Apparatus and method for locating a vehicle in a working area and for the on-board measuring of parameters indicative of vehicle performance

Claim 1

A system for identifying the location of a vehicle (11) and assembling data related to vehicle performance in co-ordination with each identified location, characterised by a plurality of signposts (180) located at intended destinations of said vehicle (11), each signpost being characterized by indicia that are distinctive to the associated destination, detection means (198) on board said vehicle (11) for detecting the indicia of said signposts (180) and generating data indicative of vehicle location, sensing means (49, 102, 105, 107, 109, 110, 116) for sensing vehicle parameters and recording data indicative of said parameters in order to track performance of said vehicle, and control means (155) for receiving data from said sensing and detection means and in response thereto grouping said recorded data in association with one of a predetermined number of locations identified by the data from said detection means.

Claim 2

A system for identifying the location of a vehicle (11) and assembling data related to vehicle performance in co-ordination with each identified location, characterised by a plurality of signposts (180) located at intended destinations of said vehicle (11), each signpost being characterized by indicia that are distinctive to the associated destination, detection means (198) on board said vehicle (11) for detecting the indicia of said signposts (180) and generating data indicative of vehicle location, sensing means (49, 102, 105, 107, 109, 110, 116) for sensing vehicle parameters and recording data indicative of said parameters in order to track performance of said vehicle, and control means (155) for receiving data from said sensing and detection means and in response thereto grouping said recorded data in association with one of a predetermined number of locations identified by the data from said detection means.

Claim 7

A system as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5, wherein said sensing means includes a compass (106) for generating data indicative of the heading of said vehicle, a distance sensor (105) for generating data indicative of distance travelled by said vehicle, and said control means (101) responding to said distance and heading data to find the approximate instantaneous position of said vehicle (11) relative to the predetermined location associated with the most recently detected indicia of a signpost (180).

Claim 8

A system as claimed in any of claims 1 to 6, wherein said sensing means includes means (49) for weighing a payload carried by said vehicle.

Claim 11

An apparatus for monitoring and commanding vehicle movement in a system for controlling the routing of each vehicle in a fleet of vehicles to one of a plurality of possible locations within a working area, characterised by infrared radiators (180) strategically located within said working area for transmitting location data such that the effective range of each radiator is over an area which is distinct from the areas covered by the ranges of all other radiators, means (49,51,101) on-board each of said vehicles (11) for sensing the weight of a load carried by said vehicle and forming hauling data in response thereto, means (198) on-board each of said vehicles for sensing location data from one of said infrared radiators when said associated vehicle is within the effective range of said radiator, means (150) on-board each of said vehicles (11) for transmitting said location and hauling data; a central computer (155) for receiving said location and hauling data from each of said vehicles (11) and including means for formulating a data base from said data, analyzing said data base and forming control data in response to said analysis, and transmitting means (182) coupled to said central computer for transmitting said control data to selected trucks to thereby provide routing instructions to said vehicle.

Claim 12

An apparatus for monitoring and commanding vehicle movement in a system for controlling the routing of each vehicle in a fleet of vehicles to one of a plurality of possible locations within a working area, characterised by infrared radiators (180) strategically located within said working area for transmitting location data such that the effective range of each radiator is over an area which is distinct from the areas covered by the ranges of all other radiators, means (49,51,101) on-board each of said vehicles (11) for sensing the weight of a load carried by said vehicle and forming hauling data in response thereto, means (198) on-board each of said vehicles for sensing location data from one of said infrared radiators when said associated vehicle is within the effective range of said radiator, means (150) on-board each of said vehicles (11) for transmitting said location and hauling data; a central computer (155) for receiving said location and hauling data from each of said vehicles (11) and including means for formulating a data base from said data, analyzing said data base and forming control data in response to said analysis, and transmitting means (182) coupled to said central computer for transmitting said control data to selected trucks to thereby provide routing instructions to said vehicle.

Claim 16

An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 11 to 13, wherein said fluid-filled tubing is mounted on said beam member such that it forms an interface between the bottom of said truck body (13) and the top of said truck frame (26,27) when said body is moved to its lowered position that is substantially continuous from the front to the back of said body.

Claim 17

An apparatus on board each of a plurality of trucks (11) for use in a working area having a plurality of infrared radiators (180) strategically placed so that each radiator has an effective range covering an area distinct from all other radiators with the radiators associated with a base station (155) for controlling the routing of individual trucks (11) in a fleet of dump-body trucks to and from said distinct areas within said working area wherein said base station receives data from said trucks and issues commands to said trucks, characterised by a weighing means (49) mounted to the frame (26,27) of said truck (11) for supporting the entire weight of the body of said truck in its lowered position, said pressure sensor assembly providing pressure data indicative of the weight of said body, an infrared sensor (198) assembly mounted to the frame of said truck for detecting encoded infrared radiation from one of said infrared radiators (180) and decoding said radiation to provide location data, a processor means (101) on-board each of said trucks (11) for receiving said pressure and location data, and providing output data indicative of the hauling condition and location of the associated truck; and transceiver means (150) on-board each of said trucks for receiving said output data from said processor means (101) and transmitting said output data to said base station (155) for further processing, and receiving encoded radio frequency radiation from said base station and decoding it to provide control data instructing the truck of its desired route.

Claim 18

An apparatus on board each of a plurality of trucks (11) for use in a working area having a plurality of infrared radiators (180) strategically placed so that each radiator has an effective range covering an area distinct from all other radiators with the radiators associated with a base station (155) for controlling the routing of individual trucks (11) in a fleet of dump-body trucks to and from said distinct areas within said working area wherein said base station receives data from said trucks and issues commands to said trucks, characterised by a weighing means (49) mounted to the frame (26,27) of said truck (11) for supporting the entire weight of the body of said truck in its lowered position, said pressure sensor assembly providing pressure data indicative of the weight of said body, an infrared sensor (198) assembly mounted to the frame of said truck for detecting encoded infrared radiation from one of said infrared radiators (180) and decoding said radiation to provide location data, a processor means (101) on-board each of said trucks (11) for receiving said pressure and location data, and providing output data indicative of the hauling condition and location of the associated truck; and transceiver means (150) on-board each of said trucks for receiving said output data from said processor means (101) and transmitting said output data to said base station (155) for further processing, and receiving encoded radio frequency radiation from said base station and decoding it to provide control data instructing the truck of its desired route.

Claim 20

A method for monitoring and controlling the movement of a fleet of material hauling vehicles (11) characterised by the steps of sensing on board each vehicle (11) encoded electromagnetic radiation of a first frequency range and converting it to location data, distributing a plurality of sources of said encoded electromagnetic radiation of a first frequency range throughout a working site so as to form discrete areas wherein the electromagnetic radiation from only a single source (180) is sufficiently strong to be detected by said vehicle, sensing on board each vehicle an operating parameter of the associated vehicle and generating data indicative of said operating parameter, converting said location and operating data to electromagnetic radiation within a second frequency range at a power level sufficient to be easily detected throughout the effective working area of said vehicles, remotely receiving said electromagnetic radiation of a second frequency containing said location and operating data, formulating a historical data base of operating parameters from said data, and generating control data for transmission to a selected one of said vehicles.

Claim 21

A method for monitoring and controlling the movement of a fleet of material hauling vehicles (11) characterised by the steps of sensing on board each vehicle (11) encoded electromagnetic radiation of a first frequency range and converting it to location data, distributing a plurality of sources of said encoded electromagnetic radiation of a first frequency range throughout a working site so as to form discrete areas wherein the electromagnetic radiation from only a single source (180) is sufficiently strong to be detected by said vehicle, sensing on board each vehicle an operating parameter of the associated vehicle and generating data indicative of said operating parameter, converting said location and operating data to electromagnetic radiation within a second frequency range at a power level sufficient to be easily detected throughout the effective working area of said vehicles, remotely receiving said electromagnetic radiation of a second frequency containing said location and operating data, formulating a historical data base of operating parameters from said data, and generating control data for transmission to a selected one of said vehicles.