FACILITIES MANAGEMENT

• US 20130021174A1
• Filed: 01/24/2012
• Published: 01/24/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/09/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DSG Global, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Daniella Kurland
• Inventors: Silzer, Robert Sr., Bratvold, Kirk, Doaga, Alex, Singer, Clinton Jordan
• Granted Patent: US 9,280,902 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/989
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0278 using satellite positioning signals, e.g. GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0297 by controlling means in a control room
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/207 with respect to certain areas, e.g. forbidden or allowed areas with possible alerting when inside or outside boundaries

Abstract

A system for facilities management can include a tag device having a transceiver and a facilities management process. The facilities management process can include an application service for receiving the location of the tag device from the transceiver, at least one geographical work zone, and a tracking module configured for recording a time period the tag device is within each geographical work zone.

Claims

1. A system for facilities management, comprising:

a tag device having a transceiver;

a facility vehicle with the tag device attached to the facility vehicle;

a facilities management process embodied on a computer-readable tangible medium, and comprising;

an application service for receiving a location of the tag device from the transceiver;

at least one geographical work zone; and

a tracking module configured for recording a time period the tag device is within each geographical work zone.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the facilities management process further comprises:

at least one geographical home zone,

wherein the tracking module is configured to cease recording the time period for the geographical work zones when the tag device is within the at least one geographical home zone.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein tracking module is configured for recording a non-work time period when the tag device is outside geographical work zones and the geographical home zone.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a GPS receiver functionally connected to the tag device and configured for providing the location of the tag device.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising an inertial measurement unit (IMU) functionally connected to the tag device and configured for detecting motion of the tag device.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising a battery sensor functionally connected to the tag device and configured for monitoring at least one of a battery usage and battery voltage of a battery for the facility vehicle.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising an engine sensor functionally connected to the tag device and configured for determining when an engine of the facility vehicle is running.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein recording the time period includes recording an entry time and an entry date when the tag device enters the at least one geographical work zone and recording an exit time and an exit date when the tag device exits the at least one geographical work zone.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the tracking module is further configured to calculate a facilities management value selected from the group consisting of labor costs, fuel usage, power usage, average time in the geographical work zone, last time the geographical work zone was maintained, and at least one of the time period, the entry time, the entry date, the exit time, and the exit date for each geographical work zone.

10. The system of claim 1, further including a graphic user interface for displaying a map representation, the at least one geographical work zone, the at least one geographical home zone, and the location of the tag device.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the facilities management process further comprises a scheduling module configured to for scheduling the facility vehicle or comparing periodic activity of the facility vehicle with prior periodic activity of the facility vehicle using information provided by the tracking module.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the facilities management process includes an alert in an alert hierarchy when the tag device enters or exits the at least one geographical work zone, wherein the alert hierarchy arranges alerts based on at least one of a location, a priority, a work crew, a distance traveled in the geographical work zone, moving time, idle time, a time of day, and a facilities management category.

13. The system of claim 1, further including a communication device attached to the facility vehicle configured for providing instructions to a user, wherein the communication device is a display or a radio.

14. A vehicle management system, comprising:

a vehicle equipped with a tag device and a GPS receiver;

a vehicle management process embodied on a computer-readable tangible medium, comprising;

an application service for receiving a location from the GPS receiver;

at least one geographical work zone;

at least one geographical home zone;

a graphic user interface for displaying the map representation, the at least one geographical work zone, the at least one geographical home zone, and the location of the tag device; and

a tracking module configured for recording a time period the tag device is within each geographical work zone.

15. The vehicle management system of claim 14, wherein the vehicle is further equipped with an inertial measurement unit (IMU) for detecting motion of the vehicle.

16. The vehicle management system of claim 14, wherein the vehicle management process further comprises a scheduling module configured for scheduling the vehicle at a future time in at least one geographical work zone.

17. The vehicle management system of claim 14, wherein the vehicle is further equipped with a communication device for providing instructions to a user, wherein the communication device is a display or a radio.

18. A method for managing facilities, comprising:

equipping a vehicle with a tag device having a transceiver;

designating a zone in a geographical work area in which the vehicle operates;

monitoring motion of the vehicle;

monitoring location of the vehicle; and

transmitting the location and motion via the tag device to a vehicle management process embodied on a server and comprising computer-executable instructions for;

comparing the location of the tag device to the zone; and

recording a time period when the location of the tag device is within the zone.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising displaying the location of the tag device, the zone, and a map representation of the geographical work area and a geographical home area on a graphical user interface.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising reporting the time period of the tag device in the zone in at least one of a displayed report and a printed report.