# US 2020/0401865 A1 · Industrial electronic badge

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- Number: US 2020/0401865 A1
- Document ID: US20200401865A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 17/007,874
- Filed: 2020-08-31
- Published: 2020-12-24
- Earliest claimed: 2016-08-25
- Assignees: Crown Equipment Corporation
- Applicants: Crown Equipment Corporation
- Inventors: Philip W. Swift
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20200401865A1

## CPC

- G06K 19/0724: {the arrangement being a circuit for communicating at a plurality of frequencies, e.g. for managing time multiplexed communication over at least two antennas of different types}
- H04L 67/125: involving control of end-device applications over a network
- G06K 7/10128: {the step consisting of detection of the presence of one or more record carriers in the vicinity of the interrogation device}
- G06K 19/0703: {the battery being onboard of a handheld device, e.g. a smart phone or PDA}
- G06K 19/07709: {the interface being a keyboard}
- G06K 19/07767: {the first and second communication means being two different antennas types, e.g. dipole and coil type, or two antennas of the same kind but operating at different frequencies}
- G06Q 10/063: Operations research, analysis or management
- G07C 1/10: together with the recording, indicating or registering of other data, e.g. of signs of identity
- G06K: GRAPHICAL DATA READING (image or video recognition or understanding G06V); PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G07C: TIME OR ATTENDANCE REGISTERS; REGISTERING OR INDICATING THE WORKING OF MACHINES; GENERATING RANDOM NUMBERS; VOTING OR LOTTERY APPARATUS; ARRANGEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS FOR CHECKING NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE

## Abstract

An industrial system includes an electronic badge worn or otherwise transported by an industrial vehicle operator. The electronic badge has a housing, a processor, and a transceiver coupled to the processor that communicates on a personal-area network with a badge communicator that is provided on an industrial vehicle when the electronic badge and the badge communicator are in range of each other. Further, an activity sensor collects activity information about the industrial vehicle operator as the industrial vehicle operator performs work tasks. The electronic badge exchanges data collected by the activity sensor with the industrial vehicle, for communication to a remote server. An electronic message is communicated to the industrial vehicle for output to a display thereon, and the electronic message defines an assigned task that is based upon previously collected data from the activity sensor.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An industrial system comprising:
an electronic badge worn or otherwise transported by an industrial vehicle operator, the electronic badge comprising:
a housing;
a processor;
a first transceiver coupled to the processor that communicates on a first personal-area network with a badge communicator that is provided on an industrial vehicle when the electronic badge and the badge communicator are in range of each other; and
at least one activity sensor that collects activity information about the industrial vehicle operator as the industrial vehicle operator performs work tasks;
wherein:
the electronic badge exchanges information with the industrial vehicle, the exchanged information including data collected by the at least one activity sensor, for communication to a remote server; and
an electronic message is communicated to the industrial vehicle for output to a display thereon, the electronic message defining an assigned task, where the assigned task is based upon previously collected data from the at least one activity sensor.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the processor of the electronic badge communicates with the badge communicator on the industrial vehicle to track time that the operator is off of the industrial vehicle.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the processor of the electronic badge electronically communicates with the at least one electronic component of the industrial vehicle to determine whether the industrial vehicle operator is functioning as a pedestrian or a vehicle operator, and the processor of the electronic badge is further operatively programmed to:
perform an action in a pedestrian mode if the electronic badge determines that the operator is functioning as a pedestrian; and
perform actions in an industrial vehicle mode if the electronic badge determines that the operator is functioning as a vehicle operator.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The system of claim 3, wherein, when in pedestrian mode, the processor of the electronic badge is further operatively programmed to:
interact with the at least one activity sensor to perform the action as at least one of:
count steps taken by the industrial vehicle operator;
count a number of times the industrial vehicle operator bends over to lift something; or
determine whether the industrial vehicle operator properly lifted.

### Claim 5 (depends on 3)

The system of claim 3, wherein, when in pedestrian mode, the processor of the electronic badge is further operatively programmed to:
output to the operator, instructions to provide a proper procedure for a task that the industrial vehicle operator must perform.

### Claim 6 (depends on 3)

The system of claim 3, wherein, when in industrial vehicle mode, the electronic badge automatically logs the industrial vehicle operator into the industrial vehicle using an identification of the industrial vehicle operator associated with the electronic badge stored in a storage space of memory of the electronic badge coupled to the processor.

### Claim 7 (depends on 3)

The system of claim 3, wherein, when in industrial vehicle mode, the electronic badge automatically logs the industrial vehicle operator into the industrial vehicle by communicating with the badge communicator on the industrial vehicle to determine that the industrial vehicle operator has stepped onto the industrial vehicle.

### Claim 8 (depends on 3)

The system of claim 3 further comprising a cradle attached to the industrial vehicle, wherein the processor of the industrial vehicle determines that the electronic badge is to operate in the industrial vehicle mode when an electronic signal designates that the electronic badge is mounted in the cradle.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic badge further comprises at least one of an accelerometer and a gyroscope coupled to the processor.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic badge further comprises a heart-rate monitor coupled to the processor.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic badge further comprises a temperature sensor coupled to the processor.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the first transceiver of the electronic badge is an ultra-wide band transceiver.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic badge further comprises:
a second transceiver implemented as a Bluetooth transceiver coupled to the processor.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic badge further comprises:
a second transceiver implemented as a Bluetooth transceiver coupled to the processor; and
a third transceiver implemented as a wireless fidelity (WiFi) transceiver coupled to the processor, and configured to communicate across a local area network;
wherein:
the industrial vehicle further comprises a transceiver that communicates across the same local area network.

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic badge further comprises:
a tactile input/output (I/O) device; and
a haptic output.

### Claim 16

An electronic badge comprising:
a processor;
a first transceiver; and
memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory includes a program that instructs the processor to perform an industrial operations application by:
determining whether the electronic badge is coupled to an industrial vehicle via the first transceiver;
performing actions in a first mode associated with a pedestrian if the electronic badge is not coupled to the industrial vehicle; and
performing actions in a second mode associated with the industrial vehicle if the electronic badge is coupled to the industrial vehicle.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The electronic badge of claim 16, wherein performing actions in a second mode associated with the industrial vehicle comprises displaying data from the industrial vehicle on a display of the electronic badge.

### Claim 18 (depends on 16)

The electronic badge of claim 16, wherein the memory includes a program that instructs the processor to perform a task director application by:
determining a task for the user;
indicating the task to the user via a display; and
presents applications to the user based on the determined task for the user.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The electronic badge of claim 18, wherein:
determining a task for the user comprises receiving a schedule of tasks for the user from an industrial management server; and
determining a task for the user comprises determining a task for the user based on an environmental based location tracking system.

### Claim 20 (depends on 16)

The electronic badge of claim 16, wherein the memory includes a program that instructs the processor to perform an event tracker application by determining if feedback received or sent by an observational feedback application is proper based on an environment of the user by:
identifying a device associated with a source of the feedback;
identifying a device associated with a destination of the feedback;
determining locations for the device associated with a source of the feedback and the device associated with a destination of the feedback; and
determining whether the device associated with a source of the feedback and the device associated with a destination of the feedback are within a predetermined range.