ONBOARD MANAGEMENT OF MOVABLE ASSET FOR ASSET PROTECTION

• US 20120072038A1
• Filed: 09/16/2010
• Published: 03/22/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/16/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kolar, Harry R., Hayes, Jeremiah P.
• Granted Patent: US 8,340,830 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/291
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3262 Power saving in digitizer or tablet

Abstract

A solution for managing an asset, such as a movable asset, deployed to a fixed location, is provided. Location and/or power information is periodically acquired for the asset and assessed to determine whether the asset has moved from a desired physical area and/or the power is insufficient to continue with planned operations. In response to either condition, the operation of various devices on the asset can be adjusted to minimize an inferred risk caused by the asset moving outside of the physical area and/or maximize an inferred probability of recovering the asset.

Claims

1. A method of managing an asset, the method comprising:

operating a set of input/output (I/O) devices on the asset in a default mode of operation using a computer system located on the asset, wherein the asset is secured to a desired physical area and includes a power system configured to provide all power for operating devices on the asset;

periodically evaluating location information for the asset using the computer system during the default mode of operation; and

operating the asset in a protection mode of operation using the computer system in response to the evaluating indicating at least one of;

the asset is located outside of the desired physical area or a current location of the asset cannot be determined, the operating the asset in the protection mode including;

assessing current and projected power capabilities of the power component of the asset;

assessing current and projected location information for the asset;

operating the set of I/O devices on the asset based on the assessed power capabilities and location information to at least one of;

minimize an inferred risk caused by the asset moving outside of the physical area or maximize an inferred probability of recovering the asset; and

periodically repeating the assessing and operating actions.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising periodically evaluating the current and projected power capabilities of the power component of the asset using the computer system during the default mode of operation, wherein the operating the asset in the protection mode of operation is further performed in response to the evaluated power capabilities being insufficient for the default mode of operation.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the assessing actions includes assessing a set of attributes of the environment within which the asset is located.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the periodically evaluating location information during the default mode of operation includes increasing a frequency of the evaluating in response to the evaluating indicating the asset is located more than a threshold distance from a deployment location.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the operating the set of I/O devices in the protection mode of operation includes:

adjusting a frequency with which at least one sensing device on the asset acquires data based on the assessed power capabilities and a relative importance of the data acquired by the sensing device; and

periodically communicating a set of alarms for processing by at least one external system.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the set of alarms includes a plurality of types of alarms, and wherein the periodically communicating includes:

setting a relative priority for each type of alarm based on the assessed location information; and

setting a relative frequency for communicating each type of alarm based on the relative priority and the assessed power capabilities.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the operating the asset in a protection mode of operation further includes assessing an amount of time until the asset can be recovered, wherein the operating the set of I/O devices in the protection mode of operation is further based on the amount of time.

8. A system comprising:

an asset secured to a desired physical area;

a set of input/output (I/O) devices associated with the asset;

a power system associated with the asset, wherein the power system is configured to provide all power for operating devices associated with the asset; and

a computer system including at least one computing device associated with the asset, wherein the computer system is configured to manage the asset by performing a method including;

operating the set of I/O devices in a default mode of operation;

periodically evaluating location information for the asset during the default mode of operation; and

operating the asset in a protection mode of operation in response to the evaluating indicating at least one of;

the asset is located outside of the desired physical area or a current location of the asset cannot be determined, the operating the asset in the protection mode including;

assessing current and projected power capabilities of the power component;

assessing current and projected location information for the asset;

operating the set of I/O devices based on the assessed power capabilities and location information to at least one of;

minimize an inferred risk caused by the asset moving outside of the physical area or maximize an inferred probability of recovering the asset; and

periodically repeating the assessing and operating actions.

9. The system of claim 8, the method further including periodically evaluating the current and projected power capabilities of the power component during the default mode of operation, wherein the operating the asset in the protection mode of operation is further performed in response to the evaluated power capabilities being insufficient for the default mode of operation.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the set of I/O devices includes a set of sensing devices, each sensing device configured to acquire data corresponding to at least one attribute of the environment within which the asset is located.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein at least one of the assessing actions includes assessing the data corresponding to a set of attributes of the environment within which the asset is located.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the operating the set of I/O devices in the protection mode of operation includes:

adjusting a frequency with which at least one sensing device on the asset acquires data based on the assessed power capabilities and a relative importance of the data acquired by the sensing device; and

periodically communicating a set of alarms for processing by at least one external system.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the set of alarms includes a plurality of types of alarms, and wherein the periodically communicating includes:

setting a relative priority for each type of alarm based on the assessed location information; and

setting a relative frequency for communicating each type of alarm based on the relative priority and the assessed power capabilities.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the operating the asset in a protection mode of operation further includes assessing an amount of time until the asset can be recovered, wherein the operating the set of I/O devices in the protection mode of operation is further based on the amount of time.

15. The system of claim 8, wherein the set of I/O devices include a location-sensing I/O device, the system further comprising a navigation system configured to provide location data to the location-sensing I/O device.

16. The system of claim 8, wherein the operating the set of I/O devices in the protection mode of operation includes communicating an alert, the system further comprising at least one device configured to receive the alert and initiate a response to the alert.

17. A computer-readable storage medium comprising program code embodied therein, which when executed, causes a computer system to implement a method of managing an asset, the method comprising:

operating a set of input/output (I/O) devices on the asset in a default mode of operation, wherein the asset is secured to a desired physical area and includes a power system configured to provide all power for operating devices on the asset;

periodically evaluating location information for the asset during the default mode of operation;

operating the asset in a protection mode of operation in response to the evaluating indicating at least one of;

the asset is located outside of the desired physical area or a current location of the asset cannot be determined, the operating the asset in the protection mode including;

assessing current and projected power capabilities of the power component of the asset;

assessing current and projected location information for the asset;

operating the set of I/O devices based on the assessed power capabilities and location information to at least one of;

minimize an inferred risk caused by the asset moving outside of the physical area or maximize an inferred probability of recovering the asset; and

periodically repeating the assessing and operating actions.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, the method further comprising periodically evaluating the current and projected power capabilities of the power component during the default mode of operation, wherein the operating the asset in the protection mode of operation is further performed in response to the evaluated power capabilities being insufficient for the default mode of operation.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein at least one of the assessing actions includes assessing a set of attributes of the environment within which the asset is located.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the operating the set of I/O devices in the protection mode of operation includes:

adjusting a frequency with which at least one sensing device on the asset acquires data based on the assessed power capabilities and a relative importance of the data acquired by the sensing device; and

periodically communicating a set of alarms for processing by at least one external system.

21. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the set of alarms includes a plurality of types of alarms, and wherein the periodically communicating includes:

setting a relative priority for each type of alarm based on the assessed location information; and

setting a relative frequency for communicating each type of alarm based on the relative priority and the assessed power capabilities.

22. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the operating the asset in a protection mode of operation further includes assessing an amount of time until the asset can be recovered, wherein the operating the set of I/O devices in the protection mode of operation is further based on the amount of time.

23. A method of deploying a movable asset, the method comprising:

providing a computer system associated with the movable asset, wherein the computer system is configured to manage the movable asset by performing a method including;

operating a set of input/output (I/O) devices on the asset in a default mode of operation, wherein the asset includes a power system configured to provide all power for operating devices on the asset;

periodically evaluating location information for the asset during the default mode of operation;

operating the asset in a protection mode of operation in response to the evaluating indicating at least one of;

the asset is located outside of the desired physical area or a current location of the asset cannot be determined, the operating the asset in the protection mode including;

assessing current and projected power capabilities of the power component;

assessing current and projected location information for the asset;

operating the set of I/O devices based on the assessed power capabilities and location information to at least one of;

minimize an inferred risk caused by the asset moving outside of the physical area or maximize an inferred probability of recovering the asset; and

periodically repeating the assessing and operating actions;

securing the asset to a desired physical area; and

initializing the computer system on the asset for operation in the desired physical area.