Information technology asset location using visual detectors

• US 8,867,819 B2
• Filed: 01/28/2013
• Issued: 10/21/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Calio, Robert J., Connell, Jonathan H. II, Frissora, Michael J., Isci, Canturk, Kephart, Jeffrey O., Lenchner, Jonathan, McIntosh, Suzanne K., Mohomed, Iqbal I., Nelson, John C., Thoensen, James W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Liew, Alex
• Application Number:
  US13/751,269
• Publication Number:
  US 20140211983A1
• Time in Patent Office: 631 Days
• Field of Search: 382/153, 382/291
• US Class Current: 382/153
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/10 Terrestrial scenes scenes under surveillance with static cameras G06V20/52; scenes perceived from the exterior of a vehicle G06V20/56; scenes perceived from the interior of a vehicle G06V20/59

Abstract

Mechanisms are provided for determining the physical location of a physical asset in a physical area. A plurality of physical assets are controlled to cause each physical asset to output a visual output pattern on visual output elements of the physical asset. An image of a target physical asset is captured that has the current state of the visual output elements. An identification of the target physical asset is determined based on the current state of the visual output elements. A physical location of the target physical asset is determined based on a physical location of the image capture device when the image was captured. Location data identifying the determined physical location of the target physical asset is stored in an asset database in association with configuration information for the physical asset.

Claims

1. A method, in a data processing system, for determining the physical location of a physical asset in a physical area, comprising:

controlling a plurality of physical assets to cause each physical asset to output a visual output pattern on one or more visual output elements of the physical asset;

capturing at least one image of a target physical asset using an image capture device, wherein the at least one image comprises a current state of the one or more visual output elements of the target physical asset, wherein the image capture device is a mobile image capture device whose physical location is not fixed;

determining an identification of the target physical asset based on the current state of the one or more visual output elements of the target physical asset;

determining a physical location of the target physical asset based on a physical location of the image capture device when the at least one image of the target physical asset was captured; and

storing location data identifying the determined physical location of the target physical asset in an asset database in association with configuration information for the physical asset.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein controlling the plurality of physical assets comprises controlling each of the physical assets to either turn on or turn off the one or more visual output elements of the physical asset according to a binary search operation.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein capturing at least one image of a target physical asset using an image capture device comprises capturing the at least one image with an image capture device coupled to an automated robot that moves through the physical area.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining a physical location of the target physical asset based on a physical location of the image capture device when the at least one image of the target physical asset was captured comprises:

determining a physical location of an enclosure of the target physical asset based on a physical location of the automated robot when the at least one image of the target physical asset was captured; and

determining a physical location of the target physical asset within the enclosure based on analysis of the at least one image.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein capturing at least one image of a target physical asset using an image capture device comprises capturing the at least one image using an image capture device coupled to hardware carried by a human being.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the hardware comprises at least one of a mobile telephone, a tablet computing device, or a portable computing devices.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the physical assets in the plurality of physical assets are blade center chassis in a rack, and wherein the one or more visual output elements are light emitting diodes (LEDs) of blades in the blade center chassis.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein controlling the plurality of physical assets to cause each physical asset to output the visual output pattern on one or more visual output elements of the physical asset comprises sending control signals to blade center management modules associated with each of the blade center chassis instructing the blade center chassis to control the LEDs of the blades of the blade center chassis.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein determining an identification of the target physical asset based on the current state of the one or more visual output elements of the target physical asset comprises:

determining a physical location of a rack in which the target blade center chassis is located based on a physical location of an automated robot, to which the image capture device is coupled, when the at least one image of the target blade center chassis was captured;

determining a physical location of the target blade center chassis within the rack based on analysis of the at least one image; and

determining the blades in the target blade center chassis based on configuration information associated with the target blade center chassis.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein each of the blade center chassis is assigned a unique signature, and wherein controlling a plurality of physical assets to cause each physical asset to output a visual output pattern on one or more visual output elements of the physical asset comprises sending control signals to blade center management modules (BCMMs) associated with the blade center chassis to instruct each of the BCMMs to control an associated blade center chassis to output the blade center chassis assigned unique signature using the light emitting diodes (LEDs) of blades in the blade center chassis.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the assigned unique signature is a digital signature comprising a plurality of bits having either a logical 1 or logical 0 setting, and wherein the BCMMs control the associated blade center chassis to output the unique signature using the LEDs of blades in the blade center chassis by either turning on or turning off individual LEDs to generate the digital signature where a LED turned on corresponds to a logical 1 and a LED turned off corresponds to a logical 0.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing one or more asset management operations on the target physical asset based on the stored location data associated with the target physical asset.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the LEDs of the blades in the blade center chassis comprise a single LED for each blade in the blade center chassis at a predetermined location of the blade relative to a reference point of the blade center chassis, and wherein a combination of LEDs across the blades of the blade center chassis are controlled to output, through turning off or turning on corresponding ones of the single LEDs of the blades, a binary digital signature previously assigned to the blade center chassis by a controller, where an LED turned off represents a binary 0 value and an LED turned on represents a binary 1 value.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the binary digital signature is assigned to the blade center chassis by the controller based on a number of blades present in the blade center chassis and a corresponding capability for representing a binary digital value based on the number of single LEDs of the blades in the blade center chassis.

3. A method, in a data processing system, for determining the physical location of a physical asset in a physical area, comprising:

controlling a plurality of physical assets to cause each physical asset to output a visual output pattern on one or more visual output elements of the physical asset;

capturing at least one image of a target physical asset using an image capture device, wherein the at least one image comprises a current state of the one or more visual output elements of the target physical asset;

determining an identification of the target physical asset based on the current state of the one or more visual output elements of the target physical asset;

determining a physical location of the target physical asset based on a physical location of the image capture device when the at least one image of the target physical asset was captured; and

storing location data identifying the determined physical location of the target physical asset in an asset database in association with configuration information for the physical asset, wherein determining an identification of the target physical asset based on the current state of the one or more visual output elements of the target physical asset comprises executing a binary search operation in which, in each iteration of the binary search operation, a first subset of the plurality of physical assets are controlled to have their one or more visual output elements turned on and a second subset of the plurality of physical assets are controlled to have their one or more visual output elements turned off, and wherein during each iteration, one of the first subset or the second subset is selected to be the plurality of physical assets for a next iteration of the binary search operation.

4. A method, in a data processing system, for determining the physical location of a physical asset in a physical area, comprising:

controlling a plurality of physical assets to cause each physical asset to output a visual output pattern on one or more visual output elements of the physical asset;

capturing at least one image of a target physical asset using an image capture device, wherein the at least one image comprises a current state of the one or more visual output elements of the target physical asset;

determing an identification of the target physical asset based on the current state of the one or more visual output elements of the target physical asset;

determining a physical location of physical asset based on a physical location of the image capture device when the at least one image of the target physical asset was captured; and

storing location data identifying the determined physical location of the target physical asset in an asset database in association with configuration information for the physical asset, wherein controlling the plurality of physical assets comprises controlling each of the physical assets to cause the physical asset to output an assigned signature using the one or more visual output elements of the physical asset, and wherein determining an identification of the target physical asset based on the current state of the one or more visual output elements of the target physical asset comprises detecting the signature output by the one or more visual output elements of the target physical asset and correlating the detected signature with an identifier of the physical asset.

17. The method of claim 4, wherein the signature output by the one or more visual output elements of the target physical asset and the correlated identifier of the physical asset are unique to the physical asset such that the signature and identifier uniquely identify the physical asset from amongst the plurality of physical assets.