MANAGEMENT OF MATERIALS ON A CONSTRUCTION SITE

• US 20130024245A1
• Filed: 09/25/2012
• Published: 01/24/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/01/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Trimble Inc.
• Original Assignee: Trimble Navigation Limited (Trimble Inc.)
• Inventors: Nichols, Mark E., Fosburgh, Bryn, Richardson, Christopher David, Gipps, Peter Graham, Darby, George Derrick Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 10,133,994 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7.36
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06313 Resource planning in a project environment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination

Abstract

In a computer implemented method for management of materials on a construction site, a status of a project which uses at least one material is determined by a computer system. A report is generated by the computer system. The report identifies a vehicle, from a vehicle pool, to be utilized to move the material and defines a load of the material which is to be moved by the vehicle, according to a mass haul plan, from a first location to a second location. The vehicle is identified based on results of a simulation. The status of the project is automatically updated by the computer system based on an actual size and an actual drop-off location of the load of the material moved by the vehicle. The computer system updates the report based on the updating of the status of the project.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for management of materials on a construction site, said method comprising:

determining, by a computer system, a status of a project which uses at least one material;

generating, by said computer system, a report which identifies a vehicle from a vehicle pool to be utilized to move said material and defines a load of said material which is to be moved by said vehicle, according to a mass haul plan, from a first location to a second location, wherein said vehicle identified based on results of a simulation;

automatically updating, by said computer system, said status of said project based on an actual size and an actual drop-off location of said load of said material moved by said vehicle; and

updating, with said computer system, said report based on said updating of said status of said project.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

generating, by said computer system, at least one simulation which models each movement of said material, with vehicles of said vehicle pool, based upon a current status of said site and a desired status of said site.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

conveying, from said computer system, a machine work flow plan wirelessly to said vehicle.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

defining, by said computer system, costs to move said material from said first location to said second location using each of a plurality of vehicles of said vehicle pool.

5. The method as recited in claim 4 further comprising:

determining at least one variable of said material which affects said costs.

6. The method as recited in claim 5 further comprising:

determining moisture content of said material.

7. The method as recited in claim 4 further comprising:

defining at least one site variable selected from the group consisting of;

a distance to move said material from said first location to said second location, a road condition between said first location and said second location, how fast said material can be moved from said first location to said second location, a time when said material is moved from said first location to said second location, and a weather variable.

8. The method as recited in claim 4 further comprising:

receiving an indication of a weighted value which is used to assign said load of said material to said vehicle and wherein said weighted value is selected from the group consisting of;

minimizing said cost to move said material from said first location to said second location and maximizing a volume of said material which can be moved from said first location to said second location.

9. The method as recited in claim 4 further comprising:

receiving an indication selected from the group consisting of;

availability of an operator for said vehicle, and productivity of said operator of said vehicle.

10. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said vehicle pool comprises a plurality of vehicles, said method further comprising:

determining which of said plurality of vehicles are available; and

generating a plurality of reports which define how said material is to be moved by said vehicle pool.

11. The method as recited in claim 10 further comprising:

identifying at least one additional vehicle which can be included in said vehicle pool from an outside site.

12. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said generating said report further comprises:

defining a route for said vehicle to use.

13. A computer implemented system for managing an asset on a construction site, said system comprising:

a report generator configured to generate a report which identifies a vehicle from a vehicle pool with which to move a material and defines which load of said material is to be moved by said vehicle, according to a mass haul plan, from a first location to a second location, wherein said vehicle is identified based on results of a simulation; and

a status determiner configured to determine a status of a project which uses said material, wherein said status determiner is configured to automatically update said status of said project at a user selectable interval based on an actual size and an actual drop-off location of said load of said material moved by said vehicle; and

wherein said report generator is further configured to update said report based on said updates to said status of said project from said status determiner.

14. The system of claim 13 further comprising:

a simulator configured to generate at least one simulation which models each movement of said material, with vehicles of said vehicle pool, based upon a current status of said site and a desired status of said site.

15. The system of claim 13 further comprising:

a wireless transmitter configured to convey a machine work flow plan wirelessly to said vehicle.

16. The system of claim 13 further comprising:

a cost scenario generator implemented by said computer system and further configured to define costs to move said material from said first location to said second location using each of a plurality of vehicles of said vehicle pool.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein said cost scenario generator is further configured to receive an indication of a plurality of vehicles comprising said vehicle pool which are available;

and

wherein said report generator is configured to generate a plurality of reports which define how said material is to be moved by said vehicle pool.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein said report generator is further configured to define a route to be used by said vehicle when moving said load of said material from said first location to said second location and to define a route to be used by said vehicle when returning from said second location to said first location.

19. The system of claim 17 wherein said cost scenario generator is further configured to receive an indication of at least one additional vehicle which can be included in said vehicle pool from an outside site.

20. The system of claim 16 wherein said cost scenario generator is further configured to receive at least one variable of said material which affects said costs.

21. The system of claim 20 further comprising a moisture content estimator configured to generate an estimate of moisture content of said material.

22. The system of claim 13 wherein said status determiner is further configured to receive at least one site variable selected from the group consisting of:

a distance to move said material from said first location to said second location, a road condition between said first location and said second location, how fast said material can be moved from said first location to said second location, a time when said material is moved from said first location to said second location, and a weather variable.

23. The system of claim 13 wherein said report generator is further configured to receive an indication of a weighted value which is used to assign said load of said material to said vehicle and wherein said weighted value is selected from the group consisting of:

minimizing cost to move said material from said first location to said second location and maximizing volume of said material which can be moved from said first location to said second location.

24. The system of claim 13 wherein said status determiner is further configured to receive an indication selected from the group consisting of:

availability of an operator for said vehicle, and productivity of said operator of said vehicle.

25. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions stored thereon which, when implemented by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform a method of asset management of a material on a construction site, said method comprising:

identifying a first location of a material used on a site and a second location to which said material is to be moved with a vehicle pool comprising a plurality of vehicles, said identifying based upon a current status of a project being constructed at said site and a desired status of said project;

generating a report which defines a load of said material and selects a vehicle from said plurality of vehicles to be utilized to move said load of said material, according to a mass haul plan, from said first location to said second location;

automatically updating said status of said project based on an actual size and an actual drop-off location of said load of said material moved by said vehicle; and

updating said report based on said updating of said status of said project.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 25 wherein said method further comprises:

defining costs to move a material from said first location to said second location based upon availability of said plurality of vehicles of said vehicle pool.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 25 wherein said method further comprises:

generating at least one simulation which models each movement of said material, with vehicles of said vehicle pool, based upon said current status of said project and a desired status of said project.

28. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 25 wherein said method further comprises:

conveying a machine work flow plan wirelessly to said vehicle which identifies said first location, said second location, and said load of said material.

29. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 28 wherein said method further comprises:

conveying a route to use when moving said load of said material.

30. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 25 wherein said method further comprises:

determining moisture content of said material.

31. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 25 wherein said method further comprises:

defining at least one variable selected from the group consisting of;

a distance to move said material from said first location to said second location, a road condition between said first location and said second location, how fast said material can be moved from said first location to said second location, a time when said material is moved from said first location to said second location, and a weather variable.

32. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 25 wherein said method further comprises:

receiving an indication of a weighted value which is used to assign said load of said material to a particular vehicle of said vehicle pool and wherein said weighted value is selected from the group consisting of;

minimizing cost to move said material from said first location to said second location and maximizing volume of said material which can be moved from said first location to said second location.

33. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 25 wherein said method further comprises:

receiving an indication selected from the group consisting of;

availability of an operator for said vehicle, and productivity of said operator of said vehicle.