Systems and methods for tracking location in industrial facilities

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10168417-B2
Application number	US-201615233641-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 10, 2016
Priority date	Aug 10, 2016
Publication date	Jan 1, 2019
Grant date	Jan 1, 2019

Abstract

A system includes a control system. The control system includes a processor configured to receive a first signal from a light source within an industrial facility. The first signal includes a unique identification code configured to indicate at least a partial identity of a human resource within the industrial facility. The processor is configured to determine a proximity of the human resource with respect to the light source based at least in part on a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of the first signal, and to generate an indication of a location of the human resource within the industrial facility based on the determined proximity of the human resource to the light source.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system, comprising:
a control system, comprising:
a processor configured to:
receive a first signal from a light source within an industrial facility, wherein the first signal comprises a unique identification code configured to indicate at least a partial identity of a human resource within the industrial facility;
determine a proximity of the human resource with respect to the light source based at least in part on a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of the first signal;
generate an indication of a location of the human resource within the industrial facility based on the determined proximity of the human resource to the light source;

an electronic hardhat configured to be worn by the human resource, and wherein the electronic hardhat is configured to transmit a second signal to the light source; and
wherein the processor is configured to generate a signal to trip or shut down one or more industrial machines within the industrial facility based on the determined proximity of the human resource to the light source.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the electronic hardhat comprises a Bluetooth® low energy (BLE) beacon device configured to transmit one or more Bluetooth® packets to the light source as the second signal, and wherein the packets comprise the unique identification code and the RSSI.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the light source comprises a transceiver configured to generate the first signal and to transmit the first signal to the processor.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the transceiver is configured to transmit the unique identification code, the RSSI, and identification data of the light source as the first signal.

5. The system of claim 3 , wherein the transceiver is configured to transmit the first signal to a second light source prior to transmitting the first signal to the processor.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to generate a graphical representation to be displayed on a display as the indication of the location of the human resource within the industrial facility.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the light source comprises a light-emitting diode (LED) lamp, an LED lighting system, a plurality of LED devices, or a combination thereof.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the light source comprises one of a plurality light sources communicatively coupled to each other in a wireless mesh network configuration.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the industrial facility comprises a mining industrial facility, a power generation industrial facility, a petroleum refinery industrial facility, a manufacturing facility, a building construction site, or a combination thereof.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control system and the electronic hardhat are two separate elements.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer executable code stored thereon, the code comprising instructions to:
cause a processor to receive a first signal from a light source within an industrial facility, wherein the first signal comprises a unique identification code configured to indicate at least a partial identity of a human resource within the industrial facility;
cause the processor to determine a proximity of the human resource with respect to the light source based at least in part on a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of the first signal;
cause the processor to generate an indication of a location of the human resource within the industrial facility based on the determined proximity of the human resource to the light source;
cause the processor to generate a graphical representation to be displayed on a display as the indication of the precise or approximate location of the human resource within the industrial facility; and
cause the processor to generate a signal to trip or shut down one or more industrial machines within the industrial facility based on the determined proximity of the human resource to the light source.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the code comprises instructions to cause the processor to receive one or more Bluetooth® packets as the first signal.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the code comprises instructions to cause the processor to generate the indication of the location of the human resource based on the determined proximity of the human resource with respect to one of a plurality light sources communicatively coupled to the processor.

14. A system, comprising:
a plurality of light sources configured to illuminate an industrial facility, wherein each of the plurality of light sources comprises a transceiver configured to:
receive a first signal from a wearable electronic device configured to be worn by a human resource within the industrial facility, wherein the first signal comprises a unique identification code of the wearable electronic device and a received signal strength indicator (RSSI); and
generate and transmit a second signal to a control system of the industrial facility based at least in part on the unique identification code and the RSSI of the first signal, wherein the second signal comprises an indication of a location of the wearable electronic device within the industrial facility.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the transceiver is configured to transmit the unique identification code, the RSSI, identification data of at least one of the plurality of light sources, and a timestamp as the second signal.

16. The system of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of light sources comprises a plurality of light-emitting diode (LED) lamps, an LED lighting system, a plurality of LED devices, or a combination thereof.

17. The system of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of light sources are configured to form a wireless mesh network.

18. The system of claim 14 , wherein the control system is configured to determine the location of the wearable electronic device with respect to at least one of the plurality of light sources based at least in part on the RSSI of the first signal.

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Bulumulla Selaka Bandara
• Hartman Michael James
• Hasan S M Shajedul
• Wik Steven William

Classifications

• G01S2201/03

  Construction sites · CPC title

• G01S1/7038

  Signal details · CPC title

• G01S1/7034

  Mounting or deployment thereof · CPC title

• H04W4/029

  Location-based management or tracking services · CPC title

• H04B10/1149

  Arrangements for indoor wireless networking of information · CPC title