Managing material handling productivity

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10853748-B2
Application number	US-201816000054-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 5, 2018
Priority date	Jun 5, 2018
Publication date	Dec 1, 2020
Grant date	Dec 1, 2020

Abstract

A device for managing material handling productivity is disclosed. The device may receive information identifying a moving zone for a job site, a quantity of loads for the moving zone, and a material for the moving zone, and may identify a first machine, from multiple machines, to assign to the moving zone, the quantity of loads, and the material. The device may provide, to a first user device associated with the first machine, information indicating that the moving zone, the quantity of loads, and the material are assigned to the first machine. The device may receive, from the first user device, location information associated with the first user device and the first machine, and may provide the location information to a second user device, associated with a second machine, to enable the second machine to travel to the first machine.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A device comprising:
one or more memory devices; and
one or more processors, operatively coupled to the one or more memory devices, to:
receive information identifying a job site, a quantity of loads for a moving load zone, and a material for the moving load zone;
identify a machine from multiple machines;
provide, to a first user device associated with the machine, information indicating that the quantity of loads for the moving load zone and the material are assigned to the machine;
receive, from the first user device, location information associated with the first user device and the machine;
assign, based on the location information, the moving load zone to a location of the machine on the job site;
provide, as the moving load zone, a shape with a center representing the location of the machine;
receive, via a user interface of a second user device, information identifying an edit to change the shape to a different shape that provides a geographical boundary or a geo-fence that represents the moving load zone;
calculate a loading time for loading the material by the machine and at a particular time;
calculate a quantity of loads handled by the machine and at the particular time; and
perform an action based on the loading time and the quantity of loads handled by the machine.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the information identifying the job site is provided via a user interface displaying a visual rendering of the job site.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein, when performing the action, the one or more processors are to:
provide, to a third user device, information identifying the loading time and the quantity of loads handled by the machine.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors, when calculating the loading time, are to:
determine a quantity of time spent loading by the machine;
determine a quantity of time spent on the job site by the machine; and
calculate the loading time based on the quantity of time spent loading by the machine and the quantity of time spent on the job site by the machine.

5. The device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors, when calculating the quantity of loads handled by the machine, are to:
receive, from sensors associated with the machine, information indicating that the machine is loading; and
calculate the quantity of loads handled by the machine based on the information indicating that the machine is loading.

6. The device of claim 1 , wherein the machine includes an excavator, a loader, or a backhoe.

7. The device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are to:
track, via a third user interface associated with a processing machine that processes a load of the quantity of loads handled by the machine, a location of the processing machine; and
assign a moving dump zone to the location of the processing machine.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, the instructions comprising:
one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a device, cause the one or more processors to:
receive information identifying a job site, a quantity of loads for a moving load zone, and a material for the moving load zone;
identify a machine from multiple machines;
provide, to a first user device associated with the machine, information indicating that the quantity of loads for the moving load zone and the material are assigned to the machine;
receive, from the first user device location information associated with the first user device and the machine;
assign, based on the location information, a moving load zone to a location of the machine on the job site;
provide, as the moving load zone, a shape with a center representing the location of the machine;
receive, via a user interface of a second user device, information identifying an edit to change the shape to a different shape that provides a geographical boundary or a geo-fence that represents the moving load zone;
calculate a processing time for processing the material, for the moving dump zone, by the machine and at a particular time;
calculate a quantity of loads handled by the machine and at the particular time; and
perform an action based on the processing time and the quantity of loads handled by the machine.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the action includes:
providing, to the first user device or the user device, information identifying the processing time.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the one or more instructions, that cause the one or more processors to calculate the processing time, cause the one or more processors to:
determine a quantity of time spent processing the material by the machine;
determine a quantity of time spent on the job site by the machine; and
calculate the processing time based on the quantity of time spent processing the material by the machine and the quantity of time spent on the job site by the machine.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the one or more instructions, that cause the one or more processors to calculate the quantity of loads handled by the machine, cause the one or more processors to:
receive, from sensors associated with the machine, information indicating that the machine is processing the material; and
calculate the quantity of loads handled by the machine based on the information indicating that the machine is processing the material.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the machine is a paver, a bulldozer, or a steamroller.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , further comprising:
one or more instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
monitor the job site based on statuses of the machine;
generate one or more alerts based on monitoring the job site; and
provide the one or more alerts to the first user device.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the one or more instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
track a location of a processing machine that processes a load of the quantity of loads handled by the machine; and
assign a moving dump zone to the location of the processing machine.

15. A method comprising:
receiving, by a device, information identifying a job site, a quantity of loads for a moving load zone, and a material for the moving load zone;
identifying, by the device, a machine from multiple machines;
providing, by the device and to a first user device associated with the machine, information indicating that the quantity of loads for the moving load zone and the material are assigned to the machine;
receiving, by the device and from the first user device, location information associated with the first user device and the machine;
assigning, based on the location information, a moving load zone to a location of the machine on the job site;
providing, as the moving load zone, a shape with a center representing the location of the machine;
receiving, via a user interface of a second user device, information identifying an edit to change the shape to a different shape that provides a geographical boundary or a geo-fence that represents the moving load zone;
calculating, by the device, a loading time for loading the material by the machine and at a particular time;
calculating, by the device, a quantity of loads handled by the machine and at the particular time; and
performing, by the device, an action based on the loading

Assignees

• Caterpillar Inc

Inventors

• Ha Chris
• Le Chau

Classifications

• E02F9/265

  with follow-up actions (e.g. control signals sent to actuate the work tool) · CPC title

• E02F9/262

  with follow-up actions to control the work tool, e.g. controller · CPC title

• E02F9/2054 Primary

  Fleet management · CPC title

• E02F9/205 Primary

  Remotely operated machines, e.g. unmanned vehicles (E02F3/8866 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06Q10/06314

  Calendaring for a resource · CPC title