Abstract: Improvements to an installation process for an engineered system involve consolidation of the number of visits to a work site by field staff and/or particular work performed in a given site visit. A site visit manifest is generated to provide electronic documentation of pre-installation and/or installation activity. Various types of electronic information may be generated and/or collected in connection with any of multiple possible phases of a given installation at a particular work site for purposes of generating a site visit manifest. Additionally, different information components of a site visit manifest may be selectively viewed/accessed (e.g., based on different levels of permission or access-rights) to facilitate one or more of review of the work performed, quality, productivity and/or cost assessments of same, and billing functions. Particular examples of improved processes relating to installation of Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) subscriber drops are provided.

Abstract: Improvements to an installation process for an engineered system involve consolidation of the number of visits to a work site by field staff and/or particular work performed in a given site visit. A site visit manifest is generated to provide electronic documentation of pre-installation and/or installation activity. Various types of electronic information may be generated and/or collected in connection with any of multiple possible phases of a given installation at a particular work site for purposes of generating a site visit manifest. Additionally, different information components of a site visit manifest may be selectively viewed/accessed (e.g., based on different levels of permission or access-rights) to facilitate one or more of review of the work performed, quality, productivity and/or cost assessments of same, and billing functions. Particular examples of improved processes relating to installation of Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) subscriber drops are provided.

Abstract: A manifest including an electronic file associated with a geographic location and a portion of the geographic location indicating a dig area is provided. The manifest includes indicia noting a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within the dig area.

Abstract: Locating and/or marking equipment, such as a locate transmitter or locate receiver, a marking device, or a combined locate and marking device, may be communicatively coupled to and/or equipped with a mobile/portable device (e.g., a mobile phone, personal digital assistant or other portable computing device) that provides processing, electronic storage, electronic display, user interface, communication facilities and/or other functionality (e.g., GPS-enabled functionality) for the equipment. A mobile/portable device may be mechanically and/or electronically coupled to the equipment, and may be programmed so as to log and generate electronic records of various information germane to a locate and/or marking operation (e.g., locate information, marking information, and/or landmark information). Such records may be formatted in various manners, processed and/or analyzed on the mobile/portable device, and/or transmitted to another device (e.g., a remote computer/server) for storage, processing and/or analysis.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for facilitating detection of a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area. At least one marked-up digital image of a geographic area including the dig area, the image including at least one indicator to delimit the dig area, is electronically processed by converting the at least one indicator to a plurality of geographic coordinates representing the delimited dig area. Information relating to a locate request ticket identifying the dig area to be excavated is electronically transmitted and/or electronically stored, wherein the locate request ticket includes image data and non-image data associated with the dig area. The image data includes the at least one marked-up digital image of the geographic area surrounding the dig area, and the non-image data includes the plurality of geographic coordinates representing the delimited dig area.

Abstract: Methods, apparatus, and systems for providing information regarding a locate and/or marking operation to identify a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area. At least one notification indicating a status of the locate and/or marking operation is electronically transmitted and/or stored so as to inform at least one party associated with requesting the operation (a “requesting party,” e.g., an excavator, a property owner, a facility owner, a regulatory authority, a damage investigator, etc.) of the status of the operation. In one aspect, a requesting party may designate a preferred format, content, and/or method of receiving notifications regarding the locate and/or marking operation. In another aspect, a computer-generated GUI is provided to facilitate submission of requests, generation of “virtual white line” images to indicate one or more dig areas on a digital image of a work site, and/or selection of notifications and preferences for same.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for generating a searchable electronic record of a locate operation performed by a locate technician, in which a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area is identified. An image of a geographic area comprising the dig area is electronically received, and combined with image-related information so as to generate the searchable electronic record. The image-related information comprises at least a geographic location associated with the dig area, and a timestamp indicative of when the locate operation occurred. The searchable electronic record of the locate operation is electronically transmitted and/or electronically stored so that performance of the location operation is verifiable.

Abstract: Geo-referenced and/or time-referenced electronic drawings may be generated based on electronic vehicle information to facilitate documentation of a vehicle-related event. A symbols library, a collection of geo-referenced images, and any data acquired from one or more vehicles may be stored in memory for use in connection with generation of such drawings, and a drawing tool graphical user interface (GUI) may be provided for electronically processing vehicle data and geo-referenced images. Processed geo-referenced images may be saved as event-specific images, which may be integrated into, for example, an electronic vehicle accident report for accurately depicting a vehicle accident.

Abstract: A method may include sending an aerial image to a user via a network; receiving a marked-up version of the aerial image from the user via the network that includes one or more virtual white lines added to the aerial image that delimit a dig area in which excavation is planned; and providing the marked-up version of the aerial image, via one of an electronic or tangible delivery system, to another entity.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and apparatus for determining a color of marking material dispensed by a marking device onto a surface to mark a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area that is planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities. In some embodiments, one or more camera systems (e.g., digital video cameras) are mounted on a marking device to capture information (e.g., one or more of image information, color information, motion information and light level information) relating to the surface being marked. The camera system(s) may be mounted near a nozzle of a marking material dispenser, so as to capture information relating to freshly dispensed marking material on the surface being marked. The captured information may be analyzed to determine a color of the freshly dispensed marking material, which may then be correlated with a type of facilities being marked.

Abstract: Managing information relating to a locate and/or marking operation to detect and/or mark a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility. At least one electronic manifest corresponding to the locate and/or marking operation is generated based on first information relating to the locate and/or marking operation. The at least one electronic manifest includes image information documenting performance of the locate and/or the marking operation. At least one limited access file comprising second information relating to the at least one electronic manifest or the image information is generated, and the at least one limited access file and/or information relating to the at least one limited access file is electronically transmitted and/or stored to facilitate selective/limited access to or viewing of the electronic manifest(s).

Abstract: Indicating a precise geographic extent and a precise geographic location of a dig area at a work site at which excavation is planned, to facilitate detection and/or marking of a presence or an absence of an underground facility in the dig area. A graphical user interface includes an aerial image of a geographic area proximate to and including the work site and the dig area, and a drawing tool to facilitate placement of one or more dig area indicators on the aerial image. A user uses the drawing tool to delimit the precise geographic extent and the precise geographic location of the dig area(s) on the displayed aerial image so as to form the dig area indicator(s), representing unbuffered dig areas, and thereby generate a marked-up aerial image. Geographic coordinates are determined corresponding to the unbuffered dig area(s) represented by the dig area indicator(s).

Abstract: Marking material is dispensed onto a target surface using a marking device, and one or more images are captured by one or more camera systems attached to the marking device. The image(s) is/are analyzed to determine tracking information indicative of the a motion or an orientation of the marking device. The tracking information is analyzed to determine marking information relating to the dispensed marking material. In one example, the image(s) is/are analyzed to obtain an optical flow plot indicative of a path on the target surface traversed by the marking device. One or more reference plots respectively representing a plurality of reference marking patterns are compared to one or more portions of the optical flow plot to identify at least one reference marking pattern that substantially matches the portion(s) of the optical flow plot.

Abstract: A dispensing device is provided for use in a dispensing operation. The dispensing device includes a hand-held housing, a memory to store processor-executable instructions, a processor coupled to the memory and disposed within or communicatively coupled to the hand-held housing, and a camera system mechanically and/or communicatively coupled to the dispensing device to provide image information to the processor. The image information relates to the dispensing operation. The dispensing device also includes a dispensing mechanism to control dispensing of the material. The material is not readily visible after the dispensing operation. The processor analyzes the image information to determine tracking information indicative of a motion or an orientation of the dispensing device.

Abstract: Determining a permit status of a jobsite at which a locate operation is requested and/or performed. A work order that describes the locate operation is received and processed, and a permit database of a permitting entity is accessed based at least in part on information from the work order. The permit database is electronically reviewed to determine whether a valid permit covers work at the jobsite.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and apparatus for performing surface type detection in connection with locate and marking operations. In some embodiments, one or more sensors (e.g., radiation sensors, acoustic sensors, color sensors, light sensors, etc.) may be employed to collect information regarding a surface, such as a ground surface on which marking material is to be dispensed to mark the presence or absence of an underground facility. The collected sensor data may be analyzed to provide an estimate of a type of the surface that is being sensed. For example, a still-image or video camera may be used as a sensor that detects visible light reflecting from a surface. One or more images of the surface captured by the camera may be analyzed using some suitable image analysis software to identify one or more characteristics (e.g., color, intensity, randomness, presence/absence of lines, etc.) that may be indicative of a surface type.

Abstract: Marking data representative of an underground facility locate operation is acquired by locate equipment and automatically processed so as to determine one or more symbols associated with the locate operation. A locate operation work order also may be processed with the marking data to determine the one or more symbols. An electronic record of the locate operation is generated and includes a graphic representation of the marking data as well as the one or more symbols.

Abstract: Providing access at a jobsite to an electronic record of a locate operation. Data related to the locate operation is acquired by locate equipment and transmitted to a data repository for storage in the electronic record of the locate operation. A site-specific access mechanism is provided that establishes a link to the electronic record of the locate operation. In one example, the site-specific access mechanism is a physical mechanism, such as a printout of a website address, a barcode, or an RFID tag. In another example the site-specific access mechanism is a virtual mechanism, such as geographic location information provided by a location tracking system (e.g., GPS apparatus) and/or derived from information available to a wireless communications system or WiFi network. In one aspect, the access mechanism may be configured for use at the jobsite only by a person particularly authorized to access the electronic record of the locate operation.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: Methods, apparatus and systems including a computer comprising at least one hardware processor, at least one tangible storage medium (memory), and at least one input/output (I/O) interface for evaluating a quality of a locate and/or marking operation. First information relating to the marking operation (e.g., marking information) is compared to second information relating to the locate operation (e.g., locate information). In some examples, one or both of the marking information and the locate information may be filtered to improve data integrity in some manner. One or more indications of a quality assessment of the locate and/or marking operation is automatically generated based on such a comparison, and the one or more indications of the quality assessment are electronically stored on the at least one tangible storage medium, and/or electronically transmitted via the at least one I/O interface, so as to provide an electronic record of the quality assessment.