Gritting systems and methods
First Claim
1. A gritting method in which a vehicle including gritting apparatus travels a route along a road and disperses grit, or other material adapted to prevent or reduce ice formation on the road in accordance with a gritting routine, the method comprising steps of:
- progressively determining and monitoring a location of the vehicle along the route using a positioning system to generate monitored position data substantially continuously or regularly;
comparing, using an information processor, the monitored position data with stored route information comprising data indicative of varying location-dependent gritting requirements for the route;
generating a gritting instruction in dependence on the comparison, to control one or more adjustable parameters of the grit dispersion in a manner appropriate to the gritting requirements at the vehicle'"'"'s position; and
progressively storing grit dispersion data indicating the status of one or more of said adjustable parameters of the grit dispersion in conjunction with the corresponding position data, as the vehicle travels.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and systems for controlled gritting of routes. e.g. roads, are disclosed. A gritting vehicle (3) has a continuously-operating position detection arrangement e.g. GPS and has an on-board information processor (MDT) in which route data such as forecast thermal map data are stored. The stored data can be transmitted to the vehicle (3) from a control station processor via a radio link. Real-time positional data are compared with the route data in the vehicle'"'"'s processor and generate gritting instructions to control whether and how much grit is deposited at a given location. Positional and gritting status information may be transmitted back to the control station (1) progressively for recording. On-board sensors (S) may be used to supplement forecast data.
79 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A gritting method in which a vehicle including gritting apparatus travels a route along a road and disperses grit, or other material adapted to prevent or reduce ice formation on the road in accordance with a gritting routine, the method comprising steps of:
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progressively determining and monitoring a location of the vehicle along the route using a positioning system to generate monitored position data substantially continuously or regularly; comparing, using an information processor, the monitored position data with stored route information comprising data indicative of varying location-dependent gritting requirements for the route; generating a gritting instruction in dependence on the comparison, to control one or more adjustable parameters of the grit dispersion in a manner appropriate to the gritting requirements at the vehicle'"'"'s position; and progressively storing grit dispersion data indicating the status of one or more of said adjustable parameters of the grit dispersion in conjunction with the corresponding position data, as the vehicle travels. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A gritting control arrangement comprising:
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a positioning system for determining and monitoring a location of a gritting vehicle on a route, to provide corresponding monitored position data; and an information processing arrangement adapted to receive said position data, said information processing arrangement comprising a route information store for storing data indicative of variable location-dependent gritting requirements along a route;
means for comparing said monitored position data with the stored route information and determining one or more corresponding adjustable grit dispersion parameters appropriate for the location of the gritting vehicle, means for progressively storing grit dispersion data indicating the status of one or more of said adjustable parameters of the grit dispersion in conjunction with the corresponding position data as the vehicle travels, and means for generating a gritting instruction for controlling gritting apparatus in accordance with said one or more dispersion parameters. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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22. A gritting control arrangement comprising:
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a GPS positioning system for determining and monitoring the location of a gritting vehicle on a route along a road by means of data transmitted from a global satellite, to provide corresponding position data for the gritting vehicle in relation to said road route; an information processing arrangement comprising; an on-board information processor connected to receive said position data from the positioning system and to receive gritting status information from the gritting vehicle, said gritting status information indicating at least whether gritting is taking place, the information processor being programmed to associate current gritting status information with corresponding said position data for storage; and a control processor, for a control station remote from the gritting vehicle; and communication means for transmitting the associated gritting status and position data from the on-board information processor to the control processor for storage. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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Specification