Automated utility markout robot system and method
AssigneeUlc Technologies, LLC
InventorsAli Asmari, Baiyang Ren
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A portable robotic platform system and method for automatically detecting, locating, and marking underground assets are provided. The portable robotic platform includes a housing with a sensor module including ground penetrating radar (GPR), LiDAR, and electromagnetic (EM) sensors. The robotic platform automatically collects GPR and EM data and uses onboard post-processing techniques to interpret the sensor data and identify the location(s) of underground infrastructure. The portable robotic platform can be deployed to apply paint to a ground surface to identify the located underground assets.
Claims20
A portable robotic platform for locating underground assets, comprising:
- a housing including a shell and one or more wheels;
- an encoder in communication with the one or more wheels;
- a sensor module including a LiDAR instrument, a ground penetrating radar, and an electromagnetic sensor;
- a processing module including a processor and a memory unit, wherein the processing module is designed to process data collected from the sensor module to identify an asset location associated with the underground assets;
- a localization module designed to determine a current robot location associated with the portable robotic platform based on the processed data collected from the sensor module;
- and
- a paint module provided in a form of a paint can in communication with a control module designed to apply paint on a ground surface.
A method of detecting and locating underground assets using a robotic platform, the method comprising:
- providing the robotic platform comprising a housing, a sensor module, and a processing module;
- initiating the sensor module provided in a form of a ground penetrating radar, a LiDAR instrument, and an electromagnetic sensor;
- collecting data from the ground penetrating radar, the LiDAR instrument, and the electromagnetic sensor as the robotic platform travels across a ground surface;
- processing the data from the ground penetrating radar, the LiDAR instrument, and the electromagnetic sensor onboard the robotic platform using the processing module;
- identifying a location of one or more underground assets using the data process onboard the robotic platform;
- and
- generating a visual output on a display of one or more identified underground assets.
A method of detecting and locating an underground asset using a robotic platform, the method comprising:
- providing the robotic platform comprising a housing, a processing module, a control module, a localization module, one or more wheels operatively coupled to one or more encoders, and a sensor module provided in the form of a ground penetrating radar, a LiDAR instrument, an electromagnetic sensor, and an inertial measurement unit;
- initiating the ground penetrating radar and the electromagnetic sensor as the robotic platform travels across a ground surface using the control module;
- collecting data from the ground penetrating radar, the LiDAR instrument, the inertial measurement unit, the electromagnetic sensor, and the one or more encoders;
- processing the data onboard the robotic platform using the processing module;
- executing the localization module to identify a location of the underground asset;
- and
- generating a visual output of one or more underground assets identified from the data processed onboard the robotic platform.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.