CARGO MONITORING METHOD AND ARRANGEMENT

• US 20140067313A1
• Filed: 03/28/2013
• Published: 03/06/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/08/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intelligent Technologies International, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intelligent Technologies International, Inc.
• Inventors: Breed, David S.
• Granted Patent: US 8,786,437 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/141
• CPC Class Codes: B60P 7/06 Securing of load vehicle retainers B60P3/073
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 15/02 by making use of inertia forces using solid seismic massesG01P15/14 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/52 Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69

Abstract

Method and arrangement for monitoring cargo includes coupling an inertial measurement unit to the cargo such that accelerations of the cargo are detected by the inertial measurement unit, monitoring, using a processor, the accelerations of the cargo as detected by the inertial measurement unit, and generating a warning based on the monitoring of the accelerations. The warning may be generated when the detected acceleration is excessive in magnitude, duration or frequency and/or when integration of the detected acceleration is indicative of excessive velocity, angular velocity or angular displacement.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring cargo, comprising:

coupling a measurement unit including a plurality of accelerometers to the cargo and detecting accelerations of the cargo using the measurement unit;

monitoring, using a processor, the detected accelerations of the cargo, said monitoring step comprising configuring the processor to use pattern recognition to convert data related to the accelerations of the cargo detected by the measurement unit into an output indicative of an event causing the accelerations of the cargo; and

generating a warning based on the output indicative of the event causing the accelerations of the cargo.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the measurement unit includes a plurality of gyroscopes such that the measurement unit constitutes an inertial measurement unit.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the measurement unit includes a plurality of gyroscopes, further comprising detecting angular accelerations of the cargo using the gyroscopes.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising adjusting at least one of the detected accelerations at a site off of the cargo based on data from a GPS system.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising applying a measurement unit correction to the detected accelerations.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a location of the cargo.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting at least a portion of information about the cargo to a site separate and apart from the cargo using a communication system coupled to the processor.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the processor executes a pattern recognition algorithm when monitoring the accelerations of the cargo.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the cargo is situated in a container and the measurement unit is arranged on the container.

10. A method for monitoring cargo, comprising:

coupling a measurement unit including a plurality of accelerometers to the cargo and detecting accelerations of the cargo using the measurement unit;

determining a location of the cargo to enable monitoring of location of the cargo;

monitoring, using a processor, the detected accelerations of the cargo, said monitoring step comprising configuring the processor to use pattern recognition to convert data related to the accelerations of the cargo detected by the measurement unit into an output indicative of an event causing the accelerations of the cargo;

transmitting the output about the cargo from the processor and the location of the cargo using a communication system coupled to the processor; and

generating a warning based on the output indicative of the event causing the accelerations of the cargo.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising adjusting at least one of the detected accelerations at a site off of the cargo based on data from a GPS system that determines the location of the cargo.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising applying a measurement unit correction to the detected accelerations.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the cargo is situated in a container and the measurement unit, the processor and the communication system are arranged on the container.

20. The method of claim 10, wherein said processor is configured to execute a pattern recognition algorithm when converting the data using pattern recognition.

14. A cargo monitoring arrangement arranged in conjunction with the cargo, comprising:

a measurement unit that detects accelerations of the cargo; and

a processor coupled to said measurement unit and that monitors the accelerations of the cargo as detected by said measurement unit,

said processor being configured to use pattern recognition to convert data related to the accelerations of the cargo detected by said measurement unit into an output indicative of an event causing the accelerations of the cargo; and

said processor being configured to cause a warning to be generated based on the output indicative of the event causing the accelerations of the cargo.

15. The arrangement of claim 14, wherein said measurement unit comprises three accelerometers that measure acceleration in orthogonal directions and three gyroscopes that measure angular acceleration in three orthogonal directions.

16. The arrangement of claim 14, wherein said processor is configured to execute a pattern recognition algorithm when converting the data using pattern recognition.

17. The arrangement of claim 14, wherein the cargo is arranged in a container, said measurement unit being arranged on said container.

18. The arrangement of claim 17, further comprising a location determining system arranged on the container and that determines a location of the container.

19. The arrangement of claim 17, further comprising a communication system arranged on the container and that transmits at least a portion of information about the cargo to a site separate and apart from the cargo.