FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of monitoring the vicinity of a lifting device such as a crane.

BACKGROUND

Locations the vicinity of lifting devices such as cranes may require monitoring to ensure nominal operation and mitigate undesired conditions such as falling loads, pinch points, or operating the lifting device too close to workers or property. In some cases, weather or the three-dimensional nature of the site, such as spaces with reduced visibility between a crane operator and workers on the ground, may result in undesired operating conditions.

There remains a need for more effective and user-friendly methods and systems that monitor and notify personnel to the presence of undesired operating conditions.

SUMMARY

In general, in one aspect, the disclosure relates to a system for monitoring the vicinity of lifting device. The system includes at least one lifting device telemeter located on the lifting device for measuring load parameters and transmitting load position signals representing the load parameters in real time. A positioning system is used for tracking the movable object such as a person at the site. The positioning system includes a tracking device co-located with a moveable object at the site and one or more transceiver devices at fixed locations at the site in wireless communication with the tracking device configured to receive signals from the tracking device in real time wherein one of the transceiver devices determines and transmits a location of the tracking device. The system further includes a server on a network in communication with both the telemeter and the positioning system.

The server in real time determines the position of the load and the position of the moveable object at the site using the location of the tracking device received from the positioning system. Using the load position signals and load size information, the server calculates an exposure space in which the lifted load could fall. Using the position of the movable object and the exposure space, the server determines whether the position of the moveable object intersects the exposure space, and if so, generates an alert. In another aspect, the disclosure can generally relate to a method for generating the alert when the server determines that the position of the movable object has intersected the exposure space described above.

In yet another aspect, the disclosure can generally relate to a method for retrofitting a site having a lifting device to alert personnel to the potential of falling loads using the system and method described above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description, appended claims and accompanying drawings. The drawings are not considered limiting of the scope of the appended claims. Reference numerals designate like or corresponding, but not necessarily identical, elements. The drawings illustrate only example embodiments. The elements and features shown in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the example embodiments. Additionally, certain dimensions or positionings may be exaggerated to help visually convey such principles.

FIG. 1 is a simplified illustration of a field system in which example embodiments can be applied.

FIG. 2 is a simplified example of a system architecture which example embodiments can use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Described herein are systems and methods for monitoring the vicinity of lifting devices and alerting personnel of undesired operating conditions. Lifting devices can include any devices for lifting a load such that the lifted load is suspended in the air a distance above a ground or floor level. In one embodiment, the lifting device may be any type of crane, including but not limited to tower cranes, floating cranes, telescopic cranes, harbor cranes, crawler cranes, rough terrain cranes, all-terrain cranes, truck mounted cranes, level luffing cranes, railroad cranes and overhead cranes. In other embodiments, the lifting device may be a lift truck, forklift, motor vehicle lift, excavator or the like. For simplicity, the lifting device will be referred to herein interchangeably as the“crane.” Referring to FIG. 1, a system 100 is illustrated at a site 20. A crane 2 is equipped with at least one lifting device telemeter 4 located on the crane 2 for sensing or measuring load parameters of a lifted load 3 and transmitting load position data (also referred to herein as signals) representing the load parameters in real time. In some embodiments, multiple telemeters 4 are located on the crane 2 for measuring multiple load parameters in real time and transmitting data representing the multiple load parameters. The telemeters 4 located on the crane 2 can be any known device used to make remote measurements including a sensor and a path to transmit measured data. In one embodiment, the at least one telemeter 4 located on the crane 2 can be integrated or built into the crane 2, e.g., by the crane manufacturer as an onboard crane operating system that outputs or transmits crane telemetry data. As the crane 2 moves in space, the telemeter 4 measures and transmits crane telemetry data so that the system can compute the location of the suspended load.

In one embodiment, the at least one telemeter 4 located on the crane 2 can be added to the crane 2 as part of a retrofit method, e.g., by a user of the system 100.

The load parameters can include any of a variety of parameters that can be measured with a telemeter 4, also referred to herein as crane telemetry. Crane telemetry involves extracting data from a crane 2, whether through existing software on a crane such as Seatrax CCM 7000 or Seatrax CCM 14000 (available from Seatrax, Inc., Houston, Texas), or through external sensors placed on the crane 2. The load parameters are useful in determining an exposure space 8 in which the lifted load 3 could fall. In one embodiment, the load parameters can include a boom angle 7 indicating a degree to which a boom arm 5 of the crane 2 moves vertically, a slew angle 17 indicating a degree to which the boom arm 5 of the crane 2 moves horizontally, a rope length payout indicating a length of a rope 11 of the crane 2 that has been let out (as can be measured by a hoist cable length sensor) signifying how high the load is being lifted, and combinations thereof. In embodiments, the load parameters can include, but is not limited to, the size of the load 3, the dimensions of the load 3, the weight of the load 3, the height of the load 3, wind conditions, sea conditions (if offshore), movement of the crane 2, shape of the load 3 and center of gravity of the load 3.

The data representing the load parameters can be transmitted to a server 6 by any known means. In one embodiment, the data is transmitted to the server 6 wirelessly. Alternatively, the data can be transmitted to the server 6 by a wired connection using an ethemet cable (not shown). The server 6 is on a network 10 that can be located at the site 20 or alternatively in the cloud 30. The server 6 is a server computer that runs software that manages nodes and communications between nodes within the network 10. The network 10 is a computer network that allows nodes to share data with each other. The network 10 is capable of wireless data transfer. The network 10 can optionally include wired connections between network nodes.

The server 6 is in wireless communication with a positioning system for tracking the position of a movable object 14 at the site 20. The positioning system includes a tracking device 15 co-located with the moveable object 14. By“movable object” is meant any object capable of being moved from one three-dimensional position to another at the site 20. In one embodiment, the movable object 14 is a person. By“co-located” is meant that the tracking device 15 can be positioned with respect to the movable object 14 such that it remains in close proximity to the movable object. For simplicity, the movable object will be referred to herein interchangeably as the“person.” In one embodiment, the tracking device 15 is worn on a person’s body, e.g., around the person’s neck or wrist, or attached to the person’s clothing, e.g., attached to a helmet or a garment, or held within a pocket in the person’s clothing.

The positioning system for tracking the position of the person 14 further includes one or more transceiver devices 16 at fixed locations at the site 20 in wireless communication with the tracking device 15. In one embodiment, at least 3 transceiver devices 16 are used. The transceiver devices 16 are configured to receive data (also referred to as signals) from the tracking device 15 in real time wirelessly. In one embodiment, one (16A) of the at least three transceiver devices 16 is configured to determine and transmit the location of the tracking device 15. The server 6 receives the location information transmitted by the transceiver device 16A. The transmission and reception of the location information occurs in real-time wirelessly.

The positioning system can be any known positioning system in which the tracking device 15 and the transceiver devices 16 transmit and receive data wirelessly in real time over distances possible between the lifted load 3 and the movable object 14 at the given site 20. Such positioning systems include but are not limited to ultra wide-band (UWB) positioning systems, indoor positioning systems (IPS), global positioning systems (GPS) utilizing global positioning satellite systems (GPSS), active radio frequency identification (RFID) positioning systems, active radio frequency identification-infrared (RFID-IR) hybrid positioning systems, infrared (IR) positioning systems, optical positioning systems, semi-active RFID positioning systems, radio beacon positioning systems, ultrasound identification positioning systems, ultrasonic ranging positioning systems, wide -over-narrow band positioning systems and Bluetooth positioning systems.

In one embodiment, the positioning system is an active UWB positioning system in which the tracking device 15 is a battery-powered UWB tag 15 and the transceiver devices 16 are UWB anchors 16 positioned in fixed locations at the site 20 so that one of the transceiver devices 16A receives data from the UWB tag 15 and the UWB anchors 16 and uses a known method such as time of arrival to angulate and determine the location of the UWB tag 15. UWB positioning systems utilize radio technology in which a very low energy level is used for short-range, high-bandwidth communications over a large portion of the radio spectrum. UWB positioning systems can determine the location of person 14 down to a range of within about 6 inches. UWB anchors 16 can transmit a very wide pulse over a GHz of spectrum and receive signals from the UWB tag(s) 15. UWB tag(s) 15 transmit ultra-short UWB pulses to the UWB anchors 16. The UWB anchors 16 transmit signals over the network to the server 6 which determines the position of the UWB tag(s) 15 in real-time.

The server 6, having received in real time the load position signals from the telemeter

4, is able to determine a load position of the lifted load 3 using the load position signals and a three-dimensional model stored in the server 6. If the telemeter 4 does not transmit load size information representing the size of the lifted load 3 and optionally load weight information representing the weight of the lifted load 3, the server 6 can receive load size and/or weight information by other means. For example, a user of the system 100 can input information on the load size and/or weight directly into the server 6 through a web-based user interface on a device 22 connected to the network 10. The device 22 can be a mobile device such as a tablet or smart phone, or a PC. In one embodiment, the user interface can include a selector for the user to select from options such as small, medium, and large load size, and/or a custom slider bar for load sizes that may fall outside the small, medium, and large load size. Alternatively, information on the load size and/or weight can be input to the server 6 by automatically capturing data representing the size of the load 3. In one embodiment, for example, a wireless device 22 having a built-in camera can be used to capture an image of the load 3 which can be uploaded to the server 6 via the network 10 and matched to a scale in the server 6 to determine the size of the load 3. In one embodiment, for example, the load size information is provided to the server 6 by a measuring application in a wireless device 22 having a built-in camera and sensors. The load position data and the data representing the size (and/or the weight) of the load 3 (also referred to as load size information) are then used by the server 6 to calculate an exposure space 8 in which the lifted load 3 could fall. In some embodiments, the optional weight information can be used in the calculation of the exposure space 9.

The exposure space 8 may be thought of as a cone-shaped space, although the volumetric space need not be a true geometric cone. The space is cone-shaped because as the distance from the lifted load 3 increases towards the ground or floor level 1, the area in which the load 3 could potentially fall has an increasing radius. The exposure space 8 represents a three-dimensional space in which an object 14 in the vicinity of the crane 2 may be subject to being struck by the lifted load 3 is the greatest. In one embodiment, upon calculating the exposure space 8, the server 6 further determines a second exposure space 9 surrounding the exposure space 8. The second exposure space 9 represents a three-dimensional space in which the object 14 in the vicinity of the crane 2 may be subject to being struck by the lifted load 3 is the not as great as in the exposure space 8, although it may be a space worth monitoring so that the system 100 can be flexibly customized. The exposure space 8 is dynamic due to the changing position of the load 3. For instance, in addition to the intentional movement of the load 3 by the crane operator, the load 3 can swing from side to side. The load movements are monitored continuously and the exposure space 8 is continuously calculated in real-time.

The server 6, having received in real-time the location information of the person 14 from the transceiver device 16A of the positioning system, is able to determine the position of the person 14 at the site 20. Because the server 6 has access to data representing the site 20 from the one or more transceiver devices 16 of the positioning system, the server 6 is able to compare the position of the person 14 with the exposure space 8 (or the second exposure space 9) and determine whether the position of the person 14 intersects the exposure space 8 (or the second exposure space 9). If so, the server 6 generates an alert 18. In one embodiment, the alert 18 can be generated in a web-based user interface on the device 22 connected to the network 10. The alert 18 can take any appropriate form to get a person’s attention, including a visual alert, an audible alert, and combinations thereof. The alert 18 can be directed at or delivered to any appropriate person or combination of persons, including but not limited to the person 14 or persons 14 having triggered the alert, a user of the system 100, an operator of the crane 2. In one embodiment, the device 22 can be have a visual display indicating the position of the movable object 14 with respect to the exposure space 8. The visual display can be part of a dashboard in a user interface on the device 22 (e.g., a mobile device or a PC).

In one embodiment, when an alarm 18 is generated, the server 6 further determines with which category of a predetermined list of categories the moveable object 14 is associated. Then, depending on the category the movable object 14 is associated with, the server 6 generates an alert specific to that category, also referred to as a category-specific alert. In one embodiment, when the movable object is a person 14, the category may be a role, e.g., a worker designation. For example, the predefined list of categories can include, but is not limited to, roles such as riggers assigned to work directly with the lifting device 2 regularly, site supervisors, maintenance and custodial personnel assigned to work occasionally near the lifting device 2, and visitors not assigned to work near the lifting device 2. Specific alerts can be generated for each role, e.g., based on an individual’s tasks and responsibilities for a work shift. For example, the server 6 can in real time determine that a person 14 intersecting the second exposure space 9 is a visitor. Depending on how the alert logic in the server 6 is configured, the server 6 can generate a visitor specific alert 18. The alert logic can be configured such that no alert is generated when a rigger enters the second exposure space 9, but a rigger specific alert is generated when the rigger enters the exposure space 8. In one embodiment, upon determining that a movable piece of equipment 14 intersects the exposure space 8 or 9, the server 6 determines that the movable object 14 is a piece of equipment and generates an equipment specific alert 18. The tracking device 15 can be worn or carried anonymously by a person 14; alternatively, the device 15 can be assigned to a specific individual 14 such that the identity of the person 14 wearing or carrying the device 15 is associated with the device 15. The tracking device 15 can have a unique signal such that the server 6 can differentiate between individual tracking devices 15.

The server 6 can determine the position of the load 3, the position of the person 14 and the exposure space 8 (or 9) in either 2 or 3 dimensions.

The server 6 can collect data over time and can be queried by a user of the system 100 to generate reports based on alerts 18 generated. Alerts generated can be stored in an event log. Such reports can enable the analysis of data related to the alerts to provide valuable insights regarding potential undesired conditions related to the operation of the lifting device.

In one embodiment, a site 20 in which a lifting device 2 is used can be retrofitted to enable the alerting of personnel to exposure to falling loads 3 as described above. The method for retrofitting can include equipping the lifting device 2, if it is not already so equipped, with at least one lifting device telemeter 4 on the lifting device 2 for measuring load parameters and transmitting load position signals representing the load parameters in real time. The tracking device 15 is co-located with a moveable object 14 at the site 20. One or more transceiver devices 16 are provided at fixed locations at the site 20 in wireless communication with the tracking device 15 such that the transceiver devices 16 are able to receive signals from the tracking device 15 in real time and one 16A of the transceiver devices is able to determine and transmit the location of the tracking device 15. A server 6 on a network 10 is set up to communicate in real-time with the transceiver device 16A and the at least one lifting device telemeter 4. A device 22 can be provided and set up on the network 10 for allowing a user to input information and receive alerts 18. The tracking device 15 can be configured to receive alerts 18 generated by the server 6.

In one embodiment, the server 6 instructs a lighting system 35 connected to the server to project a pattern of light 24 onto the ground or floor surface 1 beneath the lifted load 3 indicating the intersection of the exposure space 8 and/or 9 with the ground or floor surface.

The system logic according to one embodiment will be described referring to the system architecture 200 as shown in FIG. 2. Data from the lifting device telemeter 4, also referred to as crane telemetry data 202, is input to a message broker 201 on a network 10 as a data stream. The message broker 201 facilitates all messages for the system. The message broker 201 is a program also referred to as a module that translates a message from a formal messaging protocol of a sending node to a formal messaging protocol of a receiving node. As shown in FIG. 2, The message broker 201 includes a number of individual submodules e.g. 201A, 201B, 201C, 201D, 201E, 201F and 201G.

The crane telemetry data 202 can be transmitted to a crane sensor submodule 201E of the message broker 201 via an onboard crane system or via external crane sensors. The crane sensor submodule 201E transmits the crane telemetry data 202 to a modeling application 204 for performing calculations to determine the position of the lifted load 3. The modeling application 204 includes a virtual model of the crane 2. The position of the load is then transmitted to a crane position submodule 201F of the message broker 201. The crane position submodule 201F then transmits the position of the load to a node application 206 which uses the position of the load to calculate the exposure space 8. The location of the exposure space 8 is then transmitted from the node application 206 to an exposure space submodule 201G of the message broker 201. UWB data from the UWB tag(s) 15 is input to submodules 201A, 201B, 201C and 201D of the message broker 201 which relate to transforming the UWB tag data. In the embodiment shown, the UWB tags 15 transmit data to a UWB server 205, which resides on network 10. The UWB server 205 transmits UWB data to a node application 207 that transforms the data in individual submodules 207A, 207B and 207C, and sends input to the submodules 201A, 201B, 201C and 201D. Node application 207 copies the data to the submodules 201A, 201B, 201C and 201D for consumption by the node application 210 that transmits data to a user interface in device 22.

In the system shown, 201G transmits the location of the exposure space 8 to another node application 208 which in turn transmits the location of the exposure space 8 to the UWB server 205. The UWB server 205 uses the location of the exposure space 8 to determine one or more spaces 8 and/or 9 for alerting purposes. The UWB server 205 plots the position of the exposure space 8 (and second exposure space 9, if applicable) on a common coordinate system with the positions of the UWB tags 15. When a UWB tag 15 intersects with the position of the exposure space 8 (and/or 9), an alert 18 is generated from the UWB server 205 and is sent to the UWB tag 15 that entered the exposure space 8 (and/or 9). The UWB server 205 uses pre-programmed logic to determine when to alert depending on the space 8 and/or 9 as previously discussed and the category of the movable object 14 as previously discussed. The message broker 201 (here, 201A, 201B, 201C, 201D) can be configured to transmit the exposure space 8 to another node application 210 to transmit data to device 22. When the position of a UWB tag 15 intersects a space 8 and/or 9, depending on the category associated with the UWB tag 15, the UWB server 205 transmits an alert 18 to the UWB tag 15 and/or the device 22. Optionally, the position of the tag 15 can be shown on a visual dashboard in a user interface on the device 22.

The systems and methods disclosed herein advantageously automatically detect when people and things enter exposure areas that may be subject crane drops and automatically and in real time provide actionable alerts. The systems and methods automatically adjust for the changing size and shape of the exposure area during a crane lift and the changing positions of people and things relative to the lifted load. EXAMPLE

An offshore crane having a kingpost design, i.e., having a stationary kingpost and a revolving superstructure that fits over and revolves around the kingpost, manufactured by Seatrax, Inc. (Houston, Texas) was used to demonstrate an exemplary embodiment. The headache ball and hook of the crane were lifted as the lifted load using the crane boom arm while boom angle, slew angle and rope length payout were measured by the crane telemetry in the crane’s operating system. The crane telemetry data measured by the crane operating system was processed by a CompactRio PLC chassis unit running Lab VIEW software (available from National Instruments, Austin, Texas) and output data in JSON format to a Kafka centralized message broker (Apache Kafka® distributed streaming platform available from The Apache Software Foundation).

An active UWB positioning system (available from Redpoint Positioning

Corporation, Boston, Massachusetts) was used to track the position of a person at the crane site. A remote control car was outfitted with a UWB tag to replicate the movement of a person about a crane site. An exposure space was created by the headache ball and hook from the end of the crane boom arm.

A server located on a Windows 10 virtual machine on the crane site was configured to run Lab VIEW to consume the crane telemetry network data stream and output receive data from the UWB tags. The server was configured to send the UWB data to the Kafka message broker. The Kafka message broker was configured to transmit the crane telemetry data to a real-time engine (Unity, available from Unity Technologies, San Francisco, California).

Unity was configured to perform real-time calculations to determine the three-dimensional position of the lifted load. Unity outputs the position of the load which is then consumed by a node application that copies the data to Kafka for consumption by the rest of the system.

Kafka was configured to transmit the position of the load to a node application that was configured to calculate the location of the exposure space. The node application was configured to transmit the location of the exposure space to Kafka. Kafka was configured to transmit the location of the exposure space to another node application, which in turn was configured to send the location of the exposure space to the server. The server was configured to use the location of the exposure space to dynamically create a“keep out zone.”

The remote control car outfitted with the UWB tag was driven beneath the load suspended by the crane. As a result, the server, having received the UWB data from the UWB positioning system in real time and having determined the location of the exposure space using the crane telemetry data, determined that the car had entered the“keep out zone” and consequently sent an alert to the tag.

It should be noted that only the components relevant to the disclosure are shown in the figures, and that many other components normally part of a lifting system are not shown for simplicity.

For the purposes of this specification and appended claims, unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing quantities, percentages or proportions, and other numerical values used in the specification and claims are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term "about." Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in the following specification and attached claims are approximations that can vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by the present invention. It is noted that, as used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the," include plural references unless expressly and unequivocally limited to one referent.

Unless otherwise specified, the recitation of a genus of elements, materials or other components, from which an individual component or mixture of components can be selected, is intended to include all possible sub-generic combinations of the listed components and mixtures thereof. Also,“comprise,”“include” and its variants, are intended to be non- limiting, such that recitation of items in a list is not to the exclusion of other like items that may also be useful in the materials, compositions, methods and systems of this invention.