ASSET TRACKING AND MONITORING ALONG A TRANSPORT ROUTE

• US 20140085479A1
• Filed: 09/25/2012
• Published: 03/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Haas, Norman, Hampapur, Arun, Li, Ying, Pankanti, Sharathchandra
• Granted Patent: US 9,595,017 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/159
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management

Abstract

A system and computer program product for tracking and monitoring assets along a transport route. The system includes at least one receiver for receiving asset identifications transmitted from the assets, where each asset transmits its own asset identification. The receiver also receives physical location coordinates of each of the assets. A plurality of cameras is dispersed along the transport route for transmitting camera images of the assets. The system further includes a server coupled to the receiver and cameras. The server is configured to recognize the assets in the camera images, to correlate the asset identification from the receiver with recognized assets in the camera images, and to correlate the physical location coordinates of each of the assets with physical location coordinates of the cameras. The system monitors the visual appearance of the assets, and keeps track of whether or not they have sustained physical damage.

Claims

1. A system for tracking and monitoring assets along a transport route, the system comprising:

at least one receiver for receiving asset identifications transmitted from the assets and physical location coordinates of each of the assets, where each asset transmits its own asset identification;

a plurality of cameras dispersed along the transport route for transmitting camera images of the assets;

a server coupled to the at least one receiver and cameras, the server configured to recognize the assets in the camera images, to correlate the asset identification from the receiver with recognized assets in the camera images, and to correlate the physical location coordinates of each of the assets with physical location coordinates of the cameras.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a transmitter carried by each of the assets, the transmitter configured to transmit the unique asset identification.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the transmitter is further configured to transmit its physical location coordinates.

4. The system of claim 3, further comprising a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver carried by each of the assets to determine the asset'"'"'s physical location coordinates.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the transmitter is a radio-frequency identification (RFID) transmitter.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the at least one receiver is a radio-frequency identification (RFID) receiver proximate to one of the cameras.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the physical location coordinates of each of the assets is determined by triangulation of messages transmitted from the assets.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the cameras are positioned at different locations along the assets'"'"' transport route.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the server is further configured to send an alert if at least one of the assets is not recognized while the asset is determined to be within a field of view of a respective camera from the plurality of cameras.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the server is further configured to send an alert if at least one of the assets is recognized while the asset is determined to be outside a field of view of a respective camera from the plurality of cameras.

11. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

wherein the plurality of database images include images for determining if the assets are damaged; and

wherein the server is further configured to send an alert if at least one of the assets is determined to be damaged.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a database including a plurality of database images for recognition of each of the assets; and

wherein the server is configured to recognize the assets in the camera images using the database images.

13. A computer program product for tracking and monitoring assets along a transport route, the computer program product comprising:

a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code configured to;

receive asset identifications from the assets and physical location coordinates of each of the assets, where each asset transmits its own asset identification;

transmit camera images of the assets by a plurality of cameras dispersed along the transport route;

recognize the assets in the camera images; and

correlate the asset identification with recognized assets in the camera images and the physical location coordinates of each of the assets with physical location coordinates of the cameras along the transport route.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, further comprising computer readable program code configured to transmit by each of the assets the unique asset identification.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, further comprising computer readable program code configured to transmit by each of the assets physical location coordinates of the asset.

16. The computer program product of claim 13, further comprising computer readable program code configured to correlate physical location coordinates from each of the assets with physical location coordinates of the cameras along the transport route.

17. The computer program product of claim 13, further comprising computer readable program code configured to send an alert if at least one of the assets is not recognized while the asset is determined to be within a field of view of a respective camera from the plurality of cameras.

18. The computer program product of claim 13, further comprising computer readable program code configured to send an alert if at least one of the assets is recognized while the asset is determined to be outside a field of view of a respective camera from the plurality of cameras.

19. The computer program product of claim 13, further comprising:

wherein the plurality of database images include images for determining if the assets are damaged; and

computer readable program code configured to send an alert if at least one of the assets is determined to be damaged.

20. The computer program product of claim 13, further comprising:

computer readable program code configured to store database images of the assets in a database; and

wherein the assets in the camera images are recognized using the database images.