Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – Construction or agricultural-type vehicle
Reexamination Certificate
2000-10-02
2001-12-11
Beck, Shrive P. (Department: 1762)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
Construction or agricultural-type vehicle
C404S084050, C404S093000, C173S001000, C173S090000, C701S213000, C701S214000, C702S005000, C342S357490, C342S357490
Reexamination Certificate
active
06330503
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to site marking machinery and more particularly to global positioning system (GPS) controlled apparatus and methods using standard commercial page making software for marking a site surface according to GPS-based geographical locations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Road markings are produced to a great extent with the assistance of so called “road marking” machines which apply paint under pressure from spray nozzle jets onto the road surface. In marking the road it is quite important that the horizontal registration of the paint be accurate with respect to the position of the road. In the past even experienced machine operators have found it difficult to manually guide a road marking machine with sufficient accuracy even where old markings are available. Heretofore, attempts have been made to automatically detect the presence of old markings and to use their detection for automatically guiding the road marking machine and switching the spray nozzle on and off as required. However, such attempts have not been wholly satisfactory because a break in the old marking does not give steering guidance during breaks. Moreover, this approach is of no use whatsoever where the old marks have disappeared or for new markings. Various arrangements have been disclosed for solving these problems by automatically guiding the road marking machine along a pre-determined path using light or electromagnetic beams. However, these arrangements require transmitters to be placed along the road, and in the case of light beams, are degraded by the effect of sunlight. In order to overcome these problems, it has been proposed to embed material that emitting radiation in the path that is to be marked. However, this method suffers from the disadvantage that embedding the radiating material in the road surface can be costly. Furthermore, radiating materials tend to lose their effectiveness after a time period. Similar issues pertain to parking lots, air landing fields, and the like.
For athletic games between teams of individuals it is customary to provide certain markings with chalk, lime, or paint of the various portions of the field on which the game is played. It is common for teams to add drawings for their logos or for advertisers to add picture-like patterns to the fields. Athletics such as American football, soccer, rugby, and baseball, are held on the same field at different times but require different sideline markings as well as different markings within the playing field. Even athletic fields dedicated to one sport need to be re-surveyed and re-marked at intervals. Commonly, a tape measure and a rule book are used for marking such fields. However, this method can be inconvenient and time consuming and the accuracy of the markings will vary from time to time. In order to improve upon this method, many fields have installed permanent pegs or upright markers securely anchored to the ground in surveyed locations that can be used for sighting. However, the large number of markers and pegs for several different game markings can give the field a confused appearance and be hazardous. Furthermore, the uprights and pegs are of limited use for marking team logos or advertisements. The appearance can be improved and the hazard reduced by using removable uprights where only the anchor remains in place, however, this is of no benefit for picture-like patterns.
Staking points are often used in construction, open pit mining, agriculture, paving, and the like. Stakes or paint marks are driven or sprayed into or on the ground at locations that are specified in a site plot or architectural drawing. The user walks between the points to be staked, manually locates the staking points with the aid of a steel tape, laser range finder or GPS survey receiver, and manually marks the location. Successive approximations and a certain amount of hunting is required and the process can be time consuming and prone to error.
There is a need for an automated system for marking or staking of roads, athletic fields, building construction sites, pavement construction sites, mines, agricultural fields, pavement, and the like.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide systems using standard application programs in a computer for generating a data file for a drawing pattern and a global positioning system (GPS) paint sprayer or a GPS guided stakeout apparatus for automatically marking geographical locations accordingly. For a geographical information system (GIS) or architectural application program the systems of the present invention use the global positioning system for marking the geographical locations that are generated in the program. A user uses the program as if he/she is printing on a page. The systems of the present invention convert the drawing pattern to geographical mark locations and then use the global positioning system for automatically marking the geographical locations on a surface.
Briefly, in a preferred embodiment, the system of the present invention includes a standard application program and a paint sprayer driver program of the present invention in a standard computer; and a GPS paint sprayer of the present invention having a GPS receiver and a nozzle. The GPS paint sprayer includes a geographical drawing converter for converting an image of a drawing pattern to geographical mark locations and a location comparator for detecting a location match between the geographical mark locations of the drawing pattern and a current geographical location determined by the GPS receiver. Information for the location match is used for opening and closing the nozzle and controlling its position to correct fine location errors; by an autopilot for providing a steering signal for automatically steering the GPS paint sprayer; and by a display for displaying a location error left or right that can be used by an operator. It should be understood that although the present invention is described as a paint spray system, it could equally well be used as a system for depositing marks with other materials than paint, such as chalk, lime, or the like using a GPS controlled marker for that material.
An advantage of the present invention is that a standard drawing or GIS application program can be used with paint sprayer for automatically marking specified geographical locations on a surface for lines or a picture-like pattern.
In another preferred embodiment, a system of the present invention includes a stakeout driver program and a GPS guided stakeout apparatus. A standard computer is loaded with a standard commercial architectural or other surface site application program and the stakeout driver program. The GPS guided stakeout apparatus includes a vehicle, a robot arm, a stakeout tool, a location comparator, and a controller including a GPS receiver. Either the computer or the GPS guided stakeout apparatus includes programming for a geographical drawing converter for converting an image of a drawing pattern to geographical mark locations. The controller guides the vehicle and articulates the robot arm to position the stakeout tool at the geographical mark locations. The location comparator detects a location match between the geographical mark locations of the drawing pattern and a current geographical location determined by the GPS receiver. Information for the location match is used by the stakeout tool for driving a stake into the ground.
An advantage of the present invention is that a standard drawing or architectural or other surface site application program can be used for automatically staking specified geographical locations.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after having read the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments which are illustrated in the various figures.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5512905 (1996-04-01), Nichols et al.
patent: 5540516 (1996-07-01), Nicodemo et al.
patent: 5739
Manning Charles David Hope
Sharp Kevin Andrew Ian
Beck Shrive P.
Calcagni Jennifer
Gildea David R.
Trimble Navigation Limited
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