Systems, methods, and computer program products for providing real-time validation of container loading and positioning data

• US 10,210,473 B2
• Filed: 03/06/2014
• Issued: 02/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: United Parcel Service Of America Incorporated (United Parcel Service Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: United Parcel Service Of America Incorporated (United Parcel Service Incorporated)
• Inventors: Arora, Shikha, Guilford, Todd, Lam, Wai, Peck, Cindy
• Primary Examiner(s): Ng, Jonathan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Reichert, Rachelle L
• Application Number:
  US14/199,438
• Publication Number:
  US 20150254604A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,811 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 9/00 Equipment for handling freight; Equipment for facilitating passenger embarkation or the like emergency equipment B64D17/00, B64D19/00, B64D25/00; structures integral with fuselage to facilitate loading, fuselage floors specially adapted for freight, steps mounted on and retractable within aircraft B64C; ground installations B64F
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 19/40 with provisions for indicating, recording, or computing price or other quantities dependent on the weight indicating means for weighing apparatus G01G23/18; recording means for weighing apparatus G01G23/18; computers in general G06
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0832 Special goods or special handling procedures, e.g. handling of hazardous or fragile goods

Abstract

Various embodiments provide systems, methods, and computer program products for providing dynamic real-time verification and validation of data associated with the receiving, loading, and positioning of a plurality of containers upon a transport vehicle. One or more computer processors are configured to: receive actual load data associated with at least one container; retrieve at least a portion of expected load data associated with the container for which actual load data has been received; verify the actual weight of the one of the plurality of packages and in response to a successful verification identifying no load weight discrepancies, validate the actual load position of the one of the plurality of packages. In response to a successful validation, at least one communication configured to facilitate at least one of further loading of the plurality of packages may be generated. If validation is unsuccessful, further loading may be prevented.

Claims

1. A load to position system for providing dynamic real-time verification, validation, and mitigation of data associated with the receiving, loading, and positioning of a plurality of containers upon a transport vehicle, said system comprising:

one or more mobile devices, each having a data capture element configured to scan at least a portion of each of the plurality of containers to obtain therefrom actual load data and a user interface for communication between the system and respective users of the one or more mobile devices;

one or more memory storage areas containing expected load data associated with the plurality of containers for which transit upon the transport vehicle is planned, the expected load data comprising a container identification number, an expected load weight, an expected load center of gravity, an expected load position, and an expected load sequence for each of the plurality of containers, said expected load sequence being indicative of an expected particular order in which each of the plurality of containers are intended to be loaded onto the transport vehicle; and

one or more computer processors configured to;

receive, via the one or more mobile devices, captured actual load data associated with at least one of the plurality of containers, the actual load data comprising at least the container identification number, an actual load weight, an actual load center of gravity, and an actual load position for the one of the plurality of containers;

retrieve at least a portion of the expected load data associated with the one of the plurality of containers for which actual load data has been received, the retrieval being based at least in part upon identifying the corresponding container identification numbers in the received actual load data and the retrieved portion of the expected load data;

verify at least one of the actual weight or center of gravity of the one of the plurality of containers, the verification being based at least in part upon a comparison of the retrieved expected load weight and center of gravity for the one of the plurality of containers against the actual load weight and center of gravity so as to determine whether a load weight or center of gravity discrepancy exists there-between;

in response to a successful verification identifying no load weight or center of gravity discrepancies, validate the actual load position of the one of the plurality of containers, the validation being based at least in part upon a comparison of the retrieved expected load position for the one of the plurality of containers against the actual load data so as to determine whether a load position discrepancy exists there-between;

in response to a successful validation identifying no load position discrepancies, automatically generate at least one communication configured to facilitate at least one of further loading of the plurality of containers or departure of the transport vehicle; and

in response to identifying at least one weight or center of gravity discrepancy or at least one load position discrepancy;

automatically generate and transmit to the user interface of at least one of the one or more mobile devices at least one communication indicative of at least one of an unsuccessful verification or an unsuccessful validation, said at least one communication containing executable instructions configured to automatically prevent at least one of further loading of the plurality of containers or departure of the transport vehicle pending implementation of at least one of a plurality of mitigating actions;

automatically retrieve the plurality of mitigating actions from the one or more memory storage areas;

automatically determine two or more appropriate mitigating actions within the plurality of mitigating actions, said two or more appropriate mitigating actions being configured to at least one of alleviate or eliminate the identified discrepancies causing the unsuccessful verification or validation, said determination comprising the sub-step of automatically recalculating the expected load data, said recalculation resulting in at least a recalculated expected load sequence based upon each of the two or more appropriate mitigating actions;

automatically generate and transmit to the user interface of each of the one or more mobile devices a selectable indication of the two or more appropriate mitigating actions;

responsive to a selection, received from at least one user, via the user interface of at least one of the one or more mobile devices, of one of the two or more appropriate mitigating actions, automatically generate and electronically transmit across each of the one or more mobile devices executable instructions configured to automatically implement the selected mitigating action taking into account the recalculated expected load sequence, said recalculated expected load sequence providing a new particular order in which each of the plurality of containers are intended to be loaded onto the transport vehicle;

confirm, via a user input received via the user interface of at least one of the one or more mobile devices, completion of the implementation of the selected mitigating action; and

upon confirmation;

automatically determine and re-verify, via at least one of the one or more mobile devices, whether the identified at least one weight or center of gravity discrepancy has been at least one of alleviated or eliminated due to the implementation of the selected mitigating action; and

if all discrepancies have been at least one of alleviated or eliminated, generate and transmit to the user interface of each of the one or more mobile devices, at least one communication containing executable instructions configured to automatically recommence, via execution of the data capture element of at least one of the one or more mobile devices to scan actual load data associated with the recalculated expected load sequence, continued loading of the plurality of containers in accordance with the recalculated expected load sequence or departure of the transport vehicle.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the verification and the validation are performed in a substantially real-time fashion by one or more users of the system as said one or more users coordinating loading of the plurality of containers upon the transport vehicle.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the verification and the validation are performed via the one or more mobile devices associated with the system, so as to enable one or more users of the system to flexibly capture and record the actual load data throughout the process of loading the plurality of containers upon the transport vehicle.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more computer processors are, in response to the successful verification and the successful validation, further configured to:

conduct a final comparison of the actual load data against the expected load data, the final comparison being configured to compare a plurality of parameters within the actual load data against a corresponding plurality of parameters within the expected load data so as to determine whether one or more accuracy discrepancies exist;

in response to a successful confirmation of no accuracy discrepancies, generate at least one communication configured to facilitate at least one of further loading of the plurality of containers or departure of the transport vehicle; and

in response to identifying one or more accuracy discrepancies, generate at least one communication indicative of an unsuccessful confirmation and configured to prevent at least one of further loading of the plurality of containers or departure of the transport vehicle.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein, upon the successful confirmation, the one or more processors are further configured to generate a finalized manifest comprising at least the actual load to position data.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to transmit at least one of the finalized manifest or an indication thereof to one or more users of the system.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the one or more users of the system comprise at least a flight crew that may rely at least in part upon the finalized manifest for authorizing departure of the transport vehicle.

8. The system of claim 4, wherein the final comparison comprises an electronically processed side-by-side comparison of a plurality of parameters associated with the actual load data against a plurality of parameters associated with the expected load data.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more computer processors are further configured to transmit the at least one communication to at least one user of the system upon generation thereof.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the transmission is electronically and the at least one communication is an alert message.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more identified mitigating actions comprises at least two identified mitigating actions and the at least one communication comprises a listing thereof for user selection of one of the at least two identified mitigating actions for initiation thereof.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the identified load position or weight discrepancies are configured such that anything less than an exact match between the expected load data and the actual load data comprises a discrepancy.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the identified load position or weight discrepancies are configured such that any difference in excess of a pre-established threshold between the expected load data and the actual load data comprises a discrepancy.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the at least one communication indicative of the unsuccessful verification is transmitted to a first user of the system; and

the at least one communication indicative of the unsuccessful validation is transmitted to a second user of the system.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the first user is a ramp supervisor and the second user is a load personnel.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the transport vehicle is an aircraft.

17. A computer-implemented method for providing dynamic real-time verification, validation, and mitigation of data associated with the receiving, loading, and positioning of a plurality of containers upon a transport vehicle, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving and storing within one or more memory storage areas expected load data associated with the plurality of containers for which transit upon the transport vehicle is planned, the expected load data comprising a container identification number, an expected load weight, an expected load center of gravity, an expected load position, and an expected load sequence for each of the plurality of containers, said expected load sequence being indicative of an expected particular order in which each of the plurality of containers are intended to be loaded onto the transport vehicle;

receiving and storing within the one or more memory storage areas actual load data associated with at least one of the plurality of containers, the actual load data being received via one or more mobile devices, each having a data capture element configured to scan at least a portion of each of the plurality of containers to obtain therefrom the actual load data and a user interface for communication between the system and respective users of the one or more mobile devices, the actual load data comprising at least the container identification number, an actual load weight, an actual load center of gravity, and an actual load position for the one of the plurality of containers;

retrieving, via at least one computer processor, at least a portion of the expected load data associated with the one of the plurality of containers for which actual load data has been received, the retrieval being based at least in part upon identifying the corresponding container identification numbers in the received actual load data and the retrieved portion of the expected load data;

verifying, via the at least one computer processor, at least one of the actual weight or center of gravity of the one of the plurality of containers, the verification being based at least in part upon a comparison of the retrieved expected load weight and center of gravity for the one of the plurality of containers against the actual load weight and center of gravity so as to determine whether a load weight or center of gravity discrepancy exists there-between;

in response to a successful verification identifying no load weight or center of gravity discrepancies, validating, via the at least one computer processor, the actual load position of the one of the plurality of containers, the validation being based at least in part upon a comparison of the retrieved expected load position for the one of the plurality of containers against the actual load data so as to determine whether a load position discrepancy exists there-between;

in response to a successful validation identifying no load position discrepancies, automatically generating, via the at least one computer processor, at least one communication configured to facilitate at least one of further loading of the plurality of containers or departure of the transport vehicle; and

in response to identifying at least one weight or center of gravity discrepancy or at least one load position discrepancy;

automatically generating and transmitting, via the at least one computer processor and to the user interface of at least one of the one or more mobile devices, at least one communication indicative of at least one of an unsuccessful verification or an unsuccessful validation, said at least one communication containing executable instructions configured to automatically prevent at least one of further loading of the plurality of containers or departure of the transport vehicle pending implementation of at least one of a plurality of mitigating actions;

automatically retrieving, via the at least one computer processor, the plurality of mitigating actions from the one or more memory storage areas;

automatically determining, via the at least one computer processor, two or more appropriate mitigating actions within the plurality of mitigating actions, said two or more appropriate mitigating actions being configured to at least one of alleviate or eliminate the identified discrepancies causing the unsuccessful verification or validation, said determination comprising the sub-step of automatically recalculating the expected load data, said recalculation resulting in at least a recalculated expected load sequence based upon each of the two or more appropriate mitigating actions;

automatically generating and transmitting, via the at least one computer processor and to the user interface of each of the one or more mobile devices, a selectable indication of the two or more appropriate mitigating actions;

responsive to a selection, received from at least one user, via the user interface of at least one of the one or more mobile devices, of one of the two or more appropriate mitigating actions, automatically generating and electronically transmitting, via the at least one computer processor and across each of the one or more mobile devices, executable instructions configured to automatically implement the selected mitigating action taking into account the recalculated expected load sequence, said recalculated expected load sequence providing a new particular order in which each of the plurality of containers are intended to be loaded onto the transport vehicle;

confirming, via the at least one computer processor and a user input received via the user interface of at least one of the one or more mobile devices, completion of the implementation of the selected mitigating action; and

upon confirmation;

automatically determining and re-verifying, via the at least one computer processor and at least one of the one or more mobile devices, whether the identified at least one weight or center of gravity discrepancy has been at least one of alleviated or eliminated due to the implementation of the selected mitigating action; and

if all discrepancies have been at least one of alleviated or eliminated, generating and transmitting to the user interface of each of the one or more mobile devices, at least one communication containing executable instructions configured to automatically recommence, via execution of the data capture element of at least one of the one or more mobile devices to scan actual load data associated with the recalculated expected load sequence, continued loading of the plurality of containers in accordance with the recalculated expected load sequence or departure of the transport vehicle.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the verification and the validation are performed in a substantially real-time fashion by one or more users of the system as said one or more users coordinating loading of the plurality of containers upon the transport vehicle.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the verification and the validation are performed via the one or more mobile devices associated with the system, so as to enable one or more users of the system to flexibly capture and record the actual load data throughout the process of loading the plurality of containers upon the transport vehicle.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, further comprising the steps of:

conducting, via the at least one computer processor, a final comparison of the actual load data against the expected load data, the final comparison being configured to compare a plurality of parameters within the actual load data against a corresponding plurality of parameters within the expected load data so as to determine whether one or more accuracy discrepancies exist;

in response to a successful confirmation of no accuracy discrepancies, generating, via the at least one computer processor, at least one communication configured to facilitate at least one of further loading of the plurality of containers or departure of the transport vehicle; and

in response to identifying one or more accuracy discrepancies, generating, via the at least one computer processor, at least one communication indicative of an unsuccessful confirmation and configured to prevent at least one of further loading of the plurality of containers or departure of the transport vehicle.

21. The computer-implemented method of claim 20, further comprising the step of, upon the successful confirmation, generating, via the at least one computer processor a finalized manifest comprising at least the actual load to position data.

22. The computer-implemented method of claim 20, wherein the final comparison comprises an electronically processed side-by-side comparison of a plurality of parameters associated with the actual load data against a plurality of parameters associated with the expected load data.

23. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, further comprising the steps of:

transmitting, via the one or more computer processors, the at least one communication to at least one user of the system upon generation thereof;

receiving an indication that the one or more of the identified mitigating actions has been completed; and

in response to receiving said indication, repeating at least one of the verification or validation steps so as to determine whether execution and completion of the identified mitigation action has sufficiently at least one of alleviated or eliminated the identified discrepancies.

24. A non-transitory computer program product comprising at least one computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions embodied therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising one or more executable portions configured for:

receiving expected load data associated with the plurality of containers for which transit upon the transport vehicle is planned, the expected load data comprising a container identification number, an expected load weight, an expected load center of gravity, an expected load position, and an expected load sequence for each of the plurality of containers, said expected load sequence being indicative of an expected particular order in which each of the plurality of containers are intended to be loaded onto the transport vehicle;

receiving actual load data associated with at least one of the plurality of containers, the actual load data being received via one or more mobile devices, each having a data capture element configured to scan at least a portion of each of the plurality of containers to obtain therefrom the actual load data and a user interface for communication between the system and respective users of the one or more mobile devices, the actual load data comprising at least the container identification number, an actual load weight, an actual load center of gravity, and an actual load position for the one of the plurality of containers;

retrieving at least a portion of the expected load data associated with the one of the plurality of containers for which actual load data has been received, the retrieval being based at least in part upon identifying the corresponding container identification numbers in the received actual load data and the retrieved portion of the expected load data;

verifying at least one of the actual weight or center of gravity of the one of the plurality of containers, the verification being based at least in part upon a comparison of the retrieved expected load weight and center of gravity for the one of the plurality of containers against the actual load weight and center of gravity so as to determine whether a load weight or center of gravity discrepancy exists there-between;

in response to a successful verification identifying no load weight or center of gravity discrepancies, validating the actual load position of the one of the plurality of containers, the validation being based at least in part upon a comparison of the retrieved expected load position for the one of the plurality of containers against the actual load data so as to determine whether a load position discrepancy exists there-between;

in response to a successful validation identifying no load position discrepancies, automatically generating at least one communication configured to facilitate at least one of further loading of the plurality of containers or departure of the transport vehicle; and

in response to identifying at least one weight or center of gravity discrepancy or at least one load position discrepancy;

automatically generating and transmitting to the user interface of at least one of the one or more mobile devices at least one communication indicative of at least one of an unsuccessful verification or an unsuccessful validation, said at least one communication containing executable instructions configured to automatically prevent at least one of further loading of the plurality of containers or departure of the transport vehicle pending implementation of at least one of a plurality of mitigating actions;

automatically retrieving the plurality of mitigating actions from the one or more memory storage areas;

automatically determining two or more appropriate mitigating actions within the plurality of mitigating actions, said two or more appropriate mitigating actions being configured to at least one of alleviate or eliminate the identified discrepancies causing the unsuccessful verification or validation, said determination comprising the sub-step of automatically recalculating the expected load data, said recalculation resulting in at least a recalculated expected load sequence based upon each of the two or more appropriate mitigating actions;

automatically generating and transmitting, to the user interface of each of the one or more mobile devices, a selectable indication of the two or more appropriate mitigating actions;

responsive to a selection, received from at least one user, via the user interface of at least one of the one or more mobile devices, of one of the two or more appropriate mitigating actions, automatically generating and electronically transmitting across each of the one or more mobile devices executable instructions configured to automatically implement the selected mitigating action taking into account the recalculated expected load sequence, said recalculated expected load sequence providing a new particular order in which each of the plurality of containers are intended to be loaded onto the transport vehicle;

confirming, via a user input received via the user interface of at least one of the one or more mobile devices, completion of the implementation of the selected mitigating action; and

upon confirmation;

automatically determining and re-verifying, via at least one of the one or more mobile devices, whether the identified at least one weight or center of gravity discrepancy has been at least one of alleviated or eliminated due to the implementation of the selected mitigating action; and

if all discrepancies have been at least one of alleviated or eliminated, generating and transmitting to the user interface of each of the one or more mobile devices, at least one communication containing executable instructions configured to automatically recommence, via execution of the data capture element of at least one of the one or more mobile devices to scan actual load data associated with the recalculated expected load sequence, continued loading of the plurality of containers in accordance with the recalculated expected load sequence or departure of the transport vehicle.