Determination of lift count metric

Abstract

To provide systems for determining the level of completion of a worksite plan.SOLUTION: A system for measuring productivity across different types of machines comprises: a controller; a first machine / at least a second machine of a first type / a second type operable at a worksite to perform a first task / a second task within a worksite plan; and a communication network configured to transmit signals between the controller and the first machine and the second machine. The controller is configured to: receive, from a first sensor / a second sensor associated with the first machine / the second machine, first machine telematics data / second machine telematics data defining an indication of completion of the first task / the second task from the first machine / the second machine; and calculate a lift count based on the first machine telematics data and the second machine telematics data, the lift count defining a percentage of completion of the worksite plan.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE This disclosure relates to systems and methods for determining a level of completion for a work site plan. More specifically, this disclosure relates to systems and methods for calculating a number of machine lifts based on machine data and using the number of lifts to determine a corresponding level of completion. [Background technology]

[0002] Haul trucks, wheel loaders, skid steer loaders, dozers, and other machines are often used to perform various operations at work sites. These mining, loading, transporting, material leveling, grading, and compaction units, among other types of machines, may be used to excavate and prepare an area of ​​ground for further development and construction. For example, one or more hydraulic excavators may be used to remove layers of material, such as soil, gravel, concrete, asphalt, or other materials, that make up part of a work surface at a work site. In some embodiments, an articulated dolly or highway truck may be used as a transport unit to move material excavated by the hydraulic excavator to or from the work site. Additionally, in some embodiments, a track-type tractor (TTT) may be used to create the elevation, slope, and grade of material along the surface of the work site. A soil compactor acting as a compaction unit may be used to compact the material to an intended density. In some examples, finish grading may be applied to the material throughout the work site. The process of using the machines described above may be referred to herein as "bulk mining."

[0003] An exemplary system for use in tracking and monitoring multiple machines is described in U.S. Patent No. 5,956,250 A (hereinafter the '250 reference). In particular, the '250 reference describes a system and method for controlling the navigation of a surface-based vehicle, using a path obtained by manually driving the vehicle over the entire path to collect data defining the absolute position of the vehicle at various locations along the path. The collected data is smoothed to provide a consistent route to follow. The smoothed data is then used to automatically guide the vehicle throughout the route.

[0004] The '250 reference does not describe the definition and counting of specific events to determine the percentage or level of completion of a work site plan, nor does it define "lift numbers" to be used to assist in such determinations. Machines of the type used for high volume mining may report different types of production metrics. These different production metrics for different machines are not useful for reporting the overall percentage or level of completion of a work site plan where machines complete multiple different tasks. Additionally, because different machines report different production metrics, it may be difficult to gain insight into which machines in a work site are performing below expectations within the overall work site plan.

[0005] At a given construction site, a construction management authority may be responsible for managing construction missions completed by multiple different sets of equipment working at remote locations. From a construction mission management perspective, the location data associated with a given set of equipment may be a measure to access the performance of the given set of equipment. However, each set of equipment may not have location identification or performance calculation capabilities. At best, only a portion of the set of equipment may have a high-precision Global Positioning System (GPS) to provide accurate elevation data. Even with a high-precision GPS, the tolerance of the elevation may be high enough to create uncertainty regarding the position data. In other words, high-precision GPS data may provide accurate latitude and longitude values, but the tolerance in the elevation measurement may be high enough to make individual lift detection difficult from an accuracy perspective. In the embodiment described herein, and the industry standard for a single lift, the elevation may be about 300 mm. Thus, collecting equipment performance data may amount to manually tracking the location of each set of equipment and manually initiating corrective action on sets of poorly performing equipment, so that the poorly performing equipment may be repaired, replaced, or relocated. Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to overcoming the above-mentioned deficiencies. Summary of the Invention

[0006] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of estimating workplace productivity includes receiving, using a controller, a work site plan to be executed by a transport machine, a leveling machine, and a compaction machine at a work site; assigning, using the controller, the transport machine, the leveling machine, and the compaction machine to perform tasks defined by the work site plan based on the respective capabilities of the transport machine, the leveling machine, and the compaction machine; receiving, using the controller, machine data from the transport machine, the leveling machine, and the compaction machine, the machine data indicating a first completion level corresponding to a first task performed by the transport machine, a second completion level corresponding to a second task performed by the leveling machine, and a third completion level corresponding to a third task performed by the compaction machine; and determining, using the controller, a number of lifts based on the machine data.

[0007] In another example embodiment of the present disclosure, a system for measuring productivity across different types of machines includes a controller, a first machine of a first type operable at the work site to perform a first task defined by a work site plan, at least a second machine of a second type operable at the work site to perform a second task defined by the work site plan, and a communications network configured to transmit signals between the controller and the first and second machines, the controller receives first machine telematics data from a first sensor associated with the first machine defining an indication of completion of the first task from the first machine, receives second machine telematics data from a second sensor associated with the second machine defining an indication of completion of the second task from the second machine, and determines a number of lifts based on the first machine telematics data and the second machine telematics data, the number of lifts defining a percentage of completion of the work site plan.

[0008] In yet another example of the present disclosure, a system for determining a percentage of completion of a work site plan includes a controller and a communications network communicatively coupled to the controller for transmitting signals between the controller and a plurality of machines, the controller receives first machine data from a first sensor associated with a first machine defining an indication of completion of a first task, receives second machine data from a second sensor associated with at least a second machine defining an indication of completion of a second task, and determines a number of lifts based on the first machine data and the second machine data, the number of lifts defining a percentage of completion of the work site plan. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating an example method associated with the system shown in FIG. [Diagram 3]FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an example method associated with the systems and methods shown in FIGS. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating another example method associated with the systems and methods shown in FIGS. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Whenever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or similar parts. With reference to FIG. 1, an exemplary system 100 may include one or more machines operating at a work site 112 to perform various tasks. For example, the system 100 may include one or more excavation machines 102, one or more loading machines 104, one or more compaction machines 105, one or more hauling machines 106, one or more soil preparation machines 107, and / or other types of machines used in construction, mining, building, paving, excavation, and / or other operations at the work site 112. The machines described herein may communicate with each other and / or with a local or remote control system 120 by one or more central stations 108. The central station 108 may facilitate wireless communication between the machines described herein and / or between such machines and, for example, between system controllers 122 of the control system 120, for purposes of transmitting and / or receiving operational data and / or instructions. In the embodiments described herein, the system controller 122 may cause and / or instruct the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 to perform their respective tasks described herein in an autonomous and / or semi-autonomous manner by transmitting instructions to the respective controllers 136 of the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 via the network 124, satellites 132, and / or central station 108, and the communications devices 126 of the respective machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107. Although only a single controller 136 is illustrated diagrammatically in FIG. 1, it will be understood that each of the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 described herein may include a respective controller 136. The controllers 136 of the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 may execute instructions received from the system controller 122 to cause the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 to perform tasks defined by the instructions.

[0011] Excavation machine 102 may refer to any machine that reduces material at a work site 112 for purposes of subsequent operations (i.e., blasting, loading, hauling, and / or other operations). Examples of excavation machines 102 may include shovels, backhoes, dozers, boring machines, trenchers, and draglines, among other types of excavation machines. Multiple excavation machines 102 may coexist within a common area of ​​a work site 112 and may perform similar functions. For example, one or more of the excavation machines may move soil, sand, minerals, gravel, concrete, asphalt, topsoil, and / or other materials (collectively referred to herein as "soil" or "materials") that comprise at least a portion of a work surface 110 of the work site 112. As such, under most conditions, similar coexisting excavation machines 102 may perform approximately the same in terms of productivity and efficiency when exposed to similar site conditions.

[0012] A loading machine 104 may refer to any machine that lifts, transports, loads, and / or removes material removed by one or more excavation machines 102. In some examples, a loading machine 104 may remove such material and transport the removed material from a first location on the work site 112 to a second location on the work site 112, or off or to the work site. Examples of loading machines 104 may include wheeled or tracked loaders, front shovels, shovels, cable shovels, and stack reclaimers, among other types of loading machines 104. One or more loading machines 104 may operate within a common area of ​​the work site 112, for example, to load the reduced material onto a transport machine 106.

[0013] Hauling machines 106 may refer to any machine that transports excavated material between different locations within the worksite 112. Examples of hauling machines 106 include articulated dollies, off-highway trucks, over-the-road dump trucks, and wheeled tractor scrapers, among other types of hauling machines 106. A loaded hauling machine 106 may transport overburden from an excavated area within the worksite 112 along a haul road to various dump sites and back to the same or a different excavated area to be reloaded. Under some conditions, similar coexisting hauling machines 106 may perform approximately the same in terms of productivity and efficiency when exposed to similar worksite conditions.

[0014] The compaction machine 105 may refer to any machine configured to apply stress to the work surface 110 of the work site 112 to densify the soil thereon and / or obtain an acceptable surface finish. The operation of the soil compaction machine 105 may immediately follow and / or proceed immediately to the operation of the soil preparation machine 107. In one embodiment, the compaction process may be performed using a compaction machine 105, such as a double drum compaction machine having a front drum and a back drum, which serves to propel the machine and compact the material to a suitable condition through the weight of the compaction machine, and may be used in conjunction with a drum vibrating device. Other examples of the soil compaction machine 105 may include wheeled or tracked soil compactors, vibratory soil compactors, and tandem vibratory compactors, among other types of compaction machines 105. One or more soil compaction machines 105 may work together within the work site 112 to compact the soil thereon. Completing compaction may include making multiple passes through the material with the compaction machine.

[0015] The soil preparation machine 107 may refer to any machine configured to create a flat surface by leveling material, such as soil, at the work site 112 for subsequent operations, for example, for compaction operations. Examples of soil preparation machines 107 may include scrapers, bulldozers, motor graders, or other similar machines commonly known in the art for creating a flat surface during operation. Multiple soil preparation machines 107 may coexist within a common area of ​​the work site 112 and may perform similar functions.

[0016] 1 , system 100 may include a control system 120 and a system controller 122 for controlling and / or coordinating data transmission between various elements in system 100. In some embodiments, control system 120 and / or system controller 122 may be located at a command center (not shown) remote from work site 112. In other embodiments, system controller 122 and / or one or more components of control system 120 may be located at work site 112. Regardless of the location of the various components of control system 120, such components may be configured to facilitate communication between and provide information to excavation machine 102, loading machine 104, hauling machine 106, compaction machine 105, soil preparation machine 107, and / or other machines of system 100. In any of the embodiments described herein, the functionality of system controller 122 may be distributed such that certain operations are performed at work site 112 and other operations are performed remotely, such as at a remote command center as described above. For example, some operations of system controller 122 may occur at the work site 112, one or more excavation machines 102, one or more loading machines 104, one or more hauling machines 106, one or more compaction machines 105, or one or more soil preparation machines 107, among other locations and devices in system 100. It will be appreciated that system controller 122 may also include components of system 100, components of one or more machines located at work site 112, components of separate mobile devices such as, for example, mobile phones, tablets, and laptop computers, among other types of mobile devices, and / or control system 120.

[0017] The system controller 122 may be an electronic controller that operates in a logical manner to execute operations such as executing control algorithms, storing and retrieving data and other similar operations. The system controller 122 may additionally include any other components necessary to execute an application, including, but not limited to, access memory, secondary storage, a processor, and the like. The memory and secondary storage may be in the form of read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), or integrated circuits accessible by the controller. Various other circuits may be associated with the system controller 122, including, but not limited to, power supply circuits, signal conditioning circuits, driver circuits, and other types of circuits.

[0018] The system controller 122 may be a single controller or may include multiple controllers. In examples in which the system controller 122 includes multiple controllers, the system controller 122 may include additional controllers associated with, for example, the excavator 102, the loader 104, the hauler 106, the compactor 105, the soil preparation machine 107, and / or other machines of the system 100 that are configured to control various functions and / or features of the system 100. As used herein, the term "controller" is intended in its broadest sense to include one or more controllers, processors, central processing units, and / or microprocessors that may be associated with the system 100 and that may work together to control various functions and operations of the system 100. The functionality of the system controller 122, regardless of function, may be implemented in hardware and / or software. The system controller 122 may rely on one or more data maps, lookup tables, neural networks, algorithms, machine learning algorithms, and / or other components related to the operating conditions and operating environment of the system 100 that may be stored in the memory of the system controller 122. The data maps discussed above may include a collection of data in the form of tables, graphs, and / or equations to maximize the performance and efficiency of the system 100 and its operation.

[0019] The components of the control system 120 may communicate with and / or otherwise be operatively connected to any of the components of the system 100 via a network 124. The network 124 may be a local area network ("LAN"), a larger network such as a wide area network ("WAN"), or a collection of networks such as the Internet. The network 124 may be implemented using a protocol for network communication such as the Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP / IP). Although embodiments are described herein as using a network 124 such as the Internet, other distribution techniques may be implemented that transmit information via memory cards, flash memory, or other portable memory devices.

[0020] It is understood that the excavation machine 102, the loader machine 104, the hauling machine 106, the compaction machine 105, the soil preparation machine 107, and / or other machines of the system 100 may include respective controllers, and that the respective controllers described herein (including the system controller 122) may communicate and / or otherwise be operatively connected via a network 124. For example, the network 124 may comprise components of a wireless communication system of the system 100, and as part of such a wireless communication system, the excavation machine 102, the loader machine 104, the hauling machine 106, the compaction machine 105, the soil preparation machine 107, and / or other machines of the system 100 may include respective communication devices 126. Such communication devices 126 may be configured to enable wireless transmission of a number of signals, commands, and / or information between the system controller 122 and the respective controllers of the excavation machine 102, the loader machine 104, the hauling machine 106, the compaction machine 105, the soil preparation machine 107, and / or other machines of the system 100. Such communications devices 126 may also be configured to enable communication with other machines and systems remote from the work site 112. For example, such communications devices 126 may include a transmitter configured to transmit signals (e.g., via the central station 108 and via the network 124) to receivers of one or more other such communications devices 126. In such embodiments, communications devices 126 may also include a receiver configured to receive such signals (e.g., via the central station 108 and via the network 124). In some embodiments, the transmitter and receiver of a particular communications device 126 may be combined as a transceiver or other such components.

[0021] In any embodiment described herein, such communication device 126 may also enable communication (e.g., via the central station 108 and via the network 124) with one or more tablets, computers, cell phones / wireless phones, personal digital assistants, mobile devices, or other electronic devices 128 located at and / or remote from the work site 112. Such electronic devices 128 may include, for example, a cell phone and / or tablet of a project manager (e.g., a site supervisor) overseeing operations at the work site 112 or a non-line-of-sight (NLOS) location relative to the work site 112. As used herein and in the appended claims, the term "non-line-of-sight (NLOS)" is meant to be broadly understood as any location relative to the work site 112 that is blocked by a physical object such that electromagnetic waves cannot propagate between that location and the work site 112.

[0022] The network 124, the communication device 126, and / or other components of the wireless communication system described above may implement or utilize any system or protocol, including any of a number of communication standards. The protocol enables communication between the system controller 122, one or more of the communication devices 126, and / or any other machines or components of the system 100. Examples of wireless communication systems or protocols that may be used by the system 100 described herein include wireless personal area networks such as Bluetooth RTM (e.g., Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15), local area networks such as IEEE 802.11b or 802.11g, cellular networks, or any other system or protocol for data transfer. Other wireless communication systems and configurations are contemplated. In some examples, wireless communications may be sent and received directly between the control system 120 and the machines of the system 100 (e.g., the excavation machine 102, the loading machine 104, the hauling machine 106, the compaction machine 105, the soil preparation machine 107, etc.) or between such machines. In other instances, communications may be routed automatically without the need for retransmission by remote personnel.

[0023] In some embodiments, one or more of the machines of the system 100 (e.g., the excavation machine 102, the loading machine 104, the hauling machine 106, the compaction machine 105, the soil preparation machine 107, and other machines described herein) may include a position sensor 130 configured to determine a position, speed, heading, and / or orientation of the respective machine. In such embodiments, the communication device 126 of each machine may be configured to generate and / or transmit signals indicative of such determined position, speed, heading, orientation, distance, and / or area covered to, for example, the system controller 122 and / or each other machine of the system 100. In some embodiments, the position sensor 130 of each machine may include and / or include components of a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) or a Global Positioning System (GPS). Alternatively, a Universal Total Station (UTS) may be utilized to identify the respective positions of the machines. In some examples, one or more of the position sensors 130 described herein may comprise a GPS receiver, transmitter, transceiver, laser prism, and / or other such devices, and the position sensor 130 may be in communication with one or more GPS satellites 132 and / or UTS to determine the position of each of the machines to which the position sensor 130 is connected continuously, substantially continuously, or at various time intervals. One or more additional machines of the system 100 may also be in communication with one or more GPS satellites 132 and / or UTS, and such GPS satellites 132 and / or UTS may be configured to determine the position of each of such additional machines. In any example described herein, the position, speed, heading, orientation, and / or other parameters of the machines determined by each position sensor 130 may be used by the system controller 122 and / or other components of the system 100 to coordinate the activities of the excavation machine 102, the loading machine 104, the hauling machine 106, the compaction machine 105, the soil preparation machine 107, and / or other components of the system 100.

[0024] The GPS satellites 132 and / or UTS may be used to receive machine data from the excavation machine 102, the loader machine 104, the hauling machine 106, the compaction machine 105, the soil preparation machine 107, and / or other machines of the system 100. Additionally, the GPS satellites 132 and / or UTS may be used to transmit that machine data to the system controller 122 or other data processing devices or systems in the system 100. The machine data may include, for example, production metrics from the excavation machine 102, the loader machine 104, the hauling machine 106, the compaction machine 105, the soil preparation machine 107, and / or other machines performing operations in the work site 112 of the system 100 according to a work site plan provided by the system controller 122 or another source.

[0025] The machine data may be machine telematics data, including, for example, the location of the machine, usage data defining the method, location, duration, and function of the machine, machine specifications, machine health, and other telematics data. Telematics, as used herein, refers to the measurement, transmission, and reception of data defining the value of a quantity over a distance by electrical conversion means, such as a wired or wireless communication network, including network 124. Additionally, in one embodiment, the telematics data may also include a unique identifier for the machine 102, 104, 105, 106, 107. In one embodiment, the telematics data may include data representing the level of completion of a task assigned to the machine within a work site plan, or whether the task is fully completed. The telematics data may be represented using the amount of material 118, such as soil, interacted with by the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, the elevation of the work surface 110 of the work site 112 as the material 118 is added to the work site 112, and signals from the machine or a user of the machine indicating completion of a task, among other representations within the telematics data.

[0026] For example, the excavating machine 102 may reduce material 118, e.g., for purposes of loading soil onto the transport machine 106 by the loading machine 104 for removal from or transport to the work site 112. In doing so, the respective sensors 130, controllers 136, and communications devices 126 associated with the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 may record, among other machine telematics data, the reduction of material 118, the completion of the loading and transport instance, the volume (e.g., cubic meters (m)) reduced by the excavating machine 102, and the amount of soil removed. 3 ) or mass (e.g., metric tons (t)) of material 118, the area of ​​the worksite 112 covered by the excavating machine 102, and the elevation or “lift thickness” of the working surface 110 of the worksite 112 are detected, measured, processed, and forwarded, for example, to the system controller 122. Additionally, the machine data may include any data defining the operation of the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107. For example, the machine data may include data such as distance traveled, area of ​​the worksite covered or traveled, volume, mass or weight extracted, transported and / or deposited, machine operating time, fuel utilized by the machine, sensory information obtained from sensors in the machine, a unique identifier for the machine, type of machine, and other machine data, location related parameters such as region, district, area, among other machine data.

[0027] Similarly, the loading machine 104 loads material, such as material 118, onto the transporting machine 106. The respective sensors 130, controllers 136, and communication devices 126 associated with the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 sense, measure, process, and transmit machine telematics data. The machine telematics data may include, among other machine telematics data, completion of instances of loading and transporting material 118, and area (e.g., cubic meters (m 3 In this manner, the sensors 130, the controller 136, and the communication device 126 may report machine telematics data to the system controller 122.

[0028] In one embodiment, the machine telematics data may be transmitted to the system controller 122 via wireless communication protocols provided by the central station 108, satellite 132, and network 124. In one embodiment, a digital interface may be included in the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 and / or system controller 122 that may be used to indicate that a data transfer of the machine telematics data has occurred.

[0029] In one embodiment, the sensor 130 may include a load cell configured to convert a force, such as tension, compression, pressure, or torque, into an electrical signal that may be measured and transmitted to, for example, the controller 136, the communication device 126, and the system controller 122. In another embodiment, the sensor 130 may include a position sensor 130 that may track the position of the machine 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 and report that position data to the system controller 122 via the controller 136 and the communication device 126 to assume that the position of the machine 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 indicates the completion of one or more tasks. Additionally, the sensor 130 may include, among other machine telematics data, ... 3 ) or mass (e.g., t) of material as well as the distance moved by the transport machine 106 may be detected, measured, processed, and transmitted to the system controller 122 using sensors 130, controllers 136, and communication devices 126 associated with the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107.

[0030] With respect to the compaction machine 105, among other machine telematics data, the completion of an instance of compaction of the material 118, e.g., the square meter (m ) of the work surface 110 of the work site 112 through which the compaction machine 105 travels, 2) and the lift layer thickness of the work surface 110 of the work site 112 may be reported to the system controller 122 using the sensors 130, controller 136, and communication device 126 associated with the compaction machine 105. In one example, the position sensor 130 may be used to determine the portion of the work surface 110 of the work site 112 over which the compaction machine 105 is traversing. In this example, the controller 136 may determine the m of the work surface 110 traversed by the compaction machine 105. 2 may be calculated and / or otherwise determined, and the communication device 126 may telematically transmit data representing that measurement to the system controller 122. The system controller 122 may then determine that a task assigned to the compaction machine 105 is complete when a threshold or other predetermined amount of the work surface 110 has been covered. Additionally, the amount of material moved into an area (e.g., m 3 ) or mass (e.g., t), and the square meters (m 2 ) may be detected, measured, processed, and transmitted to the system controller 122 by sensors 130, controllers 136, and communications devices 126 associated with the soil preparation machine 107.

[0031] Further, in one embodiment, the telematics data may include parameters related to the operation of the associated machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, such as, for example, the speed, heading, position of the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, or any other telematic sensory information associated with the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107.

[0032] Thus, as described above, the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 may report different types of production metrics, including using wireless communications provided over the network 124. Thus, the metrics may be reported using the central station 108, GPS satellites 132 and / or UTS, or other communications devices and associated communications protocols. A user may measure truck loads delivered by the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 and / or the final grade of the work site 112 (e.g., via land clearing, manual survey, or drone flight) to measure progress of a work site plan, such as a mass mining project utilizing multiple different machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107. These two data points (i.e., truck loads and final grade of the work site 112) may not provide insight into a work site plan, such as a mass mining project, to pinpoint underperforming machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 within the work site plan. Other progress measures may be used for individual tasks within a work site plan, but are difficult to relate to upstream or downstream tasks or steps within the work site plan. The different production metrics for the different machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 described herein may make it difficult to report the overall completion level of a work site plan in which machines complete multiple different tasks. Furthermore, because the different machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 report different production metrics, it may be difficult to gain insight into which machines within a work site are underperforming within the overall work site plan, as described above. This is because comparing different production metrics may be difficult to do practically, as they may be considered non-comparable or incomparable metrics. These production metrics may be presented on a user interface, such as that provided by the display of the electronic device 128 within the system 100.Even if these production metrics are displayed, they may be in relation to other production metrics for the machine or the overall work site plan, making it difficult for a user, such as a supervisor, manager, crew member, or other individual associated with the work site plan, to understand the individual production metrics.

[0033] As described above, while resolving performance issues that arise when remotely managing a given construction mission, construction management authorities may avoid manual intervention issues by remotely monitoring the performance of each individual equipment set in order to meet construction mission completion deadlines. A construction mission may be divided into several lifts, and the completion of one lift may involve several separate sets of equipment completing their respective subtasks at a remote location. In other words, a lift may not be considered complete until each piece of equipment in the multiple equipment sets has completed the individual tasks assigned to that set of equipment, since multiple sets of equipment may be involved in the completion of one lift. In one embodiment, the work site plan, and any tasks associated with the work site plan, may be determined by specifications and / or government regulations that define the maximum lift thickness that may be placed and compacted before another lift is placed on top of a previous lift. Thus, the work site plan may be designed and completed in compliance with specifications and / or government regulations to avoid failure to be verified by, for example, a work site inspector.

[0034] In the examples described herein, the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 may report an integrated production metric, referred to herein as "lift count," or machine data used to develop a lift count metric. A lift count may be defined by and include instances of completion of material transport tasks, material leveling tasks, and material compaction tasks by the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, and may include at least one "lift" each time these three tasks are completed and an additional lift count is counted. Further details regarding the determination of lifts and lift count counts are provided herein. Data transmitted from the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 may be processed, for example, by the system controller 122 on one or more data maps, lookup tables, neural networks, algorithms, machine learning algorithms, and / or other components to obtain the lift count. In one embodiment, the lift number may be processed using Equation 1 described below or other similar algorithms and may be stored in the memory of the system controller 122, for example in a look-up table or other data array for data acquisition purposes. The lift number is directly comparable between the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 despite differences in the tasks performed by the individual machines and their respective individual production metrics. This lift number as a metric may be used to measure the overall progress of the work site plan progress as well as the efficiency of the system 100 and the efficiency of the individual machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 operating to complete the tasks in the work site plan.

[0035] Additionally, in one embodiment, the system controller 122 of the system 100 may track progress using a number of lifts metric without knowledge of the entire work site plan. In this embodiment, the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 may report to the system controller 122 an indication that the material transport tasks, material leveling tasks, and material compaction tasks have been completed. The material transport tasks, material leveling tasks, and material compaction tasks may be identified by the system controller 122 as equivalent to a number of lifts, and the number of lifts may be counted without knowing the total goal of, for example, 300 lifts. A representation of this tracked number of lifts may be presented to the user, for example, on a display of the electronic device 128. Additionally, the system controller 122 of the system 100 may report the task-by-task progress of the individual machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 to the user. For example, the system controller 122 may report that task number 12 was loaded by the loading machine 104 and only task number 8 was compacted by the compaction machine 105. By presenting the user with production metrics per machine, the user can understand how efficiently the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 are performing.

[0036] In one embodiment, the lift number metrics may be calculated and / or otherwise determined by the system controller 122 as machine data is received from the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107. The machine data may be either requested by the system controller 122 or passively received by the system controller 122 such that the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 transmit machine data continuously or periodically. In one embodiment, the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 transmit the machine data to the system controller 122 via the central station 108 and network 124 via the machines' respective communication devices 126.

[0037] In one embodiment, the integrated production metrics may be calculated and / or otherwise determined, at least in part, based on data entered by a user during the initial creation of the work site plan, machine data received from the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, machine dimensions, and combinations thereof. Data entered by a user may include data related to, for example, materials 118 interacting on the work site 112, including, for example, identification of said materials 118 (including, but not limited to, soil, coal, sand, stone, etc.), material characteristics or properties such as density (kg / m3), load factor (i.e., % of expected rated capacity per load), coarseness, fineness, moisture, brittleness, etc., identification of the task to be performed on the material 118 (excavation, compaction, moving, etc.), tag assignment within the wireframe, desired task, among other user inputs. These include, but are not limited to, termination criteria (e.g., for a compaction machine, the intended compaction level), lift thickness defined as the intended elevation of the work surface 110 of the work site 112, target or objective timelines for completing a number of tasks within the work site plan and / or within the overall work site plan, the total area of ​​the work surface 110 and / or the work site 112, and distance defined, for example, by the distance the transport machine 106 travels to bring material in and / or out of the work site 112.

[0038] The machine dimensions may be used to calculate the lift number and may include any dimension of the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, such as, for example, the blade width of the loading machine 104 or the soil preparation machine 107, for example, the drum width of the compaction machine 105, for example, the dump bed volume of the transport machine 106, and for example, the bucket volume of the excavation machine 102, among other machine dimensions. Additionally, in one embodiment, position data determined by the position sensors 130 of the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 may be transmitted to the system controller 122 via the communications device 126, the central station 108, and the network 124 for inclusion of this data as part of the machine dimensions. Additionally, in one embodiment, the machine dimensions may be used by the system controller 122 to generate and estimate the lift number. In this example, sensors 130 capable of detecting the amount of material in the work tools 140 (e.g., buckets and blades) of the excavation machine 102, the loader 104, and / or the soil preparation machine 107 in the transport machine 106 may be used to determine whether a task related to moving material 118 is complete. The sensors 130 may detect the amount of material and report this amount to the system controller 122 via the communication device 126, the central station 108, and the network 124 for processing by the system controller 122.

[0039] The machine data may be received from the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 by the system controller 122. In particular, the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 may transmit the machine data to the system controller 122 via the communication device 126, the central station 108, and the network 124.

[0040] The lift number metric includes an estimated "area at lift". In one embodiment, the area at lift may be defined as the compacted volume of material per transport unit. In this embodiment, the volume is measured in cubic meters (m 3) The transport machine 106 may be identified and used as a transport unit. In one example, the volume may be determined based on the contraction and expansion properties of a material, such as the material 118, which may expand in the presence of a fluid, such as water, and contract or shrink as the fluid leaves the material 118. In one example, the sensor 130 may detect the extent to which the material 118 settles within the bed of the transport machine 106. The contraction and expansion properties of the material may change throughout the task of the work site plan where different machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 interact with the material, such as the material 118. Since the contraction and expansion of the material 118 may change at the instance of interaction between the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 and the material 118, it may prove difficult to estimate the intermediate volume of the material 118. Thus, the system 100 can measure compaction volume, where the volume of soil 118 or other material is measured in place after it has been compacted on the job site 112. Thus, measurements of any intermediate uncompacted, soft material 118 may not be taken to eliminate inaccurate measurements from current systems and processes.

[0041] In another example, the area at the lift may be defined as a lift thickness, which includes the depth of material, such as soil 118, that is compacted along the surface of the work site 112. In this example, the elevation of the work surface may be measured as a lift thickness, which may be defined as the depth of material, such as soil 118, that is spread and compacted to the intended compaction level at the work site 112. In one example, after compaction, the lift thickness may be measured and another amount of material may be added to form the next layer on the work surface 110 of the work site 112. Thus, multiple lifts may be used to convert the initial work surface to the final work surface.

[0042] In yet another example, the area at lift may be a combination of the above two examples, where the area at lift (defined as the compacted volume of material per transport unit) and the lift thickness are considered in calculating the area at lift as a lift number. In this example, both the volume of compacted material 118 at the work surface 110 of the work site 112 and the elevation of the work surface 110 of the work site 112 may be measured to obtain the lift number. In this example, the lift number obtained from each of the volumes of compacted material 118 at the work surface 110 and the elevation of the work surface 110 may be calculated, respectively, and an average, arithmetic mean, median, and / or mode of the two may indicate the area at lift. Thus, an estimate of the compacted area for a given lift transported per truck may be calculated and / or otherwise determined by considering the lift thickness, the size (or payload) of the truck, and the material properties.

[0043] In practice, the area at lift may be realized when material is added to the work surface 110 of the work site 112 by a combination of the excavator 102, loader 104, and hauler 106. The hauler 106 and grader 107 may spread the material along the work surface 110 of the work site 112. The compaction machine 105 may then compact the material to the intended density. This process of transporting, spreading, and compacting the material may equate to one "lift," and integrated production metrics may be measured after the lift. In another example, the system controller 122 may calculate and report the volume of material per task. For example, 120,000 yd. 3 material was loaded and transported to the work site by the excavation machine 102, the loading machine 104, and the transport machine 106, and 80,000 yd. 3 It may be reported that the material was compacted using the soil preparation machine 107 and the compaction machine 105.

[0044] In one example, the estimate of the lift number may also be determined by considering the truck loads or payloads generated by the excavation machine 102, the loader 104, and the transport machine 106 as a metric applied to the work performed by the soil preparation machine 107 and the compaction machine 105. Thus, rather than basing the work site plan or an estimate of a number of tasks completed across the work site plan for material compaction volume and lift thickness, the lift number may be determined based on an amount, such as the volume, mass, or weight of material excavated, loaded, or transported by the excavation machine 102, the loader 104, and the transport machine 106. This amount of material transported may be applied to the operation of the soil preparation machine 107 and the compaction machine 105 such that the level of completion of the tasks in the work site plan, or the level of completion of the entire work site plan by the soil preparation machine 107 and the compaction machine 105, may be based on the amount of material 118 transported.

[0045] In the embodiments described herein, the aggregate production metric or "area at lift" may be correlated to volume measurements at sub-processes or tasks in the overall shop floor plan. In this embodiment, a look-up table may be used by the system controller 122 to indicate which material volumes correlate to what constitutes the area at lift. Additionally, in this embodiment, the production metric may be aggregated at three different levels, including an individual machine level, where individual machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 aggregate their production metrics, a subsystem level, and a shop floor level, where production metrics from machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 are aggregated. Here, the subsystem level may include any machine 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 or groups of machines in the system, and the shop floor level may include machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 collectively. Advantageously, aggregating production metrics into one data set may improve processing time and reduce the amount of data transmitted between the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 and the system controller 122. Thus, aggregating production metrics results in more effective and efficient use of computing resources throughout the system 100.

[0046] For a subsystem level of production metric aggregation, in one embodiment, production metrics may be collected by the system controller 122 and / or reported by similar machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 performing a common task and / or operation. In these embodiments, multiple loading machines 104 may share common tasks and / or operations, for example, and the machine data reported by the loading machines 104 may be aggregated into a single production metric. For example, six separate loading machines 104 working together in a haul task may be used to transport 100,000 yd. 3 of material 118. A total amount of material may be reported because individual loading machines 104 contribute unequal amounts to the total.

[0047] Additionally, machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 performing the same task may collectively report the aggregated production metric as one production metric. For example, an excavator 102, a loader 104, and a hauler 106 may participate in the same task of transporting material to a work site 112. Additionally, in this example, a grading machine 107 may participate in leveling the material 118 within the work site. A grading machine 107 and a compaction machine 105 may participate in compacting the material 118 within the work site 112 area. Thus, in this example, three different tasks within a lift may include a material transport task, a material leveling task, and a material compaction task, where the completion of these three tasks equates to a number of lifts and is counted as such.

[0048] Machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 that may report the same production metric may collectively report the aggregated production metric as one production metric, even though the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 may perform different tasks. In this example, the production metrics of the excavating machine 102 and the loading machine 104 may be aggregated together before or after transmitting the telematics data to the system controller 122. This is because the production metric of the excavating machine 102 and the loading machine 104 may be a metric of the volume or mass of material moved by their respective work tools 140 (e.g., buckets) regardless of the dimensions of the work tools 140.

[0049] In any embodiment described herein, the system controller 122 may be configured to generate a user interface (UI) (not shown) that includes information indicating, among other things, the level or percentage of completion of tasks within a work site plan and / or the level or percentage of completion of the overall work site plan. Additionally, in one embodiment, the UI may display lift counts as an integrated production metric and / or other metrics in a graphical format. The UI may display the production metric in a graph of red, yellow, and green colors, with red indicating a relatively lower percentage of completion of the tasks and / or overall work site plan compared to yellow, and yellow indicating a relatively lower percentage of completion of the tasks and / or overall work site plan compared to green. Other forms and methods of graphically depicting the level of completion of the tasks and / or overall work site plan are contemplated herein. Overall, the UI allows a user to easily understand how the tasks and / or overall work site plan are progressing. In one embodiment, the UI may be presented and interactively rendered to a user to select portions within the UI to drill down to levels within the work site plan to determine efficiency within a task and identify specific groups of machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 or individual machines that are or are not functioning efficiently as expected or intended.

[0050] In any embodiment described herein, such UIs may be generated by controller 136 in machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 and provided to, for example, electronic device 128 (e.g., via network 124), a display of machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, system controller 122 (e.g., via network 124), and / or one or more components of system 100 for display. Additionally or alternatively, such user interfaces may be generated by system controller 122 and provided to, for example, electronic device 128 (e.g., via network 124), a display of machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, and / or one or more components of system 100 for display.

[0051] In any of the examples described herein, one or more of the excavation machine 102, the loader 104, the transport machine 106, the compaction machine 105, the soil preparation machine 107, and / or other machines of the system 100 may be manually controlled, semi-autonomously controlled, and / or fully autonomously controlled. In examples where the excavation machine 102, the loader 104, the transport machine 106, the compaction machine 105, the soil preparation machine 107, and / or other machines of the system 100 are operating under autonomous or semi-autonomous control, the speed, steering, positioning / movement of the work tool, and / or other functions of such machines may be automatically or semi-automatically controlled based, at least in part, on the determined movement parameters and / or position of the work tool as described herein.

[0052] 1, as mentioned above, the excavation machine 102, the loading machine 104, the hauling machine 106, the compaction machine 105, the soil preparation machine 107, and / or other machines of the system 100 may include a controller 136 as described herein. The controller 136 may include components of a local control system, components carried on-board and / or otherwise on the respective machine 102, 104, 105, 106, 107. The controller 136 may be any embedded system within the machine 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, and thus control at least one electrical system or subsystem within the machine 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, and at least one function of the machine 102, 104, 105, 106, 107. Such a controller 136 may be generally similar or identical to the system controller 122 of the control system 120. For example, such a controller 136 may include one or more processors, memory, and / or other components described herein with respect to the system controller 122. The controller 136 may include an electronic control unit (ECU), such as, for example, an electronic control module (ECM), powertrain control module (PCM), transmission control module (TCM), electronic brake control module (EBCM), central control module (CCM), central timing module (CTM), general electronic module (GEM), body control module (BCM), suspension control module (SCM), and other types of ECUs for control units. The ECUs may include hardware and embedded software that assist in the operation of the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107.

[0053] In some embodiments, the controller 136 may be located at each one of the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, or may include components located remotely from each one of the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, such as at another machine in the system 100 or at a command center (not shown) as described herein. Thus, in some embodiments, the functionality of the controller 136 may be distributed such that certain functions are performed at each one of the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 and other functions are performed remotely. In some embodiments, the controller 136 of a local control system onboard each machine 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 may enable autonomous and / or semi-autonomous control of the respective machine, alone or in combination with the control system 120. Additionally, a controller 136 on board each machine 102 , 104 , 105 , 106 , 107 may instruct each communication device 126 and position sensor 130 to function as described herein, for example, as directed by the system controller 122 .

[0054] With continued reference to FIG. 1 , in some embodiments, one or more of the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 of the system 100 may include an implement or other work tool 140 coupled to a frame of the machine. For example, in the case of the loading machine 104, the work tool may include a bucket configured to hold material within an open volume or other open space. The loading machine 104 may be configured to scoop, lift, and / or otherwise load material (e.g., material removed by the excavation machine 102) into the work tool 140, for example, by lowering the work tool 140 to a loading position. For example, the loading machine 104 may include one or more linkages 142 movably connected to the frame of the loading machine. The work tool 140 may be connected to such linkage 142, which may be used to lower the work tool 140 (e.g., via one or more hydraulic cylinders, electric motors, or other devices connected thereto) to a loading position where a leading edge 144 of the work tool 140 is proximate, adjacent, and / or abutting the work surface 110 and a base of the work tool 140 is disposed substantially parallel to the work surface 110. The loading machine 104 may then be controlled to advance along the surface of the work surface 110 of the work site 112 such that the work tool 140 may impinge on material, the positive volume of material 118, and / or other objects disposed on the work surface 110 to move material at least partially into the open space of the work tool 140. The linkage 142 may then be controlled to raise, pivot, and / or tilt the work tool 140 into a transport position above the work surface 110. The loading machine 104 may then be controlled to traverse the work site 112 until the loading machine 104 reaches a dump zone, a transport machine 106, and / or another location on the work site 112 designated to receive the removed material being transported by the work tool 140.Linkage 142 may then be controlled to lower, swing, and / or tilt work tool 140 to an unloading position where material held within the open space of work tool 140 may be deposited (e.g., by the force of gravity acting on the material held by work tool 140) in a dump zone, into the bed of transport machine 106, and / or in any other intended manner. Similar to loading machine 104, excavation machine 102, transport machine 106, compaction machine 105, and soil preparation machine 107 may include work tools 140 and / or linkages 142 that enable the machines to perform their respective tasks described herein.

[0055] FIG. 2 is a flow chart depicting an example method 200 associated with the system 100 shown in FIG. The example method 200 is illustrated as a collection of steps in a logical flow diagram, which represent operations that may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. In the context of software, the steps represent computer-executable instructions stored in memory. When such instructions are executed, for example, by the system controller 122 of the control system 120, the instructions may cause the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, the various components of the control system 120 (e.g., electronics 128), the controller of the excavation machine 102, the controller of the loading machine 104, the controller of the hauling machine 106, the controller of the compaction machine 105, the controller of the soil preparation machine 107, and / or other components of the system 100 to perform the recited operations. These computer-executable instructions may include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular functions or implement particular abstract data types. The order in which the operations are described is not intended to be construed as limiting, and any number of the described steps can be combined in any order and / or in parallel to perform the process. For purposes of discussion, and unless otherwise specified, method 200 and other methods described herein are described with reference to system 100, control system 120, controller 136 of machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, work site 112, and / or other items shown in FIG. 1. In particular, although any portion and / or the entirety of method 200 may be performed, alone or in combination, by system controller 122, electronics 128, controller 136 of machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, and / or other components of system 100, unless otherwise specified, method 200 is described below with reference to system controller 122 for ease of explanation.

[0056] 2, at 202, the system controller 122 may receive information related to one or more tasks, jobs, or other operations to be performed by the system 100 at the work site 112. The information received at 202 may include, for example, user input 202 that defines, among other things, a work site plan to be executed by one or more machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 of the system 100 at the work site 112. The work site plan may include, for example, instructions, locations (e.g., GPS coordinates, UTS coordinates, etc.), and / or other information identifying the perimeter and / or boundaries of at least a portion of the work surface 110 on which such operations are to be performed.

[0057] The user input 202 may also include characteristics of materials within the worksite 112. For example, the materials may include soil 118, sand, minerals, gravel, stones, rocks, boulders, concrete, asphalt, and topsoil, among other materials.

[0058] Additionally, the user input 202 may include a timeline, deadline, or goal for the goal. In one example, a target timeline, deadline, or goal may be associated with multiple individual tasks within a work site plan. In one example, a target timeline, deadline, or goal may be associated with the entire work site plan, defining the completion of the work site plan and the number of tasks within the work site plan.

[0059] The user input 202 may also include distances between locations within and outside the work site 112. The user input may further include details regarding the work surface plan, such as GPS coordinates identifying the boundaries and / or other areas of the work surface 110, the intended lift thickness, elevation grade and other characteristics of the work surface 110 of the work site 112 that are to be achieved by the work site plan, and the current elevation along the work surface 110 of the work site 112, among other data related to the work site 112. In some examples, the work site plan may include a first set of GPS coordinates and / or other information identifying the location of material, as well as a second set of GPS coordinates identifying dump zones, work zones in which one or more machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 are assigned or are currently working, and / or other areas within the work site 112 where work may be performed.

[0060] In some embodiments, the user input received at 202 including the work site plan may also include information indicative of the type of material to be moved (e.g., soil, sand, mineral, gravel, concrete, asphalt, topsoil, etc.), information uniquely identifying the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 present at the work site 112 (e.g., one or more license plate numbers, model numbers, machine types, and / or other unique identifiers associated with each machine of the system 100 present at the work site 112), information uniquely identifying the operator of each machine (e.g., name, employer, employee ID number, experience level, and / or other information), two-dimensional and / or three-dimensional maps of the work site 112, GPS coordinates of any known imperfections or other obstructions at the work site 112 (e.g., GPS coordinates identifying the location, boundaries, and / or extent of one or more trees, bodies of water, manmade obstructions, power lines, utility lines, drainage lines, roads, sidewalks, parking lots, etc.), and / or other information associated with the system 100 and / or the work site 112.

[0061] At 204, the system controller 122 may receive machine dimensions from the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 present at the work site 112. As described herein, the machine dimensions may include any dimension of the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, such as, for example, a blade width of the loading machine 104 or the grading machine 107, for example, a drum width of the compaction machine 105, for example, a dump bed volume of the transport machine 106, and a bucket volume of the excavation machine 102 or the loading machine 104, among other machine dimensions. In one embodiment, the machine dimensions received at 204 may be received by the system controller 122, for example, via a user input to the system controller 122 itself or the electronic device 128. In another embodiment, the machine dimensions may be obtained by the system controller from a database within either the system controller 122 or the electronic device 128. In this embodiment, a database in the system controller 122 or electronic device 128 may be accessed when the fleet of machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 is selected at 206 such that the dimensions of the selected machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 may be obtained from the database. Additionally, in one embodiment, at 204, position data determined by the position sensors 130 of the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 may be transmitted to the system controller 122 via the communications device 126, the central station 108, and the network 124 for inclusion as part of the machine dimensions. The machine dimensions may be used by the system controller 122 to create and estimate integrated production metrics that may be used as data supporting the depiction of the completion level of tasks within a work site plan or the overall work site plan in the UI, as described herein.

[0062] At 206, a fleet of machines is selected. In one embodiment, the fleet is selected from the types of machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 described herein. The fleet may be selected autonomously by the system controller 122 based on user input and the work site plan obtained at 202 and / or 204. In this embodiment, the type of work to be performed as defined in the work site plan and the tasks defined in the work site plan may be used to select which of the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 will be involved in performing tasks in the work site plan. In another embodiment, the fleet may be selected by multiple users, such as supervisors, managers, crew members, or other individuals associated with the work site plan. In this embodiment, the system controller 122 may prompt one or more of these individuals to provide such input to the system controller 122. Further, in one embodiment, a fleet may be selected to acquire at least two different types of machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 that can complete a task in one lift, and to count the number of lifts upon completion of the at least two tasks.

[0063] Once the fleet of machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 is selected, the system controller 122 executes the work site plan 208 by sending instructions to the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 to perform their respective tasks. Execution of the work site plan may include loading 208-1, transporting 208-2, grading 208-3, compacting 208-4, and finish grading 208-5 of material, such as soil 118, at the work site 112. Loading 208-1 of material may include using shovels, backhoes, dozers, boring machines, trenchers, draglines, wheel loaders, wheel tractors, track loaders, front shovels, cable shovels, stack reclaimers, scrapers, and / or other excavating machines 102, and loading machines 104 to excavate material, such as soil 118, and load it onto the transporting machines 106. Material transportation 208-2 may include moving material to or between distinct locations within the work site 112 using articulated dollies, off-highway trucks, over-the-road dump trucks, and wheeled track scrapers, among other types of transport machines 106. As indicated by arrow 208-6, the transport machine 106 may return to the loading machine 104 location any number of times to further load 208-1, transport 208-2 material. In the examples described herein, the material transport task may include at least the actions taken by the load 208-1 and transport 208-2 operations within the work site plan execution 208. This material transport task may be included as one of multiple tasks performed by machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 that collectively form a lift number as described herein.

[0064] Execution of the work site plan may also include grading 208-3 of the work surface 110 of the work site 112. Grading 208-3 of the work surface 110 may be performed using track-type tractors, scrapers, bulldozers, motor graders, and other land preparation machines. In the examples described herein, a material leveling task may include at least the actions taken by the grading 208-3 operation in execution of the work site plan 208. This material leveling task may be included as one of multiple tasks performed by the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 that collectively form the lift numbers described herein.

[0065] Additionally, execution of the work site plan may include compacting 208-4 material such as soil 118 using a double drum compactor, a wheeled or tracked soil compactor, a vibratory soil compactor, and a tandem vibratory compactor, among other types of compaction machines 105. Leveling 208-3 and compaction 208-4 may be performed several times in succession, as indicated by arrow 208-7, to maintain a leveled surface as compaction 208-4 is performed. At 208-5, finish grading may be obtained by use of a scraper, bulldozer, motor grader, or other machine at the work surface 110. Finish grading is performed to create a flat surface by leveling material such as soil at the work site 112 for subsequent operations, such as additional compaction operations 208-4 or placing a pavement surface or structure on the finish grading surface. In the examples described herein, the material compaction task may include actions taken by at least grading 208-3, compaction 208-4, and finish grading 208-5 operations in execute job site plan 208. The material compaction task may be included as one of multiple operations performed by machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 that collectively form a lift number as described herein.

[0066] In one embodiment, each machine 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 may independently perform its respective task within the work site plan. In this embodiment, the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 may continuously or periodically transmit machine data indicative of production metrics, including indications of task completion, and the system controller 122 of the system 100 may passively receive the production metrics from the machines to estimate the progress of individual tasks and / or the overall work site plan.

[0067] In one embodiment, the process performed by the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 at 208 may be performed autonomously and / or semi-autonomously. In these autonomous and / or semi-autonomous scenarios, the system controller 122 may cause the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 to perform their respective tasks described herein by transmitting instructions to the respective controllers 136 of the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 via the network 124, the satellite 132, and / or the central station 108, and the communication devices 126 of the respective machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107. The controllers 136 of the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 may execute the instructions received from the system controller 122 to cause the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 to perform the tasks defined by the instructions.

[0068] At 210, components of the system 100 may provide machine data to the system controller 122. At 212, the system controller 122 may estimate 212 progress on tasks defined by the work site plan and / or the overall work site plan. As described herein, the system controller 122 uses the lift count to determine a level or percentage of completion of tasks defined by the work site plan and / or the overall work site plan. The lift count may be obtained from the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 as machine data 210 or may be calculated and / or otherwise determined or derived by the system controller 122 from the machine data 210. Also, as described herein, the lift count may be based on the area at lift and the number of loads delivered. In one embodiment, the integrated production metric may be calculated or derived based on the following formula:

[0069]

number

[0070] During the ceremony,

[0071]

number

[0072]

number

[0073]

number

[0074] In Equation 1, the lift may be determined without regard to the mass or volume of material being transported, leveled, and compacted because mass and volume may be measured inconsistently by, for example, the excavator 102, the loader 104, and the hauler 106 (i.e., as material transport machines), the grader 107 (i.e., as material leveling machines), and the grader 107 and compactor 105 (i.e., as material compacting machines). Thus, once the three machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 have finished working on a given area, a lift may be considered complete and the number of lifts may be counted. The integrated production metric may be described as area at lift and may be calculated or derived as follows:

[0075]

number

[0076] In the formula, the area is the square meterage (m 2 In one embodiment, the work site 112 has m 2 The work site may be divided into segments such as a number of lifts, a number of lifts, and a number of compaction machines, and movements of the hauling, leveling, and compaction machines may be tracked based on location data obtained from the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107. In this example, task completion may be based at least in part on location data, and the number of lifts may include a measure of lift thickness defined by the depth of material deposited and compacted within the segmented portion of the work site. Bulk earthmoving may include placing material 118 in "lifts," as described herein. A lift may be defined as the vertical distance that is placed and compacted before additional material 118 from additional lifts is placed thereon.

[0077] Lift may be defined, in addition to the explanations provided herein, as the total amount of material 118 placed and compacted to form the desired final working surface. Lift may be expressed as follows:

[0078]

number

[0079] Here, the number of lifts completed is determined by the material being delivered to location, spread and compacted across the work surface 110. The area worked is based on the latitude and longitude of the machine performing the work. The lift thickness is a nominal value entered by the user or site manager.

[0080] Thus, the system and method may be used to measure production based on lifts performed and completed, and may include determining which number of lifts a machine 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 is working. In the case of a soil clearing machine 107 and a compaction machine 105, this may be useful since these types of machines may work in a relatively smaller geographic area than other types of machines, but may have completed multiple "lifts." In some situations, even with accurate GPS data, it may prove difficult to measure how many layers of lifts have been completed, since GPS data may have a tolerance on the exact elevation of the work surface 110 of the work site 112. The system and method provides a combination of telematics data from multiple machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 to determine the number of lifts completed within a work site plan.

[0081] To provide context for the above, in one embodiment, data from multiple machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 may be combined to determine the number of lifts completed. For a lift to be considered completed, three tasks must occur as described herein. First, material is transported to the work site 112. This may be accomplished via the excavator 102, loader 104, and hauler 106. The dump location may be near where the material is to be leveled. Second, the grading machine 107 may level the material to a depth specified by the work site plan. Third, the compaction machine 105 and grading machine 107 may compact the previously leveled material 118 to a compaction level specified in the work site plan. The compaction of the material may be by multiple passes of the compaction machine 105. Thus, a "lift" may be defined as the transport, leveling, and compaction of the material. An integrated production metric that provides a common production metric between different types of machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 and different individual production metrics may be defined based on the number of lifts performed within a specified area of ​​the work site 112. In this manner, a user can more easily understand how different production metrics from different machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 that may not be practically compared due to incomparable or non-comparable metrics can be understood using the integrated production metric described herein.

[0082] In one embodiment, the system controller 122 may calculate or count the number of lifts based on the completion of tasks in the work site plan. In its calculations, the system controller 122 may rely on one or more data maps, lookup tables, neural networks, algorithms, machine learning algorithms, and / or other components related to the operating conditions and operating environment of the system 100 that may be stored in the memory of the system controller 122.

[0083] In one example, the number of lifts metric may include a measure of area within a segmented portion of the work site 112, such as the work surface 110 of the work site 112, at a particular lift thickness. The lift thickness may be defined by the depth of material deposited and compacted within the segmented portion of the work site 112. In one example, bulk earthmoving may include placing material in multiple "lifts," as described above. A lift may be defined as a specified vertical distance that is placed and compacted before additional material (i.e., an additional lift) is placed on top. To measure machine production, it may be useful to determine how many lifts have been completed or which lift the machine 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 is currently working on. In this example, this process may be applied to the grading machine 107 and the compaction machine 105, because they may be operating in the same small geographic area within the work site 112, but have completed multiple lifts.

[0084] The lift count metrics described herein may alleviate any difficulties with how to measure how much of a work site plan is complete using traditional machine data. High accuracy GPS data obtained from position sensor 130 may be utilized for accurate elevation data. Even with GPS data from position sensor 130, lift thickness may be within an acceptable margin of error. The lift counts derived and calculated by system controller 122 provide a means to determine the progress and work site plan of all equipment working in a given area, not just machines equipped with high accuracy GPS with grade control systems.

[0085] 3 is a flow chart illustrating an example method 300 associated with the systems and methods illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. At 302, a controller, such as the processing and memory architecture of the system controller 122 of the control system 120, may receive a work site plan to be executed at the work site by the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107. In one embodiment, the work site plan is executed by the hauling, leveling, and compaction machines of the work site 112 to complete hauling, leveling, and compaction tasks, respectively. The work site plan may include any number of tasks to be executed by the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 that result in intended changes to the work surface 110 of the work site 112. As described herein, the work site plan may include a bulk mining project utilizing multiple different machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107. A work site plan may include, for example, instructions, locations (e.g., GPS coordinates, UTS coordinates, etc.), and / or other information identifying the perimeter and / or boundaries of at least a portion of the work surface 110 where such operations or tasks are to be performed.

[0086] In one embodiment, the work site plan may be included as a user input (e.g., FIG. 2, 202), entered into an electronic device 128 located at the work site 112, and / or entered remotely from the work site 112 or directly into the system controller 122. In another embodiment, the work site plan may be generated by the system controller 122 or other processing device based on the user input (e.g., FIG. 2, 202).

[0087] At 304, the system controller 122 may assign the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 to implement the work site plan for the tasks. In one example, transport machines, such as the excavator 102, the loader 104, and the hauler 106, may be used to perform the tasks assigned to the transport machines. Further, in this example, the grading machine 107 may be used to perform the tasks assigned to the leveling machine. The grading machine 107 and the compaction machine 105 may be used to perform the tasks assigned to the compaction machine. In this manner, the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 described herein may be assigned tasks based on their respective capabilities. The capabilities of the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 are defined by what type of machine they are (e.g., the excavator 102, the loader 104, the hauler 106, the compaction machine 105, the grading machine 107, and / or other types of machines) and their associated functions. The selected machines (FIG. 2, 206) may be based, at least in part, on the tasks defined in the work site plan.

[0088] In one embodiment, a first sensor on a first machine may determine a parameter indicative of a first production metric during performance of a first task, and a second sensor on a second machine may determine a parameter indicative of a second production metric different from the first production metric during performance of a second task different from the first task. The first sensor and the second sensor may be any sensor associated with the machine 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 that may directly or indirectly detect the production metric of the machine. For example, the sensor may include a position sensor 130 that detects the position of the machine. Being able to detect the position of the machine allows production metrics related to distance traveled and area covered by the machine 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 to be obtained, and whether a task has been completed. For example, the compaction machine 105 and / or the grading machine 107 may be used to cover the work surface 110 of the work site 112 in a sequential manner, moving back and forth across what may be the entire work surface 110 to evenly level and compact the entire work surface 110. Thus, data obtained from the position sensor 130 of the compaction machine 105 may define production metrics for the compaction machine 105 and may define when tasks related to compacting the material 118 are completed.

[0089] As another example, the sensors may include weight sensors that may be included, for example, in the excavating machine 102, the loading machine 104, and / or the transporting machine 106. The weight sensors may determine a weight of material, such as soil 118, being lifted and carried by the excavating machine 102, the loading machine 104, and / or the transporting machine 106. In this example, the sensors may indicate that the weight of the material 118 has been unloaded from the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, and the system controller 122 may identify the unloading of the material 118 as a task completion. Although two sensors are described in the above example of the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 with sensors, any number of sensors may be used in an individual machine, and any number of the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 may include sensors for detecting parameters indicative of their respective production metrics.

[0090] At 306, the system controller 122 may receive telematics data from the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 corresponding to tasks assigned to the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 and associate the telematics data with production metrics from the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 within the segmented portion of the worksite 112. The telematics data may be measured by sensors and transmitted by the controllers 136 within the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 and received by the system controller 122, for example. Thus, the data received by the system controller 122 defines sensed data and is transmitted at a distance by electrical conversion means, such as a wired or wireless communication network, including the network 124. The association of the telematics data with the production metrics may be performed using, for example, data maps, lookup tables, neural networks, algorithms, machine learning algorithms, and / or other components.

[0091] At 308, the system controller 122 may calculate and / or otherwise determine the number of lifts based on the machine telematics data received from the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107. The machine telematics data may be used by the system controller 122 to identify when two or more tasks that make up the number of lifts are completed. In the embodiment described herein, the two or more tasks include a material transport task, a material leveling task, and a material compaction task. Upon receiving confirmation by the system controller 122 that the three tasks have been performed based on the machine telematics data, the system controller 122 counts the number of lifts. Any number of lifts may indicate a level of completion of the work site plan. For example, if the work site plan includes approximately 100 layers of lifts, a lift number of 10 means that the level of completion of the work site plan is 10% and approximately 90 layers of lifts (90%) remain in the work site plan. Additionally, because the work site 112 may include multiple zones in which material is placed, the number of lifts for each individual zone may also be measured.

[0092] Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating an example method 400 associated with the systems and methods shown in Figures 1 and 2. At 402, a controller, such as the processing and memory architecture of the system controller 122 of the control system 120, may receive a work site plan to be executed as described herein at the work site by the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107. Further, at 404, the system controller 122 may assign the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 to perform the work site plan for the tasks described herein.

[0093] The system controller 122 may divide the work site 112 into segments 406. For example, the work surface 110 of the work site 112 may be geographically divided into square meters (m 2) or other area units. As machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 work within a given geographic division of the worksite 112, the system controller 122 may determine whether a sequence of hauling, leveling, and compaction tasks that make up a lift has occurred. Once these tasks have been performed in sequence for a given geographic division of the worksite 112, the lift is considered complete and counted within the number of lifts metric.

[0094] Thus, at 408, the movements of machines involved in material transportation tasks (i.e., excavation machine 102, loader 104, and hauler 106), machines involved in material leveling tasks (i.e., soil preparation machine 107), and machines involved in material compaction tasks (i.e., soil preparation machine 107 and compaction machine 105) may be tracked. In one embodiment, position data obtained from the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 as machine telematics data may be used by the system controller 122 to track the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 in and around the work site 112.

[0095] The system controller 122 may identify completion of the task at block 410 based on the position data tracked at 408. The position data may be tracked by position sensors 130 of the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107 and may be transmitted to the system controller 122 via the communication device 126, the central station 108, and / or the network 124.

[0096] The system controller 122 may determine whether machine telematics data has been received from the machines 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, including material handling machines (i.e., excavation machine 102, loading machine 104, and hauling machine 106), material leveling machines (i.e., soil preparation machine 107), and material compaction machines (i.e., soil preparation machine 107 and compaction machine 105). The machine telematics data indicates the completion of tasks within the work site plan.

[0097] In response to a determination that machine telematics data has been received (block 412, decision YES), the system controller 122 counts the number of lifts at block 414 and the method returns to before 412 to determine whether additional lifts are to be counted. In response to a determination that machine telematics data has not been received (block 412, decision NO), the system controller 122 returns to before 412 to determine whether additional lifts are to be counted. In this manner, lifts may be counted accordingly if they have been achieved.

[0098] At 416, an indication of the percent completion of the work site plan may be presented based on the lift counts obtained from 412 and 414. The lift counts may be presented on a user interface, such as one provided by a display of the electronic device 128 in the system 100. A graphical user interface (GUI) may be presented on the display of the electronic device 128 such that the lift counts are presented as a portion, ratio, or percentage of the work site plan. This allows a user of the system 100 to quickly determine the level of completion of a work site plan. [Industrial Applicability]

[0099] This disclosure describes systems and methods for obtaining lift count metrics indicative of the level of completion of multiple tasks within a work site plan and the work site plan as a whole. Such systems and methods may be used to more efficiently present the level or percentage of completion of a work site plan to a user, so that the user may fully understand how efficiently the work site plan is being executed. The systems and methods coordinate the activity of one or more of the excavation machines 102, loading machines 104, and hauling machines 106 (i.e., as material transport machines), grading machines 107 (i.e., as material leveling machines), and compaction machines 105 (i.e., as material compaction machines), and / or other components of the system 100 during the execution of the work site plan and / or other operations at the work site 112. For example, such systems and methods may enable the system controller 122 to obtain machine data and use the machine data to calculate and / or otherwise determine lift counts. The system controller 122 may also present a representation of the aggregate production metrics to multiple users via at least one user interface. Thus, a user can be informed and easily understand the level or percentage of completion of the work site plan and the tasks contained within the work site plan.

[0100] As a result, the disclosed systems and methods may help reduce the time and resources required to perform various operations at the work site 112 and within the work site plan by assisting the user with a more effective understanding of the progress of the various machines utilized within the work site plan. The disclosed systems and methods may also assist the user in determining which machines or groups of machines may be performing less efficiently. As a result, the disclosed systems and methods may enable the user to correct any inefficiencies, reduce the time it may take to complete the work site plan, and adhere to expected deadlines or schedules. Thus, the lift count may assist the user in understanding the completion level or percentage of the work site plan. This understanding may enable the user to execute the work site plan in an efficient manner. The disclosed systems and methods may facilitate the determination and presentation of lift count metrics.

[0101] Although aspects of the present disclosure have been particularly shown and described with reference to the above examples, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various additional embodiments are contemplated by modifications of the disclosed machines, systems and methods without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosed subject matter. Such embodiments should be understood to fall within the scope of the present disclosure as determined by the appended claims and any equivalents thereof.

Claims

1. A system (100) for measuring productivity across different types of machines, comprising: A controller (122); a first machine (102, 104, 105, 106, 107) of a first type operable at the work site (112) for performing a first task within the work site plan; at least a second machine (102, 104, 105, 106, 107) of a second type operable at said work site (112) for performing a second task within said work site plan; a communication network (124) configured to transmit signals between the controller (122) and the first machine (102, 104, 105, 106, 107) and the second machine (102, 104, 105, 106, 107); The controller (122): receiving first machine telematics data from a first sensor (130) associated with the first machine (102, 104, 105, 106, 107) defining an indication of completion of the first task from the first machine (102, 104, 105, 106, 107); receiving second machine telematics data from a second sensor (130) associated with the second machine (102, 104, 105, 106, 107) defining an indication of completion of the second task from the second machine (102, 104, 105, 106, 107); The system is configured to calculate a number of lifts based on the first machine telematics data and the second machine telematics data, and define a percentage of completion of the work site plan by the number of lifts.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the work site plan includes a number of lifts, the number of lifts defining a percentage of completion of the work site plan.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the controller is further configured to present, on a user interface, an indication of a percentage of completion of the work site plan based on the plurality of lift counts.

4. The first machine (102, 104, 105, 106, 107) and the second machine (102, 104, 105, 106, 107) the first machine (102, 104, 105, 106, 107) of the first type for performing the first task within the work site plan; a second machine (102, 104, 105, 106, 107) of a second type for performing the second task within the work site plan; a third machine (102, 104, 105, 106, 107) of a third type for performing a third task within the work site plan; Calculating the number of lifts receiving third machine telematics data received from a third sensor (130) associated with the first machine telematics data, the second machine telematics data, and the third machine (102, 104, 105, 106, 107), the third machine telematics data defining an indication of completion of a third task by the third machine (102, 104, 105, 106, 107); and calculating the lift number based on the first machine telematics data, the second machine telematics data, and the third machine telematics data.

5. the first machine (102, 104, 105, 106, 107) includes a transport machine (106) for transporting material (118) into the work site (112), the first task includes a transport instance; the second machine (102, 104, 105, 106, 107) includes a leveling machine (107) that levels the material (118) within the work site (112), and the second task includes a leveling instance; 5. The system (100) of claim 4, wherein the third machine (102, 104, 105, 106, 107) comprises a compaction machine (105) for compacting the material (118) in the work site (112) and the third task comprises a compaction instance.

6. 5. The system (100) of claim 4, wherein the first machine (102, 104, 105, 106, 107), the second machine (102, 104, 105, 106, 107), and the third machine (102, 104, 105, 106, 107) include a telematics communication device (126) that transmits the first machine telematics data, the second machine telematics data, and the third machine telematics data to the controller (122).

7. the first sensor (130) of the first machine (102, 104, 105, 106, 107) including a first position sensor (130) for tracking a position of the first machine (102, 104, 105, 106, 107) during performance of the first task; the second sensor (130) of the second machine (102, 104, 105, 106, 107) comprising a second position sensor (130) for tracking a position of the at least second machine (102, 104, 105, 106, 107) during performance of the second task; The system (100) of claim 5, wherein the controller (122) calculates the lift number based at least in part on position data obtained from the first position sensor (130) and the second position sensor (130).

8. Calculating the lift number using the controller (122), Dividing (406) the worksite into segments; tracking (408) the movement of the transport machine (106), the leveling machine (107), and the compaction machine (105) based on the position data; and and identifying completion of the first task and the second task based on the location data.

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