WO2021222968A1

WO2021222968A1 - Asset tracking and asset management

Info

Publication number: WO2021222968A1
Application number: PCT/AU2021/050127
Authority: WO
Inventors: Simon CASEY
Original assignee: Robert Bosch (Australia) Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2020-05-08
Filing date: 2021-02-15
Publication date: 2021-11-11

Abstract

A system for tracking assets including: one or more asset tags, each of the one or more asset tags being applied to an asset to transmit asset data associated with the asset; one or more receivers for receiving asset data from the one or more asset tags and a server in communication with the one or more receivers to process and store the asset data; wherein each of the one or more asset tags includes: a power supply, a processor, a memory for storing asset data and a transmitter for transmitting asset data from the asset tag to the one or more receivers.

Description

ASSET TRACKING AND ASSET MANAGEMENT

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a system and method for asset tracking and asset management. Background of Invention

[0002] Tracking of assets within large organizations is desirable but can be difficult and problematic to implement. This is compounded when the assets are spread over different locations or in situations where assets move between different locations (as is the case for vehicle or bicycle share schemes or shopping trolleys). A problem for example, is knowing at any moment, how many assets there are, where the assets are located, and the present status of the asset (operable, in use, inoperable etc).

[0003] There exists RFID arrangements which try to solve some of these problems but they do not provide real time tracking and RFID has a limited range (typically over a few metres) and cannot provide location information other than by carefully defining where the RFID readers are and forcing tracking items to pass nearby. This makes such a system limited to arrangements where the movement follow defined and restricted paths, such as a logistics distribution system.

[0004] One attempt at a solution to the above problems is disclosed in WO201 6055815 where, a position tracking system derives information relating to a location of an asset (in the form of a shopping cart) by way of an intelligent wheel on the shopping cart, the intelligent wheel being configured to acquire and output information to a beacon or the like to determine the location or bearing of the shopping trolley. However, a problem with this arrangement is still the potential limited range as well as the inability to track an asset when it is outside of the range of the system. Another issue with the system disclosed in WO2016055815 as the applicant notes in the specification, is that inertial sensing based dead reckoning has limitations in that sensor measurements can be noisy and errors accumulate.

[0005] Further, the system disclosed in WO2016055815 is relatively complex and has limited robustness due to its mounting in a wheel. [0006] It would therefore be desirable to ameliorate at least alleviate some of the problems discussed above or provide a useful alternative.

[0007] A reference herein to a patent document or any other matter identified as prior art, is not to be taken as an admission that the document or other matter was known or that the information it contains was part of the common general knowledge as at the priority date of any of the claims.

Summary of Invention

[0008] According to a first aspect, the present invention provides a system for tracking assets including: one or more asset tags, each of the one or more asset tags being applied to an asset to transmit asset data associated with the asset; one or more receivers for receiving asset data from the one or more asset tags and a server in communication with the one or more receivers to process and store the asset data; wherein each of the one or more asset tags includes: a power supply, a processor, a memory for storing asset data and a transmitter for transmitting asset data from the asset tag to the one or more receivers.

[0009] Preferably, the asset data includes a unique asset identifier and/or location data of the asset. In an embodiment, the asset does not know its location and location data may include a beacon or the like sent to the server. In an alternative embodiment, the location data may include GPS co-ordinates, in that the asset knows its own location by way of GPS capability, or it has been “told” by the server what its current location is.

[0010] Preferably, the asset tag further includes one or more of: a motion sensor, a vibration sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a magnetometer or a proximity detector. The vibration sensor is operable, upon noting a vibration from the asset, to periodically transmit asset data relating to the vibration associated with the asset to the one or more receivers.

[0011] Preferably, the processor is operable to periodically power up the asset tag and engage the transmitter periodically to transmit location data from the asset tag to the one or more receivers.

[0012] Preferably, the location data is a beacon sent from the asset tag to the one or more receivers. The beacon may simply be a signal from the asset tag to the one or more receivers. In an embodiment, the beacon is a location beacon which includes GPS coordinates sent from the asset tag to the one or more receivers.

[0013] Preferably, each of the receivers tracks the asset via the beacon to determine angle of arrival (AoA) data associated with an asset tag. [0014] Preferably, the server receives and processes the AoA data to determine the approximate location of the asset by triangulating the AoA data.

[0015] In an alternative, each of the receivers tracks via the beacon to determine RSSI data associated with an asset tag. The server receives and processes the RSSI data to determine the approximate location of the asset. [0016] In an alternative, the AoA data may be received and processed by one or more nodes to determine the approximate location of the asset by triangulating the AoA data. For example, other node types may determine the location (to permit distributed or load-based processing.

[0017] Preferably, the processor is operable to periodically power up the asset tag in response to the motion sensor detecting movement and to engage the transmitter periodically to transmit location data from the asset tag to the one or more receivers.

[0018] The server may also aggregate the asset data from the one or more assets or aggregates the location data from one or more receivers.

[0019] Preferably, the server aggregates the location data from one or more receivers and applies a weighting to each of the location data from one or more receivers. Advantageously, this provides plausibility checking which is employed and filter out multi path effects.

[0020] The one or more receivers may be an internet enabled gateway. It will be appreciated that all receivers will have internet access either directly or via a gateway. In addition, the one or more receivers may be a mobile communication device.

[0021] Preferably, wherein the asset tag increases or reduces a transmission interval in response to the motion sensor. Advantageously this provides a suitable power saving technique for the asset tag. [0022] Preferably, the one or more receivers is one or more mobile communication devices associated with a user operable to receive and provide location data. Advantageously, this allows “crowd sourcing” of asset data and location.

[0023] It will be appreciated that the asset tag may be a radio location system, such as a Bluetooth™ enabled tag or an ultra-wideband tag.

[0024] It will be appreciated that the one or more receivers are RF receivers and the RF receivers may include (either alone or in combination) one or more of Bluetooth, Zigbee, and the like.

Brief Description of Drawings [0025] The invention will now be described in further detail by reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that the particularity of the drawings does not supersede the generality of the preceding description of the invention.

[0026] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for tracking of assets according to an embodiment of the invention; [0027] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a system for asset tracking in an indoor environment; and

[0028] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a system for asset tracking in an outdoor environment.

Detailed Description [0029] The present invention may be utilised in relation to asset tracking in an indoor or outdoor environment, such as, for example pay as you go vehicles such as bicycles or scooters. Further present invention may be utilised in relation to asset tracking in a supermarket environment where the asset to be tracked is a shopping trolley or cart and it will be convenient to describe the invention in relation to that exemplary, but non-limiting, application. It will be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to that application and may for example, be applied to any suitable type of asset. [0030] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram for tracking of assets 105a, 105b, 105c, 105d, 105e... 105n over a network 115 via a server 120. The system 100 may operate in an indoor environment 125 (such as a supermarket) or may exist in combination with an external environment 135 (such as a carpark or the like) or may operate in combination a remote environment 145.

[0031] Each of the assets 105a to 105n has at least one asset tag [not shown] applied to transmit asset data associated with the asset. The asset tag may be permanently fixed to the asset to be tracked and may consists of motion/impact sensors, a Bluetooth 5.1 transmitter and a battery. The asset tag periodically transmits its status with respect to its motion, activity, system state (e.g. battery level). Preferably, the motion sensor provides three functions: Firstly, to detect when the asset is in motion so the asset tag will then increase the frequency of its transmissions to allow more timely tracking of the asset. Secondly, the asset tag provides a differential motion vector from the last transmission to help with location and to understand usage patterns in the intervening period. Thirdly, the motion sensor provides information on how the asset has been moved. This includes for example, movements in terms of impacts, orientation and other programmed maintenance data, such as a wobbly wheel on a trolley or a tip over event.

[0032] The asset tag may take any form and may for example be a Bluetooth™ tag or any suitable radio location technology, for example ultra-wideband. Each of the assets 105a to 105n having an asset tag applied to it may then be tracked and in the case of the indoor environment 125, such as a supermarket, may be tracked by way of one or more receivers 110 which may be positioned within the indoor environment 125. The number of receivers 110 will depend on the size of the indoor environment 125 and may be placed at the end of an aisle 130 for example. Preferably the asset tags include at least a power supply, a processor, a vibration sensor, a motion sensor and a memory for storing asset data as well as a transmitter for transmitting asset data from the asset tag to the one or more receivers 110.

[0033] In the indoor environment 125, the receivers 110 may be an Ethernet/Wi-Fi gateway or the like. Advantageously in the case of the asset tag being a Bluetooth™ tag there is provided a direction-finding function in the form of Angle of Arrival (AoA) such that accurate location of the asset 105a, 105b in the store may be provided. Determination of location in the indoor environment 125 will be further described with reference to Figure 2.

[0034] In a further advantage, knowing and tracking the path of an asset 105a, 105b through the indoor environment 125 and along the aisles 130 provides usage patterns and predictive maintenance and/or shopping behaviour patterns which may be provided to the gateway 110 and in turn provided to the server 120 via the network 115. Advantageously no customer interaction is required nor are there requirements for GPS or infrastructure. A vibration sensor may also be provided whereby the vibration sensor is operable, upon noting a vibration from the asset, to periodically transmit asset data relating to the vibration associated with the asset to the one or more receivers 110. Predictive maintenance may then be carried out by the system 100 whereby the system keeps a record via the asset tag so that if a vibration is determined, a signal can be sent to the server 120 either by the receiver 110 or by a user associated with, for example, a mobile communication device, to notify that the asset is in need of maintenance. An assistance button may be provided on the tag to report or notify of an issue with the asset.

[0035] In an external environment 135 (such as a shopping centre carpark or the like) one or more assets 105d and 105e may be provided in the external environment 135 and/or left by customers in random spots throughout the external environment 135 or may be provided in one or more bays 140. Advantageously, the present invention by way of the asset tag being applied to the asset 105d and 105e transmits asset data associated with the asset 105d and 105e to one or more receivers 110 which may be positioned throughout the external environment 135.

[0036] In a further advantage, knowing the position of each of the assets 105d and 105e allows for retrieval of the assets more quickly to put them into the one or more trolley bays 140 or allow a user of the system to determine if there are too many assets located at a particular bay 140 and for the assets to be relocated and/or redirected to other bays as appropriate. Advantageously the present invention also allows, where an asset has been dumped in a particular part of the external environment 135 which is not a trolley bay 140, for the system to know the position of the asset so that it may be returned to a trolley bay 140 or the like. For example, in an external environment 135 which is a multi-storey supermarket carpark, if there are no trolleys on Level 6 of the carpark there is no need for someone who is retrieving the trolleys to check Level 6. Alternatively, if all the bays on Level 6 are full there is no requirement for any further trolleys to be provided to Level 6 and instead trolleys can be retrieved from other levels in the carpark and provided to appropriate trolley bays at other levels of the carpark.

[0037] The receiver 110 receives the information from the asset tags applied to the assets 105d and 105e and provides that information to the receiver 110 which is then provided to the server 120 via network 115. The flow of data from the asset tag may be Typically, the flow of data may be from the asset tag to the one or more base stations/receivers 110 to the server 120 via the network 115, before being provided to an end user of the system to make use of the location information provided. In an embodiment, the system 120 may push data down from the server to the asset where the asset has a receiver.

[0038] Where an asset is not provided in an internal environment 125 or an external environment 135, it may be provided or placed elsewhere by a customer inadvertently or deliberately such that it is not within the boundaries of the carpark or the supermarket. In this case the asset has either been moved to a location which is not associated with the receivers in the internal environment 125 or an external environment 135 and may be placed in what might be termed as a remote environment 145. For example, an asset 105c may have been lost, incorrectly disposed of or placed elsewhere. In this situation, in the remote environment 145, the asset tag associated with the asset 105c may interact with a mobile communication device 150 associated with a user of the system 100. The user of the system may be one or more of a customer or employees or delivery drivers associated with the supermarket or interested parties, such as companies who retrieve the assets 105c. The asset tag utilises the mobile communication device 150 to act as a receiver such that asset data related to that asset (which may include the location of the asset) is then provided to the mobile device 150 and the mobile device in turn, by software associated with the mobile device and the system 100, provides asset data via the network 115 to the server 120. The owner of the asset can then deal with the retrieval of the asset 105c in due course.

[0039] The operation of the asset retrieval in the remote environment 145 will be further described with reference to Figure 3. [0040] Figure 2 is a detailed schematic diagram of the present invention when utilised within an indoor environment 125 such as a supermarket. The indoor environment 125 has a number of aisles 130a to 130f as well as registers 205 to 210, a bakery 215 and a foyer 200 and throughout the supermarket 125 there are provided receivers 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e and 11 Of all or one of which may then communicate with network 115 to provide asset data related to one or more assets 105a to the server 120.

[0041] Where the asset 105a is a trolley, it may be provided with an asset tag (not shown) and the location of the asset 105a may be determined by the angle of arrival from a number of receivers 110a to 11 Of. For example, the angle from the position of the asset tag to receiver 110a near the bakery shelves 215 may be measured as 115.6 degrees and in turn the angle to the receiver 110b near the foyer 200 is 204.2 degrees and the receiver 110c is located at the end of the aisle 130a having a distance of 93.3 degrees and the receiver 110e which is located at the end of aisle 130e has an angle from the asset tag to the receiver of 61.4 degrees and the receiver 11 Of located at register 210 has an angle of 348.2 degrees. The intersection of the direction of vectors, as calculated by the asset tag, receivers 110a to 110f and server 120 via the network 115 is then the approximate location of the asset 105a in the store. The approximate location may therefore be provided based upon the “Sine rule” A/sin(a) = B/sin(b) = C/sin(c), where A, B and C are lengths of a triangles sides and a, b, c are the angles opposite the respective side.

[0042] In some circumstances, triangulation is either not feasible or optimal (such as for example, in a dynamic EM environment) in that triangulation may be affected by environmental variability, reflections, noise, achievable resolution and the like. Therefore, it will be appreciated that other arrangements may be utilised to determine the approximate location of the asset depending on the conditions. Further, validation methods may be applied to improve the result, such as a maximum likelihood estimation algorithm which removes results related to approximate locations that are outliers or are physically impossible.

[0043] For example, plausibility checking may be carried out by way of multiple base stations and RSSI for validating the location computed for a beacon. Two base stations may provide an accurate location and additional base-stations may be used to provide additional plausibility for redundancy. Advantageously, utilising RSSI, it can be seen approximately where an asset should lie with an area error and to be able to exclude any multipath or interference generate locations that fall outside the broader area given by the RSSI.

[0044] It will be appreciated that this arrangement may apply for more than one asset 105 at a particular time. In order to minimise multi-path errors, multiple receivers and some signal validation algorithms in the server and base stations may be provided. The placement of the base stations for example may be such that they look downward on the asset tags from above.

[0045] There may be more or fewer receivers 110a to 110f depending on the size and location of the supermarket 125.

[0046] The asset tag may be a Bluetooth™ 5.1 enabled tag having a location transmitter on board with motion sensing but it will be appreciated that the locating could equally be carried out by way of ultra-wideband systems using RSSI measurements or the like, as would be appreciated by a person skilled in the art. Advantageously, more accurate locating may be achieved by way of radio location and AoA based measurements (down to approximately 1 meter).

[0047] The asset tag preferably transmits a beacon, for example approximately every 2 minutes, or at approximately every 2 minutes when motion has been detected by way of a motion sensor in the asset tag over a predefined period. For example, the asset tag may transmit a beacon every two minutes on the basis that the asset has been moved in the last 10 minutes, such that if asset is not moving, the beacon may back off to a transmit once per hour for example (to save on the power supply, which would typically be a battery).

[0048] As noted above, the receivers 110a to 110f in the indoor environment 125 may be Ethernet/Wi-Fi gateways or base stations which can determine presence of the asset as well as triangulation of the assets when in range accurate to approximately 1 m³.

[0049] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the remote environment 145 in which an asset 105c may be positioned and need to be recovered. The system includes a server 120 connected via network 115 and one or more assets, for example 105c, may be positioned or dumped at a remote environment 145 (not covered by the internal environment 125 or external environment 135). In the remote environment 145, the system does not have access to receivers in the form of base stations or Ethernet/Wi- Fi gateways. Instead the system of the present invention may utilise one or more mobile communication devices 310/315 which are associated with a user. The user of communication device 310/315 may be a customer of the supermarket for example or an employee. The communication device 310/315 may include software which allows for the asset tag associated with the asset 105c to provide a beacon. The beacon, upon being received by the mobile communication device 310/315 then relays asset data (which may take the form of location information) to the server 120 by the network 115. In this case the network may be a mobile communication network such as 4G, 5G and the like. Advantageously when the asset 105c is out of range of the internal environment 125 or external environment 135 the present invention can utilise mobile communication devices 310/315 for "crowdsourcing", location services. In addition to the above, vehicles such as delivery trucks 305 associated with supermarkets may also act to receive location data from the asset 105c and provide that via a communication network 115 to the server 120.

[0050] In operation, the asset owner may utilise a software application running on the mobile communication device which is associated with the asset owner such as for example, FlyBuys™ or a loyalty program or the like which would engage with the asset tag on the asset 105c when the user of the mobile communication device is within a specified distance of the asset 105c. This may even be done out of 4G, 5G/ Wi-Fi coverage and simply recorded and uploaded when the mobile communication device is connected to the communication network 115 at a later time.

[0051] Incentivisation programs may be provided to activate tracking services such as points each time an allocation of the asset 105c is provided to the server 120. In further advantage, the use of more than one mobile communication device can aggregate or confirm the precise location of the asset 105c. For example, two users might aggregate or refine the position of the asset 105c and the system may make determinations on that basis. This may be in combination with for example, a truck 305 which passes the asset at a certain distance whereas an individual associated with a mobile communication device 310 is positioned at a distance that is closer to the asset 105c and in combination with previous data received with regard to the location of the asset 105c may provide a more accurate position so that the asset may then be retrieved. The asset tag may take any suitable form and may last a number of years depending on the how frequently a beacon is transmitted. For example, a primary cell may be provided that requires no charging or maintenance for the life of the asset. In the case of a trolley this might be approximately 5 years.

[0052] It will be appreciated that each asset 105a to 105n may be added to a database on server 120 through scanning a QR code on the asset tag which then adds the asset to a database associated with the server 120. Advantageously other issues that are related to the asset such as maintenance may be also provided by via asset data, such as, in a case of a trolley, rough running of the trolley, toppling of the trolley, usage of the trolley and maintenance records or maintenance triggers. Some of these triggers may be provided through sensors provided in the asset tag, for example motion sensors and or vibration sensors and the like. [0053] Further, scheduled maintenance of the asset may then trigger a reset on timing for maintenance for the asset. It may assist with locating the asset which needs to be maintained in that the user of the system knows that the asset needs to have maintenance carried out and knows where that particular asset is located, be it in a carpark at a distance location and/or within the supermarket. Preferably the mobile communication device 310/315 simply obtain from the asset tag a trolley identifier.

[0054] While the invention has been described in conjunction with a limited number of embodiments, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that many alternative, modifications and variations in light of the foregoing description are possible. Accordingly, the present invention is intended to embrace all such alternative, modifications and variations as may fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed.

Claims

The claims defining the invention are as follows:

1. A system for tracking assets including: one or more asset tags, each of the one or more asset tags being applied to an asset to transmit asset data associated with the asset; one or more receivers for receiving asset data from the one or more asset tags and a server in communication with the one or more receivers to process and store the asset data; wherein each of the one or more asset tags includes: a power supply, a processor, a memory for storing asset data and a transmitter for transmitting asset data from the asset tag to the one or more receivers.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the asset data includes a unique asset identifier and/or location data of the asset.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the asset tag further includes one or more of: a motion sensor, a vibration sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a magnetometer or a proximity detector.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the vibration sensor is operable, upon noting a vibration from the asset, to periodically transmit asset data relating to the vibration associated with the asset to the one or more receivers.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is operable to periodically power up the asset tag and engage the transmitter periodically to transmit location data from the asset tag to the one or more receivers.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the location data is a beacon sent from the asset tag to the one or more receivers.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the beacon is a location beacon includes GPS coordinates sent from the asset tag to the one or more receivers.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the each of the receivers tracks the asset via the beacon to determine angle of arrival (AoA) data associated with an asset tag.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the server receives and processes the AoA data to determine the approximate location of the asset by triangulating the AoA data.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein each of the receivers tracks via the beacon to determine RSSI data associated with an asset tag.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the AoA data is received and processed by one or more nodes to determine the approximate location of the asset by triangulating the AoA data.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the server receives and processes the RSSI data to determine the approximate location of the asset.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is operable to periodically power up the asset tag in response to the motion sensor detecting movement and to engage the transmitter periodically to transmit location data from the asset tag to the one or more receivers.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the server aggregates the asset data from the one or more assets.

15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the server aggregates the location data from one or more receivers.

16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the server aggregates the location data from one or more receivers and applies a weighting to each of the location data from one or more receivers.

17. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more receivers is an internet enabled gateway.

18. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more receivers is a mobile communication device.

19. The system of claim 1 , wherein the asset includes one or more receivers for receiving data from the server.

20. The system of claim 3, wherein the asset tag increases or reduces a transmission interval in response to the motion sensor.

21. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more receivers is one or more mobile communication devices associated with a user operable to receive and provide location data.

22. The system of claim 1 , wherein the asset tag is any one or more of a radio location system, a Bluetooth™ enabled tag or an ultra-wideband tag.

23. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more receivers are RF receivers.

24. The system of claim 22, wherein the RF receivers include one or more of Bluetooth or Zigbee.