Methods and systems for controlling fluid delivery missions on a site

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9805317-B2
Application number	US-77203510-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 19, 2010
Priority date	May 19, 2010
Publication date	Oct 31, 2017
Grant date	Oct 31, 2017

Abstract

Systems and methods for controlling fluid delivery on a site using at least one fluid delivery machine are disclosed. An exemplary such method includes identifying at least one path on the site based on map information associated with the site, calculating a fluid delivery requirement of the at least one path based on environmental information associated with the site, and dispatching a fluid delivery machine on a mission to treat the at least one path with fluid based on the fluid delivery requirement.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for controlling fluid delivery on a site using at least one fluid delivery machine, the method performed by a worksite computing system and comprising:
identifying, by a processor associated with a controller, at least one path on the site based on map information associated with the site;
calculating, by the processor, a fluid delivery requirement of the at least one path based on environmental information associated with the site and a desired fluid level of the at least one path;
dispatching, by the processor, a fluid delivery machine on a mission to treat the at least one path with fluid based on the fluid delivery requirement; and
treating, by the fluid delivery machine, the at least one path with fluid based on the fluid delivery requirement, wherein the fluid delivery machine comprises an autonomous mobile machine.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the environmental information includes at least one of: temperature information, solar radiation information, pressure information, humidity information, wind speed information, and precipitation information associated with the site.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein calculating a fluid delivery requirement includes:
receiving a predetermined baseline fluid level of the at least one path;
calculating the desired fluid level of the at least one path based on the baseline fluid level and on the environmental information;
calculating an actual fluid level of the at least one path based on the environmental information and on an initial fluid level of the at least one path; and
calculating a ratio the actual fluid level to the desired fluid level;
wherein dispatching the fluid delivery machine based on the fluid delivery requirement includes dispatching the fluid delivery machine when the ratio is below a threshold.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein calculating an actual fluid level includes:
determining an evaporation index based on the environmental information; and
reducing the initial fluid level based on the evaporation index and on an elapsed period of time.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining a fluid delivery requirement includes:
receiving usage information and surface characteristic information associated with the at least one path; and
modifying the fluid delivery requirement based on the usage information and on the surface characteristic information.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein:
the usage information includes at least one of: traffic information, machine loading information, and zoning information associated with the at least one path; and
the surface characteristic information includes at least one of: a surface composition, a surface inclination, a curvature, a dust level, and a width associated with the at least one path.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one path includes a plurality of paths, and the method further includes:
determining fluid delivery requirements associated with the plurality of paths;
receiving usage information associated with the plurality of paths; and
determining a route among the plurality of paths for the fluid delivery mission based on the fluid delivery requirements and on the usage information,
wherein the fluid delivery machine is dispatched to treat paths in the route with the fluid.

8. The method of claim 1 , further including:
receiving a mission report from the fluid delivery machine, the mission report indicating an amount of fluid delivered to the at least one path during the mission; and
updating the fluid delivery requirement based on the amount of delivered fluid.

9. The method of claim 1 , further including updating the fluid delivery requirement based on an estimated amount of fluid to be delivered to the at least one path during the mission.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein dispatching includes transmitting mission instructions to the fluid delivery machine, the mission instructions identifying the at least one path and an allocated amount of fluid to deliver to the path.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the environmental information is received from at least one of a sensor associated with the site and a database.

12. A fluid delivery system for controlling fluid delivery on a site using at least one fluid delivery machine, the system comprising:
a communication device for communicating with the at least one fluid delivery machine;
a map database storing map information associated with the site;
a device for providing environmental information associated with the site; and
a controller configured to:
identify at least one path on the site based on the map information;
calculate a fluid delivery requirement of the at least one path based on the environmental information and a desired fluid level of the at least one path;
send, via the communication device and based on the fluid delivery requirement, a signal to dispatch a fluid delivery machine on a fluid delivery mission to treat the at least one path with fluid; and
the fluid delivery machine, configured to treat the at least one path with fluid based the fluid delivery requirement, wherein the fluid delivery machine comprises an autonomous mobile machine.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the environmental information includes at least one of: temperature information, solar radiation information, pressure information, humidity information, wind speed information, and precipitation information associated with the site.

14. The system of claim 12 , further comprising a fluid delivery database storing a predetermined baseline fluid level for the at least one path and an initial fluid level of the at least one path, wherein the controller is configured to calculate the fluid delivery requirement by:
calculating the desired fluid level of the at least one path based on the baseline fluid level and on the environmental information;
calculating an actual fluid level of the at least one path based on the environmental information and on the initial fluid level; and
calculating a ratio of the actual fluid level to the desired fluid level, wherein the controller is configured to send the signal to dispatch when the ratio is below a threshold.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the controller is configured to calculate the actual fluid level by:
determining an evaporation index based on the environmental information; and
reducing the initial fluid level based on the evaporation index and on an elapsed period of time.

16. The system of claim 12 , further comprising a site database storing usage information and surface characteristic information associated with the at least one path, wherein the controller is configured to determine the fluid delivery requirement by modifying the fluid delivery requirement based on the usage information and on the surface characteristic information.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein:
the usage information includes at least one of: traffic information, machine loading information, and zoning information associated with the at least one path; and
the surface characteristic information includes at least one of: a surface composition, a surface inclination, a curvature, a dust level, and a width associated with the at least one path.

18. The system of claim 12 , wherein the at least one path includes a plurality of paths, and the controller is further configured to:
determine fluid delivery requirements associated with the plurality of paths;
retrieve usage information associated with the plurality of paths from a site database; and
determine a r

Assignees

• Gudat Adam J
• Humphrey James D
• Anderton Peter W
• Orr David C
• Stratton Kenneth L
• Koehrsen Craig L
• Keefer Claude W
• Braunstein Michael D
• Caterpillar Inc

Inventors

• Gudat Adam J
• Humphrey James D
• Anderton Peter W
• Orr David C
• Stratton Kenneth L
• Koehrsen Craig L
• Keefer Claude W
• Braunstein Michael D

Classifications

• G01C21/343

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

• G06Q10/047 Primary

  Optimisation of routes or paths, e.g. travelling salesman problem · CPC title