SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRACKING PERSONNEL AND EQUIPMENT

• US 20080266110A1
• Filed: 06/13/2008
• Published: 10/30/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alliance Coal LLC (Alliance Resource Partners LP)
• Original Assignee: Alliance Coal LLC (Alliance Resource Partners LP)
• Inventors: Watson, Mark, Ciholas, Mike E., Hayford, Tracy L., Debaillie, Timothy M., Clardy, David, Buchanan, Evan M., Elpers, Christopher, Bennett, Justin E., Blaylock, Paul R.
• Granted Patent: US 7,843,348 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/572.8
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/0062 in RFID [Radio Frequency Identification] Systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/77 for interrogation

Abstract

A system for tracking personnel and equipment in hazardous environments in pre or post-accident situations includes an intrinsically safe tracking tag and an intrinsically safe reader system. The intrinsically safe tracking tag transmits identification and status information to the intrinsically safe reader system, which includes a plurality of intrinsically safe antennas and a hub cable driver. In one embodiment, antennas are located at known positions in the hazardous environment and connected via a redundant, wired-mesh topology. The wired-mesh topology also allows more flexible antenna placement than line-of-sight wireless-mesh systems. The hub cable driver provides intrinsically safe power to and communication with the antennas using communication cables, receives data signals from the antennas, and transmits the data signals to a server. The server stores the data signals in a storage device and is connected to a workstation. The workstation retrieves the stored data to track persons or equipment.

Claims

1. A system for tracking personnel and equipment in a hazardous environment comprising:

a tracking tag for being attached to one of a person and a piece of equipment in the hazardous environment, the tracking tag being intrinsically safe and periodically transmitting a radio signal containing a unique tracking tag identification code identifying the tracking tag;

an intrinsically safe reader system including a hub cable driver and a plurality of intrinsically safe antennas, the hub cable driver and the plurality of intrinsically safe antennas connected by communication cables;

the hub cable driver configured to provide intrinsically safe power to and communication with said plurality of intrinsically safe antennas over said communication cables;

the plurality of intrinsically safe antennas located at known positions in the hazardous environment in a redundant connective infrastructure topology that is self-healing, each intrinsically safe antenna configured to;

receive the radio signal from said tracking tag; and

transmit a data signal to the hub cable driver over said communication cables, the data signal containing an antenna identification code identifying the antenna and a tracking tag identification code identifying the tracking tag;

wherein the system is capable of continuing to operate in an explosive environment due to the intrinsically safe nature of the intrinsically safe tracking tag, the plurality of intrinsically safe antennas, and the intrinsically safe power and communication from the hub cable driver; and

wherein the redundant connective infrastructure topology enables the system to continue to operate despite a communication disruption at a location along the redundant connective infrastructure topology.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the intrinsically safe tracking tag is attached to a hard hat worn by the person in the hazardous environment.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the intrinsically safe tracking tag is attached to a piece of equipment located in the hazardous environment, the intrinsically safe tracking tag for receiving equipment status and location information for the piece of equipment and periodically transmitting a radio signal containing a unique equipment tag identification code identifying the intrinsically safe equipment tag and the equipment status and location information.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein each intrinsically safe antenna has a first voltage domain, a switching regulator, and a second voltage domain, wherein each intrinsically safe antenna, to maximize intrinsic safety, receives power at a first voltage in the first voltage domain, and converts the power at the first voltage to power at a second voltage for use in the second voltage domain using the switching regulator.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein each intrinsically safe antenna has a plurality of communication ports for connecting with a plurality of other antennas, wherein said plurality of communication ports are un-powered and disconnected from each other until a command is received to power up and connect selected ones of said plurality of communication ports.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the hub cable driver has an output port for providing said intrinsically safe power and communication, an IS protection block for detecting current and voltage levels at said output port, and a hub microcontroller for receiving said current and voltage levels from said IS protection block and disconnecting power from the output port when necessary.

7. The system of claim 1 further comprising an intrinsically safe atmospheric sensor positioned at a known location in the hazardous environment and in communication with the hub cable driver, the intrinsically safe atmospheric sensor being configured to:

sense a gas level in an atmosphere at the intrinsically safe atmospheric sensor; and

periodically transmit a signal to the hub cable driver containing a unique identification code identifying the intrinsically safe atmospheric sensor and a gas level reading value indicating a sensed gas level.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein said intrinsically safe atmospheric sensor is a wireless atmospheric sensor.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein said intrinsically safe atmospheric sensor is in communication with the hub cable driver by a communication cable, and wherein the intrinsically safe atmospheric sensor is further configured to receive power from the hub cable driver via the communication cable.

10. A system for tracking personnel and equipment in a hazardous environment, comprising:

a plurality of tracking tags, each tracking tag for periodically transmitting a radio message containing a unique tracking tag ID, each tracking tag for being attached to a different person or piece of equipment present in the hazardous environment, each tracking tag being intrinsically safe;

an intrinsically safe reader system including a hub cable driver and a plurality of intrinsically safe antennas connected to the hub cable driver and to each other by communication cables in a redundant connective infrastructure topology, each antenna being located at a known position in said hazardous environment for receiving radio messages from nearby tracking tags, determining a signal strength value of each received radio message, sending a tag data message for each received radio message to the hub cable driver, each tag data message including the received radio message, an antenna ID of the receiving antenna, and the signal strength value;

a server database; and

a server including;

a server module for receiving tag data messages from said hub cable driver, determining a location of each tracking tag by determining the antenna receiving the radio message having a highest signal strength value;

a manager module for maintaining a live tag data table in said server database, the live tag data table containing current location data for each tracking tag; and

a view module for generating a display of a current location of each tracking tag on a map of at least a portion of the hazardous environment, and for generating selected displays of data for each tracking tag.

11. The system of claim 10, further comprising at least one atmospheric sensor in communication with the hub cable driver;

wherein said server further includes a sensor data shared memory.

12. The system of claim 10, further comprising a monitor module for providing e-mail support for database reports and status notifications.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the monitor module is further for reading and processing commands contained in e-mail messages received from an e-mail server.

14. The system of claim 10, further comprising a key module for providing a means to control licensing based a number of antennas and tracking tags permitted.

15. The system of claim 10, further comprising an OPC module for allowing OPC access to the server by external clients.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the view module is further for setting an alarm to sound if a tracking tag known to leave a detectable vicinity of the intrinsically safe reader system does not reappear in the detectable vicinity of the intrinsically safe reader system in a predetermined amount of time.