Elevator Screen OCR Monitoring for Controller-Independent Maintenance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing monitoring systems for elevators and escalators face limitations due to varying communication protocols among different controllers, leading to potential unexpected stops and a need for a universal monitoring method that is not heavily reliant on specific software and hardware.
Innovation Solution
A real-time monitoring system that includes a camera to capture screen images, a visual information processing board to recognize and process text data, and a data transfer unit to transmit messages to the cloud, which determines maintenance needs and issues alarms or assigns maintenance personnel, isolating communication and being compatible with most controllers by relying on information displays.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If RS232/485 or other communication devices are used to connect the monitoring system and the control system, then real-time information retrieval is improved, but compatibility across different controller types deteriorates due to varying communication protocols
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a screen as an intermediary display device between the control system and the monitoring system. Instead of directly communicating with diverse control protocols, the monitoring system captures images from the screen which uniformly displays control information. This intermediary approach allows real-time information retrieval while maintaining universal compatibility across different controller types.
Solution Approach 2:
The monitoring system creates a visual copy of the control information by capturing screenshots from the control system's screen. This copied visual data is then processed through OCR technology to extract textual information. This copying mechanism bypasses the need for direct protocol communication, enabling real-time monitoring with universal compatibility.
2Productivity
If direct communication is established between the monitoring system and the control system, then real-time monitoring capability is improved, but system reliability deteriorates due to risks of unexpected stops from improper communication design
Solution Approach 1:
The screen serves as a safe intermediary that displays control information without requiring direct communication protocol interactions. The monitoring system interacts only with the screen's visual output through image capture, completely isolating the monitoring function from the control system's communication protocols. This eliminates communication-related risks while maintaining real-time monitoring capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the information display function from the control system by capturing it visually through the screen. The monitoring system takes out the need for direct protocol communication entirely, relying instead on visual capture and OCR processing. This extraction eliminates communication risks while preserving real-time information access.
3Adaptability or versatility
If visual recognition is used to recognize text data from the screen, then universal applicability across different controllers is improved, but information accuracy may deteriorate due to recognition errors
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms in the OCR process to improve recognition accuracy. By continuously refining the text recognition through feedback from recognized results and comparing against expected patterns, the system maintains high accuracy while preserving universal compatibility across different controller displays.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
AI summary
The present invention discloses a real-time monitoring system for an elevator or an escalator, the elevator or escalator comprises a control system arranged in a control cabinet, the control system comprises a screen configured to display control information, the real-time monitoring system is arranged in the control cabinet, and comprises: a camera configured to capture an image of the screen in real time; a visual information processing board configured to recognize the captured image as corresponding text data, and process the text data to form a message to be transmitted; and a data transfer unit configured to transmit the message from the visual information processing board to a cloud, wherein the cloud determines whether the elevator or the escalator needs maintenance according to the message.