Improving safety on sites with movable objects

• US 9,582,979 B2
• Filed: 05/01/2014
• Issued: 02/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAFEmine AG (Hexagon AB)
• Original Assignee: SAFEmine AG (Hexagon AB)
• Inventors: Mader, Urban, Stegmaier, Peter Arnold, Rothacher, Urs Martin
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim, Hee-Yong
• Application Number:
  US14/267,004
• Publication Number:
  US 20140333747A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,034 Days
• Field of Search: 348/78
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 28/06 responsive to incapacity of driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2040/0818 Inactivity or incapacity of driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/45 External transmission of data to or from the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/55 using telemetry
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/65 Data transmitted between vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/597 Recognising the driver's state or behaviour, e.g. attention or drowsiness
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/06 indicating a condition of sleep, e.g. anti-dozing alarms

Abstract

In a system for supervising the safety on a site with at least one movable object, a drowsiness detection system is arranged at the movable object for supplying data related to a drowsiness state of an operator of the movable object. A monitoring system remote from the movable object receives the drowsiness state related data and logs and/or evaluates this drowsiness state related data.

Claims

1. A system for supervising the safety on a site with at least one movable object,

comprising at the movable object:

a drowsiness detection system for supplying data related to a drowsiness state of an operator of the movable object, the drowsiness detection system including at least one sensor for detecting a drowsiness state of the operator,

comprising remote from the movable object;

a monitoring system in communication with the drowsiness detection system,

wherein the drowsiness detection system is adapted to send the drowsiness state related data to the monitoring system,

wherein the monitoring system is adapted to log and/or evaluate the drowsiness state related data,

wherein the movable object comprises a positioning device for identifying a position of the movable object,

wherein the drowsiness detection system is adapted to send data related to the position of the movable object to the monitoring system,

wherein the monitoring system is adapted to log an identified drowsiness state of the operator in combination with a time stamp for contributing to a data collection illustrating identified drowsiness states dependent on time and

wherein the monitoring system is adapted to log the identified drowsiness state of the operator in combination with the position data of the movable object for contributing to a data collection illustrating identified drowsiness states dependent on positions of the movable object, the identified drowsy state is selected from a group consisting of “

fully alert”

, “

alert”

, “

distracted”

, “

easily distracted”

, “

drowsy”

, “

very drowsy”

, and “

sleeping”

.

2. The system according to claim 1,

wherein the drowsiness detection system is adapted to start sending the drowsiness state related data to the monitoring system dependent on an identified drowsiness state of the operator, and in particular if the identified drowsiness state fulfills a condition.

3. The system according to claim 1,

wherein the drowsiness detection system is adapted to send the drowsiness state related data to the monitoring system in response to a request from the monitoring system.

4. The system according to claim 1,

wherein the monitoring system is adapted to generate a warning at a location of the monitoring system dependent on the drowsiness state related data.

5. The system according to claim 4,

wherein the monitoring system is adapted to send a trigger signal to the movable object for generating a warning for the operator in response to the drowsiness state related data, and in particular if an identified drowsiness state of the operator fulfills a condition.

6. The system according to claim 1,

wherein the monitoring system is adapted to send parameters to the drowsiness detection system for adapting an operation of the drowsiness detection system which parameters are dependent on one or more of:

the position of the movable object;

the present time;

weather conditions.

7. The system according to claim 1,

wherein the at least one sensor is configured for monitoring at least part of an area of activity of the operator, and

wherein the drowsiness detection system is adapted to send data from the sensor or an identified drowsiness state derived from the sensor data as drowsiness state related data to the monitoring system,

and in particular

wherein the sensor is a camera, and

wherein the drowsiness detection system is adapted to send one or more pictures taken by the camera or information retrieved from the one or more pictures as drowsiness state related data to the monitoring system.

8. The system according to claim 7,

wherein the drowsiness detection system is adapted to send the one or more pictures taken by the camera to the monitoring system in response to a collision warning generated by a collision warning system and/or in response to a drowsiness warning generated by the drowsiness detection system.

9. The system according to claim 7,

wherein the camera includes one or more of:

a camera for monitoring an area in front of control means for controlling movements of the movable object;

a front camera connected to a display for displaying safety and/or collision relevant information to the operator;

a camera for identifying a state of the eyes in the face of the operator.

10. The system according to claim 7,

wherein the drowsiness detection system includes a sensor for detecting a speed and/or an acceleration of the movable object, and

wherein the drowsiness detection system is adapted to send the one or more pictures taken by the camera to the monitoring system in response to the detected speed and/or acceleration fulfilling a condition.

11. The system according to claim 1,

wherein the drowsiness detection system comprises an input unit for activating or deactivating the drowsiness detection system,

wherein the drowsiness detection system is adapted to transmit a message in response to its deactivation to the monitoring system.

12. The system according to claim 11,

wherein the drowsiness detection system is adapted to self activate in response to a start of an ignition or an engine of the movable vehicle.

13. The system according to claim 1,

wherein the drowsiness detection system comprises a means for detecting the usage of a cell phone in the operators environment, and

wherein the drowsiness detection system is adapted to send data related to the cell phone usage as drowsiness state related data to the monitoring system.

14. The system according to claim 1,

wherein the site includes a mining site,

wherein the movable object is a mining vehicle, and in particular is one of a vehicle, a crane, a dragline, a haul truck, an excavator and a shovel, and

wherein the drowsiness detection system is adapted to send an identifier for the movable object in combination with the drowsiness state related data to the monitoring system.

15. The system according to claim 1,

wherein the drowsiness state related data contains an identified drowsiness state of the operator, and

wherein the monitoring system contains a computing system for executing its tasks.

16. The system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor is configured for monitoring at least part of an area of activity of the operator.

17. The system according to claim 1, wherein the drowsiness detection system further comprises a control unit to evaluate the data from the at least one sensor to identify the drowsiness state of the operator.

18. The system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor is at least one optical sensor.

19. A method for supervising the safety on a site with at least one movable object, comprising the steps of

providing at least one sensor at a movable object,

using the at least one sensor for detecting a drowsiness state of an operator of the movable object,

receiving data related to a drowsiness state of the operator of the movable object at a monitoring system remote from the movable object,

logging and/or evaluating the received drowsiness state related data,

providing at the movable object a positioning device for identifying a position of the movable object,

sending data related to the position of the movable object to the monitoring system,

logging an identified drowsiness state of the operator in combination with a time stamp for contributing to a data collection illustrating identified drowsiness states dependent on time, and

logging the identified drowsiness state of the operator in combination with the position data of the movable object for contributing to a data collection illustrating identified drowsiness states dependent on positions of the movable object, the identified drowsy state is selected from a group consisting of “

fully alert”

, “

alert”

, “

distracted”

, “

easily distracted”

, “

drowsy”

, “

very drowsy”

, and “

sleeping”

.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the at least one sensor is used for monitoring at least part of an area of activity of the operator of the movable object.

21. A non-transitory, tangible computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, that when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to:

use at least one sensor at a movable object for detecting a drowsiness state of an operator of the movable object,

receive data related to a drowsiness state of the operator of the movable object at a monitoring system remote from the movable object,

log and/or evaluate the received drowsiness state related data, and

use a position device at the movable object for identifying a position of the movable object,

send data related to the position of the movable object to the monitoring system,

log an identified drowsiness state of the operator in combination with a time stamp for contributing to a data collection illustrating identified drowsiness states dependent on time, and

log the identified drowsiness state of the operator in combination with the position data of the movable object for contributing to a data collection illustrating identified drowsiness states dependent on positions of the movable object, the identified drowsy state is selected from a group consisting of “

fully alert”

, “

alert”

, “

distracted”

, “

easily distracted”

, “

drowsy”

, “

very drowsy”

, and “

sleeping”

.