Work Machine Safety Check Prompting System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing work machine safety systems fail to ensure operators consistently check for monitoring subjects within close range, leading to potential hazards when the subject is not detected despite being present.
Innovation Solution
A work machine system that includes processors and memory for prompting operators to perform safety checks at intervals, using image information from imaging devices to display views around the machine, and transmitting operation signals, ensuring regular checks and awareness of the surroundings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If operators rely on manual visual checks around the work machine, then the system remains simple and easy to operate, but safety reliability deteriorates because operators may fail to detect monitoring subjects within close range
Solution Approach 1:
The safety monitoring function is segmented into multiple independent components: imaging devices for capturing visual information, detection devices for identifying monitoring subjects, processors for analyzing data, and notification devices for alerting operators. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function efficiently while maintaining overall system reliability without excessive complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary automated detection system that acts as a mediator between the operator and the actual safety monitoring task. The imaging devices and detection devices serve as intermediaries that capture and analyze safety-critical information, then present it to the operator through notifications, thereby enhancing reliability without requiring the operator to perform direct visual checks.
2Reliability
If continuous monitoring is implemented to ensure constant safety checks, then safety reliability improves, but energy consumption and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements periodic safety monitoring by capturing images at predetermined time intervals rather than continuously. The processor periodically analyzes the captured images to detect monitoring subjects, and notifications are issued at these periodic intervals. This periodic action maintains safety reliability while significantly reducing energy consumption compared to continuous monitoring.
Solution Approach 2:
The imaging devices and detection devices automatically perform safety monitoring without requiring continuous operator intervention. The system serves itself by autonomously capturing images, analyzing them for monitoring subjects, and issuing notifications when subjects are detected or when predetermined time intervals elapse, thereby maintaining reliability with minimal energy input.
3Reliability
If automated detection devices and imaging systems are added to ensure consistent safety checks, then safety reliability improves, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The imaging devices and detection devices are designed to perform multiple functions: capturing visual information, identifying monitoring subjects, determining their locations, and providing notification data. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate dedicated components for each function, thereby improving safety check consistency while limiting the increase in overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the imaging function, detection function, and notification function into an integrated safety monitoring system. The processor combines data from imaging devices and detection devices to generate comprehensive notification information, merging multiple functions into a unified system that improves reliability without proportionally increasing complexity.
4Reliability
If safety checks are prompted only at the start of work, then the system remains simple, but safety reliability deteriorates because operators may not perform checks at regular intervals throughout operation
Solution Approach 1:
The control system is configured to prompt operators to perform safety checks at predetermined time intervals throughout the work operation, not just at the start. This periodic prompting ensures that safety checks occur regularly at intervals that maintain reliability, while the interval-based approach limits the complexity increase compared to continuous monitoring requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides feedback to operators through notifications that indicate when safety checks are due based on elapsed time since the last check. This feedback mechanism ensures operators perform checks at appropriate intervals by providing timely reminders, improving safety check frequency while using a relatively simple time-tracking and notification system.
Data Source
AI summary
A work machine includes one or more processors; and a memory device storing a program, wherein when executed by the one or more processors, causes a computer of the work machine to perform a process including prompting an operator to perform a safety check around the work machine at intervals of a predetermined time when the operator has not performed the safety check around the work machine for more than the predetermined time.