System and method for identifying a component

• US 9,341,703 B2
• Filed: 12/13/2013
• Issued: 05/17/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Airbus Operations GmbH (Airbus SE)
• Original Assignee: Airbus Operations GmbH (Airbus SE)
• Inventors: Everth, Henning, Lampe, Dietrich
• Primary Examiner(s): TRAIL, ALLYSON NEEL
• Application Number:
  US14/106,230
• Publication Number:
  US 20140166740A1
• Time in Patent Office: 886 Days
• Field of Search: 235/375, 340/686.1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/16 using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance

Abstract

A system for checking the positioning of components is provided. The system includes a reading device for reading in component identification information, which is provided by an identification device in a spatially limited region about a component to be checked, a locating device with at least one stationary reference device, a movement component which is movable relative thereto and a computing unit. The reading device and the locating device can be connected to the computing unit. The computing unit is set up to detect a relative position of the movement component with respect to the at least one reference device in the spatially limited region about the component to be checked and to form a data pair from the detected relative position with component identification information read in by means of the reading device and to compare it with predefined data pairs.

Claims

1. A system for checking a positioning of components, comprising:

a reading device for reading in component identification information, which is provided by an identification device in a spatially limited region about a component to be checked;

a locating device with at least one stationary reference device and a movement component which is movable relative thereto; and

a computing unit, the reading device and the locating device connected to the computing unit;

wherein the computing unit detects a relative position of the movement component with respect to the at least one stationary reference device in the spatially limited region about the component to be checked, to form a data pair from the detected relative position with component identification information read in by means of the reading device and compares the formed data pair with predefined data pairs,

wherein the at least one stationary reference has one or more optical image recorders and is set up to detect a running path of the movement component, and

wherein the movement component has a marker body that is detectable by the at least one stationary reference device.

2. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a database unit, wherein the database unit correlates component positions and component identifications with one another as the predefined data pairs and wherein the computing unit is connected to the database unit to request data.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the computing unit transmits read-in component identification information of the component to the database unit and retrieves position data correlated therewith from a respective one of the predefined data pairs.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the computing unit compares the detected relative position of the movement component with the correlated position data stored in the database unit.

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein the computing unit calculates an absolute position of the component from the relative position using position data of the at least one reference device in a space with predefined geometric extent data before requesting the correlated position data.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one stationary reference device has a transmitting device, which transmits a signal receivable by the movement component, and the locating device or the computing unit determines a relative position of the movement component with respect to the at least one stationary reference device from a running time of the signal transmitted by the at least one stationary reference device.

7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the locating device comprises a plurality of stationary reference devices and wherein the computing unit or the locating device determines running time differences between the signals of individual ones of the plurality of stationary reference devices with respect to the movement component and determines the relative position of the movement component with respect to the plurality of stationary reference devices from the running time differences.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the marker body is a light source with adjustable colour.

9. The system according to claim 1, wherein the locating device further comprises at least one additional sensor selected from the group comprising:

an inertia measuring device, which is mechanically connected to the movement component and is set up to detect accelerations in at least one spatial plane, and

a magnetometer,

wherein the at least one additional sensor provides detected data to the locating device.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the locating device or the computing unit assists the positional determination of the movement component relative to the at least one stationary reference device with the data provided by the at least one additional sensor.

11. The system according to claim 1, wherein the movement component, the reading device and the computing unit are integrated in a mobile apparatus, which has a display unit and an operating unit.

12. A method for identifying components, comprising the steps of:

detecting the relative position of a mobile movement component with respect to at least one stationary reference device in a spatially limited region about a component to be checked,

reading in component identification information, which is provided by an identification device in the spatially limited region about the component to be checked, by means of a reading device; and

comparing a data pair of the detected relative position and the read-in component identification information with predefined data pairs,

wherein the at least one stationary reference has one or more optical image recorders and is set up to detect a running path of the movement component, and

wherein the movement component has a marker body that is detectable by the at least one stationary reference device.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the detection of the relative position comprises the optical detection of a running path of a marker body of the mobile movement component, the at least one stationary reference device being configured as an optical image recorder.

14. A system for checking a positioning of components, comprising:

a reading device for reading in component identification information, which is provided by an identification device in a spatially limited region about a component to be checked;

a locating device with at least one stationary reference device and a movement component which is movable relative thereto; and

a computing unit, the reading device and the locating device connected to the computing unit;

a database unit that correlates component positions and component identifications with one another as predefined data pairs and the computing unit is connected to the database unit to request data,

wherein the computing unit detects a relative position of the movement component with respect to the at least one stationary reference device in the spatially limited region about the component to be checked, to form a data pair from the detected relative position with component identification information read in by means of the reading device and compares the formed data pair with the predefined data pairs,

wherein the at least one stationary reference has one or more optical image recorders and is set up to detect a running path of the movement component, and

wherein the movement component has a marker body that is detectable by the at least one stationary reference device.

15. The system according to claim 14, wherein the computing unit transmits read-in component identification information of the component to the database unit and retrieves position data correlated therewith from a respective one of the predefined data pairs.

16. The system according to claim 15, wherein the computing unit compares the detected relative position of the movement component with the correlated position data stored in the database unit.

17. The system according to claim 16, wherein the computing unit calculates an absolute position of the component from the relative position using position data of the at least one stationary reference device in a space with predefined geometric extent data before requesting the correlated position data.

18. The system according to claim 14, wherein the at least one stationary reference device has a transmitting device, which transmits a signal receivable by the movement component, wherein the locating device or the computing unit determines a relative position of the movement component with respect to the at least one stationary reference device from a running time of the signal transmitted by the at least one stationary reference device.