MECHANIC CERTIFICATION TRACKING METHOD, SYSTEM, AND PROGRAM PRODUCT

• US 20100114426A1
• Filed: 10/30/2008
• Published: 05/06/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Seaman, James W, Boss, Gregory J., Finn, Peter G., Hamilton, Rick A. II, O'Connell, Brian M., Walker, Keith R.
• Granted Patent: US 8,521,547 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

The present invention provides a system, method, and program product for tracking mechanic certification information. In one instance, information related to the certification of the mechanic is received and compared with stored authorized mechanic certification information. If a match is found, indicia indicating that the mechanic is an authorized mechanic is stored with the type of service.

Claims

1. A system in a vehicle for tracking mechanic certification information for the vehicle, comprising:

a certification validator that determines whether received mechanic certification information for a mechanic matches stored authorized mechanic certification information; and

a storage component of the vehicle that stores a signal indicative of whether the mechanic is authorized to perform a service on the vehicle.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the signal is stored along with at least one of the received certification information or a service performed on the vehicle.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the received mechanic certification information includes one or more of certification indicia, a mechanic'"'"'s name, a service station'"'"'s name, a service station'"'"'s location, and a service identifier.

4. The system of claim 3, further including at least one radio frequency identifier (RFID) reader that receives the mechanic certification information from an RFID tag.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the RFID tag is part of one or more of an article of the mechanic or a service station at which the mechanic works.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the article is one or more of clothing, an identification badge of the mechanic, or a bracelet worn by the mechanic.

7. The system of claim 3, further including at least one global positioning system (GPS) receiver that receives a signal indicative of a location of a service station.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the location of the service station is indicative of the certification of a mechanic employed at the service station.

9. The system of claim 3, further including an input component that receives a service unique identifier that is indicative of an authorized mechanic.

10. The system of claim 1, further including a service event generator that generates a service unique identifier for authorized mechanics, wherein a received service unique identifier is compared with a stored service unique identifier to determine whether the mechanic is an authorized mechanic.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the stored information is part of a service history for the vehicle that is stored in the vehicle.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the system operates in conjunction with a computer of the vehicle.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is part of a computing system of the vehicle.

14. A method for tracking mechanic certification information for a vehicle, comprising:

receiving first information indicative of a certification of a mechanic performing a service on the vehicle;

generating a signal indicative of whether the certification matches an authorized mechanic certification; and

storing indicia indicative of whether the certification matches the authorized mechanic certification in the vehicle.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the indicia is stored with information indicative of a type of service performed.

16. The method of claim 15, further including generating a service history that includes the service and the indicia.

17. The method of claim 16, further including using the stored indicia to determine whether the service was performed by an authorized person pursuant to the manufacturer'"'"'s warranty.

18. The method of claim 16, further including determining vehicle warranty compliance based on the stored indicia.

19. The method of claim 14, further including:

obtaining authorized mechanic certification information from a plurality of different information sources; and

using an information source priority to resolve authorization conflicts between the sources.

20. The method of claim 14, further including comparing the first information with authorized mechanic certification information local to the vehicle by a computing system of the vehicle or remote from the vehicle by the manufacturer of the vehicle or a trusted third party.

21. The method of claim 14, further including disabling at least one electrical sub-system of the vehicle when the signal indicates that the mechanic is unauthorized to perform the service on the vehicle.

22. A method, comprising:

producing computer executable program code;

storing the code on a computer readable medium; and

providing the program code to be deployed and executed on a computer system;

the program code comprising instructions which, when executed on the computer system, cause the computer system to;

receive information indicative of a certification of a mechanic performing a service on the vehicle;

generate a signal indicative of whether the certification matches an authorized mechanic certification; and

store indicia indicative of whether the certification matches the authorized mechanic certification.

23. A method for deploying an application for tracking mechanic certification information, comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure being operable to;

receive information indicative of a certification of a mechanic performing a service on the vehicle;

generate a signal indicative of whether the certification matches an authorized mechanic certification; and

store indicia indicative of whether the certification matches the authorized mechanic certification.