Methods, systems, and computer program products for locating and tracking objects

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-8954292-B2
Application number	US-201313793839-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 11, 2013
Priority date	Dec 26, 2000
Publication date	Feb 10, 2015
Grant date	Feb 10, 2015

Abstract

A system for locating and tracking an object is provided. The system includes a measuring device configured to determine a property of a paving-related material, a locating device configured to determine a location of the measuring device, a tracking system configured to store tracking information associated with the measuring device and one or more properties determined by the measuring device, and a communications system configured to transfer, to a remote device, the location of the measuring device and the tracking information associated with the measuring device.

First claim

I claim:

1. A method comprising:
receiving a geographic coordinate of the object;
acquiring a measurement of a construction material at a geographic location corresponding to the geographic coordinate;
determining a property of the construction material based on the acquired measurement;
storing the determined property and the geographic coordinate for communication to a computing device; and
at the computing device, identifying the geographic coordinate and the determined property at the geographic coordinate.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the geographic coordinate and the determined property comprises presenting one of a map and a spreadsheet identifying the geographic coordinate and the determined property.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving an identifier comprises receiving the identifier from one of a memory location and a radio frequency identification (RFID) device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the steps of receiving a geographic coordinate, acquiring a measurement, and storing are implemented at a measuring device.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the geographic coordinate and the determined property comprises displaying one of a spreadsheet and a map including the geographic coordinate and the determined property.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising communicating the determined property and the geographic coordinate to the computing device via wireless communication.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the construction material is pavement material.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein storing the determined property and the geographic coordinate is encrypted or locked data.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein storing the determined property and the geographic coordinate is unlocked or decrypted data.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein storing the determined property and the geographic coordinate comprises storing the determined property and the geographic coordinate on a removable memory.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the removable memory is a universal serial bus (USB) storage device.

12. A system comprising:
a measuring device comprising at least one processor and memory configured to:
receive a geographic coordinate of the object;
acquire a measurement of a construction material at a geographic location corresponding to the geographic coordinate;
determine a property of the construction material based on the acquired measurement;
store the determined property and the geographic coordinate for communication to a computing device; and

a computing device configured to identify the geographic coordinate and the determined property at the geographic coordinate.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the computing device is configured to present one of a map and a spreadsheet identifying the geographic coordinate and the determined property.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the measuring device is configured to receive the identifier from one of a memory location and a radio frequency identification (RFID) device.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the computing device is configured to display one of a spreadsheet and a map including the geographic coordinate and the determined property.

16. The system of claim 12 , wherein the measuring device is configured to communicate the determined property and the geographic coordinate to the computing device via wireless communication.

17. The system of claim 12 , wherein the construction material is pavement material.

18. The system of claim 12 , wherein the measuring device is configured to store the determined property and the geographic coordinate on a removable memory.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the removable memory is a universal serial bus (USB) storage device.

Assignees

• Troxler Electronic Lab Inc

Inventors

• Troxler Robert Ernest

Classifications

• G08B21/023

  Power management, e.g. system sleep and wake up provisions · CPC title

• G01S5/0294

  Trajectory determination or predictive filtering, e.g. target tracking or Kalman filtering · CPC title

• G01N33/42 Primary

  Road-making materials (G01N33/38 takes precedence) · CPC title

• E02D1/00

  Investigation of foundation soil in situ (investigation involving boring or specially adapted to earth drilling E21B25/00, E21B49/00; investigating or analysing materials by determining their chemical or physical properties, in general G01N, e.g. sampling G01N1/00) · CPC title

• A01K15/023

  Anti-evasion devices · CPC title