Technician Timer

• US 20170286888A1
• Filed: 04/01/2016
• Published: 10/05/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Snap-On Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Snap-On Incorporated
• Inventors: Merg, Patrick S., Foreman, Jacob G., Mercer, Todd, Brozovich, Roy Steven
• Granted Patent: US 10,643,158 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063114 Status monitoring or status determination for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0639 Performance analysis of employees; Performance analysis of enterprise or organisation operations
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2205/02 using a vehicle scan tool
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/205 Indicating the location of the monitored vehicles as destination, e.g. accidents, stolen, rental
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/22 Platooning, i.e. convoy of communicating vehicles

Abstract

An example method includes receiving a first service procedure for servicing a vehicle, determining an expected pace of performance of the first service procedure, receiving at least one input signal during performance of the first service procedure, determining, based on the at least one input signal, a current pace of performance of the first service procedure, and providing for display of a first pace indicator on a display interface of the computing device, where the first pace indicator is representative of the current pace of performance of the first service procedure relative to the expected pace of performance of the first service procedure.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a computing device, a first service procedure for servicing a vehicle;

determining an expected pace of performance of the first service procedure, wherein the expected pace of performance comprises a plurality of expected completion times of a plurality of steps of the first service procedure to complete the first service procedure by a target completion time;

receiving, by the computing device, at least one input signal during performance of the first service procedure;

determining, based on the at least one input signal, a current pace of performance of the first service procedure, wherein the current pace of performance of the first service procedure comprises one or more actual completion times of one or more steps of the plurality of steps of the first service procedure; and

providing for display of a first pace indicator on a display interface of the computing device, wherein the first pace indicator is representative of the current pace of performance of the first service procedure relative to the expected pace of performance of the first service procedure.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the computing device, a start signal at a start time, wherein the start signal indicates that the first service procedure has been started; and

determining the one or more actual completion times of the one or more steps relative to the start time.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the computing device, a stop signal indicating that performance of the first service procedure has stopped;

receiving, by the computing device, a restart signal indicating that performance of the first service procedure has restarted; and

adjusting the expected pace of performance of the first service procedure based on an amount of time elapsed between receiving the stop signal and the restart signal.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the at least one input signal comprises receiving one or more audible input signals indicative of completion of the one or more steps.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the at least one input signal comprises receiving video data from a camera coupled to the computing device, wherein at least a portion of the video data is indicative of the vehicle during performance of the first service procedure.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

identifying a stop in performance of the first service procedure at a stop time based on the video data;

identifying a restart in performance of the first service procedure at a restart time based on the video data; and

adjusting the expected pace of performance of the first service procedure based on an amount of time elapsed between the stop time and the restart time.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining a percentage of time spent performing the first service procedure on the vehicle based on the video data; and

adjusting the expected pace of performance of the first service procedure based on the percentage of time spent performing the first service procedure on the vehicle.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining an effective pay rate for the first service procedure, wherein the effective pay rate comprises a base pay rate that is adjusted based on the current pace of performance relative to the expected pace of performance; and

providing for display of the effective pay rate on the display interface of the computing device.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving at least one target completion time for at least one step of the plurality of steps of the first service procedure; and

determining the expected pace of performance of the first service procedure based on the at least one target completion time for the at least one step.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining an expected pace of performance of a current step of the first service procedure to complete the current step by an expected completion time for the current step; and

determining a current pace of performance of the current step of the first service procedure,

wherein the first pace indicator is further representative of the current pace of performance of the current step of the first service procedure relative to the expected pace of performance of the current step of the first service procedure.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that an expected completion time for a current step of the first service procedure has been exceeded;

transmitting a request for assistance with the current step;

receiving at least one response to the request for assistance, wherein the at least one response comprises at least one piece of service information; and

providing for display of the at least one piece of service information on the display interface of the computing device.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, based on the current pace of performance and the expected pace of performance, that performance of the first service procedure is behind schedule;

in response to determining that performance of the first service procedure is behind schedule, transmitting a request for assistance with one or more uncompleted steps of the first service procedure;

receiving at least one response to the request for assistance, wherein the at least one response comprises at least one piece of service information for at least one of the one or more uncompleted steps of the first service procedure; and

providing for display of the at least one piece of service information on the display interface of the computing device.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the first pace indicator comprises an indication that performance of the first service procedure is one of behind schedule, on time, or ahead of schedule.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the first pace indicator comprises an indication of at least one of (i) an elapsed amount of time during performance of the first service procedure and (ii) an amount of time remaining from the target completion time.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that a second service procedure has been started;

recording an amount of time elapsed during performance of the first service procedure; and

providing for display of a second pace indicator on the display interface of the computing device, wherein the second pace indicator is representative of a current pace of performance of the second service procedure relative to an expected pace of performance of the second service procedure.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

receiving video data from a camera coupled to the computing device; and

determining that the second service procedure has been started based on the received video data.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

determining that the first service procedure has been resumed; and

determining the current pace of performance of the first service procedure based on the recorded amount of time elapsed during performance of the first service procedure.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving, from a user interface of the computing device, a selection signal indicating a selection of the first pace indicator; and

determining that the first service procedure has been resumed based on the selection signal.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the current pace of performance of the first service procedure comprises:

providing, by the computing device, at least one query requesting confirmation that at least one of the one or more steps has been completed;

receiving, by the computing device, at least one responsive input signal responsive to the at least one query; and

determining the current pace of performance of the first service procedure based on the at least one responsive input signal.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing device comprises a head-mountable device with a camera, the method further comprising:

receiving video data from the camera during performance of the first service procedure; and

determining the current pace of performance of the first service procedure based at least in part on the received video data.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

determining a percentage of time that the video data represents at least one of a portion of the vehicle or a vehicle part;

determining that the percentage of time is below an expected percentage of time; and

in response to determining that the percentage of time is below an expected percentage of time, providing for display of a warning signal on the display interface.

22. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the plurality of expected completion times of the plurality of steps of the first service procedure from a first data source that includes past completion times of vehicle service procedure steps; and

providing the one or more actual completion times of the one or more steps to the first data source.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one input signal comprises at least one detected sound, the method further comprising:

identifying, based on the at least one detected sound, at least one of the one or more actual completion times of the one or more steps of the first service procedure.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one input signal comprises at least one detected sound, the method further comprising:

identifying, based on at least one frequency of the at least one detected sound, at least one operation performed with a given tool during performance of the first service procedure; and

determining at least one of the one or more actual completion times of the one or more steps of the first service procedure based on the at least one identified operation performed with the given tool.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the at least one input signal further comprises video data indicative of the vehicle during performance of the first service procedure, the method further comprising:

identifying, based on the video data, the given tool before identifying the at least one operation performed with the given tool.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one input signal comprises sensor data received from at least one sensor coupled to at least one piece of vehicle service equipment used in performance of the first service procedure, the method further comprising:

determining at least one of the one or more actual completion times of the one or more steps of the first service procedure based on the received sensor data.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the sensor data is indicative of an amount of fluid dispensed by the at least one piece of vehicle service equipment, the method further comprising:

determining the at least one actual completion time based on when the amount of fluid dispensed reaches a predetermined target amount for the vehicle.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein the sensor data is indicative of a number of operations performed on the vehicle with the at least one piece of vehicle service equipment, the method further comprising:

determining the at least one actual completion time based on when the number of operations reaches an expected number for operations for the at least one piece of vehicle service equipment in performance of the first service procedure.

29. A computing device comprising:

a display interface;

one or more processors;

a non-transitory computer readable medium; and

program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by the one or more processors to;

receive a first service procedure for servicing a vehicle;

determine an expected pace of performance of the first service procedure, wherein the expected pace of performance comprises a plurality of expected completion times of a plurality of steps of the first service procedure to complete the first service procedure by a target completion time;

receive at least one input signal during performance of the first service procedure;

determine, based on the at least one input signal, a current pace of performance of the first service procedure, wherein the current pace of performance of the first service procedure comprises one or more actual completion times of one or more steps of the plurality of steps of the first service procedure; and

provide for display of a first pace indicator on the display interface, wherein the first pace indicator is representative of the current pace of performance of the first service procedure relative to the expected pace of performance of the first service procedure.

30. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored therein instructions executable by one or more processors to cause a computing system to perform functions comprising:

receiving a first service procedure for servicing a vehicle;

determining an expected pace of performance of the first service procedure, wherein the expected pace of performance comprises a plurality of expected completion times of a plurality of steps of the first service procedure to complete the first service procedure by a target completion time;

receiving at least one input signal during performance of the first service procedure;

determining, based on the at least one input signal, a current pace of performance of the first service procedure, wherein the current pace of performance of the first service procedure comprises one or more actual completion times of one or more steps of the plurality of steps of the first service procedure; and

providing for display of a first pace indicator on a display interface of a computing device, wherein the first pace indicator is representative of the current pace of performance of the first service procedure relative to the expected pace of performance of the first service procedure.