Method for providing status information pertaining to an asset

• US 20080084334A1
• Filed: 05/07/2007
• Published: 04/10/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Trimble Inc.
• Original Assignee: Trimble Inc.
• Inventors: Ballew, Paul
• Granted Patent: US 9,811,949 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/990
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/08 Construction
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 3/00 Registering or indicating the condition or the working of machines or other apparatus, other than vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/08 Registering or indicating performance data other than driving, working, idle, or waiting time, with or without registering driving, working, idle or waiting time
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles

Abstract

A method for providing status information pertaining to an asset is disclosed. The method stores information from a first reporting source about the asset and information from a second reporting source about the asset into a database such that the information from the first reporting source and the information from the second reporting source can be accessed from the database. The stored information includes status information about the asset that was received from at least one of the reporting sources. The status information about the asset is then provided to a client for the purpose of displaying a visual representation of the status information on the client.

Claims

1. A method for providing status information pertaining to an asset, said method comprising:

storing information from a first reporting source about the asset and information from a second reporting source about the asset into a database such that the information from the first reporting source and the information from the second reporting source can be accessed from the database, wherein the stored information includes status information about the asset that was received from at least one of the reporting sources; and

providing the status information about the asset to a client for the purpose of displaying a visual representation of the status information on the client.

2. The method as recited by claim 1, further comprising:

displaying the visual representation of the status information in relationship to a map of a construction site.

3. The method as recited by claim 1, further comprising:

displaying the visual representation of the status information by changing at least a part of a visual representation of the asset.

4. The method as recited by claim 1, further comprising:

using a color to display the visual representation of the status information.

5. The method as recited by claim 1, further comprising:

displaying the status information by outlining a visual representation of the asset.

6. The method as recited by claim 1, further comprising:

displaying the status information by causing the visual representation to blink.

7. The method as recited by claim 6, wherein the status information is conveyed by a rate at which the visual representation blinks.

8. The method as recited by claim 1, further comprising:

displaying the status information in response to detecting that a cursor has been positioned near a visual representation of the asset.

9. An asset management system comprising:

a multiple reporting source asset information storer configured for storing information from a first reporting source about the asset and information from a second reporting source about the asset into a database such that the information from the first reporting source and the information from the second reporting source can be accessed from the database, wherein the stored information includes status information about the asset that was received from at least one of the reporting sources; and

a multiple reporting source status information provider configured for providing the status information about the asset to a client for the purpose of displaying a visual representation of the status information on the client

10. The asset management system of claim 9, wherein the status information is selected from a group consisting of alerts and warnings.

11. The asset management system of claim 9, wherein the client is notified of the status information.

12. The asset management system of claim 9, wherein the client polls the asset management system for the status information.

13. The asset management system of claim 9, wherein the visual representation of the status information is at least a part of a visual representation of the asset.

14. The asset management system of claim 9, wherein a color is used to display the visual representation of the status information.

15. The asset management system of claim 9, wherein a visual representation of the asset includes an outline that indicates the status information.

16. The asset management system of claim 9, wherein the status information is displayed by causing the visual representation to blink.

17. The asset management system of claim 16, wherein the status information is conveyed by a rate at which the visual representation blinks.

18. The asset management system of claim 9, wherein the visual representation of the status information is displayed in response to detecting that a cursor is in close proximity to a visual representation of the asset.

19. A computer-usable medium having computer-readable program code embodied therein for causing a computer system to perform a method for providing status information pertaining to an asset, the method comprising:

storing information from a first reporting source about the asset and information from a second reporting source about the asset into a database such that the information from the first reporting source and the information from the second reporting source can be accessed from the database, wherein the stored information includes status information about the asset that was received from at least one of the reporting sources; and

providing the status information about the asset to a client for the purpose of displaying a visual representation of the status information on the client.

20. The computer-usable medium of claim 19, wherein the computer-readable program code embodied therein causes a computer system to perform the method, and wherein the method further comprises:

displaying the visual representation of the status information in relationship to a map of a construction site.

21. The computer-usable medium of claim 19, wherein the computer-readable program code embodied therein causes a computer system to perform the method, and wherein the method further comprises:

displaying the visual representation of the status information by changing at least a part of a visual representation of the asset.

22. The computer-usable medium of claim 19, wherein the computer-readable program code embodied therein causes a computer system to perform the method, and wherein the method further comprises:

using a color to display the visual representation of the status information.

23. The computer-usable medium of claim 19, wherein the computer-readable program code embodied therein causes a computer system to perform the method, and wherein the method further comprises:

displaying the status information by outlining a visual representation of the asset.

24. The computer-usable medium of claim 19, wherein the computer-readable program code embodied therein causes a computer system to perform the method, and wherein the method further comprises:

displaying the status information by causing the visual representation to blink.

25. The computer-usable medium of claim 24, wherein the computer-readable program code embodied therein causes a computer system to perform the method, and wherein the status information is conveyed by a rate at which the visual representation blinks.

26. The computer-usable medium of claim 19, wherein the computer-readable program code embodied therein causes a computer system to perform the method, and wherein the method further comprises:

displaying the status information in response to detecting that a cursor is in close proximity to a visual representation of the asset.