Determining a dump location of material dumped by a transport vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10845208-B2
Application number	US-201816110685-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 23, 2018
Priority date	Aug 23, 2018
Publication date	Nov 24, 2020
Grant date	Nov 24, 2020

Abstract

Systems and methods for estimating a dump location of material dumped by a transport vehicle are disclosed. A system may receive information that identifies a location of a paving machine, and may receive multiple data points associated with the transport vehicle. Each data point may indicate a respective location of the transport vehicle and a corresponding time at which the transport vehicle was at the respective location. The system may identify a subset of the multiple data points that indicate respective locations of the transport vehicle within a threshold proximity of the location of the paving machine. The system may estimate the dump location of the material dumped by the transport vehicle based on at least one of a set of locations indicated by the subset of data points or a set of times indicated by the subset of data points, and may output information that identifies the dump location.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of estimating a dump location of material dumped by a transport vehicle, comprising:
receiving, by a server, information that identifies a location of a paving machine at a specific time;
receiving, by the server, multiple data points associated with the transport vehicle, wherein each data point indicates a respective location of the transport vehicle and a corresponding time at which the transport vehicle was at the respective location;
identifying, by the server, a set of data points, of the multiple data points, that indicate respective locations of the transport vehicle within a threshold proximity of the location of the paving machine within a time period that includes the specific time;
estimating, by the server, the dump location of the material dumped by the transport vehicle based on at least one of:
a set of locations indicated by the set of data points, and
a set of times indicated by the set of data points; and

providing for display, by the server and on a display device associated with the server, information that identifies the estimated dump location based on estimating the dump location.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information that identifies the estimated dump location is provided for display to indicate the estimated dump location on a map.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein estimating the dump location comprises:
determining a first location, of the set of locations, associated with an earliest time of the set of times;
determining a second location, of the set of locations, associated with a latest time of the set of times; and
estimating the dump location as a midpoint between the first location and the second location.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein estimating the dump location comprises:
determining a time, of the set of times, that is a midpoint of the set of times;
determining a location, of the set of locations, that corresponds to the time; and
estimating the dump location as the location that corresponds to the time.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dump location is estimated as a weighted combination of at least one of the set of locations or the set of times.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of the data points are identified as being within the threshold proximity of the location of the paving machine based on at least one of:
a comparison between the location of the paving machine and each location in the set of locations indicated by the set of data points,
a comparison between the specific time and each time in the set of times indicated by the set of data points, or
an indication that the paving machine and the transport vehicle are in communicative proximity.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving information that identifies a location associated with paved material;
determining a nearest estimated dump location, to the location associated with the paved material, among multiple estimated dump locations that include the estimated dump location; and
outputting information that identifies the nearest estimated dump location and information associated with the nearest estimated dump location.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the information associated with the nearest estimated dump location identifies at least one of:
a type of material dumped at the nearest estimated dump location,
a mixture of material dumped at the nearest estimated dump location,
a plant identifier that identifies a plant that mixed material dumped at the nearest estimated dump location,
a project identifier that identifies a project associated with the nearest estimated dump location, or
a contractor identifier that identifies a contractor associated with the nearest estimated dump location.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dump location is estimated without an explicit indication that the material has been dumped.

10. A system for estimating a dump location of material dumped by a transport vehicle, comprising:
a memory; and
one or more processors configured to:
receive information that identifies a location of a paving machine;
receive multiple data points associated with the transport vehicle, wherein each data point indicates a respective location of the transport vehicle and a corresponding time at which the transport vehicle was at the respective location;
identify a subset of data points, of the multiple data points, that indicate respective locations of the transport vehicle within a threshold proximity of the location of the paving machine;
estimate the dump location of the material dumped by the transport vehicle based on at least one of:
a set of locations indicated by the subset of data points, or
a set of times indicated by the subset of data points; and

provide for display, on a display device associated with the system, information that identifies the estimated dump location based on estimating the dump location.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the estimated dump location includes at least one of:
a first location, of the set of locations, associated with an earliest time of the set of times,
a second location, of the set of locations, associated with a latest time of the set of times, or
a midpoint between the first location and the second location.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the information that identifies the estimated dump location is provided for display to indicate at least one of the first location, the second location, or the midpoint on a map.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the estimated dump location includes a location, of the set of locations, that corresponds to a time, of the set of times, that is a midpoint of the set of times.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the dump location is estimated as a weighted combination of the set of locations and the set of times.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for estimating a dump location of material dumped by a first vehicle, the instructions comprising:
one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
receive information that identifies a location of a second vehicle;
receive multiple data points associated with the first vehicle, wherein each data point indicates a respective location of the first vehicle and a corresponding time at which the first vehicle was at the respective location;
identify a subset of data points, of the multiple data points, that indicate respective locations of the first vehicle within a threshold proximity of the location of the second vehicle;
estimate the dump location of the material dumped by the first vehicle based on at least one of:
a set of locations indicated by the subset of data points, or
a set of times indicated by the subset of data points; and

provide for display, on a display device associated with the one or more processors, information that identifies the estimated dump location based on estimating the dump location.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the estimated dump location includes at least one of:
a first location, of the set of locations, associated with an earliest time of the set of times,
a second location, of the set of locations, associated with a latest time of the set of times, or
a midpoint between the first location and the second location.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the information that identifies the estimated dump location is provided for display to indicate the estimated dump locati

Assignees

• Caterpillar Paving Products Inc

Inventors

• Mcalpine Jacob
• Marsolek John
• Subramanian Gautham

Classifications

• G01C21/343

  Calculating itineraries (travelling salesman problem G06Q10/04; optimisation of routes G06Q10/047) · CPC title

• G01C21/3484 Primary

  Personalized, e.g. from learned user behaviour or user-defined profiles · CPC title

• Y02W90/00

  Enabling technologies or technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions mitigation · CPC title

• G01C21/3676

  Overview of the route on the road map · CPC title

• G06Q10/08

  Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management · CPC title