Augmented Reality system for electromagnetic buried asset location

UTTO is pleased to announce the grant of US Patent 10460523B1

This addition to UTTO’s patent portfolio further solidifies UTTO’s long term, data driven strategy that will drive the industry to rethink decades old methods and practices related to underground pipe and cable location.The patent describes a revolutionary system that simultaneously locates and maps with minimal user input.  The handheld system calculates and then visualizes the position of a buried conductor by leveraging the fusion of traditional electromagnetic sensors with augmented reality sensing (imaging and inertial sensors).

Research shows that doing more than one task at a time, especially more than one complex task, takes a toll on productivity and quality. Locator personnel cannot help but suffer due to the repetition and multitasking required while performing traditional locate methods. New technology will address this overlooked issue and by supporting the field tech in his workflow, training time and damages will be reduced while productivity improves.

While scanning a target area with a single sensor, the system precisely calculates motion and distance moved while analyzing thousands of data points per second. This basically turns a single small sensor (2″/5cm) into a distributed sensor of equivalent width to the scanned zone (say 12ft/3.7m).

The EM/AR system evaluates the quality and vectors of the EM field/s rather than depending on the field technician to make constant best guesses as to interference levels and target positions. A live view 3D model representing the target location and depth is displayed conveniently on a smartphone device.

An additional benefit will be provided when the site data (imagery and locate records) are uploaded to the UTTO Cloud. The stored visual data set and relative target positioning will enable sub-meter target relocation in areas where GPS quality is typically compromised by multi-path interference (ie. most areas where the majority of digging activity takes place in urban environments).

With UTTO’s technology the world’s utilities and services providers are able to accurately index their underground assets, improve safety while reducing damages and improving productivity. The grant of the patent provides further recognition of the quality of the innovation being carried out by UTTO’s development team.

For more information, please contact:

Jeanne Zagursky – jeanne@utto.com