Patent ID: 8934678
Filing Date: 2015-01-13
Classification: G01V,G06T

Abstract:
1. A method for facilitating detection of a presence or an absence of at least one 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, the method comprising: A) electronically receiving, at a first user location remote from the dig area, a digital image of a geographic area including the dig area, at least a portion of the received digital image being displayed on a display device at the first user location remote from the dig area; B) in advance of the excavation activities, sketching virtual white lines, via a user input device associated with the display device and at the first user location remote from the dig area, on the displayed digital image to precisely identify a boundary of the dig area and thereby generate a marked-up digital image, C) wherein B) further comprises indicating at least one offset distance in the displayed digital image between at least one environmental landmark in the geographic area and an edge of the dig area identified by the virtual white lines so as to generate the marked-up digital image; D) converting the virtual white lines in the marked-up digital image to a plurality of geographic coordinates representing the boundary of the dig area; and E) at least one of electronically transmitting and electronically storing information relating to the marked-up digital image, wherein the information includes at least the plurality of geographic coordinates representing the boundary of the dig area, so as to reduce uncertainty or confusion about an exact location and the boundary of the dig area based at least in part on the marked-up digital image, and thereby facilitate the performance of a locate operation in the dig area to detect the presence or the absence of the at least one underground facility within the dig area.