Laser level selection

Claim 1

A system for guiding a grading machine in a job site comprising: a satellite positioning system (SATPS) receiver configured to obtain the rough position coordinates X rough — machine , Y rough — machine , Z rough — machine ) of said grading machine; a laser tracker connected to said SATPS receiver, said laser tracker configured to latch on a single laser beam at each location of said grading machine, each said laser beam being generated by a laser system, each said laser system being part of a plurality of laser systems covering said job site, each said laser beam providing a reference plane having a high accuracy vertical coordinate (Z laser ) at each said location (X rough — machine , Y rough — machine , Z rough — machine ) of said grading machine; a signal system connected to said laser tracker and connected to said SATPS receiver; said signal system further including: an electronic design file configured to store a plurality of road design surfaces; and an on-board computer; wherein said on-board computer is configured to select a road design surface; and wherein said on-board computer is configured to determine the rough position coordinates (X rough — machine , Y rough — machine , Z rough — machine ) for each location of said grading machine using said SATPS receiver; and a software package TRIMDESIGN used for said selected road design to calculate an optimum K number of laser systems to place on said job site, K being an integer, and to calculate the optimum positions (X opt k-laser , Y opt k-laser , Z opt k-laser ) for each said “j”-th laser system, j being an integer less than or equal to K; wherein said plurality of K laser systems provides a plurality of K reference planes optimally covering said selected road design; and wherein said on-board computer for said selected road design surface is configured to identify actual position coordinates (X i-laser , Y i-laser , Z i-laser ) for each said “i”-th laser system, i being an integer less than or equal to N, N being an integer; and wherein said on-board computer for each location of said grading machine is configured to select a single optimum laser system that is used by said laser tracker to obtain the precise vertical coordinate (Z laser ) of said grading machine; and wherein said signal system is configured to precisely guide said grading machine according to a given road design by generating a signal proportional to the difference between a design vertical coordinate (Z design ) and a real time vertical coordinate (Z laser ) at each said location (X rough — machine , Y rough — machine , Z rough — machine ) of said grading machine; and wherein said on-board computer at each said ground position (X grade — machine , Y grade — machine ) of said grading machine is configured to determine the cut or fill (Z design -Z laser ) by comparing the road design vertical coordinate (Z design ) with said vertical coordinate Z laser ).

Claim 2

A system for guiding a grading machine in a job site comprising: a satellite positioning system (SATPS) receiver configured to obtain the rough position coordinates X rough — machine , Y rough — machine , Z rough — machine ) of said grading machine; a laser tracker connected to said SATPS receiver, said laser tracker configured to latch on a single laser beam at each location of said grading machine, each said laser beam being generated by a laser system, each said laser system being part of a plurality of laser systems covering said job site, each said laser beam providing a reference plane having a high accuracy vertical coordinate (Z laser ) at each said location (X rough — machine , Y rough — machine , Z rough — machine ) of said grading machine; a signal system connected to said laser tracker and connected to said SATPS receiver; said signal system further including: an electronic design file configured to store a plurality of road design surfaces; and an on-board computer; wherein said on-board computer is configured to select a road design surface; and wherein said on-board computer is configured to determine the rough position coordinates (X rough — machine , Y rough — machine , Z rough — machine ) for each location of said grading machine using said SATPS receiver; and a software package TRIMDESIGN used for said selected road design to calculate an optimum K number of laser systems to place on said job site, K being an integer, and to calculate the optimum positions (X opt k-laser , Y opt k-laser , Z opt k-laser ) for each said “j”-th laser system, j being an integer less than or equal to K; wherein said plurality of K laser systems provides a plurality of K reference planes optimally covering said selected road design; and wherein said on-board computer for said selected road design surface is configured to identify actual position coordinates (X i-laser , Y i-laser , Z i-laser ) for each said “i”-th laser system, i being an integer less than or equal to N, N being an integer; and wherein said on-board computer for each location of said grading machine is configured to select a single optimum laser system that is used by said laser tracker to obtain the precise vertical coordinate (Z laser ) of said grading machine; and wherein said signal system is configured to precisely guide said grading machine according to a given road design by generating a signal proportional to the difference between a design vertical coordinate (Z design ) and a real time vertical coordinate (Z laser ) at each said location (X rough — machine , Y rough — machine , Z rough — machine ) of said grading machine; and wherein said on-board computer at each said ground position (X grade — machine , Y grade — machine ) of said grading machine is configured to determine the cut or fill (Z design -Z laser ) by comparing the road design vertical coordinate (Z design ) with said vertical coordinate Z laser ).