Paving system utilizing capsules enclosing a dye

Abstract

A method of controlling a paving process is disclosed. The method may include mixing at least one capsule that at least partially encloses a dye within a paving material and dispensing the paving material at a desired location. The method may also include performing a compacting process on the paving material and monitoring for a presence of the dye at a surface of dispensed paving material. The method may further include controlling the compacting process based on the presence of the dye.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of controlling a paving process, comprising:
 mixing at least one capsule that at least partially encloses a dye within a paving material;   dispensing the paving material at a desired location;   performing a compacting process on the paving material;   monitoring for a presence of the dye at a surface of dispensed paving material; and   controlling the compacting process based on the presence of the dye.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein monitoring for the presence of the dye includes visually monitoring for detection of a minimum amount of the dye with a dye detector. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one capsule has a crush strength that is exceeded before or when the dispensed paving material reaches a desired compaction level. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein at least a portion of the dye flushes to a surface of the dispensed paving material when the paving material reaches the desired compaction level. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein controlling the compacting process based on the presence of the dye at a surface of the dispensed paving material includes continuing the compacting process based on an absence of a minimum amount of dye at the surface of dispensed paving material and ending the compacting process based on the presence of at least the minimum amount of dye at the surface of dispensed paving material. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further including correlating the presence of the dye at the surface of dispensed paving material with GPS data. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one capsule includes a shell that fully encloses the dye. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one capsule includes a shell having a gap and the dye is substantially contained within the shell by a capillary force until a force approximately equal to a crush strength of the shell is applied to the at least one capsule. 
     
     
         9 . A paving mixture comprising:
 a paving material; and   at least one capsule at least partially enclosing a dye.   
     
     
         10 . The paving mixture of  claim 9 , wherein the at least one capsule has a crush strength that is exceeded before or when a desired compaction level of the paving material is reached. 
     
     
         11 . The paving mixture of  claim 10 , wherein the desired compaction level of the paving material is in the range of about 90-97% of a theoretical maximum density. 
     
     
         12 . The paving mixture of  claim 9 , wherein the dye is visible, infrared (IR), near-infrared (NIR), ultraviolet (UV), near-ultraviolet (NUV), or radioactive. 
     
     
         13 . The paving mixture of  claim 9 , wherein the at least one capsule includes a shell that fully encloses the dye. 
     
     
         14 . The paving mixture of  claim 9 , wherein the at least one capsule includes a shell having a gap and the dye is substantially contained within the shell by a capillary force until a force approximately equal to a crush strength of the shell is applied to the at least one capsule. 
     
     
         15 . A paving system comprising:
 at least one capsule at least partially enclosing a dye;   a paving machine configured to dispense a mixture of paving material and the at least one capsule on a surface; and   a compactor configured to compact the mixture dispensed by the paving machine.   
     
     
         16 . The paving system of  claim 15 , further including:
 a dye detector configured to detect a presence of the dye at the surface of the dispensed mixture; and   a controller in communication with the dye detector, the controller configured to:
 instruct the compactor to move to a new area or stop the compactor based on the presence of a minimum amount of the dye at the surface of the dispensed mixture; or 
 instruct the compactor to continue compacting a current area based on an absence of the minimum amount of the dye at the surface of the dispensed mixture. 
   
     
     
         17 . The paving system of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one capsule has a crush strength below a desired compaction level of the paving material. 
     
     
         18 . The paving system of  claim 16 , further including a GPS device in communication with the controller, the controller being further configured to correlate the presence of the dye at the surface of the dispensed mixture with GPS data from the GPS device. 
     
     
         19 . The paving system of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one capsule includes a shell that fully encloses the dye. 
     
     
         20 . The paving system of  claim 16 , wherein the dye detector is configured to detect visible, infrared (IR), near-infrared (NIR), ultraviolet (UV), near-ultraviolet (NUV), or radioactive dyes.