide a wide variety of geographic information as well as timing information (e.g., one or more time stamps) to the processor 212.
In other embodiments, location tracking system 230 may not reside locally on locate receiver 120. Instead, location tracking system 230 may reside on any on-site computer, which serves as a location reference point, to which the location of locate receiver 120 may be correlated by any other means, such as, but not limited to, by a triangulation technique between the on-site computer and locate receiver 120.
In further embodiments, locate receiver 120 may include an RF transmitter to transmit an RF signal used for locating the locate receiver. The RF transmitter may be a passive or active device (e.g., a passive or active RFID tag), and may be purely a transmitter or a transceiver (i.e., a combination receiver and transmitter). The RF transmitter may transmit identification information. Two or more detectors (e.g., antennae) may be positioned to receive the RF signal from the RF transmitter. A triangulation component may process the signals received by the two or more detectors to determine a location of the RF transmitter relative to the detectors, and therefore of the locate receiver. The locate receiver, two or more detectors, and triangulation component may therefore form a location tracking system.
With respect to other input devices of the locate receiver 120 that may provide locate information, the control electronics 200 may also include a timing system 228 having an internal clock (not shown), such as a crystal oscillator device, for processor 212. Additionally, timing system 228 may include a mechanism for registering time with a certain degree of accuracy (e.g., accuracy to the minute, second, or millisecond) and may also include a mechanism for registering the calendar date. In various implementations, the timing system 228 may be capable of registering the time and date using its internal clock, or alternatively timing system 228 may receive its time and date information from the location tracking system 230 (e.g., a GPS system) or from an external timing system, such as a remote computer or network, via communication interface 224. In yet other implementations, a dedicated timing system for providing timing information to be logged in an electronic record may be optional, and timing information for logging into an electronic record may be obtained from the location tracking system 230 (e.g., GPS latitude and longitude coordinates with a corresponding time stamp). Timing information may include, but is not limited to, a period of time, timestamp information, date, and/or elapsed time.
Locate receiver 120 may include other instrumentation that may be useful in performing locate operations. In some embodiments, locate device 120 may include, but is not limited to, the following components. Locate receiver 120 may include components for capturing information about environmental conditions, such as, but not limited to, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor and a light sensor. Locate receiver 120 may further include components for capturing information about the position, orientation and movement of the locate receiver, such as, but not limited to, a compass, an inclinometer, a gyroscope and an accelerometer (in addition to location tracking system 230). In addition, locate receiver 120 may include components for capturing image and/or audio information such as digital cameras, wide angle digital cameras, 360 degree digital cameras, infrared cameras, digital audio recorders, digital video recorders, and the like.
Table 1 shows an example of a sample of locate data that may be captured, for example, at a programmed interval (e.g., such as every 100 milliseconds, every 1 second, etc.) of locate receiver 120 or upon actuation of actuation system 214. It will be understood that the data representative of actual signal parameters will be omitted for embodiments where the detection electronics are not included in locate receiver 120.
A functional block diagram of receiver simulation module 150 in accordance with embodiments of the invention is shown in
The virtual facilities library 300 may include one or more virtual facilities files. The virtual facilities files include data that simulates actual underground facilities as detected by a locate receiver. The virtual facilities files may correspond to a plurality of virtual sites, one of which may be selected for a training exercise. Different virtual facilities files may have different levels of complexity, different types of facilities and may represent dig sites of different sizes. As indicated above, virtual facilities library 300 is optional in locate receiver 120. When virtual facilities library 300 is omitted, virtual facilities files are downloaded from training computer 110 to virtual facilities memory 310.
Virtual facilities memory 310 contains a selected virtual facilities file to be used for a current training exercise. An example of an image based on a virtual facilities file is shown in
Simulation controller 340 controls operation of receiver simulation module 150 based on control inputs received from training computer 110. The training computer 110 may download a selected virtual facilities file to virtual facilities memory 310 and instruct simulation controller 340 to begin a training exercise. When the training exercise is initiated, location tracking system 230 (
The virtual facilities data in virtual facilities memory may be organized as a database of geographic coordinates and corresponding simulated signal values. The simulated signal values represent the signal values that would be received by the locate receiver 120 in an actual locate operation. Thus, for example the simulated signal value is greatest at geographic coordinates directly above a virtual facility and is lower or zero for geographic coordinates that are not above the virtual facility. The simulated signal values may include, but are not limited to, percent peak signal strength, percent null signal strength and signal frequency, as shown in Table 1 above.
The simulated signal values output from virtual facilities memory 310 are supplied to user interface 226 (
In some embodiments, the simulated signal values output from virtual facilities memory 310 may be modified based on the condition of locate receiver 120 and/or by the characteristics of the virtual facilities. For example, the simulated signal values can be modified based on accelerometer outputs, inclinometer outputs, gyroscope outputs and/or gain settings on the locate receiver 120. In addition, the simulated signal values can be modified in accordance with the depth of a virtual facility. The simulated signal values can be modified, for example, by a signal processor that receives the simulated signal values from virtual facilities memory 310 and various inputs which may affect the simulated signal values. The modified signal values are indicated to the user and are stored in locate simulation memory 320.
The user typically swings the locate receiver 120 from side to side in an area expected to have an underground facility. The interpretation by the user of the simulated signal values and the subsequent marking based on that interpretation form a simulated locate operation for evaluation by the training computer 110.
During the training exercise, the data associated with the simulated locate operation, including, for example, the current geographic coordinates, the simulated signal values and timestamps from timing system 228 (
A functional block diagram of training computer 110 is shown in
As shown in
A functional block diagram of host simulation module 140 is shown in
Virtual facilities library 500 may be organized to store multiple virtual facilities files 502, 504, etc, one of which is selected for a training exercise. Each virtual facilities file may include virtual facilities data and ticket information, for example. The virtual facilities data may include a table of geographic coordinates and corresponding simulated signal values representative of virtual underground facilities. The simulated signal values represent the signals that would be received by a locate receiver at the corresponding geographic coordinates for the given set of virtual facilities. The virtual facilities data may be downloaded to the locate receiver 120 for use during a simulated locate operation. The ticket information corresponds to the virtual facilities data and contains the information that would be provided to a locate technician for the locate operation. The ticket information may be downloaded to the marking device 130. It will be understood that each virtual facilities file may include any desired information and that virtual facilities library 500 may include any number of virtual facilities files.
The virtual facilities library 500 may receive virtual facilities files 502, 504 etc. from virtual facilities generator 510 or from an archive of virtual facilities files stored, for example, at a central location or office. The virtual facilities generator 510 may generate virtual facilities files based on one or more sources of facilities information.
In some embodiments, historical facilities information is used to generate virtual facilities files. The historical information may be based on a actual facilities at a dig site and may be represented by an electronic record acquired by a locate receiver during an actual locate operation. Historical information may be selected based on its value for training purposes. For example, a dig site having a mix of underground facility types and an appropriate complexity level may be selected. In other embodiments, historical information may be obtained from facilities maps and the like.
In some embodiments, virtual facilities information may be obtained from an electronic sketching device. Desired facilities can be drawn on the sketching device. Geographic coordinates and simulated signal values can be determined from the sketched virtual facilities. For example, the simulated signal value can decrease with distance from the sketched virtual facility according to a known function. Electronic sketching devices and methods for underground facility locate operations are described, for example, in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/0202112, published Aug. 13, 2009, and entitled “Searchable Electronic Records of Underground Facility Locate Marking Operations,” which is incorporated herein by reference.
In further embodiments, virtual facilities information can be manually entered into virtual facilities generator 510. An example of manual virtual facilities generation is described below in connection with
Simulation controller 520 receives user input defining a training exercise to be performed. Assuming that a suitable virtual facilities file is available in virtual facilities library 500, a virtual facilities file is selected by simulation controller 520. The selected virtual facilities data is downloaded to locate receiver 120, and the corresponding ticket information is downloaded to marking device 130. The simulation controller provides control signals to locate receiver 120 to initiate and perform a training exercise using the selected virtual facilities data. Following completion of the simulated locate operation, the simulation controller 520 instructs simulation evaluation module 540 to perform an evaluation of the training exercise. The simulation controller 520 can enable virtual facilities generator 510 to generate virtual facilities files when a simulated locate operation is not being performed
During or after the simulated locate operation by locate receiver 120, locate simulation data may be received and stored in simulation memory 530. During or following the marking operation by marking device 130, the marking data corresponding to the simulation locate operation may be received and stored in simulation data memory 530. In some embodiments, locate simulation data is not utilized, and the training exercise is evaluated based on the marking data alone. The approach is based on an understanding that marking data, representative of marks dispensed on the ground, is the end product of the locate operation.
Simulation evaluation module 540 operates under control of simulation controller 520 and performs an evaluation of the training exercise. As shown in
Preferably, marking device 130 is, for example, an electronic, geo-enabled marking device. The marking device may include software components and/or applications, such as, but not limited to, a device health component, a marking data algorithm, a map viewer application, ticket processing software, a speech synthesis component, and an operating mode controller that allows the marking device to operate in multiple modes, such as, but not limited to, marking mode, landmark identification mode, solo mode, and group mode. Additionally, the marking device may include components for capturing information about the marking material; components for capturing information about environmental conditions; components for capturing information about the position, orientation, and movement of the marking device; and components for capturing image and audio information about locate operations. Electronic, geo-enabled marking devices are described, for example, in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/703,958, filed Feb. 11, 2010 and entitled “Marking Apparatus Having Enhanced Features for Underground Facility Marking Operations, and Associated Methods and Systems,” which is incorporated herein by reference.
As shown in
Some of the components shown in
The marking device 130 is configured to hold marking dispenser 740, which as shown in
The actuation system 714 of marking device 130 shown in the block diagram of
In some embodiments, the actuation system 714 may be configured so as not to cause marking material to be dispensed from marking dispenser 740 in response to one or more signals or stimuli; rather, the actuation system may merely facilitate a logging of data from one or more input devices in response to operation of an actuator/trigger, without necessarily dispensing marking material. In some instances, this may facilitate “simulation” of a marking operation (i.e., simulating the dispensing of marking material) by providing an actuation signal to the processor 712 indicating one or more simulated actuation events, in response to which the processor may cause the logging of various data for creating an electronic record without any marking material actually being dispensed.
Marking material detection mechanism 750 of the marking device 130 shown in
In one embodiment, information provided by one or more input devices of the marking device 130 (e.g., the timing system 728, the location tracking system 730, the marking material detection mechanism 750, the user interface 726, the communication interface 724) is acquired and logged (stored in memory) upon actuation of the actuation system 714 (e.g., triggering an actuator). Some embodiments of the invention may additionally or alternatively acquire/log information from one or more input devices at one or more times during or throughout an actuation, such as when a technician is holding a mechanical or electrical actuator for some period of time and moving to dispense marking material in a line. In various aspects of such embodiments, marking information derived from one or more input devices may be collected at a start time of an actuation, at one or more times during an actuation, and in some cases at regular intervals during an actuation (e.g., several times per second, once per second, once every few seconds). Further, some marking information may be collected at an end of an actuation, such as time information that may indicate a duration of an actuation.
Additionally, it should be appreciated that while some marking information may be received via one or more input devices at the start of each marking operation and upon successive actuations of the marking device, in other cases some marking information may be collected by or provided to the marking device once, prior to a marking operation (e.g., on power-up or reset of the marking device, as part of an electronic instruction or dispatch by a locate company, and/or in response to a request/query from a locate technician), and stored in local memory 720 for later incorporation into an electronic record. For example, prior to a given marking operation and one or more actuations of the marking device, ticket information and/or service-related information may have already been received (e.g., via the communication interface 724 and/or user interface 726) and stored in local memory 720. Upon generation of an electronic record of a given marking operation, information previously received via the interface(s) may be retrieved from the local memory (if stored there initially) and entered into an electronic record, in some case together with information collected pursuant to one or more actuations of the marking device. Alternatively, ticket information and/or service-related information may be received via the interface(s) and stored in an entry in the electronic record “directly” in response to one or more actuations of the marking device (e.g., without being first stored in local memory).
In sum, according to embodiments of the present invention, various marking information from one or more input devices, regardless of how or when it is received, may be stored in an electronic record of a marking operation, in which at least some of the marking information is logged pursuant to one or more actuations of the marking device.
Whether resident and/or executed on either the marking device 130 or the training computer 110, a marking data algorithm 734 includes a set of processor-executable instructions (e.g., stored in memory, such as local memory 720 of the marking device) that, when executed by processor 712 of the marking device 130 or another processor, processes information (e.g., various marking information) collected in response to (e.g., during) one or more actuations of the marking device 130, and/or in some cases before or after a given actuation or series of actuations. As also discussed above, according to various embodiments the actuations of marking device 130 may effect both dispensing marking material and logging of marking information, or merely logging of marking information for other purposes (e.g., simulating the dispensing of marking material) without dispensing marking material. In either situation, marking data algorithm 734, when executed by the processor 712, may cause the processor to perform collection, logging/storage (creation of electronic records), and in some instances further processing and analysis of various marking information with respect to marking device actuations.
Table 2 shows an example of a sample of marking data that may be captured as the result of, for example, an actuation of a marking device, such as marking device 130.
In further embodiments, the simulated locate operation may be performed by a combination locate and marking device. The combination locate and marking device combines the functionality of the locate receiver 120 and the marking device 130 in a single device for performing locate operations. A combination locate and marking device is described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2010/0088032, published Apr. 8, 2010, and entitled “Methods, Apparatus, and Systems for Generating Electronic Records of Locate and Marking Operations, and Combined Locate and Marking Apparatus for Same,” which is incorporated herein by reference.
In further embodiments, processing functions in training system 100 may be performed by one or more cell phones, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), smart phones and/or mobile computing devices. For example, the processing functions of locate equipment, including locate receiver 120 and/or marking device 130, may be performed by a cell phone, a PDA, a smart phone and/or a mobile computing device. These components may perform all or part of the processing functions of the respective devices.
Virtual facilities 810 may include, for example, a virtual sewer line 820 defined as a substantially straight path between a point A (+10, +5) and a point B (+47, +35); a virtual sewer line 830 defined as a substantially straight path between a point C (+33, +24) and a point D (+10, +43); a virtual power line 840 defined as a substantially straight path between a point E (+45, +24) and a point F (+20, +44); and a virtual CATV line 850 defined as a substantially curved path connecting a point G (+20, +3), a point H (+3, +23), and a point I (+5, +47).
The contents of, for example, virtual facilities 800 may originate entirely or in part from programming. Additionally, contents of virtual facilities 800 may originate entirely or in part from historical marking data, which may be electronic records of marking data of past locate operations.
The virtual facilities are not limited to the example shown in
In act 910, the locate receiver 120 receives selected virtual facilities information from training computer 110. The training computer 110 selects a virtual facilities file to be utilized during the simulated locate operation. The virtual facilities data of the virtual facilities file is downloaded from training computer 110 to virtual facilities memory 310 (
In act 912, training computer 110 instructs locate receiver 120 to initiate a simulated locate operation using the selected virtual facilities data. The user of the locate receiver 120 then moves the locate receiver 120 around the virtual facilities area, typically by swinging the locate receiver 120 from side to side in an area expected to have an underground facility.
In act 914, the location tracking system 230 (
In act 916, the current geographic coordinates of the locate receiver 120, after suitable format conversion, are used to access the virtual facilities memory 310. In particular, the current geographic coordinates of locate receiver 110 are matched to an entry in virtual facilities memory 310 having geographic coordinates that are closest to the current geographic coordinates of locate receiver 120. The virtual facilities memory 310 outputs a simulated signal value that corresponds to the current geographic coordinates in the virtual facilities data. The simulated signal values are provided to the user interface 226 (
In act 918, the user interface indicates to the user the simulated signal value at the current geographic location. The indication may be visual, such as a digital or analog value on a display screen, may be audible, such as the frequency or amplitude of a tone, or may include a combination of visual and audible indicators. The simulated signal values inform the user of the locations of the virtual facilities to be marked using marking device 130.
During the simulated locate operation, the data associated with the locate operation, including the current geographic coordinates, the simulated signal values and timestamps from timing system 228 (
In act 1010, the marking device 130 receives simulated ticket information from training computer 110. The simulated ticket information may simulate ticket information sent to the marking device 130 during an actual locate operation. The simulated ticket information for the simulated locate operation corresponds to the virtual facilities represented by the virtual facilities data that has been selected for the simulated locate operation.
In act 1012, the marking device 130 receives actuations initiated by the user to dispense marking material to mark the virtual facilities. The user actuations of the marking device 130 are based on the user's interpretation of the simulated signal values indicated to the user by the locate receiver 120. A skilled user may dispense marking material accurately at the locations of the virtual facilities, whereas a less skilled user may dispense marking material in a manner that is inaccurate or unacceptable. The parameters to be assessed as part of the simulated locate operation may include the location of the dispensed marking material relative to the virtual facilities, the pattern of the dispensed marking material, the color of the marking material and the completeness of the marking operation. The marking may be performed as described below in connection with
In act 1014, an electronic record of the marking operation is created. In particular, processor 712 (
In act 1016, the marking data stored in electronic record 735 may be transmitted to the training computer 110. The marking data may be transmitted to training computer 110 at any time, such as in real time during the marking operation or following completion of the marking operation. Marking device 130 may transmit the marking data to training computer 110 in the same manner that marking data is transmitted to an on-site or remote computer during an actual marking operation.
Referring now to
In act 1310, training computer 110 sends selected virtual facilities information to locate receiver 120 and sends simulated ticket information to marking device 120. As indicated above, the virtual facilities information may include a download of virtual facilities data corresponding to a selected virtual facilities file, or may identify selected virtual facilities data stored in the locate receiver 120. The simulated ticket information corresponds to the selected virtual facilities data and provides information to the user of marking device 130 regarding the selected virtual facilities file. The simulated locate operation is then performed by the user, typically a locate technician, operating the locate receiver 120 and the marking device 130 as described above. A virtual facilities file may be selected based on a complexity level of the training exercise to be performed. For example, the virtual facilities library may include beginner level virtual facilities files, intermediate level virtual facilities files and expert virtual facilities files. Furthermore, the virtual facilities file may be selected based on other criteria, such as the type of facilities, for example. In addition, virtual facilities files may be adjusted to provide specific conditions or features, such as a broken tracer wire and/or facilities with variable depth, for example.
In act 1312, the training computer 110 receives marking data from the marking device. The marking data represents the marking operation performed by the user in response to the simulated signal values provided by the locate receiver 120 as described above. The marking data represents an electronic record of the marking operation performed as part of the simulated locate operation. The training computer 110 may also receive simulated locate data from locate receiver 120. The simulated locate data may provide a record of the simulated locate operation performed by the user with the locate receiver 120.
In act 1314, the training computer 110 may generate an image representing the marking operation. The image may be based on the marking data received from the marking device 130 and may be used to evaluate the accuracy, or lack thereof, of the simulated marking operation. The image representing the marking operation may be superimposed on an image of the virtual facilities, as shown in
In act 1316, the training computer 110 may enable a qualitative comparison of the image representing the marking data and the image of the virtual facilities to evaluate the training exercise. The evaluation can be based on a comparison of the marking data and the virtual facilities data, as well as determining marking data that is missing or inaccurate.
In act 1318, the training computer 110 can perform a quantitative comparison of the marking data and the virtual facilities data to evaluate the training exercise. For example, the deviation of the marking data from the virtual facilities data can be evaluated by comparing the two data sets. Techniques for comparing data sets are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. Publication No. 2010/0088164, published Apr. 8, 2010 and entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Analyzing Locate and Marking Operations with Respect to Facilities Maps,” which is incorporated herein by reference. Evaluation of the training exercise is discussed below.
Techniques for evaluation of the simulated locate operation are described above in connection with acts 1314-1318. It will be understood that other qualitative and quantitative techniques for processing and evaluating the results of the simulated locate operation are included within the scope of the invention. In one example, the marking data may be processed to verify that the locate technician first dispensed a dotting pattern, as shown in
Further to the example, the received marking data can be compared by simulation evaluation module 540 with the virtual facilities data that represents virtual facilities 800 to determine the degree of matching. The degree of matching may include criteria such as, but not limited to, the following:
whether the number of facilities found in the received marking data matches the number of virtual facilities;
whether the marking material color indicated in the received marking data matches the expected types of virtual facilities;
whether the positions of end points and any midpoints indicated in the received marking data substantially match the positions of the respective end points and any midpoints of the virtual facilities;
whether the positional deviation of markings indicated in received marking data are within a specified tolerance (e.g., about ±18 inches) from center of the virtual facilities;
whether the marking symbols and/or patterns indicated in received marking data are satisfactory with respect to any reference marks; and whether the duration (i.e., total elapsed time) of the simulated locate operation is within an expected range.
With regard to marking material color information included in received marking data, Table 1 shows an example of the correlation of marking material color to the type of facility (or virtual facility) to be marked.
By way of example and referring to
The outcome of the compare operation may be translated into natural language, text, images, and/or any other format by simulation evaluation module 540 to provide evaluation information. In one example, the evaluation information may include the graphical image that is shown in
Continuing the example that is shown in
Further, simulation evaluation module 540 may provide a display of, for example, the graphical image shown in
Evaluation information may be generated by simulation evaluation module 540 in real time during the simulated locate operations and used, for example, to accomplish immediate corrective action. Additionally, evaluation information may be provided upon completion of the simulated locate operations.
In act 1510, any criteria may be defined with respect to locate operations using the virtual facilities to be generated. In one example, the positional deviation tolerance of markings from the center of the virtual facilities may be set for different skill levels (e.g., low skill level=±24 inches, medium skill level=±18 inches, high skill level=±12 inches). In another example, the expected locate operation duration may be set to a desired value, such as between 30 and 60 minutes.
In act 1512, the complexity level of the virtual facilities to be generated may be defined. For example, the complexity category may be set to low, medium, or high.
In act 1514, the size of the area of the virtual facilities to be generated may be defined. For example, the area of the virtual facilities may be set to 50×50 ft, 75×75 ft, 30×100 ft, and the like.
In act 1516, the reference point of the area of the virtual facilities to be generated may be defined. For example, when the area is represented by a grid, the reference point may be set to the 0,0 coordinates, such as reference point 812 of grid area 810 of
In act 1516, the number and types of virtual facilities to be generated may be defined. The number and types of virtual facilities defined may be dependent on the complexity level set in act 1512. Using the example of virtual facilities 800 of
In act 1520, the positions of end points and/or any midpoints of one or more virtual facilities with respect to the reference point may be defined. The positions of the virtual facilities may be dependent on the complexity level that is set in act 1512. Again using the example of virtual facilities 800 of
In act 1522, the depths of one or more virtual facilities may be defined. The depths of the virtual facilities may be dependent on the complexity level set in act 1512. Again using the example of virtual facilities 800 of
In act 1524, the defined arrangement of virtual facilities is saved, for example, in virtual facilities files 502, 504, etc. (
While various inventive embodiments have been described and illustrated herein, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily envision a variety of other means and/or structures for performing the function and/or obtaining the results and/or one or more of the advantages described herein, and each of such variations and/or modifications is deemed to be within the scope of the inventive embodiments described herein. More generally, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that all parameters, dimensions, materials, and configurations described herein are meant to be exemplary and that the actual parameters, dimensions, materials, and/or configurations will depend upon the specific application or applications for which the inventive teachings is/are used. Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalents to the specific inventive embodiments described herein. It is, therefore, to be understood that the foregoing embodiments are presented by way of example only and that, within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereto, inventive embodiments may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described and claimed. Inventive embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to each individual feature, system, article, material, kit, and/or method described herein. In addition, any combination of two or more such features, systems, articles, materials, kits, and/or methods, if such features, systems, articles, materials, kits, and/or methods are not mutually inconsistent, is included within the inventive scope of the present invention.
The above-described embodiments can be implemented in any of numerous ways. For example, the embodiments may be implemented using hardware, software or a combination thereof. When implemented in software, the software code can be executed on any suitable processor or collection of processors, whether provided in a single computer or distributed among multiple computers.
Further, it should be appreciated that a computer may be embodied in any of a number of forms, such as a rack-mounted computer, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, or a tablet computer. Additionally, a computer may be embedded in a device not generally regarded as a computer but with suitable processing capabilities, including a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a smart phone or any other suitable portable or fixed electronic device.
Also, a computer may have one or more input and output devices. These devices can be used, among other things, to present a user interface. Examples of output devices that can be used to provide a user interface include printers or display screens for visual presentation of output and speakers or other sound generating devices for audible presentation of output. Examples of input devices that can be used for a user interface include keyboards, and pointing devices, such as mice, touch pads, and digitizing tablets. As another example, a computer may receive input information through speech recognition or in other audible format.
Such computers may be interconnected by one or more networks in any suitable form, including a local area network or a wide area network, such as an enterprise network, and intelligent network (IN) or the Internet. Such networks may be based on any suitable technology and may operate according to any suitable protocol and may include wireless networks, wired networks or fiber optic networks.
A computer may be used to implement system controller 130 in accordance with some embodiments. For example, the computer may include a memory, one or more processing units (also referred to herein simply as “processors”), one or more communication interfaces, one or more display units, and one or more user input devices. The memory may comprise any computer-readable media, and may store computer instructions (also referred to herein as “processor-executable instructions”) for implementing the various functionalities described herein. The processing unit(s) may be used to execute the instructions. The communication interface(s) may be coupled to a wired or wireless network, bus, or other communication means and may therefore allow the computer to transmit communications to and/or receive communications from other devices. The display unit(s) may be provided, for example, to allow a user to view various information in connection with execution of the instructions. The user input device(s) may be provided, for example, to allow the user to make manual adjustments, make selections, enter data or various other information, and/or interact in any of a variety of manners with the processor during execution of the instructions.
The various methods or processes outlined herein may be coded as software that is executable on one or more processors that employ any one of a variety of operating systems or platforms. Additionally, such software may be written using any of a number of suitable programming languages and/or programming or scripting tools, and also may be compiled as executable machine language code or intermediate code that is executed on a framework or virtual machine.
In this respect, various inventive concepts may be embodied as a computer readable storage medium (or multiple computer readable storage media) (e.g., a computer memory, one or more floppy discs, compact discs, optical discs, magnetic tapes, flash memories, circuit configurations in Field Programmable Gate Arrays or other semiconductor devices, or other non-transitory medium or tangible computer storage medium) encoded with one or more programs that, when executed on one or more computers or other processors, perform methods that implement the various embodiments of the invention discussed above. The computer readable medium or media can be transportable, such that the program or programs stored thereon can be loaded onto one or more different computers or other processors to implement various aspects of the present invention as discussed above.
The terms “program” or “software” are used herein in a generic sense to refer to any type of computer code or set of computer-executable instructions that can be employed to program a computer or other processor to implement various aspects of embodiments as discussed above. Additionally, it should be appreciated that according to one aspect, one or more computer programs that when executed perform methods of the present invention need not reside on a single computer or processor, but may be distributed in a modular fashion amongst a number of different computers or processors to implement various aspects of the present invention.
Computer-executable instructions may be in many forms, such as program modules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Typically the functionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments.
Also, data structures may be stored in computer-readable media in any suitable form. For simplicity of illustration, data structures may be shown to have fields that are related through location in the data structure. Such relationships may likewise be achieved by assigning storage for the fields with locations in a computer-readable medium that convey relationship between the fields. However, any suitable mechanism may be used to establish a relationship between information in fields of a data structure, including through the use of pointers, tags or other mechanisms that establish relationship between data elements.
Also, various inventive concepts may be embodied as one or more methods, of which an example has been provided. The acts performed as part of the method may be ordered in any suitable way. Accordingly, embodiments may be constructed in which acts are performed in an order different than illustrated, which may include performing some acts simultaneously, even though shown as sequential acts in illustrative embodiments.
All definitions, as defined and used herein, should be understood to control over dictionary definitions, definitions in documents incorporated by reference, and/or ordinary meanings of the defined terms.
The indefinite articles “a” and “an,” as used herein in the specification and in the claims, unless clearly indicated to the contrary, should be understood to mean “at least one.”
The phrase “and/or,” as used herein in the specification and in the claims, should be understood to mean “either or both” of the elements so conjoined, i.e., elements that are conjunctively present in some cases and disjunctively present in other cases. Multiple elements listed with “and/or” should be construed in the same fashion, i.e., “one or more” of the elements so conjoined. Other elements may optionally be present other than the elements specifically identified by the “and/or” clause, whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as a non-limiting example, a reference to “A and/or B,” when used in conjunction with open-ended language such as “comprising” can refer, in one embodiment, to A only (optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment, to B only (optionally including elements other than A); in yet another embodiment, to both A and B (optionally including other elements); etc.
As used herein in the specification and in the claims, “or” should be understood to have the same meaning as “and/or” as defined above. For example, when separating items in a list, “or” or “and/or” shall be interpreted as being inclusive, i.e., the inclusion of at least one, but also including more than one, of a number or list of elements, and, optionally, additional unlisted items. Only terms clearly indicated to the contrary, such as “only one of” or “exactly one of,” or, when used in the claims, “consisting of,” will refer to the inclusion of exactly one element of a number or list of elements. In general, the term “or” as used herein shall only be interpreted as indicating exclusive alternatives (i.e. “one or the other but not both”) when preceded by terms of exclusivity, such as “either,” “one of,” “only one of,” or “exactly one of.” “Consisting essentially of,” when used in the claims, shall have its ordinary meaning as used in the field of patent law.
As used herein in the specification and in the claims, the phrase “at least one,” in reference to a list of one or more elements, should be understood to mean at least one element selected from any one or more of the elements in the list of elements, but not necessarily including at least one of each and every element specifically listed within the list of elements and not excluding any combinations of elements in the list of elements. This definition also allows that elements may optionally be present other than the elements specifically identified within the list of elements to which the phrase “at least one” refers, whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as a non-limiting example, “at least one of A and B” (or, equivalently, “at least one of A or B,” or, equivalently “at least one of A and/or B”) can refer, in one embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, A, with no B present (and optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, B, with no A present (and optionally including elements other than A); in yet another embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, A, and at least one, optionally including more than one, B (and optionally including other elements); etc.
In the claims, as well as in the specification above, all transitional phrases such as “comprising,” “including,” “carrying,” “having,” “containing,” “involving,” “holding,” “composed of,” and the like are to be understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limited to. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of” and “consisting essentially of” shall be closed or semi-closed transitional phrases, respectively, as set forth in the United States Patent Office Manual of Patent Examining Procedures, Section 2111.03.
This application claims a priority benefit, under 35 U.S.C. §119(e), to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/220,255, entitled “Locating Equipment for and Methods of Simulating Locate Operations for Training and/or Skills Evaluation,” filed Jun. 25, 2009 under attorney docket no. D0687.70035US00, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61220255 | Jun 2009 | US |
