Operation management system for dump trucks

• US 9,829,893 B2
• Filed: 10/16/2014
• Issued: 11/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi Construction Machinery Company Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi Construction Machinery Company Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Inventors: Kawamata, Yukihiro, Morizane, Hiroto, Hamada, Tomoyuki, Ishimoto, Hidefumi
• Primary Examiner(s): Kan, Yuri
• Application Number:
  US15/021,815
• Publication Number:
  US 20160231750A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,139 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3407 specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3815 Road data
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0297 by controlling means in a control room
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/02 Agriculture; Fishing; Forestry; Mining
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/00 Traffic control systems for road vehicles arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00 ; automatic vehicle control B62D
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/137 the indicator being in the form of a map
• 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: G09B 29/007 using computer methods
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/10 Map spot or coordinate position indicators; Map reading aids optical projection apparatus per se G03B

Abstract

An operation management system for dump trucks includes a storage device 130, 170 in which map data indicative of a road map for dump trucks are stored, a plurality of dump trucks 200 configured to travel based on the map data, and a control device 100, 150 configured to permit, upon updating of part 510 of the map data, updating of the part of the map data when, although the part of the map data is included in any of a plurality of mining fields 400, 330, 460, no dump truck exists in any of the plurality of mining fields.

Claims

1. An operation management system for dump trucks, comprising:

a first computer installed in a control center and including;

a first storage device storing map data indicative of a road map for dump trucks; and

a first wireless communications device configured to perform communication with external terminals through a wireless communication network, the first computer configured to control updating of the map data in the first storage device;

a plurality of dump trucks; and

a plurality of slave second computers installed in the plurality of dump trucks, respectively, each of the second computers including;

a second wireless communications device configured to perform communication with external terminals through the wireless communication network; and

a second storage device communicatively connected with the first storage device via the second wireless communications device, the second computers are configured to respectively control updating of the map data in the second storage devices in synchronization with the map data in the first storage device,

wherein a plurality of the dump trucks travel based on the map data in the second storage devices respectively, and

wherein the first computer is further configured to permit updating of part of the map of the first storage devices when the part of the map data is not included in one or more given closed regions set in advance on the road map or

when, although the part of the map data is included in any of the one or more closed regions, none of the plurality of dump trucks exists in any of the one or more closed regions.

2. The operation management system for dump trucks according to claim 1, wherein

the one or more closed regions are set as travel routes of each of the plurality of dump trucks, and

the first computer is configured to permit, upon updating of the part of the map data, updating of the part of the map data when the part of the map data is not included in any of the travel routes of the plurality of dump trucks.

3. The operation management system for dump trucks according to claim 2, wherein

the first computer is configured to, upon updating of the part of the map data, when the part of the map data is included in any of the travel routes of the plurality of dump trucks, output a stopping instruction to a dump truck to which a travel route in which the part of the map data is included is set, and then update the map data.

4. The operation management system for dump trucks according to claim 1, wherein

the first computer is configured to, upon updating of the part of the map data, when the part of the map data is included in any of travel routes of the plurality of dump trucks, modify the travel route of a dump truck to which a travel route in which the part of the map data is included is set in such a manner that the part of the map data isn'"'"'t included in the travel route thereof, and then update the map data.

5. The operation management system for dump trucks according to claim 1, wherein

the one or more closed regions are a plurality of mining fields obtained by partitioning an inside of a mine into a plurality of portions, and

the first computer is configured to permit updating of the part of the map data when, upon updating of the part of the map data, none of the plurality of dump trucks exists in the mining field in which the part of the map data is included from among the plurality of mining fields.

6. The operation management system for dump trucks according to claim 5, wherein

the first computer is configured, upon updating of the part of the map data, when any of the plurality of dump trucks exists in a mining field in which the part of the map data is included from among the plurality of mining fields, to output a stopping instruction to a dump truck existing in the mining field in which the part of the map data is included, and then update the map data.

7. The operation management system for dump trucks according to claim 3, wherein

the first computer is further configured to, after completion of the updating of the map data is confirmed, output a departure instruction for restarting a stopped dump truck.

8. The operation management system for dump trucks according to claim 6, wherein

the first computer is further configured to, after completion of the updating of the map data is confirmed, output a departure instruction for restarting a stopped dump truck.