Movable object proximity warning system

• US 9,129,509 B2
• Filed: 06/03/2014
• Issued: 09/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAFEmine AG (Hexagon AB)
• Original Assignee: SAFEmine AG (Hexagon AB)
• Inventors: Rothacher, Urs Martin, Stegmaier, Peter Arnold
• Primary Examiner(s): POPE, DARYL C
• Application Number:
  US14/294,870
• Publication Number:
  US 20140285350A1
• Time in Patent Office: 462 Days
• Field of Search: 340/539.1, 340/539.11, 340/506, 340/539.13, 340/3.1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0072 Transmission between mobile stations, e.g. anti-collision systems
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/18 Status alarms G08B21/02 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/161 Decentralised systems, e.g. inter-vehicle communication
• 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 9/02 Anti-collision systems

Abstract

Vehicles and other objects in a surface mine are equipped with monitoring devices that communicate by radio in order to detect the risk of collisions. The devices are equipped with GNSS-receivers. At least one of the objects has two devices mounted to it. Each of the two devices determines its position independently, which in turn allows determining not only the position, but also the orientation, of the object.

Claims

1. A system for a movable object with a first monitoring device, said first monitoring device comprising:

a first receiver for a radio based positioning system;

a first control unit for generating first device status datasets, wherein said first device status datasets comprise positional data derived from a signal of said first receiver;

a first radio circuit for broadcasting said first device status datasets to other monitoring devices; and

an output device adapted to issue proximity warnings,

wherein said first control unit is structured for generating said proximity warnings in dependence of the signal from said first receiver and of device status datasets received from other devices;

wherein said movable object comprises at least one second monitoring device, wherein said at least one second monitoring device comprises;

a second receiver for the radio based positioning system,

a second control unit for generating second device status datasets, wherein said second device status datasets comprise positional data derived from a signal of said second receiver, and

a second radio circuit for broadcasting said second device status datasets to other monitoring devices; and

wherein said first monitoring device and said at least one second monitoring device are arranged on said same movable object at a distance from each other for determining an orientation of said same movable object.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said first monitoring device is structured to receive said second device status datasets and derive a reserved non-circular volume of space attributed to said same movable object and to encode said reserved non-circular volume of space in said first device status datasets.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said first monitoring device and said second monitoring device are each structured to encode a first and a second circular volume of space in said first and second device status datasets, respectively.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein said first and said second circular volumes overlap.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one other monitoring device.

6. A particular movable object comprising the system as defined in claim 1, wherein said first monitoring device and said at least one second monitoring device are mounted to said particular movable object at a distance from each other for determining an orientation of said particular movable object.

7. The particular movable object of claim 6, wherein said particular movable object is one from the group consisting of vehicles, cranes, draglines, haul trucks, diggers, and shovels.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein said first monitoring device is adapted to generate said proximity warnings based on a risk of collision.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising cabling between said first monitoring device and said at least one second monitoring device, wherein the cabling is used only to supply power.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein said first radio circuit of said first monitoring device is adapted for exchanging data with said at least one second monitoring device.

11. A method for generating proximity warnings on an area by means of a monitoring apparatus comprising a plurality of monitoring devices, wherein at least some of said monitoring devices are installed on objects operating in said area, wherein at least part of said monitoring devices comprise a receiver for a radio based positioning system and a radio circuit, said method comprising:

mounting, to a same at least one first movable object in said area, a first and a second monitoring device at a distance from each other for determining an orientation of said same at least one first movable object;

generating, by means of said first monitoring device, a first device status dataset depending on a position of said first monitoring device, and emitting said first device status dataset through the radio circuit of said first monitoring device; and

generating, by means of said second monitoring device, a second device status dataset derived from a position of said second monitoring device, and emitting said second device status dataset through the radio circuit of said second monitoring device.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, by said first monitoring device, said second device status dataset;

deriving, in said first monitoring device, from a position of said first monitoring device and from said second device status dataset, a reserved, non-circular volume of space attributed to said same at least one first movable object and encoding said reserved, non-circular volume of space in said first device status dataset; and

broadcasting said first device status dataset to other monitoring devices.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

encoding, in the second device status dataset of said second monitoring device, data indicating that the second monitoring device is an auxiliary device and its device status dataset can therefore be ignored by any other devices with the exception of a main device attributed to said second monitoring device.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

encoding, by said first and second monitoring devices, first and second reserved volumes of space in said first and second device status datasets, respectively;

receiving, by a third monitoring device on an object other than said same at least one first movable object, said first and second device status datasets; and

determining, by the third monitoring device, collision warnings by combining information from the first and the second device status datasets.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein said first and said second reserved volumes of space are circular and overlap.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein said first monitoring device suppresses any proximity warnings that would arise from a proximity of the first and the second monitoring devices.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, by said first monitoring device, the second device status dataset;

deriving, from said position of the first monitoring device and from the second device status dataset, said orientation of said same at least one first movable object;

receiving, by said first monitoring device, a third device status dataset from a third monitoring device mounted to a second movable object;

determining a direction to the second movable object in respect to said orientation; and

displaying data indicative of said direction on a display of said first monitoring device.

18. A monitoring device comprising a control unit adapted and structured to carry out the method of claim 11.

19. A method for generating proximity warnings in an area by means of a monitoring apparatus comprising a plurality of monitoring devices, wherein at least some of said monitoring devices are installed on at least a first and a second movable object operating in said area, wherein at least part of said monitoring devices comprise a receiver for a radio based positioning system and a radio circuit, said method comprising:

receiving, on said second movable object, device status datasets from said first movable object, wherein said device status datasets of said first movable object are generated by a first and a second monitoring device mounted at a distance from each other on said same first movable object for determining an orientation of said same first movable object; and

generating, by the monitoring device of the second movable object, proximity warnings by taking an orientation and dimension of said same first movable object into account.

20. The method of claim 19,

wherein the device status dataset of the first monitoring device on said same first movable object contains information of the device status dataset from the second monitoring device on said same first movable object;

and

wherein the monitoring device of the second movable object derives orientation information of said same first movable object from said device status dataset of the first monitoring device mounted on said same first movable object.