Method for tracking and controlling grainy and fluid bulk goods in stream-oriented transportation process using RFID devices

• US 9,202,190 B2
• Filed: 05/29/2007
• Issued: 12/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP SE
• Inventors: Zachmann, Guenter
• Primary Examiner(s): Gart, Matthew
• Assistant Examiner(s): PARIKH, HARSHAD R
• Application Number:
  US11/754,913
• Publication Number:
  US 20080300712A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,108 Days
• Field of Search: 705/28, 705/23
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/41865 characterised by job scheduling, process planning, material flow
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/47 Tracing, tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0875 Itemisation or classification of parts, supplies or services, e.g. bill of materials
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/203 Inventory monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/208 Input by product or record sensing, e.g. weighing or scanner processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

A method and system for tracking non-discrete goods. The method includes inserting a first identification device into a non-discrete good, detecting the first identification device within the non-discrete good, and determining a characteristic of the non-discrete good from the first identification device. The system includes a plurality of identification devices having characteristics similar to a non-discrete good, and a set of sensors to detect the plurality of identification devices and determine a characteristic of the non-discrete good based on the identification devices.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

inserting a first identification device into a non-discrete good;

sending an authentication key to the first identification device in the non-discrete good;

receiving an acknowledgement from the first identification device indicating that a sender of the authentication key has been authenticated by the first identification device;

sending a data request to the first identification device in response to receiving the acknowledgement;

receiving a response to the data request from the first identification device;

determining a characteristic of the non-discrete good from the response from the first identification device by a tracking system, the characteristic including location information describing an actual location of the first identification device as well as a property of the non-discrete good; and

determining, by a computer with a processor and memory unit, a loss of or addition to the non-discrete good by comparing the actual location for the first identification device and a relative location of the first identification device to any other identification device within the non-discrete good to an expected location for the first identification device and the relative location of the first identification device to the other identification device within the non-discrete good.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

inserting a second identification device into the non-discrete good, the second identification device to provide additional data regarding the non-discrete good.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

comparing an actual distance between the first identification device and the second identification device with an expected distance between the first identification device and the second identification device at a time of insertion of the second identification device into the non-discrete good.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the non-discrete good is any one of a liquid, granular material and gas.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

storing data about the non-discrete good in the first identification device during transportation of the non-discrete good.

6. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

determining a rate of movement of the non-discrete good by determining the relative position of the second identification device to the first identification device and an elapsed time.

7. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

comparing data from the first identification device with data from the second identification device to verify an origin of the non-discrete good.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first identification device has characteristics similar to the characteristics of the non-discrete good including any one of density, weight, buoyancy and particle size.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying an origin of the non-discrete good through the first identification device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first identification device is a radio frequency identification device (RFID).

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

inserting a third identification device into another non-discrete good; and

detecting an improper mixture of the non-discrete good and another non-discrete good by detection of the first identification device and a third identification device.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting a loss of the first identification device; and

determining a portion of the non-discrete good that is lost based on the detected loss of the first identification device.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the first identification device indicates a transition between non-discrete goods.

14. A system comprising:

a plurality of identification devices having physical characteristics similar to a non-discrete good;

a set of sensors to communicate with the plurality of identification devices; and

a server communicatively coupled to the set of sensors, the server including an authentication system to send an authentication key to the plurality of identification devices, the server to request data in response to an authentication acknowledgement from the plurality of identification devices, to determine characteristic information about the non-discrete good based on responses to the data request from the plurality of identification devices and to route the non-discrete good through a transportation mechanism.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the server stores data from the set of sensors, tracks the information about the non-discrete good, and detects transitions between goods in the transportation mechanism.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the plurality of identification devices are embedded in the transportation mechanism for non-discrete goods.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the authentication system wakes the identification devices from a dormant state.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the plurality of identification devices are radio frequency identification devices.

19. The system of claim 14, wherein the non-discrete good is any one of a particulate matter, a gas and a liquid.

20. A non-transitory machine readable medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform a set of operations comprising:

transmitting a first message to an identification device in a non-discrete good including an authentication key;

receiving a second message from the identification device in response to the first message, the second message including data indicating a characteristic of the non-discrete good the characteristic including location information for the identification device as well as a property of the non-discrete good; and

detecting a mixing, misrouting, gain, or loss of the non-discrete good by tracking the actual location information of the identification device and a relative location information of the identification device to any other identification device within the non-discrete good and comparing the actual location information of the identification device and the relative location information of the identification device to any other identification device within the non-discrete good with expected location information for the identification device and the relative location information of the identification device to the other identification device within the non-discrete good.

21. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 20, wherein the first message wakes the identification device from a dormant state.

22. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 20, having further instructions stored therein, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform a set of further operations comprising:

storing data from the identification device in a database.

23. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 20, having further instructions stored therein, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform a set of further operations comprising:

transmitting a third message to be stored in the identification device.

24. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 20, having further instructions stored therein, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform a set of further operations comprising:

tracking movement of the identification device by analyzing a characteristic of the second message.

25. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 20, having further instructions stored therein, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform a set of further operations comprising:

accessing a database to update data related to the non-discrete good based on the second message.