Doubly Interlaced Sensor Array for Low Power Counting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Item-sensing mats in retail environments face challenges in conserving power due to limited power supply, which affects their ability to continuously detect and report changes in items on the shelves effectively.
Innovation Solution
The use of interlaced conductor patterns and selective scanning methods in sensor mats, where only subsets of conductors are driven and sensed at different times to reduce power consumption while ensuring comprehensive coverage of the detection surface, utilizing energy harvesting or batteries for power, and employing technologies like force-sensitive resistor arrays and optical sensors for item detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If continuous sensing process is run to detect items on the mat, then detection reliability is improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sensing mat implements periodic sensing cycles where subsets of sensor elements are activated at different times. Instead of continuously powering all sensors, the system cycles through different groups of sensors in discrete time intervals, maintaining detection capability while significantly reducing average power consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensor array is divided into multiple subsets or groups that are activated sequentially rather than simultaneously. Each subset covers a portion of the detection surface, and by rotating through different subsets over time, the system maintains comprehensive monitoring coverage while ensuring that only a fraction of sensors are powered at any given moment.
2Measurement precision
If all sensor elements are activated simultaneously to ensure complete coverage, then measurement precision is improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The complete sensor array is segmented into multiple subsets, each responsible for monitoring a specific region or pattern of the detection surface. By activating different subsets in sequence rather than all at once, the system achieves comprehensive spatial coverage over time while limiting the number of simultaneously active sensors to maintain low power consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs periodic activation patterns where different sensor subsets are brought online in alternating time intervals. This temporal multiplexing ensures that every sensor element contributes to the overall detection precision across the monitoring period, while the average power draw remains low because only a subset is active at any instant.
3Productivity
If sensing frequency is increased to improve real-time detection, then productivity is improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sensing system operates in periodic cycles with multiple phases. Within each cycle, different subsets of sensors are activated at different time points, allowing the system to maintain a high overall sensing frequency while ensuring that individual sensor elements are only active for a fraction of the total cycle time, thereby managing power consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The high-frequency sensing requirement is met by segmenting the sensor array and time-multiplexing their activation. Different sensor groups are scanned at high speed in succession, creating the effect of continuous high-frequency monitoring across the entire array while each individual sensor group operates at lower duty cycle to conserve power.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for providing low-power sensing, identification, and sweep detection for items on a sensor mat are provided. Item detection sensors are provided in grid on a sensor mat. A first subset of the item detection sensors are sensed at a first time, and a second subset of the item detection sensors are sensed at a second time. The item detection sensors of the first and second subsets are chosen such that they span the surface of the sensor mat, and so that the sensors of the chosen subsets include all of the sensors of the mat after multiple sensing steps have been completed.