Vehicle tracking, communication and fleet management system

• US 6,892,131 B2
• Filed: 08/25/2003
• Issued: 05/10/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Trimble Navigation Limited (Trimble Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Trimble Navigation Limited (Trimble Inc.)
• Inventors: Lewis, Robert W., Rudow, Richard W., Coffee, John R., Marvin, Kevin M., Dye, David A., Sleeper, Robert D., Tekniepe, William A., Billings, Mark, Kirchner, Mark L., Allen, Robert F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): To, Tuan C
• Application Number:
  US10/646,715
• Publication Number:
  US 20040039504A1
• Time in Patent Office: 624 Days
• Field of Search: 701/200, 701/213, 701/27, 701/35, 340/438, 340/988, 340/993, 340/439, 340/539, 340/466, 455/518, 455/12.1, 455/33.1, 455/57.1, 280/6.151, 280/6.159, 370/95, 370/100, 379/58
• US Class Current: 701/200
• CPC Class Codes: B28C 5/422 Controlling or measuring devices B28C5/4227 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B28C 7/02 Controlling the operation of the mixing
• CPC Class Codes: B28C 7/028 by counting the number of revolutions performed, or by measuring the mixing time
• CPC Class Codes: B28C 9/00 General arrangement or layout of plant B28C7/0061, B28C7/0481 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60P 3/03 for transporting money or other valuables
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 17/00 Testing of vehicles testing fluid tightness G01M3/00; testing elastic properties of bodies or chassis, e.g. torsion-testing, G01M5/00; testing alignment of vehicle headlight devices G01M11/06; testing of engines G01M15/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• 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: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/22 Negotiating communication rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 56/0085 detecting a given structure in the signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/56 based on priority criteria
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/04 Scheduled access hybrid access H04W74/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/245 from a network towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/00 Network topologies

Abstract

A vehicle fleet management information system for identification of location and direction of movement of each vehicle in the fleet in real-time and automatic communication directly with management offices to report its location and heading, and status of predetermined events in which the vehicle may be engaged. One example is a cement delivery truck which monitors location, speed and status information such as start pour, pouring, end pour, wash and leave job, and automatically transmits this information with a management office without requiring affirmative action by the vehicle operator.

Claims

1. A vehicle monitoring system that monitors the state of a plurality of vehicles, said system comprising:

at least one mobile data unit that generates automatic status information corresponding to a delivery vehicle, wherein the automatic status information includes position information and delivery state information;

a delivery state database that store the automatic status information generated by the mobile data unit;

wherein the mobile data unit includes a controller, a GPS receiver coupled to the controller, and at least one vehicle condition sensor coupled to the controller, and said controller generates the automatic status information based on signals received from the GPS receiver and the vehicle condition sensor;

wherein the controller determines the delivery state information based on the signal received from the vehicle condition sensor; and

wherein the vehicle condition sensor generates a mixing barrel status signal indicative of a charge operation condition and a discharge operation condition of a mixing barrel, and wherein the controller determines a Begin Pour delivery state and an End Pour delivery state based on the mixing barrel status signal.

2. A vehicle monitoring system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising dispatch monitoring means for accessing the automatic status information stored in the delivery state database and displaying the automatic status information to provide a visual indication of the identity of the delivery vehicle, the position of the delivery vehicle and the delivery state of the delivery vehicle.

3. A vehicle monitoring system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the dispatch monitoring means displays the automatic status information on a display monitor in the form of an icon, wherein a display condition of the icon is varied in accordance with a delivery state defined by the delivery state information.

4. A vehicle monitoring system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the display condition includes at least one of the shape, color, size, contrast or display status of the icon.

5. A vehicle monitoring system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the delivery state information includes a plurality of delivery states that define a delivery cycle, and wherein the controller determines whether a current delivery state is valid based on the delivery cycle.

6. A vehicle monitoring system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the controller determines whether a current delivery state is valid based on whether a prerequisite delivery state within the delivery cycle has occurred.

7. A vehicle monitoring system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mobile data unit includes a wireless transmitter/receiver that transmits the automatic status information from the mobile data unit to the delivery state database via a wireless transmission device coupled to the delivery state database.

8. A vehicle monitoring system as claimed in claim 7, further comprising:

a dispatch monitoring means for accessing the automatic status information stored in the delivery state database and displaying the automatic status information to provide a visual indication of the identity of the delivery vehicle, the position of the delivery vehicle and the delivery state of the delivery vehicle; and

wherein the dispatch monitoring means includes data entry means for entering messages that are transmitted to the mobile data unit via the wireless transmission device and the wireless transmitter/receiver.

9. A vehicle monitoring system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the mobile data unit includes a display unit that displays the messages transmitted to the mobile data unit from the dispatch monitoring means.

10. A vehicle monitoring system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the mobile data unit includes data entry means for entering messages that are transmitted to the dispatch monitoring means via the wireless transmitter/receiver and the wireless transmission device.

11. A vehicle monitoring system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the messages transmitted to the dispatch monitoring means from the mobile data unit and to the mobile data unit from the dispatch monitoring means are transmitted in the form of cellular digital packet data.

12. A vehicle monitoring system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the automatic status information is automatically transmitted to the delivery status database when a change in delivery state information occurs.

13. A vehicle monitoring system as claimed in claim 1, wherein hot zone data corresponding to geographic zone around at least one of a loading terminal and a delivery site is supplied to the mobile data unit, and wherein the controller determines the delivery state information based on the hot zone data.

14. A vehicle monitoring system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the controller alters the hot zone data in response to certain delivery states defined by the delivery state information.

15. A vehicle monitoring system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the controller alters the hot zone data to expand the geographic zone when the delivery state information is indicative of an At Job delivery state to thereby avoid problems associated with GPS jitter.

16. A vehicle monitoring system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the controller alters the hot zone data to relocate the geographic zone when the delivery state information is indicative of a change in location of a delivery site.

17. A vehicle monitoring system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the controller disables position detection when the delivery vehicle enters a geographic zone defined by the hot zone data to avoid problems associated with GPS jitter.

18. A vehicle monitoring system as claimed in claim 1, wherein a vehicle condition sensor is provided that generates a vehicle velocity signal, and at least one of the Begin Pour delivery state and the End Pour delivery state is determined by the controller based on the mixing barrel status signal and the vehicle velocity signal.

19. A vehicle monitoring system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the controller determines if the End Pour delivery state is valid if:

a) a valid At Job state has been determined;

b) a valid Begin Pour state has been determined;

c) the mixing drum status signal indicates a charge condition; and

d) at least one of the following conditions is true;

     1) the signal received from the GPS receiver indicates the delivery vehicle is outside of a specified hot zone;

or

     2) the velocity signal indicates delivery vehicle is moving at a velocity greater than a predetermined minimal threshold.

20. A vehicle monitoring system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the controller determines if the Begin Pour delivery state is valid if:

1) the velocity signal indicates the delivery vehicle is moving at a velocity less than a predetermined threshold value; and

     2) the mixing drum status signal indicates a discharge condition.

21. A vehicle monitoring system as claimed in claim 20, wherein the controller further determines if the Begin Pour delivery state is valid if at least one of:

a) a valid At Job state is determined; and

b) the signal received from the GPS receiver indicates the delivery vehicle is outside of a hot zone corresponding to a loading terminal.

22. A method of providing automatic status information for a plurality of delivery vehicles, wherein the automatic status information includes position information and delivery state information, said method comprising:

determining position information corresponding to each of the delivery vehicles using a GPS data;

determining delivery state information corresponding to each of the delivery vehicles using at least one vehicle condition sensor provided on each of the delivery vehicles;

transmitting the position information and delivery state information to a delivery state database via a wireless transmission network; and

defining a plurality of delivery states corresponding to a delivery cycle, wherein the delivery state information comprises the delivery states;

wherein the validity of a current delivery state is determined based on whether a prerequisite deliver state has occurred; and

wherein the delivery states include a Begin Pour delivery state and an End Pour delivery state associated with the delivery of ready-mix concrete.

23. A system for tracking the state of a plurality of vehicles, said system comprising:

a mobile unit to generate information regarding status of a delivery vehicle among said plurality of vehicles, including current position and delivery state of said delivery vehicle;

a delivery state database that stores the generated status information;

said mobile unit coupled for GPS reception, with one or more sensors adapted to supply vehicle event information thereto;

to enable the mobile unit to determine delivery state of the delivery vehicle and to generate said status information therefrom;

said vehicle event information indicative of plural delivery states in a sequence of events in which said delivery vehicle may engage, and said mobile unit responsive thereto to determine beginning and ending delivery states in a subset of said sequence of events.

24. The vehicle tracking system of claim 23, further comprising dispatch monitoring apparatus to access status information stored in said delivery state database for display thereof to visually indicate the identity, position and delivery state of the delivery vehicle for which said status information was accessed.

25. The vehicle tracking system of claim 24, wherein the dispatch monitoring apparatus displays the status information in a form adapted to undergo varied display according to the delivery state defined by the accessed status information.

26. The vehicle tracking system of claim 25, wherein said form of the displayed status information includes one of shape, color, size, contrast or display status.

27. The vehicle tracking system of claim 23, wherein the delivery state is one or more of a plurality of delivery states that define said sequence of events, and wherein the mobile unit ascertains the validity of a current delivery state based on said sequence.

28. The vehicle tracking system of claim 27, wherein the mobile unit ascertains the validity of a current delivery state according to whether a certain delivery state within said sequence of events has occurred as a condition precedent to said current state.

29. The vehicle tracking system of claim 23, wherein the mobile unit interacts with a wireless transmitter/receiver to transmit the status information to the delivery state database via a wireless transmission medium.

30. The vehicle tracking system of claim 29, further comprising:

dispatch monitoring apparatus for accessing and displaying the stored status information to visually indicate the identity, the position, and the delivery state of the delivery vehicle;

the dispatch monitoring apparatus including data entry means for entering messages to be transmitted to the mobile unit via the wireless transmission medium.

31. The vehicle tracking system of claim 30, wherein the mobile unit includes a display for messages transmitted from the dispatch monitoring apparatus.

32. The vehicle tracking system of claim 31, wherein the mobile unit includes data entry for entering messages transmitted to the dispatch monitoring apparatus.

33. The vehicle tracking system of claim 32, wherein the messages transmitted to and from the dispatch monitoring apparatus from and to the mobile unit are transmitted in the form of digital packet data.

34. The vehicle tracking system of claim 29, wherein status information is transmitted to the delivery status database in response to a change in delivery state.

35. The vehicle tracking system of claim 23, wherein data corresponding to a preselected geographic zone around one of a loading terminal and a delivery site is supplied to the mobile unit for use in determining the delivery state.

36. The vehicle tracking system of claim 35, wherein the mobile unit is adapted to alter the geographic zone data in response to certain predefined delivery states.

37. The vehicle tracking system of claim 36, wherein the mobile unit is adapted to alter data to expand the geographic zone when the delivery state is indicative that the delivery vehicle is at the job site, so as to avoid effects of GPS jitter.

38. The vehicle tracking system of claim 36, wherein the mobile unit is adapted to alter data corresponding to the geographic zone for the job site when the delivery state of the delivery vehicle indicates a change in location of the job site.

39. The vehicle tracking system of claim 35, wherein the mobile unit is adapted to disable position detection when the delivery vehicle enters the geographic zone, so as to avoid effects of GPS jitter.

40. The vehicle tracking system of claim 23, wherein the delivery vehicle is a ready mix slurry transport vehicle having a mixer drum, one of said vehicle event sensors generates a vehicle velocity signal, and a delivery state indicative of a Begin Pour or an End Pour of slurry from the mixer drum is determined by the mobile unit according to a mixer drum status signal and the vehicle velocity signal.

41. The vehicle tracking system of claim 40, wherein the mobile unit confirms the validity of the End Pour delivery state if:

a) a valid At Job state has been determined;

b) a valid Begin Pour state has been determined;

c) the mixer drum status signal indicates a charge condition; and

d) at least one of the following conditions is true;

     1) the GPS reception indicates the delivery vehicle is outside a specified geographic zone;

or

     2) the vehicle velocity signal indicates a velocity greater than a predetermined minimum threshold.

42. The vehicle tracking system of claim 40, wherein the mobile unit confirms the validity of a Begin Pour delivery state if:

1) the vehicle velocity signal indicates a velocity less than a predetermined threshold value; and

     2) the mixer drum status signal indicates a slurry discharge condition.

43. The vehicle tracking system of claim 42, wherein the mobile unit additionally confirms validity of the Begin Pour delivery state if at least one of:

a) a valid At Job state is determined; and

b) the GPS reception indicates the delivery vehicle is outside a geographic zone corresponding to a loading terminal.

44. A method of providing automatic status information, including position information and delivery state information, for a plurality of ready-mix concrete delivery vehicles, said method comprising:

determining position information corresponding to each of the delivery vehicles using GPS data;

determining delivery state information corresponding to each of the delivery vehicles using at least one vehicle status sensor provided on each of the delivery vehicles;

transmitting the position information and delivery state information to a delivery state database via a wireless transmission network; and

defining a plurality of delivery states, including a Begin Pour delivery state and an End Pour delivery state, corresponding to a delivery sequence for ready mix concrete, said delivery states corresponding to respective delivery state information;

wherein the validity of a current delivery state is determined at least in part according to whether a preceding delivery state in said sequence has occurred.

45. A system for automated reporting of status of a ready mix concrete or other slurry material mixer truck, including state of events related to the usage, function, operation, location, delivery, systems or cargo of the truck, to a management office for system users including dispatchers and managers using a wireless network, the automated reporting system comprising, on board the truck:

a GPS receiver for receiving GPS signals and for determining position information,

a plurality of sensors for automatically detecting or measuring the current status of parameters corresponding to various selected ones of said events, and

computer apparatus for receiving inputs from the GPS receiver and said plurality of sensors indicative of the respective detected or measured status of parameters of selected events of interest, and for determining therefrom and transmitting to the management office over the wireless network, the state of the selected events of interest and location information in the form of digital data.

46. The automated reporting system of claim 45, including an off-truck database that stores map data with preselected geographic zones identifying sites designated to correspond to plant and job locations of interest, and wherein said computer apparatus has access to said database map data for determining and indicating when the truck is within or outside a preselected geographic zone corresponding to a site location designated by dispatch instructions to the truck over the wireless network.

47. The automated reporting system of claim 46, wherein said dispatch instructions reference a geographic zone corresponding to a site location where the truck is to perform one or more specified operations, and said computer apparatus stores the referenced site and detects and reports arrival and departure of the truck relative to each stored site.

48. The automated reporting system of claim 47, wherein said computer apparatus determines if the truck has deviated from operations designated in received dispatch instructions, and transmits a corresponding exceptions report to the management office.

49. The automated reporting system of claim 48, wherein said computer apparatus issues exceptions reports to the management office for truck deviations in performing events or the sequence of events dictated by dispatch instructions from said office.