GPS Tracking Device Conditional Activation for Battery Life
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional tracking devices face challenges with battery life due to high power consumption by components like wireless transmitters and GPS receivers, limiting their lifespan.
Innovation Solution
The tracking device is designed to conserve power by enabling the wireless transmitter and GPS receiver only when it is determined to be lost, using a set of predefined or user-selected conditions, and then disabling them when no longer needed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the wireless transmitter and GPS receiver are continuously enabled, then the tracking device can always determine and report location, but the battery drains quickly limiting device lifespan
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic action by enabling the GPS receiver and wireless transmitter only at specific intervals or under specific conditions rather than continuously. The controller activates these components periodically to determine location and communicate with the central system, then deactivates them to conserve battery power, thus resolving the contradiction between tracking availability and battery life.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-defining conditions under which the tracking device should activate its components. The controller is programmed with predetermined criteria (such as motion detection thresholds, time-based schedules, or loss detection conditions) that trigger activation before actual tracking is needed, allowing the device to be ready when necessary while remaining dormant to conserve power.
2Duration of action of moving object
If the wireless transmitter and GPS receiver are enabled only when lost conditions are detected, then battery life is extended, but location tracking is unavailable during normal operation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the operational state of the GPS receiver and wireless transmitter variable rather than fixed. The controller dynamically adjusts the activation state of these components based on real-time evaluation of predetermined conditions, such as detecting motion, determining loss status, or receiving commands from the central system, thus adapting tracking availability to actual needs while managing power consumption.
3Duration of action of moving object
If the battery capacity is increased to extend lifespan, then the device can operate longer, but the device size and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the location determination function from continuous operation and separates it into conditional, periodic activation. By removing the requirement for continuous GPS and transmitter operation and replacing it with conditional activation based on predetermined criteria, the system reduces overall power consumption, thereby extending battery life without needing to increase battery capacity or device weight.
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes receiving, by a tracking system, an indication that a tracking device is lost; determining, by the tracking system, an identification of the tracking device based on the indication, wherein the identification comprises a unique identifier associated with the tracking device; determining, by the tracking system, whether the unique identifier is associated with one or more flags indicative of a lost tracking device; and in response to determining that the unique identifier is associated with the one or more flags indicative of a lost tracking device, transmitting, by the tracking system, and based on the unique identifier, a request for a location of the tracking device to a plurality of community computing devices.