Patent ID: 8351684

Claim:
A terrain mapping system, comprising: at least one sensor configured to gather a plurality of current points defining a surface of a site at a time t; a database containing a plurality of previously-gathered points defining the surface of the site at a time T prior to t; a controller in communication with the at least one sensor, the controller being configured to: receive time-location information indicating the time-location of one or more machines operating on the site; identify one or more points of the plurality of current points defining the surface of the site at the time t that correspond to the received time-location information of the one or more machines operating on the site; filter the identified one or more points from the plurality of current points defining the surface of the site at the time t; compare a characteristic of at least one of the filtered plurality of points defining the surface of the site at the time t to a characteristic of a corresponding at least one of the plurality of previously-gathered points defining the surface of the site at the time T prior to t; determine if an update to the database is warranted based on the comparison; and update the database based on the at least one of the filtered plurality of points defining the surface of the site at the time t if it is determined that an update is warranted.