Offshore Crew Location Tracking With Dynamic Machine Movement Zones
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for tracking personnel on offshore drilling vessels are inefficient during emergencies, as they require manual roll calls and take significant time to account for missing crew members, especially in multiple muster stations.
Innovation Solution
A system using wireless transmitters and receivers, combined with optical devices, to detect and locate personnel in real-time, associating them with a database that includes tracking information and a dimensional map of the vessel, allowing for immediate identification and communication of missing crew members.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If manual roll call is used to account for personnel at muster stations, then the system is simple and requires minimal equipment, but the time required to identify missing crew members increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical process of roll call with an automated wireless detection system. Wireless transmitters worn by crew members automatically communicate their locations to receivers at muster stations, eliminating the need for manual counting and radio communications. This substitution dramatically reduces the time to identify missing personnel while the system maintains reasonable complexity through standardized wireless technology implementation.
2Productivity
If wireless transmitters and receivers are deployed throughout the vessel, then real-time personnel location is achieved, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the vessel into multiple zones with distributed wireless receivers positioned at strategic locations including muster stations and key areas. This segmentation allows the system to cover the entire vessel efficiently without requiring a dense network of receivers everywhere. Each receiver independently monitors its zone, and the centralized system aggregates data to provide real-time personnel location information, improving productivity while controlling complexity through distributed architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The wireless transmitter devices worn by crew members serve multiple functions: they continuously transmit location data, provide emergency alerts, and can communicate status information. This multi-functionality increases operational efficiency by consolidating multiple safety and tracking capabilities into a single wearable device, improving productivity without proportionally increasing system complexity.
3Reliability
If multiple muster stations are established on the vessel, then personnel safety is improved by providing就近 evacuation options, but the difficulty of accounting for missing crew members increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements continuous feedback through wireless transmitters that automatically report crew member locations to the central monitoring system. At each muster station, receivers provide real-time feedback on which crew members have arrived and which are still missing. This automated feedback mechanism maintains high safety standards across multiple muster stations while dramatically simplifying personnel accounting, as the system continuously updates status without requiring manual verification at each location.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables rapid and accurate accounting of personnel during emergencies, reducing the time to identify missing crew members and improving operational efficiency by providing real-time location and communication of their status.
Implementation Method 1
Each of the wireless transmitters is configured to transmit a wireless signal associated in the database with one of the crew members. Each of the wireless receivers is configured to receive the wireless signals
Data Source
AI summary
A method, system, and computer readable medium configured to store instructions executable by a processor to identify personnel locations and/or conflicts between personnel and movable machines. The method includes creating, in a database, a dimensional map of an offshore unit, tracking, in the database, locations of the entities in the dimensional map of the offshore unit by receiving at least wireless monitoring from wireless devices associated with both the entities and the offshore unit, obtaining, with a programmable control device, operating parameters of a movable machine operating on the offshore unit, calculating, with the programmable control device, a dynamic movement zone that changes by moving dynamically in the dimensional map in the database based on the operating parameters of the movable machine, detecting, with the programmable control device, a conflict of at least one of the tracked locations interfering with the dynamic movement zone of the movable machine, and outputting the detected conflict with the programmable control device.