Work machines, such as excavators and tele-handlers, are often used to control an implement, such as a bucket, to perform a given task at a construction and/or mining worksite. For example, such implements may be used for a variety of tasks in which the implement engages with the ground. These tasks may include digging, hauling, excavating, or any other task in which the implement, or an associated component, engages the ground. Accordingly, such implements often include, or are coupled with, ground-engaging tools. Ground-engaging tools may be utilized to protect the implement from undue wear and/or to perform additional, ground-engaging functions.
For example, a bucket operatively associated with a machine (e.g., an excavator) may include a plurality of ground-engaging tools that are affixed to the bucket such as, but not limited to, teeth, shrouds, adapters, and the like. Because such ground-engaging tools may be exposed to greater contact and friction than the bucket itself, ground-engaging tools are typically removable from the bucket and may be replaced multiple times over the course of the life of the machine and/or bucket.
However, because ground-engaging tools may be removable, during operation of the machine, the ground-engaging tools may accidentally disengage from the bucket. Disengaged ground-engaging tools may cause a variety of worksite issues, such as, but not limited to, decreased productivity and excessive wear on other, bucket-attached ground-engaging tools. Further, loose ground-engaging tools on the worksite may cause damage to downstream, operating machines. For example, if a disengaged ground-engaging tool lands in a load of materials, which is then hauled to a crusher, the disengaged ground-engaging tool may enter the crusher with the load of materials. If a ground-engaging tool is caught in a crusher, the tool may cause a jam or otherwise damage the crusher, which can lead to time-consuming repairs and/or a loss of productivity.
In some example systems for monitoring components of implements of machines, sensors are used to detect or confirm presence of such components, relative to the implement and/or the machine. For example, the systems and methods of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0149049 (“Wear Part Monitoring”) utilize a visual sensor affixed to the bucket of an excavator to visualize the location of a wear part and determine if it is missing from the implement.
However, while the systems of the '049 application may, generally, determine presence relative to the bucket, they do not address proximity of a fallen part, relative to the machine and/or bucket, upon falling from the bucket, nor do the systems account for location-based faults associated with position of the disengaged tool. Therefore, improved presence monitoring systems configured to determine presence of a ground-engaging tool, relative to the machine, are desired.