Patent Application
20250101857
Directional drilling can be used to drill a tunnel in order to install underground utility lines, pipelines, cables, service conduits, and so forth.
The Detailed Description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. The use of the same reference numbers in different instances in the description and the figures may indicate similar or identical items.
Referring generally to
The portable locator device 100 includes a positioning system receiver 112 for receiving locating signals 114. In some embodiments, the positioning system receiver 112 includes a satellite navigation device receiver 116, such as a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver, where the positioning system receiver 112 receives radio signals from multiple satellites within one or more global satellite networks. Examples include, but are not necessarily limited to: Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites, GLONASS satellites, Galileo satellites, BeiDou satellites, and so forth. In some embodiments, a positioning system receiver 112 can include a regional positioning device receiver 118 configured to receive radio locating signals from, for instance, a network of land-based positioning transmitters. In some embodiments, a positioning system receiver 112 can include a local positioning device receiver 120 configured to receive signals from cellular base stations, wireless networking devices (e.g., Wi-Fi and/or LiFi access points), radio broadcast towers, and so forth.
The portable locator device 100 includes a controller 122 operatively coupled with the electronic display 104 and communicatively coupled with the touchscreen interface 110 and the positioning system receiver 112. As described, the controller 122 is configured to use the locating signals 114 received by the positioning system receiver 112 to determine a first position of the portable locator device 100. In embodiments, the first position is a geographic location (e.g., aboveground) at or near (e.g., above) the desired termination of an underground utility line, pipeline, cable, service conduit, and so forth. The portable locator device 100 can be conveyed (e.g., carried, driven) by an operator to the first position. For instance, the portable locator device 100 can be walked to a geographic location at or near a hole drilled into the Earth, e.g., where a drilling operation should intersect the hole.
The controller 122 is configured to receive a first input (e.g., a touch 124) from the touchscreen interface 110 indicative of an ending position 126 for the portable locator device 100 proximate to the first position. In one example, when at the first position, the operator interacts with the touchscreen interface 110 by pressing a button (e.g., a physical button, a graphical button on a touchscreen), and the controller 122 designates the first position as the ending position 126. In another example, the operator uses the touchscreen interface 110 to designate another geographic location at or near the first position. For example, the operator uses an interactive map 108 on the electronic display 104 to select a desired geographic location occupied by a natural feature or manmade structure or feature, e.g., where the desired geographic location may not be directly accessible while carrying the portable locator device 100, such as in the case of a large hole or pit.
The controller 122 is configured to use the locating signals 114 received by the positioning system receiver 112 to determine a second position of the portable locator device 100. In embodiments, the second position is a geographic location (e.g., aboveground) at or near (e.g., above) the desired starting location for the underground utility line, pipeline, cable, service conduit, etc. The portable locator device 100 can be conveyed (e.g., carried, driven) by an operator from the first position to the second position. It should be noted that the portable locator device 100 need not be conveyed by the operator directly from the first position to the second position, but rather may be moved around obstacles, carried along existing paths over terrain, and so forth.
The controller 122 is configured to receive a second input (e.g., a touch 128) from the touchscreen interface 110 indicative of a starting position 130 for the portable locator device 100 proximate to the second position. In one example, when at the second position, the operator interacts with the touchscreen interface 110 by pressing a button (e.g., a physical button, a graphical button on a touchscreen), and the controller 122 designates the second position as the starting position 130. In another example, the operator uses the touchscreen interface 110 to designate another geographic location at or near the second position. For example, the operator uses an interactive map 108 on the electronic display 104 to select a desired geographic location under a natural feature or manmade structure or feature, e.g., as previously described.
As described, the controller 122 is configured to determine a virtual drop-line 132 between the starting position 130 and the ending position 126 for the portable locator device 100. For example, the controller 122 uses the starting position 130 and the ending position 126 to construct a geographic model of an aboveground “straight line” (i.e., shortest distance between two points on the generally spherical surface of the Earth). In another example, the controller 122 uses the starting position 130 and the ending position 126 to designate incremental waypoints or intermediate positions 134 between the starting position 130 and the ending position 126 along a line between the starting position 130 and the ending position 126. As described, the virtual drop-line 132 is analogous to a physical chalk line, laser line, or other direct path between two locations on the Earth's surface.
The controller 122 is configured to provide instructions 106 via the electronic display 104 for moving from the starting position 130 to the ending position 126 along the virtual drop-line 132. For instance, with reference to
In embodiments, a sonde and/or other transmitter(s) can be placed at or near the drill head of the HDD system 102, and the portable locator device 100 can be carried along the drill path (e.g., at the surface above the drill head) during the drilling operation by tracking the sonde. For example, the portable locator device 100 can include an antenna 152 (
A portable locator device 100, including some or all of its components, can operate under computer control. For example, a processor can be included with or in a portable locator device 100 to control the components and functions of portable locator devices 100 described herein using software, firmware, hardware (e.g., fixed logic circuitry), manual processing, or a combination thereof. The terms “controller,” “functionality,” “service,” and “logic” as used herein generally represent software, firmware, hardware, or a combination of software, firmware, or hardware in conjunction with controlling the portable locator devices 100. In the case of a software implementation, the module, functionality, or logic represents program code that performs specified tasks when executed on a processor (e.g., central processing unit (CPU) or CPUs). The program code can be stored in one or more computer-readable memory devices (e.g., internal memory and/or one or more tangible media), and so on. The structures, functions, approaches, and techniques described herein can be implemented on a variety of commercial computing platforms having a variety of processors.
The controller 122 can include the processor 136, a memory 138, and a communications interface 140. The processor 136 provides processing functionality for the controller 122 and can include any number of processors, micro-controllers, or other processing systems, and resident or external memory for storing data and other information accessed or generated by the controller 122. The processor 136 can execute one or more software programs that implement techniques described herein. The processor 136 is not limited by the materials from which it is formed or the processing mechanisms employed therein and, as such, can be implemented via semiconductor(s) and/or transistors (e.g., using electronic integrated circuit (IC) components), and so forth.
The memory 138 is an example of tangible, computer-readable storage medium that provides storage functionality to store various data associated with operation of the controller 122, such as software programs and/or code segments, or other data to instruct the processor 136, and possibly other components of the controller 122, to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the memory 138 can store data, such as a program of instructions for operating the portable locator device 100 (including its components), and so forth. It should be noted that while a single memory 138 is described, a wide variety of types and combinations of memory (e.g., tangible, non-transitory memory) can be employed. The memory 138 can be integral with the processor 136, can comprise stand-alone memory, or can be a combination of both.
The memory 138 can include, but is not necessarily limited to: removable and non-removable memory components, such as random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory (e.g., a secure digital (SD) memory card, a mini-SD memory card, and/or a micro-SD memory card), magnetic memory, optical memory, universal serial bus (USB) memory devices, hard disk memory, external memory, and so forth. In implementations, the portable locator device 100 and/or the memory 138 can include removable integrated circuit card (ICC) memory, such as memory provided by a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a universal subscriber identity module (USIM) card, a universal integrated circuit card (UICC), and so on.
The communications interface 140 is operatively configured to communicate with components of the portable locator device 100. For example, the communications interface 140 can be configured to transmit data for storage in the portable locator device 100, retrieve data from storage in the portable locator device 100, and so forth. The communications interface 140 is also communicatively coupled with the processor 136 to facilitate data transfer between components of the portable locator device 100 and the processor 136 (e.g., for communicating inputs to the processor 136 received from a device communicatively coupled with the controller 122). It should be noted that while the communications interface 140 is described as a component of a controller 122, one or more components of the communications interface 140 can be implemented as external components communicatively coupled to the portable locator device 100 via a wired and/or wireless connection. The portable locator device 100 can also comprise and/or connect to one or more input/output (I/O) devices (e.g., via the communications interface 140), including, but not necessarily limited to: a display, a mouse, a touchpad, a keyboard, and so on.
The communications interface 140 and/or the processor 136 can be configured to communicate with a variety of different networks, including, but not necessarily limited to: a wide-area cellular telephone network, such as a 3G cellular network, a 4G cellular network, or a global system for mobile communications (GSM) network; a wireless computer communications network, such as a WiFi network (e.g., a wireless local area network (WLAN) operated using IEEE 802.11 network standards); an internet; the Internet; a wide area network (WAN); a local area network (LAN); a personal area network (PAN) (e.g., a wireless personal area network (WPAN) operated using IEEE 802.15 network standards); a public telephone network; an extranet; an intranet; and so on. However, this list is provided by way of example only and is not meant to limit the present disclosure. Further, the communications interface 140 can be configured to communicate with a single network or multiple networks across different access points.
Referring now to
In embodiments of the disclosure, the electronic display 104 can instruct the operator to press a button (e.g., a physical button, a graphical button on a touchscreen) when facing the ending position 126, i.e., when the portable locator device 100 is facing the end of the virtual drop-line 132. For instance, a positioning system device receiver 112 on the portable locator device 100 is used to determine a first geographic location of the portable locator device 100 (e.g., at or near the starting position 130). When the operator faces the ending position 126 at the first geographic location with the portable locator device 100 (e.g., by facing a visually distinct landmark between the starting position 130 and the ending position 126), the operator presses a button on the touchscreen interface 110, and the controller 122 correlates the detected geomagnetic field of the Earth from the Earth magnetic sensor 142 to the first geographic location, logging the direction of magnetic north with respect to a cardinal direction, like true north, as detected by the Earth magnetic sensor 142 at the first geographic location.
For instance, by comparing the coordinates of the first geographic location to the coordinates of the ending position 126 to determine the direction from the first geographic location to the ending position 126, the direction of magnetic north can be determined and stored by the controller 122. In an example, at a first geographic location, the direction of magnetic north is detected as forty-eight degrees (48°) clockwise with respect to the front facing direction of the portable locator device 100. If the portable locator device 100 is facing a direction forty-three degrees (43°) west of true north from the first geographic location to the ending position 126, the direction of magnetic north with respect to true north at the first geographic location can be determined as five degrees (5°) east of true north (i.e., 48° minus 43°).
In some embodiments, the electronic display 104 can instruct the operator to press a button (e.g., a physical button, a graphical button on a touchscreen) when facing the starting position 130, i.e., when the portable locator device 100 is facing the beginning of the virtual drop-line 132. For instance, a positioning system device receiver 112 on the portable locator device 100 is used to determine a second geographic location of the portable locator device 100 (e.g., at or near an intermediate position 134). When the operator faces the starting position 130 at the second geographic location with the portable locator device 100 (e.g., by standing some distance away from and facing the starting position 130), the operator presses a button on the touchscreen interface 110, and the controller 122 correlates the detected geomagnetic field of the Earth from the Earth magnetic sensor 142 to the second geographic location, logging the direction of magnetic north with respect to a cardinal direction, like true north, as detected by the Earth magnetic sensor 142 at the second geographic location. For instance, by comparing the coordinates of the second geographic location to the coordinates of the starting position 130 to determine the direction from the second geographic location to the starting position 130, the direction of magnetic north can be determined and stored by the controller 122, e.g., as previously described.
In another instance, the operator sets off on a path generally between the starting position 130 and the ending position 126, arriving at a second geographic location (e.g., an intermediate position 134) between the starting position 130 and the ending position 126. When the second geographic location is determined to be an intermediate position 134 between the starting position 130 and the ending position 126 along the virtual drop-line 132, and the operator is facing the ending position 126, the operator presses a button on the touchscreen interface 110, and the controller 122 correlates the detected geomagnetic field of the Earth from the Earth magnetic sensor 142 to the second geographic location, logging the direction of magnetic north with respect to a cardinal direction, like true north, as detected by the Earth magnetic sensor 142. For example, by comparing the coordinates of the intermediate position 134 to the coordinates of the ending position 126 to determine the direction from the intermediate position 134 to the ending position 126, the direction of magnetic north can be determined and stored by the controller 122, e.g., as previously described.
In some embodiments, the memory 138 can be used to store a lookup table 150 of magnetic declination angles (also referred to as magnetic variation angles) between magnetic north and true north for various geographic regions. In this example, a positioning system device receiver 112 on the portable locator device 100 is used to determine a geographic location of the portable locator device 100 (e.g., at the starting position 130). By comparing the coordinates of the geographic location for the portable locator device 100 to geographic locations and/or geographic ranges stored in the lookup table 150, the direction of magnetic north can be determined based upon finding a corresponding magnetic declination angle in the lookup table 150. The magnetic declination angle can be stored by the controller 122 for future use along the virtual drop-line 132.
In any of the foregoing examples, the direction of magnetic north can then be used at subsequent locations (e.g., at additional intermediate positions 134) between the starting position 130 and the ending position 126 to determine the direction of the ending position 126 relative to the portable locator device 100, and instructions can be provided to the operator for moving towards the ending position 126, e.g., in the form of a graphical direction indicator provided by the user interface, such as a directional arrow displayed on the electronic display 104, a compass heading displayed on the electronic display 104, a verbal instruction provided by an output device such as a speaker, and so forth.
Generally, any of the functions described herein can be implemented using hardware (e.g., fixed logic circuitry such as integrated circuits), software, firmware, manual processing, or a combination thereof. Thus, the blocks discussed in the above disclosure generally represent hardware (e.g., fixed logic circuitry such as integrated circuits), software, firmware, or a combination thereof. In the instance of a hardware configuration, the various blocks discussed in the above disclosure may be implemented as integrated circuits along with other functionality. Such integrated circuits may include all of the functions of a given block, system, or circuit, or a portion of the functions of the block, system, or circuit. Further, elements of the blocks, systems, or circuits may be implemented across multiple integrated circuits. Such integrated circuits may comprise various integrated circuits, including, but not necessarily limited to: a monolithic integrated circuit, a flip chip integrated circuit, a multichip module integrated circuit, and/or a mixed signal integrated circuit. In the instance of a software implementation, the various blocks discussed in the above disclosure represent executable instructions (e.g., program code) that perform specified tasks when executed on a processor. These executable instructions can be stored in one or more tangible computer readable media. In some such instances, the entire system, block, or circuit may be implemented using its software or firmware equivalent. In other instances, one part of a given system, block, or circuit may be implemented in software or firmware, while other parts are implemented in hardware.
Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or process operations, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.
The present application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119 (e) of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/585,125, filed Sep. 25, 2023, and titled “PORTABLE LOCATOR DEVICE PROVIDING A VIRTUAL DROP-LINE,” which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63585125 | Sep 2023 | US |
