Fleet tracking system having unicast and multicast functionality

• US 8,548,741 B2
• Filed: 06/30/2011
• Issued: 10/01/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Caterpillar Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Caterpillar Incorporated
• Inventors: Koehrsen, Craig L., Collins, Darryl V., Everett, Bryan J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cheung, Mary
• Assistant Examiner(s): BERNS, MICHAEL ANDREW
• Application Number:
  US13/173,886
• Publication Number:
  US 20130006468A1
• Time in Patent Office: 824 Days
• Field of Search: 701/36, 701/482
• US Class Current: 701/482
• 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

Abstract

A tracking system is disclosed for use with a fleet of machines operating at a common worksite. The tracking system may have a locating device located onboard each machine of the fleet of machine that is configured to determine a current location of an associated machine of the fleet of machines, and a communicating device located onboard each machine in communication with the locating device. The tracking system may also have a central controller located offboard the fleet of machines in communication with each communicating device. The central controller may be configured to receive an unacknowledged message from each communicating device relaying the current location of the associated machine. The central controller may also be configured to update a location listing of the fleet of machines with the current location, and to repetitively multicast the location listing to the communicating devices of the fleet of machines.

Claims

1. A tracking system for a fleet of machines, comprising:

a locating device located on board each machine of the fleet of machines and being configured to determine a current location of an associated machine;

a communicating device located onboard each machine in communication with the locating device; and

a central controller located offboard the fleet of machines in communication with each communicating device and configured to;

receive an unacknowledged message from each communicating device relaying the current location of the associated machine,

wherein the frequency of the unacknowledged message from each communicating device is based on the speed of the associated machine, the location of the associated machine, or the speed and location of the associated machine;

update a location listing of the fleet of machines with the current location; and

repetitively multicast the location listing to the communicating devices.

2. The tracking system of claim 1, wherein each communicating device is configured to repetitively send the unacknowledged message to the central controller.

3. The tracking system of claim 2, wherein the central controller is configured to repetitively multicast the location listing at a first frequency greater than a second frequency at which each communicating device repetitively sends the unacknowledged message.

4. The tracking system of claim 3, further including a machine controller located onboard each machine in communication with an associated communicating device, wherein each machine controller is configured to determine that the unacknowledged message previously sent by the associated communicating device was correctly received by the central controller based on the location listing subsequently multicast by the central controller to each communicating device.

5. The tracking system of claim 4, wherein, when the machine controller determines that the unacknowledged message previously sent by the associated communicating device was not correctly received, the machine controller is configured to cause the associated communicating device to immediately send another unacknowledged message relaying the current location of the associated machine.

6. The tracking system of claim 5, wherein the central controller is further configured to determine that a particular machine of the fleet of machines is out of contact with the central controller when the unacknowledged message has not been received from the communicating device associated with the particular machine for at least a threshold period of time.

7. The tracking system of claim 6, wherein, when the particular machine has been determined to be out of contact, the associated machine controller is configured to cause the associated communicating device to immediately send another unacknowledged message relaying the current location of the particular machine.

8. The tracking system of claim 3, wherein the communicating device is configured to:

send the unacknowledged message at the second frequency when the associated machine is traveling at a speed less than a threshold speed; and

send the unacknowledged message at a frequency that increases with an increasing travel speed of the associated machine that is faster than the threshold speed.

9. The tracking system of claim 3, wherein the communicating device is configured to send the unacknowledged message at a frequency that increases with a decreasing proximity of the associated machine to another machine of the fleet of machines.

10. The tracking system of claim 3, wherein the central controller is further configured to determine a long-term communication status for each machine based on comparison of an actual frequency of the unacknowledged message for each machine and an expected frequency.

11. The tracking system of claim 10, wherein the location listing multicast to the fleet of machines further includes the long-term communication status for each of the fleet of machines.

12. The tracking system of claim 10, wherein when the long-term communication status for a particular machine of the fleet of machines is determined to be off for at least a threshold amount of time, the central controller is further configured to stop including the current location of the particular machine in the location listing.

13. The tracking system of claim 12, further including a machine controller located on board each machine in communication with an associated communicating device, wherein each machine controller is configured to store in memory the long-term communication status and location of each machine that is actively operating at a common worksite.

14. The tracking system of claim 13, wherein, when the machine controller includes stored in memory the long-term communication status and location of a particular machine of the fleet of machines that is not included in the location listing multicast by the central controller, the machine controller is further configured to query the central controller regarding the particular machine.

15. The tracking system of claim 13, further including a display located within each machine of the fleet of machines that is manned, the display being configured to display the location of all machines of the fleet of machines based on the multicast location listing.

16. The tracking system of claim 13, wherein each machine controller is configured to:

determine a subset of the fleet of machines that are located within a threshold proximity to its associated machine of the fleet of machines; and

implement at least one of a warning and an autonomous machine maneuver based on information within the location listing regarding the subset.

17. The tracking system of claim 1, wherein the location listing further includes locations of stationary infrastructure at a common worksite.

18. The tracking system of claim 1, wherein the central controller is configured to repetitively multicast the location listing to the communicating devices associated with only machines of the fleet of machines located within a particular region of a worksite.

19. A tracking system for a fleet of machines, comprising:

a locating device located onboard each machine of the fleet of machines and being configured to determine a current location of an associated machine of the fleet of machines;

a machine controller located onboard each machine;

a communicating device located onboard each machine in communication with the locating device and the machine controller; and

a central controller located offboard the fleet of machines in communication with each communicating device, the central controller configured to;

repetitively receive at a first frequency an unacknowledged message from each communicating device relaying the current location of the associated machine;

update a location listing of the fleet of machines with the current location; and

repetitively multicast at a second frequency greater than the first frequency the location listing to each communicating device,

wherein the machine controller is configured to;

determine that the unacknowledged message previously sent by the associated communicating device was correctly received by the central controller based on the location listing subsequently multicast by the central controller; and

determine that the associated machine is out of contact with the central controller when the unacknowledged message has not been received from the locating device for at least a threshold period of time.

20. A tracking system for a fleet of machines, comprising:

a locating device located onboard each machine of the fleet of machines and being configured to determine a current location of an associated machine;

a communicating device located onboard each machine in communication with the locating device; and

a central controller located offboard the fleet of machines in communication with each communicating device and configured to;

repetitively receive an unacknowledged message from each communicating device relaying the current location of the associated machine,

wherein the frequency of the unacknowledged message from each communicating device is based on the speed of the associated machine, the location of the associated machine, or the speed and location of the associated machine;

update a plurality of different location listings of the fleet of machines with the current location; and

repetitively multicast each of the plurality of different location listings to particular communicating devices based on co-location of the associated machines within particular regions of a worksite.