A project is a reporting, data management and permissions container in RPS Tracker. A project can be used to manage a specific project e.g., Walmart – Superior CO, or to manage a specific set of activities e.g., Concrete Supply to Projects in the Denver Metro Area.

Key Points

• A Project has a Title / Name.
• A Project has a list of users that can access the project data.

Each user has access permissions that can be assigned to specific RPS Tracker functions when they are given project access.

Routes are a way to assign tasks to equipment and control which buttons or automations are available in various locations or project boundaries. Equipment is common task assignments will be assigned to the same Route.

Key Points

• Routes determine what actions are available to the operator and which actions are automatically performed in different locations. The route does not define a travel path or route structure but instead defines the buttons for RPS Tracker – Mobile that will be active in the location e.g., Load, Dump, Auto Load, Auto Dump, Fuel, Maintenance etc. and the behavior / supplemental details that will be collected when the button is activated (Material, Ticket Number, Photo, Weight, Fuel Quantity, Scale Reading etc.).
• Routes can be assigned and changed with onscreen instructions using RPS Tracker – Dispatcher.
• All Tracker events are also tied to Routes to enhance reporting and report filtering.

A location is a polygon describing a boundary (geofence) which can be an area or phase within a project (Cut zone, Fill Zone, Crusher, Batch Plant, Bridge), an offsite location (Waste Site, Borrow Site, Maintenance Yard, Corporate Office), a fueling location etc. 

Key Points

• A location is defined by a geofence / boundary and a name.
• Locations are used in Routes and report filters.

Locations

• Can be used to define:
  • Specific activities i.e., Borrow, Waste, Load, Dump, Stockpile.
  • Specific materials or material selections.
  • Contract line items for reporting purposes.
  • Both load and dump activities at the same or different times e.g., Over excavation or Surcharge operations.
  • “Button options” on RPS Tracker Mobile for the driver to trigger events.
• Can be nested and/or overlapping i.e., you can have a quarry site with three load areas each providing a different material.

“Non locations” can also provide operator options e.g., on an On Road Haul Route you may have Fuel locations, Rest Areas, Maintenance facilities that they want to use along the way that may be important to capture events.

Equipment is an asset that you want to track. Equipment can include on / off road vehicles or machines that are part of your project / client delivery process. As equipment performs tasks, Tracker monitors and collects its activity data. Equipment is assigned a Haul Category to simplify reporting on desired types or groups of equipment.

Key Points

• Typical equipment includes:
  • On Road Haul Trucks
  • Off Road Haul Trucks
  • Maintenance Vehicles
  • Lowboys (equipment movement)
  • Scrapers
  • Excavators
  • Dozers
  • Wheeled Loaders
• Assets can be grouped into categories for reporting purposes e.g., 777 Trucks, 740 Trucks, Scrapers, Lowboys, Maintenance Vehicles, Pickups, “Leased Trucks” etc.
• Engine hours can be set per equipment item and tracked using Engine vibration monitoring by the inbuilt IMU / vibration sensor in RPS Tracker – Mobile.

A Haul Category is a grouping of equipment that will be used for reporting processes and associating similar equipment. Common examples are Haul Trucks, Leased Trucks, Wheel Loaders, Excavators, etc.

The category could be used for

Key Points

• Can be based on:
  • “Type of Equipment” e.g., 777 Rock Trucks, 740 Off Road Trucks, On Road Trucks.
  • A specific Type of Operation / Use e.g., Maintenance Vehicles, Equipment Movement – Lowboys.
  • A sub-contractor’s fleet of equipment.
  • Rental equipment.
• Can be associated with one or more Haul Profiles that define the volume / load for different haul scenarios (on road loading, off road loading, overload, half load etc.).
• Each Haul Profile is assigned an animated 3D model to represent that equipment while viewing on the map.

A Driver is a person that operates equipment. Typically, a driver may be permanently or temporarily associated with an asset. Communication and route management with drivers via in-built onscreen messaging is a key part of the RPS Tracker – Dispatcher application.

Key Points

• Equipment Events are also associated with the Driver making search/filtering by Driver important in all reporting:

  • All asset events.
  • Working hours, equipment operation / movement.
  • Number of loads / dumps.
  • Volumes moved.
  • Cycle times.
  • Miles driven.
  • Speeding events – who, where, when.
  • Fuel – bulk and purchased fuel events.
  • Equipment non-activity and break periods.

Native, manufactured and purchased Materials for the project can be defined using the Materials Manager and all Loads/Dumps can be tagged with the material, its volume and estimated weight.

Key Points

• Material quantities can be reported in cubic meters, cubic yards or converted into metric or imperial tons. 
• All load / dump cycles can have a material so that accurate volumes by material can be reported for any given period and/or location.
• Material selection can be automated (associated with a location or a “load button” on RPS Tracker – Mobile) or manually selected from a prescribed list of available materials at that location at load time.
• Material quantities can also be associated with contractual line items for reporting purposes.
• Materials can be loaded, hauled, dumped, stockpiled, processed, borrowed, and wasted.
• Every load of material has a paired load and dump location allowing it to be precisely tracked e.g., for environmental cleanup projects.
• Materials can also have a “Tested” setting allowing for a process step check e.g., at a stockpile location prior to processing, placement, or disposal operations.
• Vendor- or plant-provided Load and Dump tickets can be imaged and stored with the event.
• Material filters can be applied to all reports in RPS – Tracker.

Proximity is used to make connections between assets so that more detailed information can be captured about an event and how those two pieces of equipment interacted. Proximity is captured in one of two ways.

Key Points

• Asset to Asset Proximity – this method uses wireless device-to-device technology to determine when two assets are working closely to each other e.g., an Excavator or Wheeled Loader and a Haulage Truck. 

For example, this allows the loader operator to flag the material currently being loaded, trigger a load event in the nearby truck filling the load event with the date/time, location and material just loaded – all with no actions needed by the truck driver.

Events form the core of all collected RPS Tracker data – position, movement, speed, assigned route, driver changes, load/dump data, engine on/off etc. Event data is collected and summarized every 5 seconds to enable pinpoint exact times and locations where events occurred.

Key Points

An event can be triggered by

• An engine On / Off (monitored by equipment vibration).
• A Location Entry / Exit (Crossing a Geofence boundary).
• Equipment Movement – linear motion or rotational motion (excavators).
• A button press on RPS Tracker – Mobile by a Driver – Load, Dump, Fuel, Maintenance.
• A timed event – Machine has been in this area for XX seconds = Auto Load / Dump Event.
• Proximity event – Machine is close to this machine for XX seconds = Load Event.
• Speeding event – Machine is moving faster than speed threshold set for reporting.
• Route / Change events – equipment was assigned to a new route, driver acknowledged change, new route was started, Haul Profile Selected, Driver Changed etc.

Default map views from sources like Digital Globe, Google Maps and Bing Maps is typically out of date, especially once you break ground on a project. 

Ortho photos from drone flights on construction projects are now common and can provide up to date ortho photos that provide more current context to a project. 

Various linework overlays from design files can provide huge value giving more context to map view.

RPS Tracker has a very rich, flexible way of adding custom background maps and overlays. The administrator determines which map views/overlays are on by default for all users and which can be manually selected by when that additional context is helpful.

Also, map folders can be date/time stamped versions such as drone flights enabling the user to view the most current but easily switch to previous surveys or flights when a historical view is needed.

Finally, all source detail is maintained as you zoom into a location creating crip views of multi-gigabyte source files. 

Event tags are supplemental data that can be associated with events that are used when generating reports to group reporting elements together. Event Tags can be grouped into categories for simplified data management. 

Tags can be used to

Key Points

• Load Tagging – Group load events into key project activities including Demolition, Topsoil Strip, Cut, Over-excavation, From Stockpile, Borrow, From Utility Trench, From Process, Asphalt Batch Plant, Concrete Batch Plant, Crusher.
• Dump Tagging – Group dump events into key project activities including Topsoil Respread, Fill, Surcharge, To Stockpile, Waste, To Process, To Asphalt Paver, To Concrete Paver, To Utility Trench etc.
• Subcontractor Activity Tagging, for billing, productivity, and cost reporting.
• Supplier Activity Tagging – group events by supplier for purchased materials or materials that you manage through your locations, for billing, productivity, and cost reporting.
• Client Activity Tagging – group events by the clients that you are working for, for billing, productivity, and cost reporting.