Fire Alarm Master Device Battery Exhaustion Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
In fire alarm systems, battery exhaustion occurs in a chained manner when slave devices and the master device fail to respond due to low battery levels, leading to continuous voice messages that drain their batteries further, causing them to become inactive.
Innovation Solution
A fire alarm device with a monitoring unit that distinguishes between battery exhaustion and other abnormal conditions by receiving a signal indicating battery exhaustion from slave devices, preventing false alarms and conserving battery life by not issuing alarms when radio waves are absent after such a signal is received.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the master device continuously outputs voice messages to monitor slave devices, then the reliability of monitoring is improved, but the battery life of the master device deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The master device switches from continuous voice message output to periodic monitoring at regular intervals. This periodic action maintains monitoring reliability while significantly reducing energy consumption, allowing the master device to operate longer on battery power.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by having slave devices respond to monitoring signals with status information. The master device uses this feedback to determine whether slave devices are in abnormal conditions, eliminating the need for continuous voice messages while maintaining monitoring effectiveness.
2Reliability
If the master device outputs voice messages indicating abnormal conditions, then the reliability of abnormal condition notification is improved, but the battery life of the master device deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The master device transitions from continuous voice message output to periodic monitoring cycles. During these cycles, it sends monitoring signals and processes responses to determine abnormal conditions, reducing energy consumption while maintaining notification reliability through selective voice message output only when abnormalities are detected.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses automatic status reporting from slave devices to the master device, eliminating the need for continuous manual monitoring. Slave devices self-report their status in response to monitoring signals, allowing the master device to identify abnormalities without continuous energy-consuming voice message output.
3Reliability
If slave devices continuously output voice messages to indicate master device abnormal conditions, then the reliability of notification is improved, but the battery life of slave devices deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Slave devices switch from continuous voice message output to periodic status reporting in response to master device monitoring signals. This periodic action maintains notification reliability by reporting abnormal conditions when detected, while significantly reducing energy consumption to extend battery life.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback where slave devices respond to monitoring signals with their status information. This feedback mechanism allows slave devices to report abnormal conditions reliably without continuous voice message output, as they only communicate when monitored or when abnormalities occur.
4Reliability
If the system monitors all slave devices at regular intervals, then the reliability of system monitoring is improved, but the energy consumption of the system deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements periodic monitoring at regular intervals rather than continuous monitoring. Each monitoring cycle involves sending signals to slave devices and processing responses, which maintains comprehensive system monitoring reliability while significantly reducing overall energy consumption compared to continuous operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs monitoring actions selectively - sending monitoring signals to all slave devices at regular intervals rather than continuously. This partial action approach ensures reliable monitoring of system status while minimizing energy consumption by avoiding unnecessary continuous monitoring operations.
Data Source
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AI summary
A fire alarm device (10), which wirelessly communicates with at least one slave device (20) and operates as a master device of the at least one slave device(20), includes: a monitoring unit (12) that monitors the at least one slave device (20) at regular or irregular time intervals to determine whether the at least one slave device (20) is in an abnormal condition; and an alarm unit (15) that issues an alarm indicating that the at least one slave device (20) is in an abnormal condition when the monitoring unit (12) determines that such slave device (20) is in an abnormal condition, wherein after a signal indicating battery exhaustion is received from any slave device (20), the monitoring unit (12) does not determine, in the monitoring, that such slave device (20) is in an abnormal condition even when radio waves cannot be received from such slave device (20).