Methods and apparatus for accessing secured physical assets at a facility utilized for maintenance and management
A facility access system for facilitating on-site access to physical assets, comprising a physical structure having one or more actuated features each configured to provide selective access to one or more secured physical assets for retrieval by on-site personnel, including an optical unit configured to receive a unique code from the on-site personnel. A computing platform configured to validate the unique code received by the optical unit, provide a present status of the one or more secured physical assets based on the unique code, negotiate access to the one or more secured physical assets that corresponds to the unique code thereby permitting selective access for retrieval by the on-site personnel, a sensor configured to sense the transfer of the one or more secured physical assets, and wherein the present status is updated to transferred when the on-site personnel takes possession of the one or more physical assets.
1. A facility access system for facilitating on-site access to physical assets, comprising:
a non-human controlled physical structure having one or more actuated features each configured to provide non-human controlled, selective access to one or more secured physical assets for retrieval by a user of the one or more secured physical assets, the physical structure including,
an optical unit configured to receive a unique code provided by an external source from the user;
a computing platform configured to (i) validate the unique code received by the optical unit, (ii) provide a present status of the one or more secured physical assets based on the unique code to the user, (iii) actuate the one or more actuated features associated with the one or more secured physical assets that corresponds to the unique code thereby permitting selective access for retrieval by the user, (iv) start a timer that defines a wait period for extraction of the secured physical asset, (v) a sensor configured to sense the transfer of the one or more secured physical assets retrieved by the user, and wherein the transfer is aborted when the asset is not extracted prior to expiration of the wait period, and (vi) the present status is updated to transferred when the user takes possession of the one or more physical assets.
2. The access system of claim 1 , wherein a display screen is configured to display details of the transaction to the user.
3. The access system of claim 1 , wherein the unique code includes information relating to both the user and the one or more secured physical assets.
4. The access system of claim 1 , wherein the unique code is a dimensional (2D) code selected from one of the following kinds of codes:
QR code, Aztec Code, Code 1, Color Code, Color Construct Code, CrontoSign, CyberCode, DataGlyphs, Data Matrix, Datastrip Code, digital paper, EZcode, High Capacity Color Barcode, Han Xin Barcode, HueCode, InterCode, MaxiCode, MMCC, NexCode, PDF417, Qode, Shot Code, Snap Code, SparQ Code, Voice Eye, or RFID.
5. The access system of claim 1 , wherein the optical unit is configured to receive the unique code presented via the screen of a mobile computing device.
6. The access system of claim 1 , wherein the physical structure is located in a facility utilized for maintenance and management of the one or more secured physical assets on site.
7. A method of enabling a transaction in which a user accessing a facility gains access to a secure compartment upon the presentation of a unique code, the method comprising:
securing one or more physical assets within one or more secure compartments among a non-human controlled physical structure for retrieval by a user;
communicating with a transaction server to negotiate a initial transaction and prepare a transaction data structure, said transaction data structure manages the transactions for asset access by the user;
receiving a unique code presented by the user via an optical unit to access the one or more physical assets within the non-human controlled physical structure;
validating the unique code received by the optical unit;
providing a present status of the one or more physical assets based on the unique code;
actuating one or more actuating features of the non-human controlled structure associated with the one or more physical assets that corresponds to the unique code thereby permitting selective access to the one or more secure compartments that include the one or more physical assets for retrieval by the user; and
sensing the removal of the one or more physical assets by the user, wherein the present status is updated to transferred when the user takes possession of the one or more assets to reflect the present status change, and
facilitating a return of the physical asset to a non-human controlled physical structure,
receiving a unique code presented by the user via an optical unit;
validating the unique code received by the optical unit;
actuating one or more actuating features of the non-human controlled structure that corresponds to the unique code thereby permitting selective access to the one or more secure compartments;
returning the asset to the secure compartment; and
updating a present status of the one or more physical assets based on the unique code.
8. The method of claim 7 , displaying details of the transaction to the user on a display screen.
9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the unique code includes information relating to both the user and the one or more physical assets.
10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the unique code is a dimensional (2D) code selected from one of the following kinds of codes:
QR code, Aztec Code, Code 1, Color Code, Color Construct Code, CrontoSign, CyberCode, DataGlyphs, Data Matrix, Datastrip Code, digital paper, EZcode, High Capacity Color Barcode, Han Xin Barcode, HueCode, InterCode, MaxiCode, MMCC, NexCode, PDF417, Qode, Shot Code, Snap Code, SparQ Code, Voice Eye, or RFID.
11. The method of claim 7 , wherein the optical unit is configured to receive the unique code presented via the screen of a mobile computing device.
12. The method of claim 7 , further comprising utilizing the physical structure on-site for the maintenance and management of the one or more physical assets in the facility.