Dynamic operator behavior analyzer

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10522054-B2
Application number	US-201715453027-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 8, 2017
Priority date	Sep 5, 2013
Publication date	Dec 31, 2019
Grant date	Dec 31, 2019

Abstract

Dynamic industrial vehicle monitoring for modification of vehicle operator behavior comprises identifying a metric that characterizes an event associated with the operation of an industrial vehicle, the metric having at least one behavior modification action and at least one performance parameter to evaluate the event against. Monitoring operation of the industrial vehicle is carried out for the event. Upon detecting an occurrence of the event, event data is recorded that characterizes a response of a vehicle operator to the event. The recorded event data is evaluated against at least one performance parameter associated with the corresponding metric to determine whether the vehicle operator demonstrated appropriate behavior for the event. A vehicle operator score is updated based upon the evaluation and the updated vehicle operator score is communicated.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented process for providing dynamic industrial vehicle monitoring for modification of vehicle operator behavior, the process comprising:
identifying a vehicle operator that has logged onto an industrial vehicle;
identifying a metric that characterizes an event associated with the operation of the industrial vehicle, the metric having a pre-action trigger that defines when the event is predicted to occur, a performance parameter to evaluate against the event and a behavior modification action that corresponds to a desired operator behavior in response to the event;
monitoring operation of the industrial vehicle for the event comprising:
predicting that the event will occur before the event actually occurs by detecting industrial vehicle conditions that satisfy the pre-action trigger; and
performing the behavior modification action associated with the identified metric, by a processor on the industrial vehicle, upon predicting that the event will occur and before the event actually occurs; and

in response to detecting an occurrence of the event; performing:
recording event data that characterizes a response of the vehicle operator to the event; evaluating the recorded event data against the performance parameter associated with the corresponding metric to determine whether the vehicle operator demonstrated the desired operator behavior in response to the event; communicating to the vehicle operator on the industrial vehicle, a feedback based upon the determined vehicle operator behavior in response to the occurrence of the event; computing a vehicle operator score based upon the evaluation; and linking the computed vehicle operator score with the vehicle operator that had logged onto the industrial vehicle.

2. The computer-implemented process of claim 1 further comprising:
configuring the behavior modification action to comprise an instruction on the behavior necessary to comply with the event predicted to occur; and
configuring the feedback to represent a corrective action based upon a comparison of the desired operator behavior and the recorded event data representing the actual detected behavior where the evaluation determines that the operator did not demonstrate the desired behavior.

3. The computer-implemented process of claim 1 , wherein:
predicting that the event will occur before the event actually occurs comprises using localized relative position feedback to provide an opportunity for the vehicle operator to cure an improper behavior before a remote server is informed that the improper behavior occurred.

4. The computer-implemented process of claim 1 , wherein:
detecting industrial vehicle conditions that satisfy the pre-action trigger comprises:
comparing location tracking information collected from a location tracking device on the industrial vehicle against the pre-action trigger.

5. The computer-implemented process of claim 1 further comprising:
selecting the behavior modification action based upon how the vehicle operator responded to previous occurrences of the event.

6. The computer-implemented process of claim 1 , wherein communicating to the vehicle operator, a feedback comprises:
determining that the vehicle operator demonstrated an inappropriate behavior for the event; and
providing a message that indicates the behavior that was expected in response to the occurrence of the event.

7. The computer-implemented process of claim 1 , wherein:
identifying a metric further comprises:
identifying at least one inculcating rule that determines whether the vehicle operator is in an inculcating mode or a normal mode for the event;

wherein:
the behavior modification action is implemented for the vehicle operator when in the inculcating mode, and wherein the behavior modification action is suppressed when the vehicle operator is in the normal mode for that event.

8. The computer-implemented process of claim 1 , wherein:
predicting that the event will occur before the event actually occurs comprises receiving information from a remote server that is used alone or in conjunction with local vehicle extracted information to predict that the event will occur.

9. The computer-implemented process of claim 1 further comprising:
assigning a set of virtual rewards including virtual badges to vehicle operators based upon achievements as determined from the vehicle operator score.

10. The computer-implemented process of claim 1 further comprising:
comparing the vehicle operator score against a benchmark; and
presenting the benchmarked score to the operator by displaying the benchmarked score on a display of the industrial vehicle.

11. A computer-implemented process for providing dynamic industrial vehicle monitoring for modification of vehicle operator behavior, the process comprising:
identifying a vehicle operator that has logged onto an industrial vehicle;
identifying a metric that characterizes an event associated with the operation of the industrial vehicle, the metric having a pre-action trigger that defines when the event is predicted to occur, a performance parameter to evaluate against the event and a behavior modification action, wherein the event is based, at least in part, upon a condition related to the industrial vehicle itself, a condition external to the vehicle, an action of the vehicle operator, or a combination thereof;
determining whether the operator has been inculcated to respond to the event;
monitoring operation of the industrial vehicle for the event comprising:
predicting that the event will occur before the event actually occurs by detecting industrial vehicle conditions that satisfy the pre-action trigger; and
performing the behavior modification action associated with the identified metric, by a processor on the industrial vehicle, upon predicting that the event will occur and before the event actually occurs, where the determination indicates that the operator has not been inculcated to respond to the event; and

in response to detecting an occurrence of the event, performing;
recording event data that characterizes a response of the vehicle operator to the event;
evaluating the recorded event data against the performance parameter associated with the corresponding metric to determine whether the vehicle operator demonstrated appropriate behavior for the event;
communicating to the vehicle operator, a feedback based upon the determined vehicle operator behavior in response to the occurrence of the event where the determination indicates that the vehicle operator did not demonstrate the appropriate behavior for the event;
computing a vehicle operator score based upon the evaluation; and linking the computed vehicle operator score with the vehicle operator that had logged onto the industrial vehicle.

12. The computer-implemented process of claim 11 , wherein:
performing the behavior modification action comprises performing the behavior modification action for an event attributable to the vehicle operator, including at least one of: checklist compliance, proper vehicle dismount, time management, and efficiency of operation.

13. The computer-implemented process of claim 11 , wherein:
performing the behavior modification action comprises performing the behavior modification action for an event attributable to an environmental condition including at least one of: a speed zone, a required vehicle stop zone, a ramp, and a restricted area.

14. The computer-implemented process of claim 11 , wherein:
determining whether the operator has been inculcated to respond to the event comprises:
detecting that the vehi

Assignees

• Crown Equip Corp

Inventors

• Manci Lewis H
• Swift Philip W
• Waltz Lucas B

Classifications

• G06Q10/0639

  Performance analysis of employees; Performance analysis of enterprise or organisation operations · CPC title

• G06Q10/06398

  Performance of employee with respect to a job function · CPC title

• G09B5/00

  Electrically-operated educational appliances (working with questions and answers G09B7/00; simulators G09B9/00; advertising or displaying in general G09F) · CPC title

• G09B19/16 Primary

  Control of vehicles or other craft (simulators G09B9/02) · CPC title