SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SENSING CARGO LOADS AND TRAILER MOVEMENT

• US 20090189788A1
• Filed: 01/29/2008
• Published: 07/30/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/29/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Omnitracs LLC (Solera Holdings Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Parisi, Mark Dominic, Faus, Juan
• Granted Patent: US 8,179,286 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/989
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/08 using communication transmission lines G08B13/19658, G08B21/0286, G08B25/016 take precedence
• 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

The specification and drawing figures describe and illustrate a system for sensing cargo loads and trailer movement that includes a mobile wireless communications system. A mobile computing platform is mounted on a remote vehicle and operatively connectable across the mobile wireless communications system. Sensor data are collected and stored in the mobile wireless communications system and the mobile computing platform, and may be transmitted across the mobile wireless communications system. At least one program is stored either in the mobile wireless communications system or the mobile computing platform, or both, for using the sensor data to determine equipment use, placement, and positioning in relation to a vehicle and sending one or more sensitivity reports to the asset manager.

Claims

1. A system for sensing cargo loads and trailer movement, comprising:

a mobile computing platform mounted on the vehicle and adapted to communicate with a remote server, the mobile computing platform further adapted to receive and store at least vehicle data; and

a sensor system connected to the mobile computing platform, the sensor system comprising;

a sensor disposed in a predetermined location of the vehicle, the sensor adapted to detect vibrations in the predetermined location of the vehicle; and

a processor connected to the sensor, the processor adapted to determine a vibration state or a motion state in response to input signals from the sensor and communicate the determined state of the vehicle to the mobile computing platform.

2. A system for sensing cargo loads and trailer movement as recited in claim 1, wherein the mobile computing platform is adapted to communicate with the remote server through one of a satellite communication system or a terrestrial communication system.

3. A system for sensing cargo loads and trailer movement as recited in claim 1, wherein the vibration state comprises a quiet state and a vibrating state.

4. A system for sensing cargo loads and trailer movement as recited in claim 3, wherein the processor is adapted to determine a quiet state in response to substantially no pulses detected by the sensor within a predetermined time period.

5. A system for sensing cargo loads and trailer movement as recited in claim 3, wherein the processor is adapted to determine a vibration state in response to a predetermined number of pulses detected by the sensor within a predetermined time period.

6. A system for sensing cargo loads and trailer movement as recited in claim 5, wherein the predetermined time period is between one and five seconds.

7. A system for sensing cargo loads and trailer movement as recited in claim 5, wherein the predetermined time period is approximately one second.

8. A system for sensing cargo loads and trailer movement as recited in claim 5, wherein the predetermined number of pulses between one and two hundred pulses.

9. A system for sensing cargo loads and trailer movement as recited in claim 1, wherein the motion state comprises an in-motion state and a non-in-motion state.

10. A system for sensing cargo loads and trailer movement as recited in claim 9, wherein the processor is adapted to determine the in-motion state in response to a vibration rate being greater than an in-motion vibration percentage averaged over a vibration averaging time.

11. A system for sensing cargo loads and trailer movement as recited in claim 10, wherein the vibration rate is a product of a number of active periods and a vibration active period divided by the vibration averaging time multiplied by one hundred percent.

12. A system for sensing cargo loads and trailer movement as recited in claim 11, wherein the vibration active period is a function of a vibration sampling period.

13. A system for sensing cargo loads and trailer movement as recited in claim 12, wherein the vibration sampling period is less than five seconds.

14. A system for sensing cargo loads and trailer movement as recited in claim 12, wherein the vibration active period is a function of a number of pulses detected by the sensor within a vibration sampling period.

15. A system for sensing cargo loads and trailer movement as recited in claim 9, wherein the sensor is adapted to determine the not-in-motion state in response to a vibration rate being less than a not-in-motion vibration percentage averaged over a vibration average time.

16. A system for sensing cargo loads and trailer movement as recited in claim 15, wherein the vibration rate is a product of a number of active periods and a vibration active period divided by the vibration averaging time multiplied by one hundred percent.

17. A system for sensing cargo loads and trailer movement as recited in claim 16, wherein the vibration active period is a function of a vibration sampling period.

18. A system for sensing cargo loads and trailer movement as recited, in claim 17, wherein the vibration sampling period is less than five seconds.

19. A system for sensing cargo loads and trailer movement as recited in claim 17, wherein the vibration active period is a function of a number of pulses detected by the sensor.

20. A system for sensing cargo loads and trailer movement as recited in claim 1, wherein the mobile computing platform is connected to a position determination transceiver.

21. A system for sensing cargo loads and trailer movement as recited in claim 20, wherein the position determination transceiver is a Global Positioning System (GPS) transceiver or a Satellite Positioning System (SPS) transceiver.

22. A system for sensing cargo loads and trailer movement as recited in claim 1, wherein the mobile computing platform includes memory located in the mobile computing platform for storing vehicle data.

23. A method of determining a cargo status of a vehicle comprising:

providing a sensor in a predetermined location of the vehicle, the sensor adapted to detect a pulse;

transmitting a signal from the sensor to a processor indicating a presence of absence of a pulse;

determining, at the processor, whether the vehicle is in one of a vibration state or a motion state;

communicating the processor determination to a mobile computing platform onboard the vehicle; and

transmitting a vehicle cargo status from the mobile computing platform to a remote server.

31. A method of determining a cargo status of a vehicle as recited in claim 23, wherein the motion state comprises an in-motion state and a non-in-motion state.

32. A method of determining a cargo status of a vehicle as recited in claim 31, further comprising the step of determining a vibration rate being greater than an in-motion vibration percentage averaged over a vibration averaging time.

33. A method of determining a cargo status of a vehicle as recited in claim 32, wherein the vibration rate is a product of a number of active periods and a vibration active period divided by the vibration averaging time multiplied by one hundred percent.

34. A method of determining a cargo status of a vehicle as recited in claim 33, wherein the vibration active period is a function of a vibration sampling period.

35. A method of determining a cargo status of a vehicle as recited in claim 34, wherein the vibration sampling period is less than five seconds.

36. A method of determining a cargo status of a vehicle as recited in claim 34, wherein the vibration active period is designated an active period in response to a number of pulses detected by the sensor within a vibration sampling period.

37. A method of determining a cargo status of a vehicle as recited in claim 31, further comprising the step of determining the not-in-motion state in response to a vibration rate being less than a not-in-motion vibration percentage averaged over a vibration average time.

38. A method of determining a cargo status of a vehicle as recited in claim 31, wherein the vibration rate is a product of a number of active periods and a vibration active period divided by the vibration averaging time multiplied by one hundred percent.

39. A method of determining a cargo status of a vehicle as recited in claim 31, wherein the vibration active period is a function of a vibration sampling period.

40. A method of determining a cargo status of a vehicle as recited in claim 39, wherein the vibration sampling period is less than five seconds.

41. A method of determining a cargo status of a vehicle as recited in claim 39, wherein the vibration active period is a function of a number of pulses detected by the sensor.

24. A method of determining a cargo status of a vehicle as recited in claim 24, wherein the mobile computing platform is adapted to communicate with the remote server through one of a satellite communication system or a terrestrial communication system.

25. A method of determining a cargo status of a vehicle as recited in claim 24, wherein the vibration state comprises a quiet state and a vibrating state.

26. A method of determining a cargo status of a vehicle as recited in claim 25, wherein the step of determining, at the processor, whether the vehicle is in one of a vibration state or a motion state comprises determining a quiet state in response to substantially no pulses detected by the sensor within a predetermined time period.

27. A method of determining a cargo status of a vehicle as recited in claim 25, wherein the step of determining, at the processor, whether the vehicle is in one of a vibration state or a motion state comprises determining a vibration state in response to a predetermined number of pulses detected by the sensor within a predetermined time period.

28. A method of determining a cargo status of a vehicle as recited in claim 26, wherein the predetermined time period is between one and five seconds.

29. A method of determining a cargo status of a vehicle as recited in claim 26, wherein the predetermined time period is approximately one second.

30. A method of determining a cargo status of a vehicle as recited in claim 26, wherein the predetermined number of pulses between one and two hundred pulses.

42. A method of determining a cargo status of a vehicle as recited in claim 24, wherein the mobile computing platform is connected to a position determination transceiver.

43. A method of determining a cargo status of a vehicle as recited in claim 24, wherein the position determination transceiver is a Global Positioning System (GPS) transceiver or a Satellite Positioning System (SPS) transceiver.

44. A method of determining a cargo status of a vehicle as recited in claim 24, further comprising the step of storing vehicle data at the mobile computing platform.

45. A method of determining a cargo status of a vehicle as recited in claim 24, further comprising the step of displaying vehicle data at the mobile computing platform.