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US 11,892,585 B1Granted
Systems and methods for utility locating in a multi-utility environment
AssigneeSeescan, Inc.
InventorsMark S. Olsson, Sequoyah Aldridge, Michael J. Martin, Youngin Oh
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for uniquely identifying buried utilities in a multi-utility region by sensing magnetic fields emitted from the buried utilities.
Claims17
A method for uniquely identifying buried utilities in a multi-utility region, the method comprising:
- receiving magnetic field signals at a dodecahedral antenna array of a magnetic field sensing utility locator while moving the magnetic field sensing utility locator over a region having a plurality of utilities buried therein, and providing output signals from the dodecahedral antenna array corresponding to the received magnetic field signals;
- receiving the output signals from the dodecahedral antenna array in a processing element and processing the received output signals to identify utility data associated with the plurality of buried utilities, wherein the utility data comprises a plurality of location data points each indicative of location information pertaining to at least one of the buried utilities and one or more characteristics of the at least one of the buried utilities;
- generating a plurality of clusters based on the identified location data points, wherein each of the plurality of clusters includes a set of location data points sharing common characteristics;
- identifying one or more patterns exhibited by each of the plurality of clusters;
- and
- classifying the plurality of clusters, based on the one or more patterns, to uniquely identify the buried utilities.
3 more elements
A locating system, comprising:
- a magnetic field sensing buried utility locator, comprising:
- a dodecahedral antenna array to sense magnetic fields that are emitted from a plurality of buried utilities disposed in an area over which the magnetic field sensing buried utility locator is moved, and provide antenna output signals corresponding to the sensed magnetic fields;
- a receiver circuit having a receiver input to receive the dodecahedral antenna array output signals and provide receiver output signals corresponding to the sensed magnetic fields;
- and
- a processing circuit, including one or more processing elements, coupled to the receiver output to receive the receiver output signals.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.