Virtual White Line System for Excavation Site Coordination
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for delimiting excavation sites are imprecise and temporary, leading to poor coordination between excavators and locate personnel in multi-stage projects, resulting in inefficiencies and risks of damage to underground facilities.
Innovation Solution
The development of a system that creates electronic records with marked-up digital images and associated metadata to clearly indicate dig areas, allowing for precise communication and synchronization of excavation stages through a multi-generational virtual white lines application.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If physical white lines are used to delimit dig areas, then the excavation site boundaries can be visually indicated, but the indication is temporary and may deteriorate or be eliminated over time by precipitation, traffic, erosion, or the excavation process itself
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a digital copy of the physical white line marking system by capturing images of the physical markings and storing them as digital records. This digital copy preserves the dig area boundaries indefinitely without physical degradation, solving the contradiction between temporary physical visibility and permanent indication.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/physical white line marking system with a digital imaging and storage system. Instead of relying on physical paint or chalk that deteriorates, the system uses digital cameras, image processing, and database storage to create permanent records of dig area boundaries.
2Measurement precision
If multiple individual tickets are submitted for multi-stage excavation projects, then each stage can be tracked separately, but the coordination and synchronization between stages becomes complex and error-prone
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple individual locate tickets into a single master ticket that encompasses all excavation stages. This consolidation maintains the ability to track each stage separately through sub-tasks while eliminating the coordination complexity of managing multiple independent tickets, as all stages are now linked within a single unified record.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the master ticket into multiple sub-tasks representing different excavation stages, allowing precise tracking of each stage while maintaining overall coordination through the parent-child relationship structure. This segmentation enables detailed monitoring without the complexity of coordinating multiple separate tickets.
3Loss of information
If textual descriptions of dig areas are used in locate requests, then the basic location information can be communicated, but the descriptions are imprecise regarding exact physical locations and extent of dig areas
Solution Approach 1:
The patent captures visual copies of the actual dig area markings and incorporates these images into the locate request documentation. This visual copying provides precise information about exact physical locations and dig area extent, eliminating the imprecision of textual descriptions while remaining easy to provide since the images directly represent the physical markings already in place.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from one-dimensional textual descriptions to two-dimensional visual images, adding a new dimension of information representation. This dimensional change enables precise communication of spatial relationships, boundaries, and physical characteristics that cannot be adequately conveyed through text alone.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus for facilitating detection of a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area. Source data representing one or more input images of a geographic area including the dig area is electronically received at a first user location, which may be remote from the dig area. The source data is processed so as to display at least a portion of the input image(s) on a display device. One or more indicators are added to the displayed input image(s), via a user input device associated with the display device, to provide at least one indication of the dig area and thereby generate a marked-up digital image. A limited access file comprising information relating to the marked-up image may be transmitted to at least one party associated with the at least one underground facility.