SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR WORK VEHICLE OPERATOR IDENTIFICATION

• US 20170217444A1
• Filed: 01/28/2016
• Published: 08/03/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Deere & Company
• Original Assignee: Deere & Company
• Inventors: Chaston, Keith N., Crawford, Eric S., Hoffman, Joshua D., Cherney, Mark J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,932,043 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/308 Industrial vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/04 operating on the propulsion system, e.g. engine or drive motor
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/24 using electronic identifiers containing a code not memorised by the user
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0043 Signal treatments, identification of variables or parameters, parameter estimation or state estimation
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/043 Identity of occupants
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/08 Interaction between the driver and the control system
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/107 wherein the security policies are location-dependent, e.g. entities privileges depend on current location or allowing specific operations only from locally connected terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

An operator identification control system and method are disclosed for a work vehicle having a cab, a work tool and a source of propulsion. The operator identification control system includes a source associated with the operator that actively transmits an operator identification to identify the operator. The operator identification control system also includes at least one controller onboard the work vehicle that receives and processes the operator identification to determine whether the operator is associated with the work vehicle, and based on the determination, enables an operation of the work tool and/or a motion of the work vehicle by the operator.

Claims

1. An operator identification control system for a work vehicle having a cab, a work tool and a source of propulsion, the operator identification control system comprising:

a source associated with the operator that actively transmits an operator identification to identify the operator; and

at least one controller onboard the work vehicle that receives and processes the operator identification to determine whether the operator is associated with the work vehicle, and based on the determination, enables at least one of an operation of the work tool and a motion of the work vehicle by the operator.

2. The operator identification control system of claim 1, wherein the source associated with the operator comprises a beacon having a Bluetooth transmitter that actively transmits the operator identification over a Bluetooth communication protocol, and the beacon is coupled to the operator.

3. The operator identification control system of claim 1, wherein the at least one controller on the work vehicle transmits data indicating a usage of the work vehicle by the operator to a remote system.

4. The operator identification control system of claim 1, wherein the source associated with the operator comprises a portable electronic device, and the operator identification system further comprises:

a source of machine identification coupled to the cab of the work vehicle that actively transmits the machine identification,

wherein the portable electronic device includes a controller that receives and processes the machine identification and generates the operator identification based on the received machine identification.

5. The operator identification control system of claim 4, wherein after the machine identification is received, the controller of the portable electronic device generates a notification when the machine identification is no longer received, the at least one controller receives and processes the notification and transmits data indicating a usage of the work vehicle by the operator to a remote system based on the received notification.

6. The operator identification control system of claim 5, wherein the at least one controller outputs a shutdown command to the source of propulsion associated with the work vehicle based on the received notification.

7. The operator identification control system of claim 4, wherein the source of machine identification is a beacon that has a Bluetooth transmitter that actively transmits the machine identification over a Bluetooth communication protocol.

8. The operator identification control system of claim 7, wherein the portable electronic device includes a second Bluetooth transceiver that receives the machine identification, and a wireless transceiver that communicates the operator identification over a wireless communication protocol to the at least one controller of the work vehicle.

9. The operator identification control system of claim 1, further comprising:

a source of input data that receives a command for a start-up of the work vehicle, and the at least one controller receives the command and determines whether the operator is associated with the work vehicle based on the received command.

10. An operator identification control method for a work vehicle having a cab, a work tool and a source of propulsion, the method comprising:

actively transmitting a machine identification in the cab of the work vehicle;

receiving, by at least one controller of the work vehicle, an operator identification that identifies an operator based on the machine identification;

processing, by the at least one controller, the operator identification to determine whether the operator is associated with the work vehicle; and

enabling an operation of the work tool and a motion of the work vehicle by the operator based on the determination.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the receiving of the operator identification further comprises:

receiving the machine identification by a controller of a device associated with an operator;

generating, by the controller, the operator identification; and

transmitting the operator identification to the at least one controller of the work vehicle.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the device is a portable electronic device.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the processing the operator identification further comprises:

querying a data store onboard the work vehicle to determine whether the operator is listed in the data store.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

transmitting, by the at least one controller of the work vehicle, usage data for the work vehicle by the operator to a remote system.

15. An operator identification control system for a work vehicle having a cab, a work tool and a source of propulsion, the operator identification control system comprising:

a source that actively transmits a machine identification disposed in the cab of the work vehicle;

an operator device having a controller that receives and processes the machine identification and based on the received machine identification, generates an operator identification that identifies an operator; and

at least one controller onboard the work vehicle that receives and processes the operator identification to determine whether the operator is associated with the work vehicle, and based on the determination, enables an operation of the work tool and enables a motion of the work vehicle by the operator.

16. The operator identification control system of claim 15, wherein the at least one controller on the work vehicle transmits data indicating a usage of the work vehicle by the operator.

17. The operator identification control system of claim 16, wherein after the machine identification is received, the controller of the operator device generates a notification when the machine identification is no longer received, the at least one controller receives and processes the notification and transmits the data indicating the usage based on the received notification.

18. The operator identification control system of claim 15, wherein the source is a beacon fixedly coupled in the cab that has a Bluetooth transmitter that actively transmits the machine identification over a Bluetooth communication protocol.

19. The operator identification control system of claim 18, wherein the operator device includes a second Bluetooth transceiver that receives the machine identification, and a wireless transceiver that communicates the operator identification over a wireless communication protocol to the at least one controller of the work vehicle.

20. The operator identification control system of claim 15, wherein the operator device comprises a portable electronic device.