Autonomous Feeding Device with Fallback Substitution Logic
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Solution Overview
Problem
Automatic and autonomous animal feeding devices often experience breakdowns due to insufficient feed replenishment, leading to unnecessary operator intervention and device stoppages.
Innovation Solution
The feeding device incorporates a control system with fall-back information for each feed variety, allowing it to continue operating by replacing unavailable feed with alternatives, omitting non-essential components, or generating report messages instead of alarm signals, thus minimizing downtime and operator workload.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the feeding device operates autonomously without fall-back information, then the device complexity is reduced, but the reliability decreases when feed varieties run out
Solution Approach 1:
The control system is pre-configured with fall-back information for multiple feed varieties before actual operation. When a feed variety runs out, the system immediately switches to pre-planned alternative varieties, eliminating the need for real-time operator intervention and maintaining continuous operation without requiring complex on-the-fly decision-making logic.
Solution Approach 2:
The feeding device autonomously manages feed variety substitutions by automatically detecting when a feed variety is depleted and independently switching to alternative varieties based on pre-stored fall-back information. This self-service capability eliminates the need for operator intervention while maintaining reliable operation, balancing device complexity with reliability improvement.
2Reliability
If the device generates alarm signals for every feed shortage, then the operator is notified immediately, but the operator workload increases and device stoppage occurs
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of generating alarm signals for every feed shortage (which would increase operator workload and cause device stoppage), the system converts these potentially harmful notifications into beneficial silent substitutions. When a feed variety runs out, the system automatically replaces it with an alternative from fall-back information without notifying the operator, thereby maintaining continuous operation and improving productivity while still ensuring reliable feed replenishment monitoring.
Solution Approach 2:
The fall-back information acts as an intermediary between the feed kitchen inventory status and the feeding device operation. Rather than directly alarming the operator when feed is depleted, the fall-back information mediates the situation by providing pre-planned alternative varieties that enable automatic substitution, thus eliminating the need for operator intervention and maintaining device productivity.
3Manufacturing precision
If the device stops when feed varieties are insufficient, then the feed composition accuracy is maintained, but the device downtime increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of stopping completely when a feed variety is depleted (which would maintain strict feed composition accuracy but cause device downtime), the system applies partial action by substituting the depleted variety with alternative varieties from fall-back information. This allows the feeding device to continue operating with modified feed composition, thereby reducing downtime while maintaining acceptable feed composition accuracy through controlled substitutions.
Data Source
AI summary
An automatic and autonomous feeding device comprising a feed kitchen having different feed varieties and a feed fetching device, and a control system for executing a feed composing cycle including receipt or generation of a feed order and controlling of the feed fetching device to fetch feed from the feed kitchen according to the feed order in order to compose a feed mixture, and comprising a feed determining device configured to deteiiiiine quantity information of the feed varieties, wherein the control device further contains fall-back information, for at least one feed variety, which fall-back information specifies what action the feeding device, during and/or after execution of a feed composing cycle, needs to perform if the feed determining device determines that that quantity of this feed variety which is desired in the feed order is greater than the available quantity.