| CPC G01S 19/36 (2013.01) [G01S 19/32 (2013.01); G01S 19/47 (2013.01); G01V 3/081 (2013.01); G01S 19/071 (2019.08)] | 14 Claims |
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1. A human-portable utility locator device, comprising:
at least one antenna node to sense magnetic fields emitted from one or more buried utilities and provide locating antenna output signals corresponding to the sensed magnetic fields;
a multi-antenna GNSS element comprising two or more GNSS antennas spaced apart by a predetermined known spacing at least 100 millimeters, each receiving GNSS signals to further supply signals to at least GNSS receiver to generate position output signals corresponding to the estimated position of the associated one of the GNSS antennas;
a processing element comprising one or more processors coupled to the antenna node(s) to receive locating antenna output signals and also coupled to the GNSS element to receive position output signals for purposes of processing and compressing the output signal data and/or for making differential corrections to the position output data;
a wireless communication element comprising one or more radio transceivers coupled to the processing element for communicating position output signals, communicating data with other system devices, and/or receiving differential correction signals;
a plurality of magnetometers arranged in an array, and wherein outputs of the array are processed to determine magnetic distortions;
a memory element having one or more non-transitory memories for storing data associated with utilities and positioning data; and
a battery element for supplying of electrical power.
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