Battery Pack Control for Auto-Configured Electric Appliances
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electric appliances, especially those not natively capable of IoT, require significant effort for individual programming and adaptation to enable control via battery packs, and there is a need for a flexible method to control diverse electric appliances with a generic battery pack.
Innovation Solution
A generic battery pack equipped with software that identifies the connected electric appliance and requests configuration information from an external computer system, allowing the software to be specifically configured for controlling the appliance, enabling flexible and simple control of various electric devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If individual programming and adaptation is performed for each electric appliance to enable IoT control, then control functionality and compatibility are improved, but development effort and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal battery pack with generic software that can control multiple different electric appliances through automatic identification. The system uses a database to store appliance characteristics and automatically retrieves relevant information based on appliance identification, eliminating the need for individual programming of each appliance while maintaining full control functionality across diverse devices.
2Device complexity
If generic software is used in the battery pack to control different electric appliances, then device complexity and programming effort are reduced, but control precision and appliance-specific optimization deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system maintains generic software in the battery pack but dynamically adapts to specific appliances by retrieving appliance-specific parameters, characteristics, and control settings from a database using automatic identification. This allows the generic software to achieve appliance-specific control precision by loading relevant configuration data for each identified appliance type.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent pre-stores appliance-specific control information, characteristics, and parameters in a database before runtime. When an appliance is connected, the system automatically identifies it and retrieves the pre-prepared specific information, eliminating the need for real-time programming while ensuring precise control tailored to each appliance type.
3Adaptability or versatility
If electric appliances not natively capable of IoT are retrofitted with IoT functionality, then compatibility with modern control systems is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The battery pack serves as an intermediary device that provides IoT functionality to non-IoT electric appliances. Instead of modifying the appliances themselves, the battery pack contains the identification and communication infrastructure that enables IoT control, allowing legacy appliances to be controlled through the intelligent battery pack without altering the appliance hardware.
Data Source
AI summary
According to a method for controlling a first electric appliance (4) by means of a battery pack (1), which is selectively connectable to the first electric appliance (4) and at least one second electric appliance, a generic software for controlling the first electric appliance (4) and the at least one second electric appliance is stored on a storage element of the battery pack (1). Identification information, which identifies the first electric appliance (4), is obtained by the battery pack (1) and configuration information is requested and obtained from an external computer system (10) by means of the battery pack (1) depending on the identification information. The software is configured according to the configuration information and the first electric appliance (4) is controlled by means of the battery pack (1) by execution of the configured software.