Controlled Device Timer for Power Control Reliability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Power management systems face disruptions in power control due to communication failures between control devices and decentralized power sources or load apparatuses, risking excessive power consumption beyond contracted demands.
Innovation Solution
A controlled device at consumer facilities that executes predetermined operations and instructed operations based on acquired control instructions, with a communicator to acquire and a controller to measure elapsed time, switching to predetermined operations if no new instructions are received within a set period, ensuring continuous power management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a power control system uses centralized control devices to manage decentralized power sources and load apparatuses, then power consumption can be controlled within contract demand, but communication failures may interrupt control and cause power consumption to exceed contract demand
Solution Approach 1:
The controlled device is pre-configured with a predetermined operation and a timer before any control instruction is received. When the device starts up or resets, it automatically sets the timer to a predetermined value and prepares to execute the predetermined operation. This preliminary setup ensures that if no control instruction is received within the predetermined time period, the device can automatically switch to the predetermined operation without requiring complex fallback logic or additional control devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The controlled device autonomously monitors its own operational state and automatically switches between instructed operations and predetermined operations based on whether control instructions are received within the expected time frame. The device uses its internal timer and controller to detect communication failures and self-correct by executing the predetermined operation, eliminating the need for external intervention or complex system-wide error handling mechanisms.
2Speed
If control instructions are transmitted frequently to ensure real-time power control, then power management responsiveness is improved, but communication bandwidth consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of continuous or frequent control instruction transmission, the system uses a periodic approach where control instructions are sent at predetermined time intervals. The controlled device's timer is set to a predetermined value that defines this period. This periodic communication pattern maintains adequate control responsiveness while significantly reducing communication bandwidth consumption and energy usage compared to continuous monitoring and control instruction transmission.
3Reliability
If the predetermined time period for switching to predetermined operations is shortened, then power control safety is improved, but operational flexibility decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system allows the predetermined time period parameter to be adjusted and optimized based on specific operational requirements and communication reliability conditions. By making this parameter configurable, the system can adapt the switching threshold to balance safety and flexibility - using shorter periods for critical applications where power control safety is paramount, and longer periods for applications where operational flexibility and reduced communication overhead are more important.
Data Source
AI summary
A controlled device that is capable of executing a predetermined operation set in advance and is also capable of executing an instructed operation in accordance with a control instruction transmitted from a control device that performs power control for the consumer's facility. The controlled device includes a communicator configured to acquire a control instruction from the control device; and a controller configured to execute, when the control instruction has been acquired, the instructed operation in accordance with the control instruction, and to measure, each time the control instruction has been acquired, an elapsed time period that has passed since acquisition of the control instruction, wherein the controller executes the predetermined operation once the elapsed time period since the previous acquisition of the control instruction has reached a predetermined time period without additional acquisition of the control instruction.