Autonomous tracking of construction vehicles using short range wireless beacons

1. A system for tracking a construction vehicle at a construction site, comprising:

a Bluetooth receiver located at the construction site for receiving a unique identifier code that is autonomously and repeatedly transmitted as a radio frequency signal by a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) transmit only beacon mounted on the construction vehicle, the Bluetooth receiver further configured to communicate the received BLE unique identifier code to a remote computer over a communications interface, the remote computer locating the construction vehicle using a known location of the Bluetooth receiver.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the Bluetooth receiver is a smartphone.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the Bluetooth receiver is a tablet.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the Bluetooth receiver is a laptop.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the Bluetooth receiver is a battery powered portable device.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the Bluetooth receiver is a battery powered unmanned receiver device.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the Bluetooth receiver further comprises:

a battery coupled to the Bluetooth receiver;

an antenna for receiving Bluetooth signals;

a Bluetooth receiver circuit coupled to the antenna and outputting data corresponding to identification codes received at the antenna;

a processor coupled to the Bluetooth receiver circuit configured to receive the data and to transmit the data over the communications interface; and

a transmitter coupled to the processor and coupled to a communications antenna different from the antenna to transmit over the communications interface.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the communications antenna is a cellular data antenna.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the communications antenna is a Wi-Fi antenna.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the processor is further configured to add a date stamp and a time stamp to the unique identification code.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to transmit the data and time stamp and the unique identification code to a computer hosting a web based application.

12. A method, comprising;

receiving at a Bluetooth enabled user device located in a construction site a unique identification code as a radio frequency signal that is repeatedly and autonomously transmitted from a transmit only Bluetooth low energy (BLE) beacon installed in a construction vehicle by receiving signals over a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) radio frequency communications interface;

determining whether the received unique identification code corresponds to a known construction vehicle;

responsive to determining the received unique identification code does not correspond to a known construction vehicle, prompting a user for an input indicating the BLE unique identification code corresponds to a new construction vehicle; and

responsive to the user input, forwarding the received unique identification code to a remote computer, the remote computer locating the construction vehicle using a location of the Bluetooth receiver.

13. The method of claim 12 , and further comprising:

responsive to determining the unique identification code corresponds to a known construction vehicle, displaying to the user a construction vehicle identifier; and

prompting the user to take further actions in response to the determining.

14. The method of claim 13 and further comprising:

prompting the user to log the construction vehicle into a job site.

15. The method of claim 13 and further comprising:

prompting the user to add a date and time stamp to a status record of the construction vehicle.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein forwarding the unique identification code to a remote computer for storage further comprises communicating over a second communications interface different from the Bluetooth communications interface.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the second communications interface includes a cellular data interface.

18. An apparatus, comprising:

a Bluetooth enabled receiver located in a construction site coupled to an antenna for receiving Bluetooth low energy (BLE) signals that are autonomously and repeatedly transmitted from transmit only Bluetooth low energy beacons placed within construction vehicles;

a programmable processor coupled to the Bluetooth enabled receiver and configured to receive a unique identification code associated with a construction vehicle from a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) signal received by the Bluetooth enabled receiver; and

a transmitter coupled to a communications interface different from the Bluetooth low energy signals;

wherein the programmable processor is further configured to transmit the received unique identification code using the transmitter.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 , and further comprising:

a battery coupled to power the Bluetooth enabled receiver, the programmable processor, and the transmitter.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , and further comprising a solar panel coupled to the battery for charging and recharging the battery.