Virtual white lines for indicating planned excavation sites on electronic images

摘要

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 at the first user location. 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. In one example, the indicator(s) is/are added to the displayed input image(s) without acquiring geographic coordinates corresponding to the indicator(s).

主权项

1. A method for electronically delimiting a dig area that is planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities, so as to facilitate detection of a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within the dig area, the method comprising:
A) electronically sending from at least one communication interface via a network, to an excavator at a first location remote from the dig area, first source data representing at least one digital image of a geographic area including the dig area; B) electronically receiving from the excavator, at the at least one communication interface via the network, second source data representing a marked-up version of the at least one digital image that includes at least one dig area indicator sketched on the digital image by the excavator via a user input device associated with a display device that processes the first source data to display the at least one digital image to the excavator at the first location remote from the dig area, the at least one dig area indicator providing at least one unbuffered indication of a boundary of the dig area on the marked-up version of the at least one digital image, the marked-up version of the at least one digital image further including at least one offset indicator to indicate, in the at least one digital image, at least one offset distance between at least one environmental landmark in the geographic area and the boundary of the dig area indicated by the at least one dig area indicator; C) converting, via at least one processor, the at least one dig area indicator to a plurality of geographic coordinates representing the boundary of the dig area; and D) providing, via an electronic delivery system, the plurality of geographic coordinates representing the boundary of the dig area to an entity associated with performing a locate and marking operation in the dig area to detect and mark the presence or the absence of the at least one underground facility within the dig area, so as to reduce uncertainty or confusion about an exact location and the boundary of the dig area based at least in part on the at least one dig area indicator, and thereby facilitate the performance of the locate operation to detect the presence or the absence of the at least one underground facility within the dig area.