System and method for incident reporting and notification

• US 10,095,998 B2
• Filed: 11/24/2015
• Issued: 10/09/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vorto Technologies LLC
• Original Assignee: Hep Shaleapps LLC
• Inventors: Richie, James Chance, Klenk, Adam M., Christides, Amanda
• Primary Examiner(s): Shaawat, Mussa A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kerrigan, Michael V
• Application Number:
  US14/950,176
• Publication Number:
  US 20160335596A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,050 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3676 Overview of the route on the road map
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/17 Emergency applications
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/00 Alarm systems in which the location of the alarm condition is signalled to a central station, e.g. fire or police telegraphic systems

Abstract

A system and method for incident reporting system includes at least one client device and at least one server computer. The at least one client device includes at least one processor, a camera unit, and a microphone, and is programmed or configured to generate location data for the at least one client device while the at least one client device is in a moving transportation vehicle; generate at least one user interface configured to receive incident data comprising at least one of the following: a location of an incident, a time of occurrence of an incident, a textual description of an incident, a party involved in an incident, or any combination thereof; capture and store at least one image of an incident with the camera unit; and automatically capture and store noise data with the microphone while the at least one client device is in the moving transportation vehicle.

Claims

1. An incident reporting system, comprising:

(a) at least one client device comprising at least one processor, a camera unit, and a microphone, the at least one client device programmed or configured to;

(i) generate location data for the at least one client device while the at least one client device is in a moving transportation vehicle, the location data comprising waypoint data representing a location of the moving transportation vehicle;

(ii) generate at least one user interface configured to receive incident data from at least one of the client device and a user of the client device, the incident data comprising at least one of the following;

a location of an incident, a time of occurrence of an incident, a textual description of an incident, a party involved in an incident, or any combination thereof; and

(iii) capture and store at least one image of an incident with the camera unit;

(b) at least one server computer in communication with the at least one client device and programmed or configured to;

(i) receive the location data, the incident data, and the at least one image from the at least one client device;

(ii) generate at least one report based at least partially on the incident data and at least one of the following;

the location data, the at least one image, or any combination thereof; and

(iii) generate a replay user interface based on the waypoint data received from the at least one client device over a period of time, the replay user interface comprising a route of the moving transportation vehicle displayed on a map.

2. The incident reporting system of claim 1, wherein the at least one client device is further programmed or configured to automatically capture and store noise data with the microphone while the at least one client device is in the moving transportation vehicle, and wherein the noise data comprises decibel levels.

3. The incident reporting system of claim 1, wherein the noise data is recorded as A-weighted decibels (dBA).

4. The incident reporting system of claim 1, further comprising at least one employee data resource located on an employee identification card, the employee data resource comprising employee data including at least one of the following:

employee personal information, employee work schedule, employee safety records, employee testing records, employee training records, or any combination thereof.

5. The incident reporting system of claim 4, wherein the at least one client device is further programmed or configured to scan the at least one employee data resource to obtain the employee data, and transmit the employee data to the at least one server computer.

6. The incident reporting system of claim 5, wherein the at least one employee data resource comprises at least one of a barcode and an RFID transponder.

7. The incident reporting system of claim 1, wherein the at least one server computer and/or the at least one client device is programmed or configured to determine an assignment of fault for the incident to at least one party of a plurality of parties involved in the incident based at least partially on at least one algorithm and the incident data.

8. The incident reporting system of claim 1, wherein the at least one client device is further programmed or configured to display a map interface, and receive map data from the at least one server computer, the map data comprising at least one of the following:

a pin displaying the location of an incident, an icon displaying the severity of the incident, a brief description of the incident, suggested route options, or any combination thereof.

9. The incident reporting system of claim 1, wherein the at least one client device is further programmed or configured to display an alert interface and receive alert data from the at least one server computer, the alert data comprising at least one of the following:

emergency alert, location to avoid alert, employee testing alert, employee training alert, or any combination thereof.

10. The incident reporting system of claim 1, wherein the at least one server computer and/or the at least one client device is programmed or configured to:

determine an output volume level of the at least one client device; and

generate an alert or notification if the output volume level is below a predetermined threshold.

11. The incident reporting system of claim 1, wherein the route of the at least one client device is color coded based at least partially on a spacing of location waypoints recorded by the at least one server computer, such that portions of the route where location waypoints are spaced at a first distance are color coded differently than portions of the route where location waypoints are spaced at a second distance closer than the first distance.

12. The incident reporting system of claim 11, wherein the replay user interface comprises at least one selectable option configured to control a visual replay of the route taken by the at least one client device.

13. A computer-implemented method for incident reporting and notification, comprising:

providing a client device in each vehicle of a plurality of vehicles transporting a material;

generating, by at least one client device located in a vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, waypoint data representing a location of the vehicle;

transmitting the waypoint data from the at least one client device to at least one server computer at predetermined intervals;

generating, by the at least one server computer, a replay user interface based on the waypoint data received from the at least one client device over a period of time, the replay user interface comprising a route of the vehicle displayed on a map;

generating, on the at least one client device, at least one incident reporting interface configured to receive incident data from at least one of the client device and a user of the client device, the incident data comprising at least one of the following;

a location of an incident, a time of occurrence of an incident, a textual description of an incident, a party involved in an incident, or any combination thereof;

capturing at least one image of an incident with a camera unit of the at least one client device;

associating the at least one image with the incident data; and

transmitting the incident data, the at least one image, and noise data from the at least one client device to the at least one server computer.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, further comprising:

capturing, with at least one microphone while the vehicle is being operated, noise data; and

transmitting the noise data from the at least one client device to the at least one server computer.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the noise data comprises sound levels for ambient noise occurring during operation of the vehicle.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, further comprising:

generating a color coded route based at least partially on a distance between waypoints reported by the at least one client device, such that portions of the route where waypoints are spaced at a first distance are color coded differently than portions of the route where waypoints are spaced at a second distance closer than the first distance.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, further comprising:

generating a visually animated replay of the route traveled by the vehicle on the replay interface.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, further comprising generating, with the at least one server computer, at least one report based at least partially on the incident data and the waypoint data.

19. A computer program product for reporting incidents experienced by a vehicle transporting a material, the computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory medium including program instructions that, when executed by a mobile device, cause the mobile device to:

generate waypoint data representing a location of the vehicle at predetermined time intervals;

transmit the waypoint data to at least one server computer;

generate at least one incident reporting interface configured to receive incident data from at least one of the client device and a user of the client device, the incident data comprising at least one of the following;

a location of an incident, a time of occurrence of an incident, a textual description of an incident, a party involved in an incident, or any combination thereof;

capture at least one image of an incident with a camera unit of the client device;

associate the at least one image with the incident data;

transmit the incident data and the at least one image from the at least one client device to the at least one server computer;

determine a volume level of an audible output of the client device;

determine if the volume level is below a predefined threshold; and

in response to determining that the volume level is below the predefined threshold, generating at least one alert.