Methods, apparatus and systems for facilitating generation and assessment of engineering plans

摘要

Electronically generating an engineering plan for installation of equipment, such as cable system equipment, at a work site. First geographic information relating to a first location of the work site is compared with second geographic information representing a second location of an engineer generating the engineering plan (or of a plan generating tool being used by the engineer to generate the plan) to verify that the engineer/tool is sufficiently near to the work site. A digital image of a geographic area including the work site is displayed on the plan generating tool, and user input is acquired from the engineer (e.g., via a user input device associated with the plan generating tool) relating to at least one first position, relative to the displayed digital image, representing a first equipment location of at least a first piece of the equipment to be installed at the work site. A marked-up digital image including at least one first digital representation of the first piece of the equipment placed on the displayed digital image is generated, based at least in part on the user input, and information relating to the marked-up digital image is electronically transmitted and/or electronically stored so as to generate the engineering plan.

主权项

1. An apparatus for facilitating generation of an engineering plan for installation of equipment at a work site, the apparatus comprising:
a communication interface; a display device; a user input device; a memory to store controller-executable instructions; and a controller coupled to the communication interface, the display device, the user input device, and the memory, wherein upon execution of the controller-executable instructions by the controller, the controller:
A) controls the user input device and/or the communication interface to receive first geographic information relating to a first location of the work site;B) compares the first geographic information relating to the work site to second geographic information representing a second location of the user input device to verify that the user input device is sufficiently near to the work site, by:
B1) determining a distance between the first location and the second location;B2) comparing the distance to a predefined range;B3) if it is determined that the distance is within or equal to the predefined range, the controller generates at least one first indication so as to indicate that the user input device is sufficiently near to the work site; andB4) if it is determined that the distance is not within the predefined range, the controller generates at least one second indication so as to indicate that the user input device is not sufficiently near to the work site;C) controls the display device to display a digital image of a geographic area including the work site;D) acquires user input from the user input device, the user input relating to at least one first position, relative to the displayed digital image, representing a first equipment location of at least a first piece of the equipment to be installed at the work site;E) controls the display device so as to generate a marked-up digital image including at least one first digital representation of the first piece of the equipment placed on the displayed digital image, based at least in part on the user input; andF) controls the communication interface and/or the memory to electronically transmit and/or electronically store information relating to the marked-up digital image so as to generate the engineering plan;wherein in B):
the first geographic information relating to the work site includes first geographic coordinates representing the first location of the work site;the second geographic information includes second geographic coordinates representing the second location of the user input device; andthe controller compares the first geographic coordinates and the second geographic coordinates to verify that the user input device is sufficiently near to the work site.