Frequency-Encoded Lighting Control for Animal Housing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional lighting systems for large animal housing facilities, such as barns, are costly and complex due to high material requirements, installation efforts, and the need for logical control elements and connecting cables, especially with long cable runs and high light requirements.
Innovation Solution
A lighting device that uses a power supply signal with frequency-encoded channel information to control light sources, allowing for cost-effective control with a two-wire connection, eliminating the need for separate data transmission and reducing material and installation costs by using logic modules that require minimal control intelligence.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional lighting systems use separate data transmission lines and logical control elements for each luminaire, then lighting control precision is improved, but device complexity and material requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines power supply and data transmission functions into a single two-wire connection. The control unit modulates the power supply signal to encode lighting control information, which is then transmitted through the same wires that supply power to the luminaires. This eliminates the need for separate data transmission lines and reduces system complexity while maintaining control precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The power supply lines are made multi-functional by enabling them to carry both electrical power and encoded control data simultaneously. The control unit modulates the power signal to embed channel information, allowing the same infrastructure to serve dual purposes: powering the LEDs and controlling their operation, thereby reducing material requirements without sacrificing control capability.
2Measurement precision
If demodulators are used to decode high-frequency digital control signals, then control information accuracy is improved, but investment costs and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The lighting control system uses the existing power supply infrastructure to transmit control signals, eliminating the need for separate communication hardware in each luminaire. The control unit directly modulates the power signal, and the luminaires respond to the modulated power signal without requiring complex demodulation circuits, thereby reducing investment costs while maintaining control accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex electronic demodulation systems with a simpler approach where the power supply signal itself carries the control information through modulation. This substitution of the control mechanism eliminates the need for expensive demodulators in each luminaire, reducing overall system cost while preserving the ability to accurately control lighting parameters.
3Speed
If high-frequency switching signals are used for LED control, then switching speed is improved, but electromagnetic radiation and signal distortion increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the frequency parameters of the power supply signal to encode control information at lower frequencies that avoid electromagnetic radiation problems while maintaining effective control. By changing the modulation frequency from high-frequency switching signals to lower frequency modulations of the power supply, the system achieves the necessary switching control without generating harmful electromagnetic radiation or signal distortion over long cable runs.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables efficient, cost-effective lighting control with reduced material and installation costs, allowing for stable lighting with adjustable colors and illuminance, beneficial for animal welfare, while minimizing electromagnetic radiation and flicker.
Implementation Method 1
a logic module (23), arranged on the power supply line and electrically connected to the power supply line, for reading the frequency of the received signal
Implementation Method 2
with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) being frequently used nowadays as the light source
Implementation Method 3
Transform Electrical Energy to Optical Energy
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3a~3b
AI summary
The invention relates to a lighting device, in particular for illuminating an animal husbandry device, comprising several light sources, comprising a first light source and a second light source and optionally further light sources, wherein the first light source and the second light source and the optionally further light sources are configured to emit light, preferably with different wavelengths and/or different colors, in particular red and white, a luminaire comprising a logic module, the first light source and the second light source and the optionally further light sources, wherein the logic module is configured to read out a frequency of a signal of electrical energy, to compare the frequency of the signal with data stored in the logic module,and to determine, depending on the comparison between the frequency of the signal and the data stored in the logic module, one or more frequency-coded channels. Furthermore, the invention relates to a control device, a method for controlling a lighting device, and the use of a lighting device.