COLLABORATIVE SHARING WORKGROUP

• US 20120310532A1
• Filed: 09/28/2011
• Published: 12/06/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Trimble Navigation Limited (Trimble Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Trimble Navigation Limited (Trimble Inc.)
• Inventors: Hamilton, Jeffrey A., Cameron, John F., Snoeck, Jeroen, Atkins, Benedict J. G., Drake, Jeffrey H.
• Granted Patent: US 8,639,434 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/482
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

A collaborative sharing workgroup comprising a plurality of assets is disclosed. An integrated manager module is fixedly coupled with each asset, the integrated manager module comprising an asset systems monitor; a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) position information monitor; and an environment information monitor. In addition, a communications module is fixedly coupled with each asset. The communications module automatically shares information from each integrated manager module to each of the plurality of assets in the workgroup and similarly receives the shared information from each of the plurality of assets in the workgroup. A user guidance module is also coupled with each asset. The user guidance module utilizes the shared information to automatically update guidance information for an asset. Moreover, the user guidance module operates independently on each asset in a workgroup without utilizing a central managing device.

Claims

1. A collaborative sharing workgroup comprising:

a workgroup comprising a plurality of assets;

an integrated manager module fixedly coupled with each asset, the integrated manager module comprising;

an asset systems monitor;

a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) position information monitor; and

an environment information monitor;

a communications module fixedly coupled with each asset, the communications module automatically shares information from each integrated manager module to each of the plurality of assets in the workgroup and receives the shared information from each of the plurality of assets in the workgroup; and

a user guidance module coupled with each asset, the user guidance module utilizes the shared information to automatically update guidance information for each asset, the user guidance module operates independently on each asset in the workgroup without requiring a central managing device.

2. The workgroup of claim 1 further comprising:

a handheld device having an integrated computing system for monitoring GNSS position information and environment information.

3. The workgroup of claim 1 wherein the communications device is a multicast communications device.

4. The workgroup of claim 1 wherein the workgroup network is an ad-hoc peer-to-peer network with no defined master.

5. The workgroup of claim 1 wherein each of said plurality of assets within the workgroup performs its own computing.

6. The workgroup of claim 1 wherein the asset relationship is a thin or thick client relationship wherein some of said plurality of assets within the workgroup perform more computer processing than other of said plurality of assets.

7. The workgroup of claim 1 wherein an asset is assigned to the workgroup based on the assigned area of operation of the asset.

8. The workgroup of claim 1 wherein membership to the workgroup is based on assets operating within a reference range.

9. The workgroup of claim 1 wherein an asset automatically joins the workgroup after crossing a defined boundary location for the workgroup.

10. The workgroup of claim 1 wherein the asset system information is selected from the group consisting of:

engine information, battery information, fuel information, fault information, operating time, load information, route information and previous work performed.

11. The workgroup of claim 1 wherein the GNSS position information is selected from the group consisting of:

location, altitude, time, recognized error, and locations of reduced accuracy.

12. The workgroup of claim 1 wherein the environment information is selected from the group consisting of:

weather, humidity, air temperature, material density, surface temperature, layer characteristics, surface characteristics, areas to avoid, obstacles, and further needs of an area.

13. A method for exchanging data between assets at a worksite, said method comprising:

generating operational data from a first asset at the first asset;

transmitting the operational data from the first asset to a workgroup of assets;

receiving operational data from the workgroup of assets at the first asset; and

automatically updating a user interface of the first asset with a consolidated information update at the first asset based on the operational data received from the workgroup of assets without requiring the use of a central server.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

transmitting the operational data from the first asset to a workgroup utilizing a peer-to-peer network.

15. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

generating operational data from a second asset at the second asset;

transmitting the operational data from the second asset to the workgroup of assets;

receiving the operational data from the workgroup of assets at the second asset; and

automatically updating a user interface of the second asset to provide a consolidated information update at the second asset based on the operational data received from the workgroup of assets without requiring the use of a central server.

16. The method of claim 13 wherein the operational data includes information from each of the group consisting of:

asset systems information, global navigation satellite system (GNSS) position information and environment information.

17. The method of claim 13 wherein the environment information is selected from the group consisting of:

weather, humidity, air temperature, material density, surface temperature, layer characteristics, surface characteristics, areas to avoid, obstacles, and further needs of an area.

18. A collaborative sharing workgroup comprising:

a first asset having an integrated computing system for monitoring first asset systems information, position information and environment information;

at least a second asset having an integrated computing system for monitoring second asset systems information, position information and environment information;

a communications protocol for establishing communications between the first asset and at least the second asset, the communications protocol disseminating all information from the integrated computing systems of every asset to the integrated computing systems of every asset; and

a route manager configured to operate on the integrated computing system of each asset, said route manager receiving the shared information between the assets and automatically updating assignment information for each of said assets based on the shared information, the route manager operating independently on each asset without utilizing a central managing device.

19. The workgroup of claim 18 further comprising:

a handheld device having an integrated computing system for monitoring position information and environment information.

20. The workgroup of claim 18 wherein an asset is assigned to a workgroup based on a factor selected from the group consisting of:

an assigned area of operation for the asset, assets operating within a pre-defined reference range, and after crossing a defined boundary location of a workgroup.

21. The workgroup of claim 18 wherein the asset system information is selected from the group consisting of:

engine information, battery information, fuel information, fault information, operating time, load information, route information and previous work performed.

22. The workgroup of claim 18 wherein the environment information is selected from the group consisting of:

weather, humidity, air temperature, material density, surface temperature, layer characteristics, surface characteristics, areas to avoid, obstacles, and further needs of an area.

23. The workgroup of claim 18 wherein the position information is determined from the position signal(s) group consisting of:

is global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signal(s), regional navigation satellite system signal(s), satellite based augmentation system (SBAS) signal(s), and ground based augmentation systems (GBAS) signal(s).

24. The workgroup of claim 23 wherein the (GNSS) signal(s) are selected from the group consisting of:

GPS signal(s), Glonass signal(s), Galileo signal(s), and Compass signal(s).

25. The workgroup of claim 23 wherein the regional navigation satellite system signal(s) are selected from the group consisting of:

Omnistar signal(s), StarFire signal(s), Centerpoint signal(s), Beidou signal(s), Doppler orbitography and radio-positioning integrated by satellite (DORIS) signal(s), Indian regional navigational satellite system (IRNSS) signal(s), and quasi-zenith satellite system (QZSS) signal(s).

26. The workgroup of claim 23 wherein the SBAS signal(s) are selected from the group consisting of:

wide area augmentation system (WAAS) signal(s), European geostationary navigation overlay service (EGNOS) signal(s), multi-functional satellite augmentation system (MSAS) signal(s), and GPS aided geo augmented navigation (GAGAN) signal(s).

27. The workgroup of claim 23 wherein the GBAS signal(s) are selected from the group consisting of:

local area augmentation system (LAAS) signal(s), ground-based regional augmentation system (GRAS) signals, Differential GPS (DGPS) signal(s), and continuously operating reference stations (CORS) signal(s).