Aerial Device Control Display for Partial Stabilizer Operation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional firefighting aerial device control systems rely on physical load charts and sensitive load sensors, which are prone to damage and require frequent maintenance, limiting their reliability and availability for use, especially in urban areas where full stabilizer deployment is often obstructed.
Innovation Solution
A computer-controlled system with electronic displays that senses the extension, elevation, and rotation of aerial devices, providing real-time graphical representations of operational capabilities, adjusting for stabilizer deployment position and reducing reliance on sensitive load sensors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional physical load charts and sensitive load sensors are used, then operational parameter monitoring is provided, but reliability and availability decrease due to sensor damage and frequent maintenance requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes sensitive load sensors from the system entirely, extracting only the necessary functional requirement (operational parameter monitoring) and achieving it through alternative means (computer control system with electronic display and stabilizer position sensing), thereby eliminating the reliability issues associated with sensitive load sensors
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces expensive, fragile load sensors with a more robust computer control system that uses stabilizer position data to calculate operational parameters. This substitution uses less sensitive, more durable components that require less maintenance and are less prone to damage in the harsh firefighting environment
2Reliability
If full stabilizer deployment is required for safe operation, then operational safety is improved, but availability decreases in urban areas where full stabilizer deployment is often obstructed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic control system that continuously monitors stabilizer deployment position and adjusts the displayed operational parameters in real-time. This allows the system to adapt to partial stabilizer deployment conditions by providing updated safe operational limits, enabling firefighters to operate safely even when full stabilizer deployment is obstructed
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operational parameters displayed on the electronic display based on the actual stabilizer deployment position. When stabilizers are not fully deployed, the system calculates and displays reduced operational limits (such as lower maximum heights or weights), allowing safe operation under constrained conditions while maintaining availability in urban environments
3Ease of operation
If real-time operational data is provided through electronic displays, then maneuvering safety is improved without full stabilizer deployment, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical control systems with electronic displays and computer control. This substitution provides real-time visual feedback on operational parameters and safe limits, improving ease of operation and maneuvering safety while using electronic components that can be integrated into existing fire truck systems
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle including a body and an aerial device operable to rotate, extend, and retract relative to the body. The vehicle further includes a control panel, an electronic display, a computer control system, and an aerial elevation sensor that senses an elevation of the aerial device, wherein the computer control system receives a piece of data corresponding with the elevation and generates a graphical representation of the current operating ability of the aerial device based on the elevation that is displayed on the electronic display of the control panel.