METHODS AND APPARATUS TO MANAGE A FLEET OF WORK MACHINES

• US 20140277905A1
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Published: 09/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Deere & Company
• Original Assignee: Deere & Company
• Inventors: Anderson, Noel Wayne
• Application Number:
  US13/841,299
• Publication Number:
  US 20140277905A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/29.3
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063114 Status monitoring or status determination for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/08 Registering or indicating performance data other than driving, working, idle, or waiting time, with or without registering driving, working, idle or waiting time

Abstract

Methods and apparatus are disclosed for managing a fleet of work machines. An example method disclosed herein includes determining corresponding performance metrics for a plurality of machine configurations to complete corresponding missions at a work site of an operation; assigning a machine configuration of the plurality of machine configurations to the plurality of missions based on the performance metrics.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining a first performance metric for a first machine configuration to execute a mission at a work site based on a characteristic of the first machine configuration or a characteristic of the work site;

determining a second performance metric for a second machine configuration to execute the mission at the work site based on a characteristic of the second machine configuration or a characteristic of the work site; and

assigning the first machine configuration to the work site for execution of the mission based on a comparison of the first and second performance metrics.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the mission is a first mission and the work site is a first work site, the method further comprising:

determining a third performance metric for the first machine configuration to execute a second mission at a second work site based on a characteristic of the first machine configuration or a characteristic of the work site;

determining a fourth performance metric for the second machine configuration to execute the second mission at the work site based on a characteristic of the second machine configuration or a characteristic of the work site; and

assigning the first machine to the first work site to execute the first mission and assigning the second machine to the second work site to execute the second mission based on comparing a sum of the first performance metric and the fourth performance metric to a sum of the second performance metric and the third performance metric.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the first machine configuration comprises a host machine operated by a user and at least one of an autonomous auxiliary machine or a semi-autonomous operated auxiliary machine.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the at least one of the autonomous auxiliary machine or the semi-autonomous auxiliary machine comprises an energy storage device to store energy charged during execution of the mission.

5. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining a performance multiplier based on the characteristics of the work site;

calculating a first overall performance metric by adjusting the first performance metric using the performance multiplier; and

calculating a second overall performance metric by adjusting the second performance metric using the performance multiplier,

wherein assigning the first machine configuration is based on a comparison of the first overall performance metric and the second overall performance metric.

6. A method according to claim 1, further comprising determining whether the first machine configuration is capable of executing the mission to completion based on a power rating or an energy storage capacity of the first machine configuration and an estimated power requirement to complete the mission.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein the comparison of the first performance metric to the second performance metric indicates that the first performance metric is more optimal than the second performance metric, wherein the first and second performance metric comprise a minimum power needed to complete the mission, a minimum fuel cost, a minimum emissions, or minimum length of time to complete the missions.

8. An apparatus comprising:

a mission analyzer to determine a first performance metric for a first machine configuration to execute a mission at a work site based on a characteristic of the first machine configuration or a characteristic of the work site and a second performance metric for a second machine configuration to execute the mission at the work site based on a characteristic of the second machine configuration or a characteristic of the work site; and

a fleet assigner to assign the first machine configuration to the work site for execution of the mission based on a comparison of the first and second performance metrics.

9. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein

the mission analyzer is further to determine a third performance metric for the first machine configuration to execute a second mission at a second work site based on a characteristic of the first machine configuration or a characteristic of the work site and a fourth performance metric for the second machine configuration to execute the second mission at the work site based on a characteristic of the second machine configuration or a characteristic of the work site,

wherein the fleet assigner is to assign the first machine to the first work site to execute the first mission and assigning the second machine to the second work site to execute the second mission based on comparing a sum of the first performance metric and the fourth performance metric to a sum of the second performance metric and the third performance metric.

10. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the machine configuration comprises a host machine operated by a user and at least one of an autonomous auxiliary machine or a semi-autonomous operated auxiliary machine.

11. An apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the at least one of the autonomous auxiliary machine or the semi-autonomous auxiliary machine comprises an energy storage device to store energy charged during execution of the mission.

12. An apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising a site analyzer to determine a performance multiplier based on characteristics of the work site, calculate a first overall performance metric by adjusting the first performance metric using the performance multiplier, and calculate a second overall performance metric by adjusting the second performance metric using the performance multiplier,

wherein the fleet assigner is to assign the first machine configuration based on a comparison of the first overall performance metric and the second overall performance metric.

13. An apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising a configuration analyzer to determine whether the first machine configuration is capable of executing the mission completion based on a power rating or an energy storage capacity of the first machine configuration and an estimated power requirement to complete the mission.

14. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the comparison of the first performance metric to the second performance metric indicates that the first performance metric is more optimal than the second performance metric, wherein the first and second performance metric comprise a minimum power needed to complete the mission, a minimum fuel cost, a minimum emissions, or minimum length of time to complete the missions.

15. A tangible computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed cause a machine to at least:

determine a first performance metric for a first machine configuration to execute a mission at a work site based on a characteristic of the first machine configuration or a characteristic of the work site;

determine a second performance metric for a second machine configuration to execute the mission at the work site based on a characteristic of the second machine configuration or a characteristic of the work site; and

assign the first machine configuration to the work site for execution of the mission based on a comparison of the first and second performance metrics.

16. A storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the instructions when executed cause the machine to:

determine a third performance metric for the first machine configuration to execute a second mission at a second work site based on a characteristic of the first machine configuration or a characteristic of the work site;

determine a fourth performance metric for the second machine configuration to execute the second mission at the work site based on a characteristic of the second machine configuration or a characteristic of the work site; and

assign the first machine to the first work site to execute the first mission and assigning the second machine to the second work site to execute the second mission based on comparing a sum of the first performance metric and the fourth performance metric to a sum of the second performance metric and the third performance metric.

17. A storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the first machine configuration comprises a host machine operated by a user and at least one of an autonomous auxiliary machine or a semi-autonomous operated auxiliary machine.

18. A storage medium according to claim 17, wherein the at least one of the autonomous auxiliary machine or the semi-autonomous auxiliary machine comprises an energy storage device to store energy charged during execution of the mission.

19. A storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the instructions when executed cause the machine to:

determine a performance multiplier based on the characteristics of the work site;

calculate a first overall performance metric by adjusting the first performance metric using the performance multiplier; and

calculate a second overall performance metric by adjusting the second performance metric using the performance multiplier; and

assign the first machine configuration is based on a comparison of the first overall performance metric and the second overall performance metric.

20. A storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the instructions when executed cause the machine to determine whether the first machine configuration is capable of executing the mission to completion based on a power rating or an energy storage capacity of the first machine configuration and an estimated power requirement to complete the mission.

21. (canceled)