Dispensing system
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dispensers require inefficient and labor-intensive servicing due to unpredictable consumable product depletion and battery life, leading to unnecessary service visits and increased costs.
Innovation Solution
A dispensing system that coordinates consumable product refills and battery replacements by designating a master transmitting dispenser to balance expected product depletion dates with battery depletion dates, minimizing service visits through coordinated energy usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If dispensers wirelessly report product usage information when low on consumable product, then service visits are reduced to only when needed, but battery drains prematurely causing additional service visits
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by predicting both product depletion dates and battery depletion dates in advance. The data processing system receives usage information and battery status, then determines expected depletion dates for both consumable product and battery energy, enabling proactive scheduling before actual depletion occurs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes operational parameters by adjusting wireless communication frequency and timing based on predicted depletion dates. Dispenser tasks are modified to report usage information at optimized intervals that align product refill needs with battery replacement needs, reducing unnecessary transmissions and extending battery life while maintaining effective monitoring.
2Reliability
If service visits are scheduled based on product depletion rather than coordinated with battery replacement, then product availability is maintained, but number of service visits increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges previously separate service tasks into a coordinated schedule. By determining both expected product depletion dates and expected battery depletion dates, the system combines product refill operations with battery replacement operations into unified service visits, eliminating redundant trips to individual dispensers.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback loops where usage information continuously updates predictions of product and battery depletion dates. The data processing system receives ongoing usage data from dispensers, recalculates depletion timelines, and adjusts dispenser tasks dynamically to maintain optimal coordination between product refilling and battery replacement schedules.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems and apparatus for operating a dispenser system including receiving product usage information and battery status from each of a plurality of dispensers, determining expected product depletion dates for each of the plurality of dispensers based on the respective product usage information; determining expected battery depletion dates for each of the plurality of dispensers based on the respective battery status; determining respective dispenser tasks for one or more of the plurality of dispensers that specify tasks a dispenser is responsible to perform over a given time period to cause, for each of one or more of the plurality of dispensers, the respective expected product depletion date and expected battery depletion date to be within a threshold range of one another, and communicating the respective dispenser tasks to the one or more of the plurality of dispensers.