Edge device for a work machine

Abstract

The present invention relates to an electronic control device for linking a work machine to a communication network and / or to another work machine, comprising a telematics module having one or more interfaces for acquiring and / or receiving machine data pertaining to the work machine, a data processing unit for processing the machine data and a data transmission unit with one or more interfaces for transmitting the received and / or processed machine data to the communication network and / or the other work machine. According to the invention, the electronic control device also contains a graphics controller for a human-machine interface, in addition to the telematics module. By this means, not only is it possible to combine the functionalities of telematics and of the graphics controller, but it is also possible to obviate a separate control device for the display apparatus and accordingly to save space, as a result of which the overall system becomes more compact and can be installed on a work machine in a way that allows more space to be saved. The overall system also becomes more economically favorable and less susceptible to faults, and EMC effects such as emitted interference and influences of interference are reduced. At the same time, maintenance of the electronic control device or of the software of the control device is simplified as well.

Description

[0001] Edge device for a work machine

[0002] The present invention relates to an electronic control unit for connecting a work machine to a communication network and / or to another work machine, comprising a telematics module having one or more interfaces for acquiring and / or receiving machine data from the work machine, a data processing unit for processing the machine data, and a data transmission unit having one or more interfaces for transmitting the received and / or processed machine data to the communication network and / or the other work machine.

[0003] Modern work machines such as construction machines, for example in the form of excavators, crawlers, or cranes, or agricultural tractors or attachments such as loading wagons, or even automation or robotics systems, are increasingly equipped with telematics systems to transmit sensor-recorded machine data, which can indicate operating conditions such as driving speed, steering angle, or fill level, or other machine data such as control signals from the work machine, to a communications network or to another work machine with which they are to cooperate. Such cooperation can, for example, be a coordinated lifting movement of the two load hooks of two cranes or a coordinated movement of two agricultural machines, for example a combine harvester and a forage wagon intended to collect the forage from the combine harvester.The work machine can also be connected, for example, to a server or a construction site control computer, via which other work machines can then be controlled or the transmitted machine data can be further evaluated.

[0004] Such electronic control units with a telematics module are often configured to perform multiple tasks or functionalities. Generally, the recorded and, if necessary, further processed machine data is collected and transmitted via various interfaces, which can be wired or wireless. Modern control units not only transmit this data but also process it locally. Such processing by the electronic control unit with a telematics module can include, for example, filtering the machine data, data synthesis, data compression, intermediate storage and / or encryption of the machine data, or even the transmission of updates.

[0005] Despite increased automation, work machines of this type are usually still equipped with human-machine interfaces to display relevant machine data for the machine operator on suitable display devices such as screens, thus enabling machine monitoring. The displayed machine data may overlap with the aforementioned telemetry data or machine data transmitted by the telematics module and may include, for example, sensor-detected measured values ​​such as travel speed, fill level, unit temperatures, and the like. Signals from imaging sensors, which can, for example, visually depict the working environment of the work machine, a work tool and its surroundings, or even a storage area, may also be shown on the display device.Alternatively or additionally, evaluations of the aforementioned machine data, such as a graphical representation of a work material memory or control commands or control aids such as direction arrows of a steering aid or deviations between a target value and an actual value of a relevant control parameter, can also be displayed. Alternatively or additionally, input prompts and / or input fields for entering control commands, for example in the form of touchscreen fields, can also be displayed on the aforementioned display device.

[0006] To the extent that electronic control units already process and transmit such display-relevant machine data, the aforementioned telematics module can transmit such machine data via an interface to an external display device, such as a display that may be embodied as a touchscreen. More precisely, the aforementioned machine data is currently transmitted to a graphics controller or display controller, which then controls and generates the display on the display device based on the transmitted machine data, for example, controlling the screen of a touchscreen and manipulating the display generated on the screen depending on the machine data. Such a graphics controller, often abbreviated as GPU, or display controller, sometimes abbreviated as DCU, can form part of the display device, for example, being integrated into the touchscreen unit.The telematics module can transmit the relevant machine data or evaluated machine data to the display via a suitable interface, such as a USB, CAN, or LAN interface, where the graphics controller then processes the machine data for the display unit. Alternatively, it is also known to integrate the graphics controller not into the display itself, but rather to place it upstream of it. In this case, the graphics controller is connected to the display or display device via a raw data line, via which the control commands are transmitted from the graphics controller to the display unit.

[0007] The display on the display device should be as real-time as possible to allow the machine operator to control the machine without any time delay and with rapid response. For example, EP 28 04 139 A1 describes the telemetric connection of several agricultural machines to a central server via a network, with the agricultural machines being equipped with corresponding network interfaces. DE 10 2022 101 040 A1, for example, shows the connection of various construction machines on a construction site to a construction site control computer. For example, a crane control system transmits telemetry data to a smart crane device, which then connects to the crane operator's control station and also to higher-level databases.

[0008] The present invention is based on the object of providing an improved electronic control unit of the type mentioned above and an improved work machine of the type mentioned above that avoid the disadvantages of the prior art and advantageously develop the latter. In particular, a control unit is to be created that is easy to maintain and can be installed on the work machine in a space-saving manner, which allows the use of various display units in a simple manner without disruptive EMC effects and without impairing the telemetry functions of the control unit.

[0009] According to the invention, the stated object is achieved by an electronic control device according to claim 1 and a work machine according to claim 14. Preferred embodiments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

[0010] It is therefore proposed to combine the telematics module and the graphics controller for a human-machine interface in the electronic control unit, so that the same control unit can perform both the telematics functions or the functions of an edge device as well as the functions of a graphics or display controller. According to the invention, the electronic control unit containing the telematics module is characterized in that the control unit also contains a graphics controller for a human-machine interface. The integrated graphics controller not only allows the functionalities of the telematics and the graphics controller to be combined, but also allows a separate control unit for the display device and thus saves space, making the overall system more compact and allowing for more space-efficient installation on a work machine.Due to the reduced number of control units, the overall system is also more cost-effective and less error-prone, as less cabling is required and connectors and additional electrical components can be eliminated. At the same time, compared to conventional solutions with external graphics controllers, maintenance of the electronic control unit (ECU) and its software is also simplified, as there are no multiple, different software packages in a distributed system to maintain.

[0011] In a further development of the invention, the electronic control unit comprises one or more raw data interfaces to which a display device such as a screen, a display, or a monitor can be plugged in or wirelessly connected, so that the graphics controller integrated into the electronic control unit can control the display device. Such a raw data interface can, for example, be in the form of an HDMI interface, a display port, an LVDS interface, or an FPD Link III. Advantageously, said raw data interface can be designed to operate bidirectionally in order to be able to transmit signal sequences both from the graphics controller to the display device and vice versa, from the display device to the graphics controller, for example in order to be able to report touchscreen inputs on the display device to the graphics controller.

[0012] Such a raw data interface on the electronic control unit allows for a high degree of flexibility in the placement and selection of the display device or display, as display devices or displays of different sizes and / or different resolutions and / or different pixel generations can be easily used and also placed at different mounting locations on the machine. Advantageously, several raw data interfaces of different designs can be provided, via which one or more display units of the same or different types can be connected to the integrated graphics controller of the electronic control unit. For example, an HDMI interface, an LVDS interface, and an eDP port can be provided, via which the graphics controller can communicate with one or more displays.

[0013] The aforementioned graphics controller can be combined with the data processing unit of the telematics module to form a common, central processor module, for example, integrated into the main processor or the chipset of the mainboard, which handles data processing for the telematics module. Advantageously, however, the graphics controller can also be a standalone component, for example, in the form of a graphics card, which can be connected, for example, via a bus system of the electronic control unit to the mainboard, which handles the calculation of the telematics data.

[0014] The said telematics module can be individually adapted to the respective work machine with regard to its functionalities, in particular to its sensor technology, in order to process the sensor data provided by the sensor technology of the work machine, for example to pre-evaluate and / or pre-select and / or group it, before the sensor data is then transmitted or provided by the data transmission unit to the communication network and / or another work machine.

[0015] Alternatively or additionally, the data processing unit of the telematics module can also be individually adapted to other machine data provided by the work machine in order to pre-process it locally, for example, to filter or compress it. Such adaptation can be made, for example, to control signals that the respective work machine uses and / or provides, such as control signals for controlling a work unit of the work machine and / or longitudinal signals or other control signals for functional units of the work machine. For example, the data processing unit of the telematics module can be configured to condition such control signals before they are transmitted to another work machine or provided to a communications network.

[0016] For example, the said data processing unit of the telematics module can have functional modules individually adapted to the said sensor data and / or machine data, such as a filter device for filtering the said sensor and / or machine data, a data synthesis device for data synthesis of the said sensor and / or machine data, a data compression device for compressing the said sensor and / or machine data, a buffer device for data-specific and / or selective buffering of the said sensor and / or machine data and / or an encryption device for encrypting the said sensor and / or machine data.The individual adaptation can consist, on the one hand, in selecting relevant sensor and / or machine data from the range of sensor and / or machine data provided by the work machine and / or in converting the data format of the provided sensor and / or machine data in a specific way and / or in parameterizing the received or recorded sensor and / or machine data in a predetermined way.

[0017] In order to enable simple maintenance, a further development of the invention can provide for the telematics module and the integrated graphics controller to use a common software package, so that both the telematics module and the graphics controller can be updated and / or reconfigured by installing an update.

[0018] The invention is explained in more detail below using a preferred embodiment and the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

[0019] Fig. 1: a work machine in the form of a wheel loader with an edge device with an integrated graphics controller for an HDMI interface according to an embodiment of the invention, Fig. 2: a schematic representation of the electronic control unit with telematics module and integrated graphics controller for controlling a display device in the form of a display according to an advantageous embodiment of the invention,

[0020] Fig. 3: an electronic control unit with telematics module and the connection of a display via an external graphics controller according to the state of the art, and

[0021] Fig. 4: a conventional control unit with telematics module and the connection of a display, which has its own graphics controller, according to the state of the art.

[0022] As shown in Fig. 1, the electronic control unit 1 serving as an edge device can be installed on a work machine 2, which can be configured, for example, in the form of a construction machine such as a wheel loader or an agricultural machine such as a tractor. As mentioned above, the work machine 2 can also be another mobile work machine or a transport system, or even a robot or other automation technology. The aforementioned electronic control unit is adapted to the work machine 2 in order to acquire and process machine data provided by the work machine, such as sensor data and control signals acquired by sensors.

[0023] As Fig. 2 illustrates, the electronic control unit 1 comprises a telematics module 3 which can receive or record machine data from the work machine 2 via a plurality of interfaces 4, 5, 6, 7 and, if necessary after preprocessing, can transmit it to a communications network 8, for example in the form of a mobile radio network or the Internet, or to another work machine 9 for the purpose of collaboration, cf. Fig. 1. The interfaces 4-7 mentioned can, for example, comprise a LAN interface and / or a CAN interface and / or a mobile radio interface and / or interfaces specially adapted to the sensor system 10 of the work machine 2.

[0024] The machine data of the work machine 2 acquired or received by the telematics module 3 are processed locally by a data processing unit 11 of the telematics module 3, for example in the form of filtering, data synthesis, data compression, intermediate storage, transmission of updates, or encryption. For this purpose, the data processing unit 11 can have corresponding functional modules, for example in the form of software applications, which can be stored in a program memory of the data processing unit 11 and processed by a processor. Such functional modules can include, for example, a filter device 12, a synthesis device 13, a compression device 14, an intermediate storage device 15, an update device 16, and / or an encryption device 17, see Fig. 2.

[0025] The electronic control unit 1 further has a human-machine interface functionality and for this purpose has an integrated graphics controller 18, which can be accommodated together with the aforementioned data processing unit 11 in a device housing 19 of the control unit 1.

[0026] The mentioned graphics controller 18 can, for example, be connected in the form of a graphics card or board via a BUS system to the main board of the data processing unit 11, or can also be implemented in one of the components on the main board, for example in a chipset or in the main processor.

[0027] The aforementioned graphics controller 18 calculates or converts the data provided to it into control data for a display device 20, for example in the form of a display or monitor, so that the aforementioned display device 20 can display the content associated with the data as an image. The aforementioned display device 20 can be designed, for example, in the form of a touchscreen or a screen panel, which can be installed in the driver's cab of the work machine 2 (see Fig. 1).

[0028] As Fig. 2 illustrates, the display device 20 can be connected to a raw data interface 22 of the electronic control unit via a raw data connection 21, wherein the graphics controller 18 can communicate with the display device 20 via said raw data interface 22.

[0029] By integrating the graphics controller 18 into the electronic control unit 1, which has the aforementioned telematics module 3, the following advantages can be achieved in particular:

[0030] 1. Combining the functions of the telematics / edge device with the graphics controller for an HMI

[0031] The invention allows the functionalities of the telematics / edge device and the graphics controller to be combined. Two separate control units will no longer be necessary in the future. This saves space and makes the overall system more compact. Due to the reduced number of control units, the overall system becomes more cost-effective and less error-prone, as there is less cabling, connectors, and electrical components.

[0032] In addition, the described invention requires less software components or maintenance in series, since no DCU / GPU device needs to be used.

[0033] 2. Reduction of the required control units (one can be saved)

[0034] The number of required control units can be reduced by consolidating their functions. This reduces the complexity of the entire control system, both at the physical and configuration levels of the machine. In concrete terms, this means that the machine's parts list is simplified. 3. Reduction of an external communication interface, e.g., between the telematics unit and the graphics controller.

[0035] Because the control units are integrated, no external communication interface is required between the telematics / edge module and the graphics controller. This interface can be very complex. In some cases, complex Ethernet or similar interfaces are used, which require expensive and sensitive components.

[0036] Furthermore, the time required for data communication is reduced (no more interface between telematics and GPU / DCU / display).

[0037] Due to the elimination of the interface outside the devices, EMC effects (radiated interference and interference) can be reduced.

[0038] 4. Modularity in the selection and placement of display units / displays

[0039] A raw data interface technology (e.g., HDMI, DisplayPort, LVDS, FPD-Link III, etc.) is used between the graphics controller and the display unit or display, providing flexibility in the placement and selection of the display unit or display. This allows the size, location, and resolution to be changed using display variants. This offers advantages in display integration and flexibility in the event of display obsolescence or further developments.

Claims

Claims 1. Electronic control unit for connecting a work machine (2) to a communications network (8) and / or to another work machine (9), comprising a telematics module (3) having one or more interfaces (4, 5, 6, 7) for acquiring and / or receiving machine data from the work machine (2), a data processing unit (11) for processing the machine data, and a data transmission unit having one or more interfaces (4, 5, 6, 7) for transmitting the received and / or processed machine data to the communications network (8) and / or the other work machine (9), characterized in that a graphics controller (18) for a human-machine interface is integrated into the electronic control unit (1).

2. Electronic control unit according to the preceding claim, wherein said telematics module (3) and the graphics controller (18) are housed in a common control unit (18).

3. Electronic control unit according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the electronic control unit (1) has a raw data interface (22) to which an external display device (20) can be connected, wherein said graphics controller (18) is connected to said raw data interface (22) for communication with the display device (20) connected thereto.

4. Electronic control unit according to the preceding claim, wherein said raw data interface (22) is bidirectional.

5. Electronic control unit according to one of the two preceding claims, wherein said raw data interface (22) is designed as an HDMI interface or as an LVDS interface, or as an FPD-III interface, or as a display port or similar.

6. Electronic control unit according to one of the preceding claims, wherein said graphics controller (18) is combined with the data processing unit (11) of the telematics module (3) to form a common, central processor module and / or is integrated into a main processor or chipset of a main board of the data processing unit (11).

7. Electronic control unit according to one of claims 1 - 5, wherein said graphics controller (18) is designed in the form of an independent processor module, in particular in the form of a graphics card, which is connected to the main board of the electronic control unit (1) via an internal BUS system.

8. Electronic control unit according to one of the preceding claims, wherein a common software package for controlling and / or operating the telematics module (3) and the graphics controller (18) is provided and is stored in a program memory of the electronic control unit (1).

9. Electronic control unit according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the telematics module (3) has function modules individually adapted to the work machine (2), wherein said function modules are configured to process sensor data acquired by a sensor system (10) of the work machine (2) and / or machine data provided by the work machine (2), or to receive commands and transmit them to the machine.

10. Electronic control unit according to the preceding claim, wherein said functional modules or software modules of the telematics module (3) comprise a filter device (12) for filtering the sensor and / or machine data of the work machine (2) and / or a data synthesis device (13) for said sensor and / or machine data and / or a compression device (14) for compressing said sensor and / or machine data and / or an encryption device (17) for encrypting said sensor and / or machine data of the work machine (2) and / or comparable functions.

11. Electronic control unit according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the interfaces (4-7) of the telematics module (3) are configured to receive sensor data from a sensor system (10) of the work machine (2) or to transmit control commands to the machine or components.

12. Control and display system comprising an electronic control unit (1) designed according to one of the preceding claims, and a display device (20) which is connected to the graphics controller (18) of the electronic control unit (1) via a raw data connection (21) and is controlled / controllable by said graphics controller (18).

13. Control and display system according to the preceding claim, wherein the display device (20) is designed without its own graphics controller and is connected to the graphics controller (18) which is integrated in the control unit (1) without the interposition of an external graphics controller.

14. Work machine with an electronic control unit (1) designed according to one of claims 1-11.

15. Work machine with a control and display system designed according to claim 12 or 13.

16. Work machine according to the preceding claim, wherein the display device (20) is mounted on a control station of the work machine (2).

17. Work machine according to one of claims 14 to 16, which is designed as a construction machine or industrial conveyor or lifting device.

18. Working machine according to one of claims 14 to 16, which is designed as an agricultural machine.

19. Work machine according to one of claims 14 to 16, which is designed as a robot or transport machine or conveyor machine.

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