Patent ID: 7819003

Claim:
A method for monitoring material in a container, comprising: arranging an interior sensor system on or in a housing of the container, obtaining at a first instance, information about any material in the interior of the housing the interior sensor system; determining the location of the container via a location determining system arranged on the container when the information at the first instance is obtained; transmitting the information about the material in the interior of the housing obtained at the first instance and the determined location of the container to a remote facility; detecting, using a processor on the container, occurrence of a first internal or external event selected from a group consisting of: opening or closing of a port into the container, change in position, location, inclination and/or velocity of the container, vibration of the container, and change in ambient radiation (light) in or around the container, then as a result of the detection of the first event, obtaining at a second instance, information about any material in the interior of the housing that is different than information about the detected first event, whereby if the first event is not detected, then information about any material in the interior of the housing is not obtained at the second instance; determining the location of the container via the location determining system when the information at the second instance is obtained; and transmitting the information about the material in the interior of the housing obtained at the second instance and the determined location of the container to the remote facility.