Title of Invention

AN ON-BOARD PROCESSING UNIT FOR A GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM

Abstract

This invention relates to an on-board processing unit comprising a single board embedded controller card (3) for a GPS based truck dispatch system for tracking on-line movement of vehicles, said on-board processing unit comprising an enclosure capable of withstanding harsh environmental conditions; a DC/DC converter (1) for deriving power from the battery of said vehicles; a radio unit (2) for RF data communication with a base unit; and a GPS module (4) for capturing real time geo-coordinates through a receiver.

Full Text

FIELD OF APPLICATION The present invention relates to an on-board processing unit for a global positioning system (GPS) based truck dispatch system (TDS) for tracking on-line movement of vehicles like earth moving equipment inside opencast coal mines. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Opencast mining starts with the drilling of large diameter (150 mm) blast holes into the overburden rocks. Blasting is done with the help of site-mixed slurry explosives for proper fragmentation of the overburden. The fragmented material is loaded on rear dumpers with the help of hydraulic / electrical excavators and is clumped in already mined-out areas. Later, trees are planted on these dump yards. Coal, which is exposed after removal of overburden, is also drilled and blasted. Blasted coal is loaded by front-end loaders onto bottom-dump coal haulers for transportation from the face to the crushing plants. Since coal, as present naturally in different seams, has widely varying properties, they are mined separately in pre-determined proportions to optimize the yield and quality of clean coal. In the process of coal mining, two main sub processes viz. removal of over burden and retrieval of coal are predominant. But most of the effort goes in the removal of over burden and this has a dominant influence on the productivity. In the process of over burden removal, two of the equipment viz. rear dumper and excavator play a leading role. After the schedule of blasting in an specific zone of the mine has been prepared, the excavator loads the over burden into rear dumpers and each rear dumpers goes practically through four different machine states i.e. waiting (near loading zone), loading full and empty (at dumping zone). This sequence of machine states of a rear dumpers constitutes one trip. Now it may be understood that to monitor the productivity automatically, one has to monitor the movement of rear dumpers around the corresponding excavator i.e. loading zone to dumping zone and back to loading zone. In order to expedite the over burden removal process, real time locations of mining equipment (especially dumper and excavator) and their status are required as input to the central base station software so that optimum schedules can be generated to achieve minimum possible idle time for each of these mining equipment. Global positioning system technology is considered to be one of the best technique to obtain such real time locations of moving mine equipment. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION: Te main object of the present invention is to provide on-line tracking of mobile equipment like earth moving equipment inside mines using global positioning system (GPS), especially designed for harsh environment (IP66) and suitable for mounting on mobile equipment. This object is achieved in the present invention by providing an on-board processing unit comprising a single board embedded controller card. Using GPS technique locations of moving mine equipment and status / production related information can be captured through on-board sensors and machine electronics interface. To collect these dynamic information, high-end single board micro-controller card with multi serial ports and multi digital and analog input / output port was required to develop application software. Thus, the present invention provides an on-board processing unit for a GPS based truck dispatch system, said on-board processing unit comprising a single board embedded controller card housed in an enclosure capable of withstanding harsh environmental conditions, a DC/DC converter for deriving power from the battery of vehicles, movement of which is being tracked; a radio unit for RF data communication with a base unit ; a GPS module for capturing real time geo-coordinates through a receiver ; a built-in fast frequency shift keying (FFSK) interface coupled to said radio unit for RF communication ; a built-in device driver for capturing payload data from payload monitoring system of said vehicle ; and a graphical touch screen (GTS) port as a simple RS 232 C 3 wire interface for tracking on-line movement of vehicles. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS The invention can now be described in detail with the help of the figures of the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 shows a system block diagram for the on-board processing unit of the present invention. Figure 2 shows the circuit diagram of on-board processing unit card. Figure 3 shows the photograph of on-board processing unit board / enclosure DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION The on-board processing unit of the present Invention as shown in Figure 1, comprises a single board embedded controller card 3. The controller card 3 is housed in an enclosure. The enclosure should be capable of withstanding harsh environmental conditions like the one available in an opencast mines. The enclosure is of IP 66 grade with mil grade connectors to field connections. The unit comprises a DC / DC converter power supply unit 1 for deriving 9 - 12 V DC power from the 24 V battery of the vehicle. A radio unit 2 is provided like a Motorolla radio unit for R.F communication: The unit is further provided with a GPS module 4= The hardware items used in the on-board processing unit of the present invention, described later in detail, are used for capturing real time geo-coordinates through GPS receiver. The radio modem provides RF data communication. Device drivers are provided for graphical touch screen (GTS) display, capturing real time engine parameters and payload parameters and customized data acquisition system. These can be integrated to provide remote vehicle tracking and status information. The following description will serve as a hardware reference document for the on-board processing unit board. Hardware configuration and interface connector details are provided in this section. All devices use 8-bit interface only. Please note that information provided herein pertains only to the on-board processing unit board and not for the entire enclosure. Power supply The board works off 9V - 12V DC power supply. The board will require a maximum of 200 mA continuous current with no loads connected to the outputs. The supply is internally regulated to provide 5V supply to the board. Overview The basic board is built around the 80C188XL processor, which offers an 8-bit bus, and 1MB of address space. Of the 8 serial ports provided 2 are used internally on board, one for fast frequency shift keying interface to the radio device, and one for the global processing system device. All other serial ports are brought outside the enclosure. None of the features provided offer hardware configuration except the fast frequency shift- keying interface.. All external connections are brought out on two layered screw terminals. The signal names are printed on the PCB. All the terminals are numbers - the numbering is row wise and the top (higher) terminals are numbered first. System Memory Map The 80188 processor can address a maximum of 1MB of memory. Of these 512K is provided for RAM and 512K for system flash. This flash is in turn divided into the file system area and program flash area. All the other peripherals are 10 mapped onto the processor. Serial Ports 8 serials ports are realized with 2 Quad UART devices. These 10 map and connections of these serial ports are given in the following Table: Table 1 shows the details of I/O map for serial ports The host port is primarily used for program maintenance and trouble shooting while operation and for debugging while program development. FFSK Pert The fast frequency shift keying port is internally connected to the fast frequency shift keying portion of the board. The asynchronous serial data is first synchronized with the fast frequency shift keying encoder and then brought out on the terminals. The selections offered are: Baud rate, which can be 1200, 2400 or 4800 and the data format. The data format includes number of stop bits to be provided, parity even or odd and the data length and are settable via jumpers. GTS Port The graphical touch screen (GTS) port is a simple RS232C 3 wire interface. GPS Port The global positioning system (GPS) port is directly connected to the global positioning system device. The global positioning system device is setup for the following serial settings: 9600 baud, 1 stop bit, No Parity, 8 bit data. The connections are available on the special 2 mm pitch connector compatible to the global positioning system module. Scada and Spare Ports These ports are configured for 2 wire RS485/422 connectivity with built in line drivers. Pull up resistors are provided on board on the output lines. Transmit control is achieved via the corresponding DTR lines. PMS Port The payload monitoring system port is provided for interface to payload management systems. Additional to the Rx and Tx lines, the RTS and CTS lines are brought out on the terminals. EMS Port The engine monitoring system port is configured for RS485, 4 wire interface with internal pull ups. Line driver is built into the board. Digital Inputs & Outputs The on-board processing unit board offers 8 optically isolated digital inputs and 8 optically isolated digital outputs. The inputs and outputs are mapped through the unused 10 pins on the UART devices. Hence direct operation of the inputs/outputs is not recommended. The provided DIO driver should be used for the same. Analog Inputs 8 Optically isolated analog input channels are provided on the on-board processing unit board. These inputs should as specified below: 1. 4-20mA 2. Source should be able to provide at least 2V at 4 mA and should not exceed 20V at 20mA. 3. The inputs are loop powered. 4. No series connections of loads is possible. The inputs are conditioned and fed into a 100 Ksps analog to digital converter with a parallel interface to the microprocessor. Start conversion and end of conversion signals are fed into the microprocessor directly. Since the interface is a special multiplexed parallel interface, only the Analogy IO driver provided with the BIOS/INTOS should be used to read the inputs. The software development kit consists of the following: o Development Tools ¦ TurboC Compiler ¦ Startup files and libraries ¦ Downloading and debugging tools o Basic interface operating system in library version The BIOS The on-board processing unit card is with a basic BIOS which initializes the hardware and then waits for a host command for 5 seconds (configurable). If no command byte arrives from the host during this period, the BIOS continues to load the application program at address (HEX)F000:0000. Program Development The program development cycle is depicted in below: • Edit Code • Compile and Link • Convert to Target • Download / Debug • Compile and Link • Any Text • Editor • TurboC • Compiler • Exe2Prm/CNVT • ST3Link,Host • Watch, Wa04ex • Setflash/ sendfish As mentioned before, program development is done in C with compilation with the Turbo C compiler. Both the IDE or the command line compiler/linker can be used. The settings of the compiler and linker are important for proper functioning of programs at the target. These are listed below: • Directory Settings: Add the \include directory to the include path. • Library directory should be set to \ clib • Compiler settings: > Large memory model > C Calling Convention, 186 Instruction set, No Floating point > Byte alignment, default unsigned, Generate under bars > Test Stack off > Initialize segments On, Case sensitive link ON > Default libraries off, Graphics library off > All projects should include the file \clib\OBPUin.obj. The stack required by the program can be set by the following declaration outside the main(): extern unsigned_stklen = 4096. This declares 4K words of stack. Please note that since stack checking is disabled, it is up to the programmer to ensure that the amount of stack of required is declared. Memory models other than Large are not supported by the toolkit. After the application program is loaded, the operating system hands over control to the application programs main() function. After this, the operation system only provides the various services, but is not \n control. Hence, the application should never return i.e. the main program should not return. If a return statement is executed from main, then the system will behave unpredictably. Target Conversion Once the program has been edited and complied/linked, the Turbo C compiler creates a dos executable file. This executable should now be converted into a format that can run on the target kit (i.e. on-board processing unit). This is done by the program EXE2PRM that is in the \bin directory and is used for converting the EXE file into a PRM file. The syntax for using this utility is as follows: Exe2prm The first parameter is the name of the executable file that is to be converted. Note that no extension is to be provided. The second parameter is the name of the prm file that is to be created. Note that no extension is to be provided. The target address is the paragraph in hex where the program is to be loaded. Note that all programs that are to be flashed should be targeted to (hex) 100. A batch file CN.bat has been provided in the \bin directory to do this. The syntax for usage is; Cn Downloading to Target OBPU - The Host Utility The next step after the creation of the prm file is to download it to the kit and execute it. The ST3LINK program is provided for this purpose. A batch HOST is also provided which basically invokes ST3LINK along with the COM port that is to be used and the bin directory path. When Host is invoked, it issues the following prompt: On-board processing unit. Reference Manual Ver 1.0 > The user can type various commands. By pressing ? followed by enter, the system shows a help screen. The main commands are described here: I This commands reads inputs from the port address specified and shows the vaiue in hex. 0 This command outputs the hex byte to the hex address specified. L This command downloads the prm file specified and executes it on the target. Note that the file extension is not to be specified. The F command has been provided for backward compatibility - its use is not recommended. For both the L and F commands, the prm should be relocated for (hex) 100. D This command downloads the prm file and executes it. This command does not require the prm file to be targeted to (hex) 100 - the target address can be anything within the RAM area. However, this command has the following limitations: a. it does not allow programs larger than 32K to be downloaded b. it works in half duplex and hence program downloading is slower X This command executes a series of host commands stored in the text file . For example, if one wishes to test a new device attached on the expansion bus and it takes a few inputs and outputs to complete a single test, a script file can be made with the commands and executed in one stroke. W This command waits for a key press. Normally, this command is used in a script file. Program Debugging A debugging utility is provided for printing error messages and variable values to the host screen as well as receive input from the host keyboard to control program flow. This utility has two parts: One which is linked into the user program to be debugged One which runs on the host The user program should do the following to enable debugging: 1. The dbgutil.obj and dbgtil.obj modules should be linked into the user program. 2. Dbgutil.h and uart041.h should be included in user program 3. Dbgprint() should be called at program entry 4. Dbgprintf() and dbggetch() can be used to send and receive from the host 5. The program should not use the primary serial port for any other purpose i.e. it should not call the Seriallnit() and the other serial port functions. On the host side, the Watch04 program is provided in the \bin directory. This program can be evoked by typing: Watch04 Where can be 0 for C0M1 and 1 for COM2. The prompt is displayed. All characters typed are sent to on-board processing unit and all received characters are printed on the monitor. Pressing Q will end the program. Note that the Host program works at 57Kbaud and the watch program works at 115K. Utilities Several utilities have been provided. These are: 1. Filechk : in the \utils directory. This is used for file system maintenance. 2. sendflsh : for flashing an application program for automatic running after power on. 3. Sendboot: for changing the BIOS with a later version. 4. Formboot: for making a boot image from a prm file. All these programs are implemented in a combo fashion: i.e. a prm file is first downloaded using Host followed by execution of the tool on the PC. File System Utility The filechk.prm program is the part of the program that is executed on the kit (i.e. on- board- processing unit) This is to be downloaded before the PC counterpart is started. On the PC, run WA04ex , where can be 0 or 1. The commands currently supported are: > Format - for formatting the file system, all data is lost > Mem - to determine the amount of memory left in the file system > Dir - to see the directory of files > Copy - to copy files > Del -to delete files Other commands are not supported in the current version. Flashing Application Program During program development, the system is booted in the debug mode i.e. a serial byte is sent within 5 seconds (configurable) after power on. The downloaded program is directly stored in RAM and executed. However, after the final program is ready, the system should be made to start automatically into the application program after power on, The flashing utility consists of the setflobp.prm file, which is to be downloaded via host. Start host and type: I \setflcrd to download the file. The system displays: Waiting for PC The user can now execute sndflobp with the following parameters: Sndflobp Here, can be 0 or 1 is the program to be flashed. Note that the extension is to be specified. The program reports successful flashing or failure as the case may be. On the next power cycling, the kit i.e. on-board processing unit will start this prm file i.e. it will transfer from the Flash to the RAM (instead of downloading into RAM) and run the program. Note: An application to be flashed should be relocated for (hex) 100 with the on utility. It should not be 62K in size, including data and code. If the program is more than 64K, then the boot bios will be lost and the board cannot be serviced without externaiiy programminq the flash with the basic boot. Changing the Boot Bios If the BIOS is to be upgraded or changed, then the sndbtobp utility can be used. Note that such a BIOS should not be more than 2K in size. Moreover, the bios PRM file should be converted to a BIN file using the formboot utility Similar to the application flashing utility, the setflobp program is downloaded first. Thereafter, the sndbtobp program should be run on the PC as given below: Sendboot The bin file should be specified along with the extension. The system will now boot with the new code after power cyciina or application or reset. Converting PRM file to Boot file The bios program is basically compiled and converted to a PRM file. However, more boot information is to be added and this information is board specific. The formboot utility handles this function. The usage is: Formboot The prm file should be specified along with the extension. The program creates a bin tmpl.bin, which can then be renamed as required. Note that any file with the tmpl.bin wiii be overwritten. The invention can be used especially for vehicle tracking & remote data acquisition on mobile equipment used in mining industry or transport industry. This technology can be applied to any other remote processing & production monitoring system requirement. • On-board processing unit hardware especially designed for heavy earth moving equipment (like dumpers, excavators etc.) used mining industry, • On-board processing unit hardware based on single board embedded controller technology with following special hardware and software features: Hardware > 8 Serial Ports (including one port for RF Communication). > 8 Opto-isolated digital inputs and outputs. > 8 Analog-isolated inputs on board. ? Software > Firmware preloaded on Flash > RTOS system in library format > Real Time extension library > Application Development in X' > Development system consisting of re locator, download, flashing utility and debug watch > Device drivers for GPS Receiver, Radio Modem, Payload > monitoring system, engine Management system and graphical touch screen, fuel dispensing system etc. > support Interface with SCADA systems as CIMPLICITY, FIX Intelluction etc. • On-board processing unit hardware, being embedded system, can be customized to any remote processing and production monitoring applications with no change the hardware. The on-board processing unit hardware and its software capability provide the following: Electrically and mechanically reliable operation under vibrating, harsh and dusty environment opencast mining equipment. 8 Nos of serial ports, 8 Nos. of digital input and output and 8 Nos. of analog input on a single board micro-controller board i.e. on-board processing unit. Real time monitoring of location and engine health conditions of mobile equipment or vehicle. Built-in fast frequency shift keying port for RF Communication. Build-in device driver for capturing payload data from onboard PMS system of Caterpillar make dumpers. Built-in device driver for graphical touch screen to facilitate operator interface. Built-in device driver for fuel dispensing system to capture amount of fuel dispensed by fuel tanker or fuel station, Built-in device driver for capturing drill efficiency indication data of drill M/c engaged in opencast mining operation. Acts as one of the basic and important component in the development of global positioning system based truck dispatch system. WE CLAIM: 1. An on-board processing unit for a GPS based truck dispatch system, said on-board processing unit comprising : - a single board embedded controller card (3) housed in an enclosure capable of withstanding harsh environmental conditions; - a DC/DC converter (1) for deriving power from the battery of vehicles, movement of which is being tracked; - a radio unit (2) for RF data communication with a base unit; - a GPS module (4) for capturing real-time geo-coordinates through a receiver; - a built-in fast frequency shift keying (FFSK) interface coupled to said radio unit for RF communication; - a built-in device driver for capturing payload data from payload monitoring system of said vehicle; and - a graphical touch screen (GTS) port as a simple RS 232 C 3 wire interface for tracking on-line movement of vehicles. 2. The processing unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said single embedded controller card is specially designed for harsh environment, built around industry standard 80188 core microprocessor and housed in a IP 66 grade enclosure with mil grade connectors. 3. The processing unit as claimed in claim 2, wherein said card has a system memory for addressing a maximum of 1 MB, with 512 KB being provided for RAM and 512 KB for system flash. 4. The processing unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said GPS module is set up for 9600 baud, 1 stop bit, no parity, 8 bit data. 5. The processing unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein an engine monitoring system (EMS) port is provided configured for RS 485, 4 wire interface with internal pull ups for monitoring engine health condition of the vehicle. 6. The processing unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein a built-in device driver is provided for fuel dispensing system to capture amount of fuel dispensed by fuel tanker or fuel station. 7. An on-board processing unit substantially as herein described and illustrated in he accompanying drawings.

Documents:

55-KOL-2005-(03-09-2012)-CORRESPONDENCE.pdf

55-KOL-2005-(03-09-2012)-FORM-5.pdf

55-KOL-2005-(03-09-2012)-FORM-8.pdf

55-KOL-2005-(03-09-2012)-OTHERS.pdf

55-kol-2005-abstract.pdf

55-kol-2005-claims.pdf

55-KOL-2005-CORRESPONDENCE 1.1.pdf

55-kol-2005-correspondence.pdf

55-kol-2005-description (complete).pdf

55-kol-2005-drawings.pdf

55-KOL-2005-EXAMINATION REPORT 1.1.pdf

55-kol-2005-examination report.pdf

55-KOL-2005-FORM 1 2.pdf

55-kol-2005-form 1.pdf

55-kol-2005-form 13-1.1.pdf

55-kol-2005-form 13.pdf

55-KOL-2005-FORM 18 1.1.pdf

55-kol-2005-form 18.pdf

55-kol-2005-form 2.pdf

55-kol-2005-form 3.pdf

55-KOL-2005-FORM 5 1.1.pdf

55-kol-2005-form 5.pdf

55-KOL-2005-GPA 1.pdf

55-kol-2005-gpa.pdf

55-KOL-2005-GRANTED-ABSTRACT.pdf

55-KOL-2005-GRANTED-CLAIMS.pdf

55-KOL-2005-GRANTED-DESCRIPTION (COMPLETE).pdf

55-KOL-2005-GRANTED-DRAWINGS.pdf

55-KOL-2005-GRANTED-FORM 1.pdf

55-KOL-2005-GRANTED-FORM 2.pdf

55-KOL-2005-GRANTED-SPECIFICATION.pdf

55-KOL-2005-OTHERS 1.1.pdf

55-kol-2005-others.pdf

55-kol-2005-petition under rule 137.pdf

55-kol-2005-reply to examination report.pdf

55-kol-2005-specification.pdf