Foundation Repair Diagnostics Using Lidar and Manometer Data
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing foundation repair methods often lack quality and applicability due to inadequate knowledge of site conditions, leading to suboptimal repairs, while engineer-driven processes are costly and may not be feasible for many instances.
Innovation Solution
A system and method utilizing a recommendation/design platform that collects data from site visits and incorporates custom third-party inputs, including aerial images and lidar data, to create proposed remedial geotechnical engineering plans, which are then modified and signed off by licensed engineers, providing cost-effective and technically sound repair recommendations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If an engineer-driven process is used for foundation repair, then the quality and applicability of repair recommendations improve, but the cost becomes prohibitive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a computer-based recommendation system as an intermediary between the site inspection and the final engineering design. This system processes data from site visits, compares it against a database of similar cases, and generates preliminary recommendations that licensed engineers can review and seal. This intermediary approach enables quality engineering recommendations without requiring full engineer involvement in every step, thereby reducing costs while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a digital copy of the site conditions through structured data collection during inspections, including photographs, measurements, and observations. These digital copies are stored and compared against a database of previously inspected sites with known repair outcomes. By copying and analyzing historical data, the system can generate recommendations based on proven solutions for similar conditions, reducing the need for costly custom engineering analyses while ensuring quality recommendations.
2Ease of manufacture
If salesperson-driven foundation repair services are provided, then cost is reduced, but the knowledge and understanding of repair needs deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables the inspection data and recommendation generation to essentially serve themselves through automated processing. The computer-based system automatically compares site data against the database, identifies similar cases, and generates recommendations without requiring salesperson expertise. This self-service mechanism maintains high repair knowledge quality while keeping costs low, as the system performs the analysis that would otherwise require expensive engineer time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical system of salesperson expertise with a computer-based automated analysis system. Instead of relying on the knowledge and experience of individual salespeople to accurately assess repair needs, the system uses computational algorithms to process inspection data, compare it against historical databases, and generate recommendations. This substitution maintains or improves the quality of repair knowledge while significantly reducing the cost associated with human expertise.
3Measurement precision
If multiple site visits are conducted to monitor changes over time, then the accuracy of soil movement assessment improves, but the time required for data collection increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by comparing data from multiple site visits to monitor changes in soil movement and foundation conditions over time. The computer-based system automatically analyzes changes between visits, updates the assessment, and provides feedback on the progression of soil movement. This feedback mechanism enables accurate monitoring of temporal changes without requiring manual re-analysis, as the system efficiently processes and compares data across multiple visits to determine soil movement patterns.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for creating remedial geotechnical engineering plans for a structure includes receiving, at a recommendation design platform: first and second data from a first and second visit, respectively, to the structure and custom third-party input. The first and second data includes manometer readings providing elevation measurements. The method also includes constructing first and second topographical maps of the floor of the structure using the first and second elevation measurements, respectively, and comparing the first and second elevation measurements to determine soil movement over time. The recommendation design platform creates proposed remedial geotechnical engineering plans based on the determined soil movement over time (and other data of the first and second data). Modifications from a licensed engineer are received at the recommendation design platform to create sealed remedial geotechnical engineering plans.