AU2014101564B4

AU2014101564B4 - A system, method, computer program and data signal for the provision of information

Info

Publication number: AU2014101564B4
Application number: AU2014101564A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Oliver Morrissey
Original assignee: UTILLIX Pty Ltd
Current assignee: UTILLIX Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2013-10-21
Filing date: 2014-10-20
Publication date: 2018-10-04
Anticipated expiration: 2022-10-20
Also published as: AU2014250735A1; AU2014101564A4

Abstract

A system for the provision of information, comprising: a database arranged to contain information regarding at least one utility; a processor arranged to access the database and cooperate cooperatively with at least one communications gateway; wherein upon receipt of a command from a remote device received via the communications gateway, the processor is arranged to access the database to retrieve information regarding the at least one utility; and provide said information to the remote device via the communications gateway.

Description

Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a system, method, computer program and data signal for the provision of information. Embodiments of the invention find particular, but not exclusive, use in the provision of information regarding the location of services and utilities conduits, such as electrical and telecommunications cabling, water and sewerage pipes, and gas pipelines.

Background of the Invention [0002] Since industrialisation, cities, towns and other populated areas have sought to provide adequate infrastructure to provide basic services to towns, cities and rural populations. Beginning with the provision of fresh water and sewerage facilities, most countries around the world have now built extremely sophisticated and complex networks of pipes, conduits, cables, tunnels and other infrastructure items necessary for the provision of services and utilities to users.

[0003] Each service or utility is generally maintained by a different entity, such as a government authority or a private company. Each entity provides information regarding the location of infrastructure to a central authority, who then collates the information and provides such information to interested third parties (e.g. builders who require knowledge of the environment before they take action, such as digging into the ground to lay foundations for a structure). However, such information is generally provided in a paper format and is cumbersome to collate, understand and interpret.

[0004] It is against this background that the invention and embodiments described herein have been developed.

Summary of the Invention [0005] In a first aspect, the present invention provides a system for the provision of information, comprising:

a database arranged to contain information regarding at least one utility: a processor arranged to access the database and cooperate cooperatively with at least one communications gateway:

2014101564 04 Sep 2018 wherein upon receipt of a command from a remote device received via the communications gateway, the processor is arranged to access the database to retrieve information regarding the at least one utility; and provide said information to the remote device via the communications gateway;

wherein the command from a remote device includes information regarding a boundary with respect to a geographic area.

[0006] In one embodiment, the boundary is set by a user by marking the boundary on a map displayed on the remote device.

[0007] In one embodiment, the boundary is set by a user by marking the boundary on a map displayed on the remote device.

[0008] In one embodiment, the boundary is set by a user by marking the boundary on a map displayed on the remote device.

[0009] In one embodiment, the command from the remote device includes information regarding a geographical area.

[0010] In one embodiment, the information regarding the at least one utility includes information regarding the position, location and orientation of the at least one utility.

[0011] In one embodiment, the information regarding the at least one utility includes information to allow the remote device to render the information as a three dimensional image.

[0012] In one embodiment, the command and the information are passed between the system and the remote device in a manner to simulate a ‘real time’ view of the information regarding the at least one utility.

[0013] In a second aspect, the present invention provides a method for the provision of information, comprising:

a database arranged to contain information regarding at least one utility; a processor arranged to access the database and cooperate cooperatively with at least one communications gateway;

wherein upon receipt of a command from a remote device received via the communications gateway, the processor is arranged to access the database to retrieve information regarding the at least one utility; and

2014101564 04 Sep 2018 provide said information to the remote device via the communications gateway.

[0014] In a third aspect, the present invention provides a computer program arranged to be executed on a computing system, including at least one command arranged to cause the computing system to execute a method in accordance with the second aspect of the invention.

[0015] In a fourth aspect, the present invention provides a computer readable medium incorporating a computer program in accordance with the third aspect of the invention.

[0016] In a fifth aspect, the present invention provides a data signal including at least one command, which, when received by a computing system, is arranged to cause the computing system to execute a method in accordance with the second aspect of the invention.

Detailed Description of the Figures [0017] Further features of the present invention are more fully described in the following description of several non-limiting embodiments thereof. This description is included solely for the purposes of exemplifying the present invention. It should not be understood as a restriction on the broad summary, disclosure or description of the invention as set out above. The description will be made with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is an example computing system which is capable of performing a method, executing a computer program and/or receiving a data signal in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is an example screenshot of an app in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

Figure 3 is another example screenshot of an app in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Description of Embodiments

General Overview [0018] The present invention relates generally to a system, method, computer program and data signal for the provision of information, comprising a database arranged to

2014101564 04 Sep 2018 contain information regarding at least one utility, a processor arranged to access the database and cooperate cooperatively with at least one communications gateway, wherein upon receipt of a command from a remote device received via the communications gateway, the processor is arranged to access the database to retrieve information regarding the at least one utility, and provide said information to the remote device via the communications gateway.

[0019] The method is codified in a computing system, such as the computing system shown at Figure 1.

[0020] In Figure 1 there is shown a schematic diagram of a computing system, which in this embodiment is a computing device 100 suitable for use with an embodiment of the present invention. The computing device 100 may be used to execute application and/or system services such as a system and method for the processing of information in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] With reference to Figure 1, the computing device 100 may comprise suitable components necessary to receive, store and execute appropriate computer instructions. The components may include a processor 102, read only memory (ROM) 104, random access memory (RAM) 106, an input/output devices such as disc drives 108, remote or connected input devices 110 (such as a camera, a camera in a Smartphone or image information received from another computing device, such as a ‘desktop’ personal computer), and one or more communications link(s) 114.

[0022] The computing device 100 includes instructions that may be installed in ROM 104, RAM 106 or storage device 112 and may be executed by the processor 102. There may be provided a plurality of communication links 114 which may variously connect to one or more external computing devices 110 such as servers, personal computers, terminals, wireless or handheld computing devices, or mobile communication devices such as a mobile (cell) telephone. A communications link 114 may be connected to an external computing network through a telecommunications network.

[0023] In one particular embodiment the device may include a database 116 which may reside on the storage device 112. It will be understood that the database may reside on any suitable storage device, which may encompass solid state drives, hard

2014101564 04 Sep 2018 disc drives, optical drives or magnetic tape drives. The database 116 may reside on a single physical storage device or may be spread across multiple storage devices.

[0024] The computing device 100 includes a suitable operating system 118 which may also reside on a storage device or in the ROM of the computing device 100. The operating system is arranged to interact with the database and with one or more computer programs to cause the server to carry out the steps, functions and/or procedures in accordance with the embodiments of the invention described herein.

[0025] The system, in one embodiment, utilises the storage device 112 and/or the database 116 to contain (either temporarily or permanently) information. The database is arranged to receive the information via any suitable module or component. That is, the computing device 100 may be connected to other databases (not shown) or may receive information remotely from the one or more remote devices.

[0026] Other aspects of the broad inventive concept relate to a corresponding method, computer program, computer readable media and data signal.

[0027] In the embodiment described herein, the computing device 100 communicates with a portable device, such as a ‘smartphone’, The smartphone includes an interface which allows the user of the smartphone to communicate with the computing device 100 in order to receive information.

[0028] In the embodiment described herein, the smartphone communicates with the system for the provision of information. The smartphone requests information from the system, the system having a database arranged to contain information regarding at least one utility and a processor arranged to access the database and cooperate cooperatively with at least one communications gateway.

[0029] Upon receipt of a command from a remote device received via the communications gateway, the processor is arranged to access the database to retrieve information regarding the at least one utility and provide the information to the remote device via the communications gateway.

Marking an Area [0030] The request for information takes place via the user interacting with a user interface which displays a map (two dimensional or three dimensional). When a user

2014101564 04 Sep 2018 wishes to request information on an area, the user delimits a particular geographic location of the proposed area of interest, such as a dig area, by marking a virtual boundary on a map provided on the interface of the mobile device, such as a

Smartphone. The delimited area indicates the extent of the boundaries where a dig is to be performed.

[0031] This delimited area can be thought of as being analogous to a user physically drawing “white lines” io delimit an area (in a similar manner to which a user would, in real life, physically mark out the area of interest). As such, the boundary may be thought of as “virtual white lines”. The use of virtual white lines, as described herein, allows the user to provide an accurate delimitation of the relevant area in a very user friendly and intuitive manner. The use of a virtual white line marking system provides accuracy, thereby eliminating the uncertainty associated with imprecise manual methods of conveying such information, while simultaneously removing the need for a user to have access to specific co-ordinates or other information.

Processing a Request for Information [0032] The computing device 100 includes a full set of map images and/or co-ordinate information. It will be understood that the map image information and the information regarding the position and location of utilities may be held in two or more separate servers, as required for efficiency or privacy reasons. However, the embodiment described herein assumes that all information is held on a single server, for the sake of simplicity.

[0033] The user device, such as a smartphone shown in Figure 2 at 200, includes an application (or ‘app’) which is arranged to interact with the computing device 100, and which may include functionality arranged to allow the app to synchronise, cache images or other information, display information via an appropriate interface allow a user to input information via an appropriate interface, and also allow (optionally) a user to request further information through a virtual ‘ticketing’ function.

[0034] The computing device includes a library of images, which may include satellite images, which are of an appropriate resolution. The images may include geocoding or other geographical identification metadata and may be provided in any computer-readable format, such as JPEG file interchange format (JPEG), tagged image file format (TIFF), portable document format (PDF), graphics interchange format (GIF),

2014101564 04 Sep 2018 bitmap (BMP), portable network graphics (PNG), Windows® metafile (WMF), and/or other suitable formats.

[0035] There may also be provide overlay information, including street names, regions, landmark descriptions, and/or other information about areas displayed in an image.

[0036] The map information and the image retrieval function of the computing device 100provides a variety of functionalities. In one embodiment, the image retrieval function receives information about specific virtual white lines in order to determine appropriate location information that determines a boundary. For example, the virtual white lines may identify the area of interest (e.g. an area in which a construction company wishes to dig) by the property address boundaries or by geographic coordinates which are determined by the area delimited by the virtual white lines.

[0037] Further information, such as the day and/or time that the dig is about to commence, and/or whether the user is to mark the dig area for telecommunications (e.g. telephone and/or cable television), power, gas, water, sewer, or some other underground facility may be provided, which may alter the information provided, in turn, by the computing device to the user.

[0038] It will be understood that in some embodiment, the app and/or the computing device 100 may convert the virtual white line information to latitude/longitude coordinates or other coordinates. As the location information is sufficiently precise to allow for identification of corresponding maps, imagery and/or overlay information, information may be automatically updated by the computing device and forwarded to the app as new information becomes available. For example, as new information is received from a utilities provider (e.g. a telecommunications company lays a new fibre optic cable within the area delimited by a user), such information may be automatically transmitted to the app.

[0039] Of course, it will be understood that the app may locally retrieve GPS coordinates. For example, a user may arrive at an excavation site and the GPS information may be used to identify coordinates corresponding to an image to be retrieved by the user simply walking around the permitter of the desired area (i.e. the app ‘draws’ the virtual white lines by drawing a map of the area bounded by the area walked by the user while they are in the possession of the smartphone. GPS coordinates may also be obtained from other GPS-enabled devices being used by or in

2014101564 04 Sep 2018 the vicinity of the user. For example, a map drawn by another user may be transmitted from one smartphone to another.

[0040] In the context of the present specification, a GPS-enabled device may include any device or combination of devices capable of interfacing with a global navigation satellite system, geo-spatial positioning system, or other location-identification system to determine a location.

[0041] The app may interface with multiple image/map providers and/or servers. The app may determine which image provider is the best source for the image corresponding to a particular geographical area relating to a site of interest. For example, different providers may provide different geographical coverage, different image resolution and different availability and/or cost. In one example, Google Maps (a trade mark of Google Corporation) may be used as the image/map provider.

[0042] It will be understood that in one embodiment, the app may download some or all of the images from the image/map server and store the images in a local cache located in the smartphone or portable device.

[0043] It will be understood that some of the routines and/or functionalities described above with respect to the app may be performed by one or more apps. For example, the app according to the embodiment may interface with another app, such as the Google Maps app, to perform the functionality described herein.

[0044] Where the app stores one or more images locally, the app may further include a synchronise routine to ensure that images already stored and manipulated on the user device correspond to images stored in the image server. When a user identifies a dig area, the synchronise routine checks to determine if images on the smartphone or mobile device match images available on the image/map server, and updates the local image cache accordingly.

[0045] In accordance with functionality that would be known to a skilled addressee, residential or other address information may be pre-entered for the user to the extent possible. Address information may include, for example, a street address, street name, city, state and/or postal code.

[0046] Once an image is loaded, there are provided a variety of view options for the user. For example, the app supports zooming in and out of the image by changing the

2014101564 04 Sep 2018 image scale. Also, the image display routine supports panning horizontally and vertically in the image. Furthermore, the image display routine supports “roaming” outside the boundaries of the initial zone defined by the user.

[0047] In addition, in another embodiment, the app supports the provision of an augmented reality feature, which allows the app to provide information in a manner that overlays a ‘real world’ image, as shown in Figure 2.

[0048] Referring to Figure 2 in more detail there is shown a mobile device generally denoted by numeral 200 which uses a camera (not shown) to capture an area. The area is an area that has been previously marked-out by a user using the white lines described in pervious paragraphs. As can be seen from the image 201 on the mobile device 200, there are provided a number of overlays 204, 206 and 208 which represent utilities. These images are overlayed on the image/the scene 202 such that a user may intuitively understand where the utilities lie in relation to external buildings, markers, etc. For example, at numerals 210 and 212 there are shown information boxes which identify two buildings. The two buildings provide a secondary visual guidance or check for the user so that the user may doubly verify the correctness of the scene they are viewing on the mobile device 200. In this manner, a user is able to develop a much more intuitive and immediately understandable view of where utilities are located prior to commencing a dig.

[0049] Of course, it will be understood that the app may also interact with an augmented reality device, such as Google Glass, a pair of glasses that is capable of projecting images into the line of sight of a user of the glasses.

[0050] The user input routine allows the user to add information to the image to create a record of the progress of the dig. The user input routine accepts user input from the input device and can support the addition of lines, freehand forms (or scribbling), shapes, or other markings to denote any additional features discovered or any unusual circumstances that may be of use to a future user. The user input routine also enable the user to add their own marks for telecommunications, gas, power, water, sewer, etc., so that new additions to existing utilities and infrastructure may be added.

[0051] In one embodiment, the user input routine limit the display of such facilities by the type of work which is to be performed according to the instructions received from a third party (e.g. a telecommunications provider or a utility). The user input routine may

2014101564 04 Sep 2018 also accept positioning information from external sources, such as a standalone

GPS-enabled marker on the site, to provide more accurate position locations. The user input routine may further include features to annotate the image with text and to revise user inputs by, for example deleting, dragging or pasting shapes.

[0052] Together the information, namely the compilation of the image/map and user inputs, may be uploaded to the image/map server or to another remote server, for future use by other users.

[0053] In one implementation, the user device may interface with a management program for coordinating multiple user inputs/uploads of information. The management program for coordinating the input of multiple user inputs/uploads may reside on the central server.

[0054] An example of the abovementioned process is given below to better describe the process. The user may use their smartphone to draw a boundary around a geographical area displayed on a map (see Figure 2). Using co-ordinates derived from the boundary area denoted by the user, a stored aerial image associated with the dig area is retrieved from a cache of images and loaded into the user device.

[0055] It will be understood that the user may perform a locate operation and mark the located underground facilities using a locating device and/or marking device, or a combined locating/marking device. For example, the user may use the locating device to identify an underground facility at the dig area, and may use the marking device to mark the underground facility with the appropriate marker (e.g. drawings a boundary using their finger on the screen of their smartphone). The approximate geographic location of the underground facility locate marks may then be determined, for example, by identifying the geographic location of the locating or marking.

[0056] Information about offsets of the underground facility locate marks from environmental landmarks may be added to the stored aerial image that was retrieved. As with the input of the facility locations, the location of the environmental landmarks may be input by the user using an input device, or automatically provided from a GPS-enabled device. Offset information may also be obtained by identifying selected environmental landmarks on the retrieved image and automatically calculating the distance from the selected environmental landmarks to the underground facility locate marks overlaid on the image.

2014101564 04 Sep 2018 [0057] A particular data set may be stored in memory and/or transmitted to the server. The data set may include a timestamp field, an underground facility identifier field, an underground facility location field, an environmental landmark identifier field, an environmental landmark location field, another information field, and a property address field. The underground facility identifier field may include an identifier that uniquely identifies the type of underground facility that was marked. The identifier in underground facility identifier field may be “power”— although any type of identifier may be used.

[0058] Underground facility location field may include geographic location information corresponding to an underground facility locate mark. In one implementation, the geographic location information may include a set of geographic points along the marking path of the located underground facility.

[0059] Environmental landmark location field may include geographic location information corresponding to the environmental landmark identified in environmental landmark identifier field.

[0060] The underground facility owner field may include the name of the owner/operator of the underground facility that has been marked during the locate operation. For example, the underground facility owner field may be shown as “XYZ Pty Ltd”. The service grid may be shown as a “floating” image (such as the images shown in Figure 3) which is then superimposed over the image viewed through the viewfinder in the smartphone’s camera. As underground facility locate marks are drawn on the map, they may appear in a list in the service grid.

[0061] The use of the embodiment as described provides significant improvements in accuracy and saves time for the user. Paper drawings are time consuming and imprecise because they require specific map reading skills to be understood, and moreover, they must be oriented correctly. Creation of a superimposed image over a real time image of the area in question improves accuracy and eliminates the need to spend appreciable time orienting the drawings in order to understand the drawings.

Alterations and Modifications to the Embodiments [0062] It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly

2014101564 04 Sep 2018 described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

[0063] Although not required, the embodiments described with reference to the Figures can be implemented as an Application Programming Interface (API) or as a series of libraries for use by a developer or can be included within another software application, such as a terminal or personal computer operating system or a portable computing device operating system. Generally, as program modules include routines, programs, objects, components and data files assisting in the performance of particular functions, the skilled person will understand that the functionality of the software application may be distributed across a number of routines, objects or components to achieve the same functionality desired herein.

[0064] It will also be appreciated that where the methods and systems of the present invention are either wholly implemented by computing system or partly implemented by computing systems then any appropriate computing system architecture may be utilised. This will include stand-alone computers, network computers and dedicated hardware devices. Where the terms “computing system” and “computing device” are used, these terms are intended to cover any appropriate arrangement of computer hardware capable of implementing the function described.

[0065] Throughout this specification, unless the context requires otherwise, the word “comprise” or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers.

[0066] Any reference to prior art contained herein is not to be taken as an admission that the information is common general knowledge, unless otherwise indicated.

2014101564 04 Sep 2018

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A system for the provision of information, comprising:

a database arranged to contain information regarding at least one utility; a processor arranged to access the database and cooperate cooperatively with at least one communications gateway;

wherein upon receipt of a command from a remote device received via the communications gateway, the processor is arranged to access the database to retrieve information regarding the at least one utility; and provide said information to the remote device via the communications gateway; wherein the command from a remote device includes information regarding a boundary with respect to a geographic area.
2. The system in accordance with Claim 1, wherein the boundary is set by a user by marking the boundary on a map displayed on the remote device.
3. The system in accordance with Claim 1, wherein the boundary is set by plotting movements of the remote device so that the movement of the remote device are plotted in a map to form the boundary.
4. The system in accordance with any one of the preceding claims, wherein an image taken with the remote device is adapted to be laid over the boundary.
5. The system in accordance with any one of the preceding claims, wherein the information regarding the at least one utility includes information regarding the position, location and orientation of the at least one utility.

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Figure 1

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Figure 2

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