DIRECTING AN INSPECTOR THROUGH AN INSPECTION

• US 20160125342A1
• Filed: 11/03/2014
• Published: 05/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hand Held Products Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hand Held Products Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: Miller, Kurt Charles, Koenig, Mark, Mracna, Alexander Nikolaus
• Granted Patent: US 10,810,529 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06316 Sequencing of tasks or work
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/00 Speech or audio signals analysis-synthesis techniques for redundancy reduction, e.g. in vocoders; Coding or decoding of speech or audio signals, using source filter models or psychoacoustic analysis in musical instruments G10H

Abstract

Systems and methods for creating and editing an inspection plan and directing an inspector through an inspection are provided. An exemplary system, according to one implementation, comprises a mobile computing device and a server computer. The mobile computing device is configured to communicate audible prompts to an inspector and receive audible replies from the inspector. The server computer is configured to store an inspection plan comprising a sequence of inspection steps, translate each of the inspection steps of the inspection plan into audible prompts, transmit the audible prompts to the mobile computing device, receive the audible replies from the mobile computing device, and translate the audible replies into a set of inspection results.

Claims

1. A system for executing a voice-data-entry (VDE) inspection, the system comprising:

a mobile computing device configured to (i) communicate audible prompts to an inspector and (ii) receive audible replies from the inspector; and

a server computer in communication with the mobile computing device, the server computer configured to (i) store an inspection plan comprising a sequence of inspection steps, (ii) translate each of the inspection steps of the inspection plan into audible prompts, (iii) transmit the audible prompts to the mobile computing device in accordance with the inspection plan, (iv) receive the audible replies from the mobile computing device, and (v) translate the audible replies into a set of inspection results.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the server computer is further configured with a voice-form editor to allow an operator to alter inspection step details.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the inspection step details comprise an audible prompt that the inspector hears at the start of an inspection step.

4. The system according to claim 2, wherein the inspection step details comprise an audible prompt that the inspector hears upon a request for help.

5. The system according to claim 2, wherein the inspection step details comprise the number of items that an inspector may choose from in a list of possible audible replies.

6. The system according to claim 2, wherein the inspection step details comprise a unique identifier for the inspector'"'"'s choice from a list.

7. The system according to claim 2, wherein the inspection step details comprise a confirmation requirement for an inspection step.

8. The system according to claim 2, wherein the inspection step details comprise conditional logic to enable the transmission of an audible prompt based on at least one previous audible reply.

9. The system according to claim 2, wherein the mobile computing device comprises a display and the inspection step details comprise image information to be displayed on the mobile computing device'"'"'s display during an inspection step.

10. The system according to claim 2, wherein the mobile computing device comprises at least one sensor selected from the group consisting of a camera, a scanner, an optical character recognition (OCR) device, an imaging scanner, an RFID reader, a Bluetooth scanner, a serial scanner, and a temperature sensor, and wherein the inspection step details comprise audible prompts for the inspector to use the at least one selected sensor to gather data.

11. The system according to claim 2, wherein the inspection step details comprise maximum and minimum limits.

12. The system according to claim 2, wherein the inspection step details comprise date-specific information.

13. The system according to claim 2, wherein the voice-form editor graphically displays the inspection step details.

14. A voice-data-entry (VDE) inspection system, the VDE inspection system comprising:

a host computer configured to (i) transmit an inspection plan and (ii) receive an inspection result;

a mobile computing device configured to (i) communicate audible prompts to an inspector and (ii) receive audible replies from the inspector;

a server computer in communication with the host computer and the mobile computing device, the server computer configured to (i) receive the inspection plan from the host computer, (ii) allow an operator to edit attributes of one or more steps of the inspection plan, (iii) translate the inspection plan into a sequence of audible prompts, (iv) transmit the audible prompts to the mobile computing device, (v) receive audible replies from the mobile computing device, (vi) translate the audible replies into the inspection result, (vii) transmit the inspection result to the host computer.

15. The VDE inspection system according to claim 14, wherein the inspection plan comprises conditional logic to enable the transmission of an audible prompt based on at least one previous audible reply.

16. The VDE inspection system according to claim 14, wherein the mobile computing device comprises a display and the inspection plan comprises image information for display on the mobile computing device.

17. The system according to claim 14, wherein the mobile computing device comprises at least one sensor selected from the group consisting of a camera, a scanner, an optical character recognition (OCR) device, an imaging scanner, an RFID reader, a Bluetooth scanner, a serial scanner, and a temperature sensor, and wherein the inspection plan comprises audible prompts for the inspector to use the at least one selected sensor to gather data.

18. A method for a voice-data entry (VDE) inspection using a computer, the VDE inspection method comprising:

creating a voice form having a plurality of inspection steps;

obtaining an inspection request from a remote host computer, the inspection request comprising a sequence in which the inspection steps are to be performed, the inspection request further comprising sections into which the inspection steps are organized;

verifying that the sequence and sections of the inspection request comply with at least part of the voice form;

translating the inspection request into a voice plan, the voice plan comprising audible prompts for each inspection step;

communicating the voice plan'"'"'s audible prompts to a voice-enabled, mobile computing device;

recording an inspector'"'"'s audible reply for each audible prompt and communicating the audible replies back to the computer;

validating the audible replies and translating the replies into inspection results; and

uploading the inspection results to the remote host computer.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the step of verifying comprises editing the voice form to comply with the inspection request.

20. The method according to claim 18, wherein editing is accomplished using a voice-form editor with a graphical user interface running on the computer.

21. A voice-directed inspection system comprising:

a site computer configured to enable an operator to create and edit an inspection plan, the inspection plan including instructions for guiding inspectors through an inspection; and

an inspection assistance device configured to be carried or worn by an inspector, the inspection assistance device configured to download the inspection plan from the site computer and communicate the instructions to the inspector to guide the inspector through the inspection.

22. The voice-directed inspection system according to claim 21, further comprising a host computer, wherein, upon completion of the inspection, the site computer uploads results of the inspection to the host computer.