ETC electronic tag self-service issuing system and control method thereof

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of ETC (electronic toll collection) electronic tag issuing control, and particularly relates to an ETC electronic tag self-service issuing system and a control method thereof. Mechanical health state data and inventory distribution state information of storage grids are collected in real time, and equipment operation reliability and material availability are fused to construct a dynamically updated effective available grid queue; potential fault grids with low mechanical health scores can be effectively eliminated, a high availability priority strategy or a load balancing optimization strategy is adaptively selected in combination with a network reliability level evaluation result on the basis of a generated effective available grid queue, and a target grid is dynamically allocated to a current user from an effective queue. After the issuing instruction is sent out, real-time monitoring on the door state of the target grid and the object existence state is synchronously started, so that the issuing result is dynamically judged, when the issuing is recognized to be failed, a fault reason is judged to trigger differentiated graded remedial actions, and standby resources are effectively prevented from being misused in a non-equipment fault scene.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of ETC electronic tag issuance and control technology, specifically relating to an ETC electronic tag self-service issuance system and its control method. Background Technology

[0002] With the widespread adoption of electronic toll collection systems, ETC (Electronic Toll Collection) tags have become standard equipment for motor vehicle users. The traditional ETC tag issuance model primarily relies on manual service points, where staff verify user information, retrieve the device from inventory, and activate it. This model is not only costly and inefficient, but also limited by the service hours and geographical location of service points, failing to provide users with convenient, 24 / 7 instant access.

[0003] To overcome the limitations of manual services, self-service dispensing terminals are being gradually introduced. These devices typically have multiple storage compartments, capable of storing a certain number of ETC electronic tags. Users can retrieve the device themselves by scanning a QR code or using other verification methods. This improves service efficiency and user experience to some extent.

[0004] However, existing self-service dispensing systems still have the following problems in actual deployment and operation: 1. Existing systems lack awareness and fault tolerance regarding their own hardware status. Each storage compartment is a precision mechanical structure containing components such as motors and sliding doors. With long-term, high-frequency use, varying degrees of mechanical wear are inevitable, leading to malfunctions such as door jamming or weak push-out in some compartments. Current technologies often employ simple sequential or random allocation strategies, which cannot avoid these potentially faulty compartments. When a user is assigned to a compartment with a hidden fault, they will face the dilemma of successful payment but being unable to retrieve their goods, easily triggering user complaints and requiring manual intervention for repair and reissue, thus increasing operating costs.

[0005] 2. Even if the system can identify grid failures and trigger remedial measures, its strategies are often fixed and rigid. For example, regardless of the cause of the failure, the backup grid is always activated. This approach lacks precise judgment of the failure type and comprehensive consideration of the external environment, such as network status, resulting in low fault tolerance efficiency and failure to achieve optimal allocation of system resources. Summary of the Invention

[0006] In view of the shortcomings of the prior art described above, the purpose of this invention is to provide an ETC electronic tag self-service issuance system and its control method to solve the problems existing in the prior art.

[0007] The objective of this invention can be achieved through the following technical solutions: The first aspect of this invention provides an ETC electronic tag self-service issuance system, including the following modules: Status perception module: composed of a communication module built into the device, door status sensors of each storage compartment, and a system inventory management unit, used to obtain network connection status, mechanical health status of each storage compartment, and inventory distribution status in real time.

[0008] The available compartment identification module generates an availability score based on the mechanical health status of the storage compartments. It then integrates the inventory distribution status with the availability scores of each compartment to generate a queue of available compartments that excludes compartments at risk of failure.

[0009] The decision-making module assesses the network reliability level based on the network connection status, which is divided into high and low. Based on the network reliability level, it adaptively selects a grid allocation strategy of high availability score or load balancing to dynamically allocate a target grid to the current user from the available grid queue.

[0010] The execution monitoring module continuously monitors the status changes of items in the target compartment after the dispensing action is performed. Based on the status changes, it identifies the dispensing result. When the dispensing fails, it triggers a tiered remedial action, including restarting the original target compartment or activating a backup compartment to complete the dispensing.

[0011] The second aspect of the present invention provides a self-service issuance control method for ETC electronic tags, comprising the following steps: S1, using the communication module of the built-in device, the door status sensor and item presence sensor of each storage compartment, and the system inventory management unit to obtain the network connection status, the mechanical health status and inventory distribution status of each storage compartment in real time.

[0012] S2. Generate an availability score based on the mechanical health status of the storage compartments, and then integrate the inventory distribution status with the availability scores of each compartment to generate an available compartment queue that excludes compartments with failure risks.

[0013] S3. Assess the network reliability level based on the network connectivity status.

[0014] S4. Based on the network reliability level, adaptively select a high availability score or load balancing grid allocation strategy to dynamically allocate a target grid to the current user from the available grid queue.

[0015] S5. After the distribution action is performed at the target compartment, continuously monitor the status changes of the items in the compartment and identify the distribution result based on the status changes.

[0016] S6. When the issuance fails, a tiered remedial action is triggered, including re-driving the original target cell or enabling a backup cell to complete the issuance.

[0017] Combining all the above technical solutions, the positive effects of this invention are as follows: 1. By collecting real-time mechanical health status data of each storage compartment and system inventory distribution status information, this invention integrates the dual dimensions of equipment operation reliability and material availability to construct a dynamically updated queue of available compartments. This effectively eliminates potential faulty compartments with low mechanical health scores, thereby minimizing the probability of issuance failure due to actuator failure, significantly improving the first-time issuance success rate of ETC electronic tags, and reducing user waiting time and service interruption events.

[0018] 2. Based on the generated available grid queue, this invention adaptively selects a high availability priority strategy or a load balancing optimization strategy in combination with the network reliability level assessment results. It dynamically allocates target grids to the current user from the available queue. It can intelligently switch allocation strategies according to the network environment. Under weak network conditions, it prioritizes the success rate of single operations and achieves balanced resource usage under high-quality network conditions. This mechanism ensures service robustness under weak network conditions and improves resource utilization efficiency under normal operation by adaptively adjusting the strategy with the environment.

[0019] 3. After issuing the distribution command, the present invention simultaneously initiates real-time monitoring of the door status and item presence status of the target compartment to dynamically determine the distribution result. When the distribution failure is identified, the cause of the failure is determined and differentiated hierarchical remedial actions are triggered to prevent the misuse of backup resources in non-equipment failure scenarios, and significantly reduce the unnecessary consumption of backup resources. Attached Figure Description

[0020] The present invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the embodiments in the drawings do not constitute any limitation on the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on the following drawings without creative effort.

[0021] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the module connection of an ETC electronic tag self-service issuance system according to the present invention.

[0022] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of dynamically allocating a target grid to the current user from the available grid queue based on the grid allocation strategy of adaptively selecting high availability score or load balancing according to the network reliability level in this invention.

[0023] Figure 3 This is a flowchart illustrating the steps of a self-service issuance and control method for ETC electronic tags in this invention. Detailed Implementation

[0024] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0025] Example 1

[0026] This invention provides an ETC electronic tag self-service issuance system, including a status perception module, an available grid identification module, an issuance decision module, and an execution monitoring module.

[0027] See Figure 1 As shown, the status awareness module provides multi-dimensional status awareness data of grids and networks to the available grid identification module and the issuance decision module respectively. The available grid identification module provides a candidate resource pool for the target grid selection to the issuance decision module. The issuance decision module provides the execution monitoring module with the adaptively selected target grid for this issuance, realizing full-process automation from equipment status awareness to intelligent scheduling decision and then to closed-loop execution monitoring.

[0028] The status sensing module consists of a built-in communication module, door status sensors for each storage compartment, and a system inventory management unit. It is used to acquire network connection status, mechanical health status of each storage compartment, and inventory distribution status in real time.

[0029] In the preferred implementation of the above scheme, the real-time acquisition of network connection status, mechanical health status of each storage compartment and inventory distribution status includes the following: the communication module is used to collect network signal strength and communication delay data in real time as network connection status data.

[0030] Given that the network connection status in the ETC electronic tag self-service issuance system directly affects the system's remote control capabilities, data transmission reliability, and real-time decision response, unstable network conditions may lead to command loss, delayed status feedback, or failure of remote intervention. Therefore, real-time collection of network connection status is a prerequisite for achieving adaptive scheduling and fault tolerance.

[0031] Network connectivity status is a multidimensional indicator, but signal strength and communication latency are the two most representative quantifiable, easily obtainable parameters that are strongly correlated with service performance. Signal strength reflects the physical layer quality of the wireless link and determines the stability and coverage reliability of communication; communication latency reflects the end-to-end transmission response speed and reflects network congestion or routing anomalies.

[0032] In contrast, while other metrics such as bandwidth or packet loss rate are also valuable, bandwidth measurement on edge terminal devices is complex and costly; packet loss rate requires long-term statistics and has poor real-time performance, while signal strength and latency can be directly output by the communication module, with low acquisition cost, high update frequency, and good standardization.

[0033] The door status sensor is used to record the cumulative number of door opening and closing cycles of each storage compartment, the opening duration of each opening and closing operation, and the closing duration, as mechanical health status data of each storage compartment.

[0034] In the above scheme, the door status sensor is a physical sensor used to detect the opening and closing status of the storage compartment door. When the compartment door is opened or closed, it triggers a change in the sensor status. The system reads its status through the interface and records the start and end times of each opening and closing action in combination with the timestamp, thereby calculating the opening duration and closing duration. At the same time, all opening and closing events are accumulated to generate the cumulative number of door opening and closing cycles.

[0035] The cumulative number of door opening and closing cycles is an indicator of the service life of mechanical components. All actuators have a designed lifespan, such as 50,000 opening and closing cycles. When the lifespan approaches or exceeds this value, the probability of failure increases significantly. Therefore, this data can be used to predict the degree of lifespan depletion.

[0036] Under normal conditions, the switching action time should remain stable. If the opening and closing time is prolonged, it indicates that the mechanical system has malfunctioned.

[0037] Therefore, the cumulative number of cycles reflects long-term wear, and the switching time reflects dynamic response performance. Combining the two can comprehensively assess the mechanical health of the storage compartment.

[0038] The system's inventory management unit is used to provide real-time inventory identification for all storage compartments, serving as inventory distribution status data.

[0039] The inventory distribution data mentioned above represents whether each storage cell is stocked or not, directly reflecting the spatial distribution of serviceable resources within the system. This is a prerequisite for determining whether a storage cell is eligible to participate in this distribution. Only cells marked as stocked can be included in the subsequent scheduling process.

[0040] The available compartment identification module generates an availability score based on the mechanical health status of the storage compartment, and then integrates the inventory distribution status with the availability score of each compartment to generate an available compartment queue that excludes compartments with failure risks.

[0041] Optionally, an availability score is generated based on the mechanical health status of the storage compartments, following the process described below: the cumulative number of door opening and closing cycles is extracted from the mechanical health status data of each storage compartment, and the ratio is calculated with the maximum rated number of cycles allowed by the design of the actuator of that compartment to obtain the mechanical life loss rate.

[0042] The maximum rated number of cycles allowed by the above-mentioned actuator design refers to the upper limit of the design life of the corresponding model actuator, which is specified in the technical specifications provided by the manufacturer and can guarantee normal operation under standard working conditions.

[0043] The mechanical life wear rate mentioned above reflects the long-term wear and remaining service life of the storage compartment actuator. The closer the value is to 0, the shorter the service life of the compartment is, the mechanical parts are in the break-in period or the early stage of stability, and the health condition is good. The larger the value is, the closer it is to 1, the more likely the compartment has approached or exceeded its design service life, and the risk of fatigue failure of the mechanical parts has increased significantly.

[0044] Extract the opening and closing durations of each switch operation from the mechanical health status data of the storage compartment, and compare them with the statistical baseline value of the duration under normal operation in the past. If the opening or closing duration in a single switch operation exceeds the statistical baseline value, it is determined to be an abnormal switch event and recorded in the abnormal operation log of that compartment.

[0045] The aforementioned statistical baseline value for the duration of normal operation of the storage cell refers to the dynamic reference value established after statistical analysis based on the opening and closing duration data collected from multiple opening and closing operations of the cell under normal operating conditions during its historical operation. Specifically, the arithmetic mean and standard deviation of the opening and closing durations in the historical normal operation sample are calculated to construct a normal distribution estimation model with the mean as the center and the standard deviation as the discrete measure, and the dynamic threshold boundary used for anomaly detection is determined accordingly.

[0046] In this embodiment, the mean plus two standard deviations is used as the statistical benchmark for the on and off durations.

[0047] The percentage of abnormal switch events out of the total number of switch events is defined as the abnormality rate.

[0048] A single anomaly may be an isolated incident, but a continuously increasing anomaly rate indicates that the risk of failure is accumulating.

[0049] The availability score for each storage compartment is obtained by combining mechanical life loss rate and anomaly occurrence rate.

[0050] In the specific implementation of the above scheme, the usability score is expressed as follows: ,in Indicates usability score, , These represent mechanical lifespan loss rate and abnormality occurrence rate, respectively.

[0051] Understandably, The closer to 1, the higher the lifespan and the higher the incidence of abnormalities. A larger value indicates greater instability. A higher value indicates greater reliability.

[0052] Indicates the remaining lifespan ratio. This indicates the operational stability ratio.

[0053] and The product represents the overall availability under the dual guarantee of unexpired lifetime and stable operation. The product model reflects the synergistic constraint relationship. When either dimension approaches 0, the overall score approaches 0. Only when both are high is the availability score high.

[0054] This invention achieves a quantitative assessment of the overall health status of storage compartments by constructing an availability scoring model based on mechanical lifespan depreciation and anomaly occurrence rate. It can effectively identify compartments in a sub-healthy state. Based on this score, high-risk resources can be proactively excluded before allocation decisions are made, significantly improving service success rate and user experience. At the same time, it provides data support for predictive maintenance and reduces operation and maintenance costs.

[0055] Alternatively, the grid queue can be generated as follows: all grids marked as having stock are initially selected from the inventory distribution status data of the storage grids to form an initial candidate grid set.

[0056] For each storage cell in the initial candidate cell set, query its corresponding availability score.

[0057] The availability score of each storage cell is compared with the configured failure risk score, and storage cells with availability scores lower than failure risk scores are removed.

[0058] The failure risk score mentioned above represents the minimum acceptable level of reliability of the system. Only when the availability score of the storage cell is higher than this value is it considered sufficiently reliable and can participate in subsequent release decisions.

[0059] The failure risk score can be set based on the quantile of the statistical distribution. Specifically, the availability scores of all grid cells are sorted and the 75th percentile is taken as the failure risk score. That is, the top 25% of the healthiest grid cells are retained, or the median is taken to retain grid cells that are above average.

[0060] The remaining storage cells after elimination are formed into a queue of usable cells.

[0061] The allocation decision module is used to evaluate the network reliability level based on the network connection status, where the network reliability level is divided into high and low, and dynamically allocates a target grid to the current user from the available grid queue based on the grid allocation strategy of high availability score or load balancing according to the network reliability level.

[0062] In the above-mentioned scheme, the network reliability level is evaluated based on the network connection status as follows: the network signal strength and communication delay time sequence data collected within a set time window are compared point by point with the signal strength and communication delay judgment benchmarks.

[0063] The signal strength criterion mentioned above is the minimum received signal power level used to determine whether a wireless communication link meets basic connectivity requirements. The communication delay criterion refers to the maximum acceptable end-to-end response delay of the system, which can be determined based on the communication protocol standard or the performance specifications of the communication module configured in the electronic tag self-service terminal. Together, they constitute the basic availability boundary of network reliability, used to identify whether effective communication capabilities are available.

[0064] The system counts the duration of consecutive compliance with network signal strength and communication delay standards. If the duration of consecutive compliance reaches a stable duration threshold, the current network reliability level is assessed as high; otherwise, the network reliability level is assessed as low.

[0065] It should be noted that network communication status is highly dynamic. If reliability assessment is based on instantaneous network indicators, it is easily affected by short-term fluctuations, resulting in unstable assessment results. To improve the stability and timeliness of network reliability assessment, this solution introduces a time window and a stability duration threshold to perform sliding statistical analysis on the network connection status within the window, generating a representative network reliability level.

[0066] The network reliability level obtained from the assessment is evaluated when the task is created and bound to its task context. It is stored in the task context cache as a static reference state throughout the entire task lifecycle. Even if the network state changes during subsequent remedial actions, the system still determines the backup grid selection strategy based on the network reliability level at the initial decision time. This ensures that the remedial logic is consistent with the original scheduling strategy, avoids strategy drift due to network fluctuations, and guarantees the continuity and predictability of task execution.

[0067] Furthermore, the length of the time window should not be too long. If the window is too long, the evaluation results will lag behind the current actual network conditions, reducing timeliness and failing to accurately reflect the real communication capabilities during task execution. It should also not be too short. If the window is too short, it will be difficult to filter out instantaneous noise and jitter, which may lead to misjudgment.

[0068] Preferably, the length of the time window is set according to the typical duration of a single ETC electronic tag issuance operation, such as 30 seconds, to ensure that the evaluation results can effectively cover the entire life cycle of the task.

[0069] The stability duration threshold represents the minimum stable duration required for network performance to continuously meet business communication needs. In other words, the network must maintain key indicators within this duration to be considered reliable and available.

[0070] In one implementation, the stable duration threshold is set to 60% of the time window length. For example, when the time window is 30 seconds, the stable duration threshold can be set to 18 seconds to ensure communication continuity.

[0071] The above-mentioned method assesses the network reliability level in real time based on the network connection status during the self-service distribution of electronic tags, reflecting the stability of the communication link and the data interaction guarantee capability during the distribution task execution. This provides contextual decision-making basis for the selection of subsequent grid allocation strategies, ensuring that resource scheduling matches network conditions.

[0072] See Figure 2 As shown, in a further achievable method of the above scheme, the grid allocation strategy of adaptively selecting high availability score or load balancing based on network reliability level dynamically allocates a target grid to the current user from the available grid queue as follows: When the current network reliability level is evaluated as low, the grid with the highest availability score is selected from the available grid queue as the target grid for this allocation.

[0073] Understandably, when the network reliability level is low, the grid with the highest availability score is selected as the target grid. The mechanism is that under unstable network communication conditions, the synchronization and recovery mechanisms of the deployment task context may be limited, and retry or switching operations face a high risk of failure. Therefore, by prioritizing the grid with the best mechanical health status, the success probability of a single operation is maximized, ensuring the reliable execution of deployment actions under limited communication guarantees.

[0074] When the current network reliability level is assessed as high, the historical cumulative number of successful deployments for each available grid is retrieved from the available grid queue. The grids are then sorted in ascending order based on the historical cumulative number of successful deployments to form a low-load priority sequence.

[0075] The grids in the available grid queue are sorted in descending order of availability score to form a high reliability priority sequence.

[0076] The first grid cell in the low-load priority sequence and the high-reliability priority sequence are extracted and compared separately.

[0077] If both are in the same cell, then that cell will be selected as the target cell for this distribution.

[0078] If the two are not the same grid, then for each grid in the available grid queue, calculate the sum of its ranking numbers in the low load priority sequence and the high reliability priority sequence to obtain the comprehensive decision score of that grid.

[0079] All grids are sorted in ascending order of comprehensive decision-making score, and the grid ranked first is selected as the target grid for this distribution.

[0080] Since the sorting direction of both sequences reflects the principle of prioritizing the superior, that is, the smaller the ranking number, the higher the priority, the summation operation realizes the quantitative evaluation of the consistency of the two superiorities. The lower the comprehensive decision score, the higher the comprehensive priority of the grid in the two key dimensions.

[0081] Understandably, when network reliability is high, system communication is stable, and it possesses good task retry and state synchronization capabilities. Under these conditions, the scheduling strategy introduces a load balancing mechanism while ensuring reliability, comprehensively considering the availability score and historical cumulative allocation count of each candidate grid. The fewer the cumulative allocation counts, the lower the usage frequency of the grid and the higher its remaining service potential. By integrating availability scores and usage frequency, the system prioritizes grids with high availability and low load as targets, achieving balanced utilization of equipment resources and mitigating localized wear and tear.

[0082] The aforementioned adaptive grid allocation mechanism intelligently switches strategy modes based on network status: when the network is unreliable, it prioritizes ensuring the success rate of a single operation and selects the most reliable grid; when the network is good, it switches to system-level optimization, taking into account both equipment lifespan and resource balance, avoiding the limitations of a single strategy, and improving the overall operating efficiency and robustness of the system.

[0083] The execution monitoring module is used to continuously monitor the status changes of items in the control target compartment after the dispensing action is performed. Based on the status changes, the dispensing result is identified. When the dispensing fails, a tiered remedial action is triggered, including re-driving the original target compartment or activating a backup compartment to complete the dispensing.

[0084] In the specific implementation of the above scheme, the status changes of the items in the compartment are continuously monitored, and the distribution results are identified based on the status changes as follows: After the distribution instruction is issued, the monitoring of the door status signal and the item presence status signal of the target compartment is started simultaneously.

[0085] Within the preset verification time, the door status signal is detected to change to "open" in sequence, and the item presence status signal is detected to change to "not present" in sequence.

[0086] If both occur consecutively in this order, the issuance is considered successful, and the process ends.

[0087] If the door status signal fails to change to "open", the identification and issuance will fail, indicating that the drive mechanism of the target grid has failed to respond to the command normally, and it is determined to be a mechanical failure of the grid.

[0088] If the door status signal is detected as open, but the item presence status signal does not change to non-existent within a subsequent time, meaning the tag has not been removed, the identification and distribution will fail, and the fault will be determined as the user not removing the item. This may be caused by user hesitation, omission of the item, or the item getting stuck.

[0089] Furthermore, when identification and issuance fail, the following tiered remedial actions are triggered: In cases where the failure is determined to be a mechanical malfunction of the grid, a backup grid is activated to complete the reissue of the tag, while the faulty grid is marked and isolated.

[0090] In the example of the above operation, marking and isolating the faulty grid can be done by marking the original faulty grid as pending maintenance, including it in the equipment health management system, and isolating it in subsequent scheduling to prevent it from participating in new task assignments until manual maintenance and status reset are completed.

[0091] The innovation applied to the above operations involves the following process for determining the backup grid: When the current network reliability level is low, the target grid is selected using a high availability priority strategy, that is, the grid with the highest availability score is selected from the available grid queue as the target grid.

[0092] At this point, to ensure the reliability of the remedial action, the backup grid is the grid with the second highest availability score in the same queue, ensuring that it has a near-optimal mechanical health state and can stably take over the task distribution when the main grid fails.

[0093] When determining the target grid when the current network reliability level is high, the target grid is determined through a load balancing optimization strategy. That is, a comprehensive decision score is generated based on historical usage frequency and availability score, and the available grids are arranged in ascending order according to the score. The grid ranked first is selected as the target grid.

[0094] In this mode, the backup grid is taken from the second-ranked grid in the sorting result, which ensures that it has good overall performance and maintains consistency with the main strategy, avoiding disruption of system resource balance due to switching of the remedy path.

[0095] As an example of the above scenario of selecting a backup grid, when user A initiates a distribution request, the system detects that the dual indicators have been met for 20 consecutive seconds within the past 30 seconds. Therefore, the system determines that the network level is high and selects the target grid using a load balancing strategy. During the distribution process, a mechanical failure occurs, triggering a remediation mechanism. Based on the original high level in the task context, the system selects the second grid from the comprehensive decision ranking as the backup grid to ensure logical continuity.

[0096] If the issue is determined to be a user failure to retrieve the item, the push action is retried to drive the original target slot to loosen any potentially stuck tags. The item status is then monitored again to continuously determine if the item has changed from being present to not being present. If, within the set retry cycle (e.g., a maximum of 3 consecutive attempts), the item status is successfully changed on any one attempt, the remediation is considered successful and the delivery is completed. If the item is still not retrieved after multiple retries, the issue is escalated to an abnormal event, the current delivery process is suspended, and the process is switched to manual handling.

[0097] The aforementioned tiered remediation mechanism for issuance failures achieves accurate differentiation of different types of issuance failures through fault mode identification and temporal logic analysis, and initiates differentiated recovery strategies accordingly. The entire mechanism significantly improves the level of automated service without increasing hardware costs.

[0098] Example 2

[0099] See Figure 3 As shown, the present invention proposes a self-service issuance control method for ETC electronic tags, including the following steps: S1, using the communication module of the built-in device, the door status sensor and item presence sensor of each storage compartment, and the system inventory management unit to obtain the network connection status, the mechanical health status and inventory distribution status of each storage compartment in real time.

[0100] S2. Generate an availability score based on the mechanical health status of the storage compartments, and then integrate the inventory distribution status with the availability scores of each compartment to generate an available compartment queue that excludes compartments with failure risks.

[0101] S3. Assess the network reliability level based on the network connectivity status.

[0102] S4. Based on the network reliability level, adaptively select a high availability score or load balancing grid allocation strategy to dynamically allocate a target grid to the current user from the available grid queue.

[0103] S5. After the distribution action is performed at the target compartment, continuously monitor the status changes of the items in the compartment and identify the distribution result based on the status changes.

[0104] S6. When the issuance fails, a tiered remedial action is triggered, including re-driving the original target cell or enabling a backup cell to complete the issuance.

[0105] The above embodiments can be implemented, in whole or in part, by software, hardware, firmware, or any other combination thereof. When implemented using software, the above embodiments can be implemented, in whole or in part, in the form of a computer program product.

[0106] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the modules and algorithm steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0107] In addition, the functional modules in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing module, or each module can exist physically separately, or two or more modules can be integrated into one module.

[0108] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the scope of the claims.

[0109] Finally, the above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A self-service ETC electronic tag issuance system, characterized in that, Includes the following modules: Status awareness module: It consists of the device's built-in communication module, door status sensors for each storage compartment, and system inventory management unit, and is used to obtain network connection status, mechanical health status of each storage compartment, and inventory distribution status in real time. The available compartment identification module generates an availability score based on the mechanical health status of the storage compartment, and then integrates the inventory distribution status with the availability score of each compartment to generate an available compartment queue that excludes compartments with failure risks. The decision-making module assesses the network reliability level based on the network connection status, which is divided into high and low. Based on the network reliability level, it adaptively selects a grid allocation strategy of high availability score or load balancing to dynamically allocate a target grid to the current user from the available grid queue. The execution monitoring module continuously monitors the status changes of items in the target compartment after the dispensing action is performed. Based on the status changes, it identifies the dispensing result. When the dispensing fails, it triggers a tiered remedial action, including restarting the original target compartment or activating a backup compartment to complete the dispensing.

2. The ETC electronic tag self-service issuance system as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The real-time acquisition of network connection status, mechanical health status of each storage compartment, and inventory distribution status includes the following implementation details: The communication module is used to collect network signal strength and communication delay data in real time as network connection status data. The door status sensor is used to record the cumulative number of door opening and closing cycles of each storage compartment, the opening duration of each opening and closing operation, and the closing duration, as mechanical health status data of each storage compartment. The system's inventory management unit is used to provide real-time inventory identification for all storage compartments, serving as inventory distribution status data.

3. The ETC electronic tag self-service issuance system as described in claim 2, characterized in that: The process for generating an availability score based on the mechanical health status of the storage compartments is as follows: The cumulative number of door opening and closing cycles is extracted from the mechanical health status data of each storage compartment, and the ratio is calculated with the maximum rated number of cycles allowed by the design of the actuator of that compartment to obtain the mechanical life loss rate. Extract the opening and closing durations of each switch operation from the mechanical health status data of the storage compartment, and compare them with the statistical baseline value of the duration under normal operation in the past. If the opening or closing duration in a single switch operation exceeds the statistical baseline value, it is determined to be an abnormal switch event and recorded in the abnormal operation log of that compartment. The abnormality rate is the proportion of abnormal switch events to the total number of switch events. The availability score for each storage compartment is obtained by combining mechanical life loss rate and anomaly occurrence rate.

4. The ETC electronic tag self-service issuance system as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The available grid queues are generated using the following process: From the inventory distribution data of the storage cells, all storage cells marked as having goods are initially screened out to form an initial candidate cell set; For each storage cell in the initial candidate cell set, query its corresponding availability score; The availability score of each storage cell is compared with the configured failure risk score, and storage cells with availability scores lower than failure risk scores are removed. The remaining storage cells after elimination are formed into a queue of usable cells.

5. The ETC electronic tag self-service issuance system as described in claim 2, characterized in that: The assessment of network reliability level based on network connectivity status includes the following: The network signal strength and communication delay timing data collected within the set time window will be compared point by point with the signal strength and communication delay judgment benchmarks. The system counts the duration of consecutive compliance with network signal strength and communication delay standards. If the duration of consecutive compliance reaches a stable duration threshold, the current network reliability level is assessed as high; otherwise, the network reliability level is assessed as low.

6. The ETC electronic tag self-service issuance system as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The process of dynamically allocating a target grid for the current user from the available grid queue based on the grid allocation strategy of adaptively selecting high availability score or load balancing according to network reliability level is as follows: When the current network reliability level is assessed as low, the grid with the highest availability score is selected from the available grid queue as the target grid for this deployment. When the current network reliability level is assessed as high, the historical cumulative number of times each grid in the available grid queue is retrieved, and each grid is sorted in ascending order according to the historical cumulative number of times it is distributed to form a low-load priority sequence. Arrange the available grids in the available grid queue in descending order of availability score to form a high reliability priority sequence; The first grid cell in the low-load priority sequence and the high-reliability priority sequence are extracted and compared respectively. If both are in the same cell, then that cell will be selected as the target cell for this distribution. If the two are not the same grid, then for each grid in the available grid queue, calculate the sum of its ranking number in the low load priority sequence and the high reliability priority sequence to obtain the comprehensive decision score of that grid. All grids are sorted in ascending order of comprehensive decision-making score, and the grid ranked first is selected as the target grid for this distribution.

7. The ETC electronic tag self-service issuance system as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The continuous monitoring of the status changes of items within the compartment, based on these status changes, identifies the following distribution results: After the issuance command is issued, the monitoring of the door status signal and the item presence status signal of the target compartment is started simultaneously; Within the preset verification time, the door status signal is detected to be open in sequence, and the item presence status signal is detected to be absent in sequence. If the door status signal is not successfully changed to "open", the identification and issuance will fail, and it will be judged as a mechanical failure of the door. If the door status signal is detected as open, but the item presence status signal does not subsequently change to non-existent, the delivery process fails and is determined to be a fault where the user has not retrieved the item.

8. The ETC electronic tag self-service issuance system as described in claim 7, characterized in that: The triggered tiered remedial actions include re-driving the original target cell or activating the backup cell to complete the distribution as follows: In cases where the grid is determined to be mechanically faulty, the backup grid is activated, and the faulty grid is marked and isolated. If the issue is determined to be a user failure to retrieve the item, the push action is retried to drive the original target slot, and the item status is monitored again to continuously determine whether the item has changed from being present to not being present. If the item status is successfully changed at any time within the set retry cycle, it is considered a successful remediation and the delivery is completed. If the item is still not detected to have been retrieved after multiple retries, it is upgraded to an abnormal event, the current delivery process is suspended, and the manual channel is switched to processing.

9. The ETC electronic tag self-service issuance system as described in claim 6, characterized in that: The process for determining the spare compartment is as follows: When determining the target grid when the current network reliability level is low, select the grid with the second highest availability score from the available grid queue as the backup grid. When determining the target grid when the current network reliability level is high, the grid ranked second in the sorting results of all grids in ascending order of comprehensive decision score is selected as the backup grid.

10. A self-service issuance control method for ETC electronic tags, characterized in that: Includes the following steps: S1. Utilize the built-in device's communication module, the door status sensors and item presence sensors of each storage compartment, and the system's inventory management unit to obtain real-time network connection status, mechanical health status of each storage compartment, and inventory distribution status. S2. Generate an availability score based on the mechanical health status of the storage compartments, and then integrate the inventory distribution status with the availability scores of each compartment to generate an available compartment queue that excludes compartments with failure risks. S3. Assess the network reliability level based on network connectivity status; S4. Based on the network reliability level, adaptively select a high availability score or load balancing grid allocation strategy to dynamically allocate a target grid to the current user from the available grid queue. S5. After the distribution action is performed in the target compartment, continuously monitor the status changes of the items in the compartment and identify the distribution result based on the status changes; S6. When the issuance fails, a tiered remedial action is triggered, including re-driving the original target cell or enabling a backup cell to complete the issuance.

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