SERVICES SUPPORT SYSTEM AND METHOD

• US 20150066286A1
• Filed: 07/29/2014
• Published: 03/05/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: CONNOLLY, PAUL, TROMBLEY, GINA, WOOD, BRANDI
• Granted Patent: US 9,239,991 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/29.6
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/016 After-sales

Abstract

A system and method for remotely supporting users includes receiving identification information of a potential problem with a remotely located equipment from a user and responding to receiving the identification information by providing a recommended work scope to the user. The recommended work scope includes a recommended series of actions to perform to at least one of repair or replace a component subsystem and an instructional representation for display on a mobile device. The first instructional representation both illustrates the series of actions to perform and includes at least one annotation to represent an alert to the user that is related to the action being illustrated. The first instructional representation includes images, videos, and/or a combination thereof that are displayed on the mobile device to guide the user through the recommended work scope.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving identification information of a potential problem with a remotely located component subsystem of subject equipment from a user located proximate to the subject equipment via a mobile device;

responding to receiving the identification information by providing a recommended work scope to the user via the mobile device, the recommended work scope including a recommended series of actions to perform to at least one of repair or replace the component subsystem and a first instructional representation for display on the mobile device, the first instructional representation both illustrating at least one action of the series of actions to perform and including at least one annotation to represent an alert to the user that is related to the action being illustrated; and

responding to receiving the identification information by sending a recommended work scope to the user via the mobile device, the first instructional representation including a series of images, videos, or a combination of images and videos that are configured to be displayed on the mobile device to guide the user through the recommended work scope, the first instructional representation configured to display one or more of the images, videos, or the combination of images and videos that represent one or more of the actions in the recommended series of actions that correspond to one or more actions actually being performed by the user while the user is performing the one or more actions.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification information includes at least one of an identification of the user, an identification of a potential problem selection by the user, an identification of the subject equipment being examined by the user, or an identification of the component subsystem of a vehicle system that performs one or more operations of the subject equipment.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising presenting a different, second instructional representation on the mobile device in response to a user acknowledgement of the alert, and selecting the recommended work scope from plural potential work scopes.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first and second instructional representations are sequentially displayed and represent a sequence of the series of actions to perform from the recommended work scope, and wherein the second instructional representation is subsequent to the first instructional representation and is only displayed responsive to the user acknowledgement of the alert being received.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising presenting a menu of plural work scopes that most nearly match the identification information based on a determined set of similarities of the potential problem, the plural work scopes including the recommended work scope.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one annotation includes an image or video of at least one of the subject equipment or the component subsystem obtained by the user and information of a hazard condition associated with the at least one action.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising changing a displayed color of a display of one or more parts of the component subsystem that are displayed on the mobile device and associated with the hazard condition responsive to receiving the user acknowledgement of the alert.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising presenting one or more alert icons or sounds during performance of the recommended work scope that indicate a hazard class associated with the corresponding instructional representation that is displayed on the mobile device.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a first viewpoint of an image of at least a portion of the component subsystem on the mobile device in at least one of the instructional representations and, responsive to user control of the mobile device, displaying a different, second viewpoint of the image on the mobile device.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying plural images of different viewpoints of at least a portion of the component subsystem on the mobile device and allowing a user to select among the viewpoints for display on the mobile device.

11. A services support system comprising:

an analysis system configured to receive identification information of a potential problem with a remotely located component subsystem of subject equipment from a user located proximate to the subject equipment via a mobile device, the analysis system also configured to respond to receipt of the identification information by providing a recommended work scope to the user via the mobile device, the recommended work scope including a recommended series of actions to perform to at least one of repair or replace the component subsystem and a first instructional representation for display on the mobile device,

wherein the analysis system also is configured to respond to receiving the identification information by sending a recommended work scope to the user via the mobile device, the first instructional representation both illustrating at least one action of the series of actions to perform and including at least one annotation to represent an alert to the user that is related to the action being illustrated, the first instructional representation including a series of images, videos, or a combination of images and videos that are configured to be displayed on the mobile device to guide the user through the recommended work scope, the first instructional representation configured to display one or more of the images, videos, or the combination of images and videos that represent one or more of the actions in the recommended series of actions that correspond to one or more actions actually being performed by the user while the user is performing the one or more actions.

12. The services support system of claim 11, wherein the identification information includes at least one of an identification of the user, an identification of a potential problem selection by the user, an identification of the subject equipment being examined by the user, or an identification of the component subsystem of a vehicle system that performs one or more operations of the subject equipment.

13. The services support system of claim 11, wherein the analysis system is configured to direct the mobile device to present a different, second instructional representation in response to a user acknowledgement of the alert, and to receive a selection of the recommended work scope from among plural potential work scopes via the mobile device.

14. The services support system of claim 13, wherein the analysis system is configured to direct the mobile device to sequentially display the first and second instructional representations in order to represent a sequence of the series of actions to perform from the recommended work scope, and wherein the analysis system is configured to direct the mobile device to display the second instructional representation subsequent to the first instructional representation and only in response to the user acknowledgement of the alert being received from the mobile device.

15. The services support system of claim 11, wherein the analysis system is configured to direct the mobile device to present a menu of plural work scopes that most nearly match the identification information based on a determined set of similarities of the potential problem, the plural work scopes including the recommended work scope.

16. The services support system of claim 11, wherein the at least one annotation includes an image or video of at least one of the subject equipment or the component subsystem obtained by the user and information of a hazard condition associated with the at least one action.

17. A method, comprising:

determining a difference between a designated characteristic of a first component of a first vehicle system and one or more actual characteristics of the first component;

identifying at least one of a replacement component in an inventory stock of components or a currently used component in a second vehicle system responsive to the difference between the designated characteristic and the one or more actual characteristics being outside of a designated range of differences so that the first component of the first vehicle system can be replaced with the replacement component or the currently used component of the second vehicle system; and

displaying a notification on a display device of the at least one of the replacement component or the currently used component so that a user of the display device can determine whether to replace the first component with the replacement component or the currently used component.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the first component is a first wheel of the first vehicle system, the currently used component is a second wheel being currently used by the second vehicle system, and the replacement component is a replacement wheel in the inventory stock, the components of the inventory stock comprising plural wheels, and further comprising receiving one or more actual dimensions of the first wheel as the one or more actual characteristics, wherein the at least one of the replacement component or the currently used component is identified responsive to a difference between the one or more actual dimensions of the first wheel and one or more designated dimensions of the first wheel associated with the first vehicle system being outside of the designated range.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the replacement component that is identified has one or more actual characteristics such that a difference between the one or more actual characteristics of the replacement component and the designated characteristic are within the designated range of differences.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the currently used component that is identified is identified only when the second vehicle system is within a designated distance from the first vehicle system and the currently used component has one or more actual characteristics such that a difference between the one or more actual characteristics of the replacement component and the designated characteristic are within the designated range of differences.