Methods and apparatus for overlaying electronic marking information on facilities map information and/or other image information displayed on a marking device

A method for displaying information on a marking wand for marking a presence or an absence of an underground facility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities having a housing, a marking dispenser holder coupled to the housing to hold a replaceable marking material, an actuator that, when actuated, causes dispensing of the marking material, at least one sensor coupled to the housing to output geographic information indicative of a geographic location of the marking apparatus, a display device coupled to the housing, at least one memory, and at least one processor, communicatively coupled to the display device, the at least one sensor, and the at least one memory, the method comprising:

• obtaining ticket information from a ticket associated with a marking operation for which the marking apparatus is used to mark the presence or the absence of the underground facility within the dig area, wherein at least the portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during the excavation activities, wherein the ticket information is indicative of a facility type of the underground facility;
• receiving geographic information output by the at least one sensor and indicative of the geographic location of the marking wand;
• processing the ticket information from the ticket and processing the geographic information output by the at least one sensor;
• selecting digital image data for display on the display device, the digital image data being selected based at least in part on:
• the ticket information indicative of the facility type to be located;
• and
• the geographic information output by the at least one sensor and indicative of the geographic location of the marking apparatus;
• displaying on the display device a digital image, wherein the digital image is generated based on the selected digital image data, and wherein the selected digital image data includes at least one of facilities map data, survey map data, land survey data, photographic image data, construction drawings, and engineering drawings;
• and
• overlaying on the displayed digital image, an electronic representation of the marking material representing a location at which the marking material was dispensed.

At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions that, when executed on at least one processor in a marking apparatus for marking a presence or an absence of an underground facility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities having a housing, a marking dispenser holder coupled to the housing to hold a replaceable marking material, an actuator that, when actuated, causes dispensing of the marking material, at least one sensor coupled to the housing to output geographic information indicative of a geographic location of the marking apparatus;

• a display device coupled to the housing, at least one memory, and at least one processor, communicatively coupled to the display device, the at least one sensor, and the at least one memory, the method comprising:
• obtaining ticket information from a ticket associated with a marking operation for which the marking apparatus is used to mark the presence or the absence of the underground facility within the dig area, wherein at least the portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during the excavation activities, wherein the ticket information is indicative of a facility type of the underground facility;
• receiving geographic information output by the at least one sensor and indicative of the geographic location of the marking wand;
• processing the ticket information from the ticket and processing the geographic information output by the at least one sensor;
• selecting digital image data for display on the display device, the digital image data being selected based at least in part on:
• the ticket information indicative of the facility type to be located;
• and
• the geographic information output by the at least one sensor and indicative of the geographic location of the marking apparatus;
• displaying on the display device a digital image, wherein the digital image is generated based on the selected digital image data, and wherein the selected digital image data includes at least one of facilities map data, survey map data, land survey data, photographic image data, construction drawings, and engineering drawings;
• and
• overlaying on the displayed digital image, an electronic representation of the marking material representing a location at which the marking material was dispensed.