FLEET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

• US 20120046809A1
• Filed: 10/17/2011
• Published: 02/23/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Crown Equipment Corporation
• Original Assignee: Crown Equipment Corporation
• Inventors: Wellman, Timothy A.
• Granted Patent: US 9,152,933 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/2
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/55 Remote control arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/589 Wireless data transfers
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/592 Data transfer involving external databases
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/80 Arrangements for controlling instruments
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/85 Arrangements for transferring vehicle- or driver-related data
• CPC Class Codes: B60Y 2200/15 Fork lift trucks, Industrial trucks
• CPC Class Codes: B66F 9/07581 Remote controls
• CPC Class Codes: B66F 9/24 Electrical devices or systems
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0282 generated in a local control room
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0291 Fleet control monitoring fleets in traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/127, G08G1/127
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0297 by controlling means in a control room
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06316 Sequencing of tasks or work
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0639 Performance analysis of employees; Performance analysis of enterprise or organisation operations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06398 Performance of employee with respect to a job function
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• 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: H04W 4/021 : Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 : Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/185 : by embedding added-value information into content, e.g. geo-tagging
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 : for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 : Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

Position dependent operation of a materials handling vehicle, comprises utilizing a processor on the materials handling vehicle to communicate across a wireless computing environment to a corresponding server computer via a transceiver on the materials handling vehicle. Operation further comprises obtaining from at least one device on the materials handling vehicle, information relating to the position of the materials handling vehicle and communicating the obtained position related information to the server computer. The operation still further comprises receiving a command from the server computer to perform a predetermined action, wherein the command is based upon the position related information of the materials handling vehicle relative to a position of a point of interest known by the server, and communicating information across a vehicle network bus to at least one component of the materials handling vehicle to perform the predetermined action in response to the received command.

Claims

1. A method of wirelessly interacting with a materials handling vehicle to implement position dependent operation of the materials handling vehicle, comprising:

utilizing a processor on a materials handling vehicle to communicate across a wireless computing environment to a corresponding server computer via a transceiver on the materials handling vehicle;

obtaining by the processor from at least one device on the materials handling vehicle, information relating to the position of the materials handling vehicle;

communicating the obtained position related information from the materials handling vehicle to the server computer;

receiving a command from the server computer by the materials handling vehicle to perform a predetermined action, wherein the command is based upon the position related information of the materials handling vehicle relative to a position of a point of interest known by the server; and

communicating information across a vehicle network bus by the processor on the materials handling vehicle, to at least one component of the materials handling vehicle, to perform the predetermined action in response to the received command.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

communicating information across a vehicle network bus by the processor on the materials handling vehicle, comprises;

interacting with at least one materials handling vehicle system across a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein:

interacting with at least one materials handling vehicle system across a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus, comprises;

communicating over the Controller Area Network bus to cause the materials handling vehicle to implement an evasive maneuver to avoid a geofence location identified to the materials handling vehicle by the server computer.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein:

interacting with at least one materials handling vehicle system across a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus, comprises;

communicating over the Controller Area Network bus to cause the materials handling vehicle to slow down while the materials handling vehicle is proximate to a geofence location identified to the materials handling vehicle by the server computer in response to receiving information from the server computer that at least one worker is in the vicinity of the geofence.

5. The method according to claim 2, wherein:

interacting with at least one materials handling vehicle system across a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus, comprises;

selecting by the processor of the materials handling vehicle, a particular corrective action from a plurality of corrective actions, to implement an evasive maneuver in response to a geofence location identified to the materials handling vehicle by the server computer, where the selected particular corrective action is determined based upon operating characteristics of the materials handling vehicle.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

creating a geo-fence as a virtual designated area whose location is stored at the applications server;

wherein;

receiving a command from the server computer by the materials handling vehicle to perform a predetermined action comprises taking an action comprising at least one of an avoidance maneuver or a speed reduction in response to the materials handling vehicle approaching the geo-fence.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein taking an action comprises dynamically selecting the action based upon at least one current operating condition of the materials handling vehicle.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

receiving position information of a plurality of materials handling vehicles at the server computer;

selecting one of the materials handling vehicles whose position is closest to a designated location based upon the position information received at the server computer; and

wirelessly communicating a page message to the selected one of the materials handling vehicles.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

communicating by the processor with at least one device on the materials handling vehicle comprises;

reading tags located within an environment by a reader on the materials handling vehicle; and

communicating information to the processor, which relates to the tags which were read by the reader;

wherein the materials handling vehicle position is determined based upon a known location of a tag read by a reader on the materials handling vehicle.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein:

reading tags located within an environment by a reader on the materials handling vehicle comprises reading radio frequency tags by a radio frequency identification reader.

11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

configuring the processor to implement at least one function on the materials handling vehicle by wirelessly communicating information between the server computer and the materials handling vehicle via the transceiver and by interacting with at least one component of the materials handling vehicle by;

maintaining information related to vehicle position over a predetermined window of time;

logging data during vehicle operation over the window of time by obtaining information from at least one vehicle component across the materials handling vehicle network bus;

detecting a triggering event; and

wirelessly communicating an event report to the server computer to preserve the information recorded over the window in response to detecting the triggering event such the window captures position information over a period that includes at least one of just before the event, just after the event, or both before and after the event.

12. A system to implement position dependent operation of a materials handling vehicle, comprising:

a transceiver on the materials handling vehicle, the transceiver configured for wireless data communication across a wireless computing environment;

a processor on the materials handling vehicle; and

a computer-readable storage device with an executable program stored thereon, wherein the program instructs the processor to;

communicate across a wireless computing environment to a corresponding server computer via the transceiver;

obtain from at least one device on the materials handling vehicle, information relating to the position of the materials handling vehicle;

communicate the obtained position related information from the materials handling vehicle to the server computer;

receive a command from the server computer to perform a predetermined action, wherein the command is based upon the position related information of the materials handling vehicle relative to a position of a point of interest known by the server; and

communicate information across a vehicle network bus by the processor on the materials handling vehicle, to at least one component of the materials handling vehicle, to perform the predetermined action in response to the received command.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein:

the vehicle network bus comprises a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus and the program instructs the processor to communicate information across the Controller Area Network to at least one materials handling vehicle system.

14. The system according to claim 13, wherein:

the program instructs the processor to communicate over the Controller Area Network bus to cause the materials handling vehicle to implement an evasive maneuver to avoid a geofence location identified to the materials handling vehicle by the server computer.

15. The system according to claim 13, wherein:

the program instructs the processor to communicate over the Controller Area Network bus to cause the materials handling vehicle to slow down while the materials handling vehicle is proximate to a geofence location identified to the materials handling vehicle by the server computer in response to receiving information from the server computer that at least one worker is in the vicinity of the geofence.

16. The system according to claim 13, wherein:

the program instructs the processor to select a particular corrective action from a plurality of corrective actions, to implement an evasive maneuver in response to a geofence location identified to the materials handling vehicle by the server computer, where the selected particular corrective action is determined based upon operating characteristics of the materials handling vehicle.

17. The system according to claim 12, wherein:

the program instructs the processor to receive information about a geofence created as a virtual designated area whose location is stored at the applications server; and

the program instructs the processor to receive a command from the server computer to perform a predetermined action comprising at least one of an avoidance maneuver or a speed reduction in response to the materials handling vehicle approaching the geo-fence.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein the program instructs the processor to dynamically select the action based upon at least one current operating condition of the materials handling vehicle.

19. The system according to claim 12, further comprising:

a tag reader on the materials handling vehicle that reads tags located within an environment of the materials handling vehicle;

wherein;

the program instructs the processor to receive information from the tag reader that relates to the tags which were read by the reader such that the materials handling vehicle position is determined based upon a known location of a tag read by a reader on the materials handling vehicle.

20. The system according to claim 19, wherein:

the tag reader comprises a Radio Frequency Identification Reader (RFID) reader.

21. The system according to claim 12, wherein the program further instructs the processor to:

maintain information related to vehicle position over a predetermined window of time;

log data during vehicle operation over the window of time by obtaining information from at least one vehicle component across the materials handling vehicle network bus;

detect a triggering event; and

wirelessly communicate an event report to the server computer to preserve the information recorded over the window in response to detecting the triggering event such the window captures position information over a period that includes at least one of just before the event, just after the event, or both before and after the event.