Light Beam Power Delivery for Battery-Free Edge Device Operation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing edge devices often rely on batteries for power, which require manual replacement, and manual interactions become impractical as the number and complexity of these devices increase, making it difficult to provide power and communicate with them efficiently.
Innovation Solution
An environment infrastructure system uses a power providing component to locate and provide power to edge devices via light beams, determining power requirements and directing light beams based on device location and operations, eliminating the need for manual battery changes and interactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If edge devices use batteries for power, then devices can operate independently without wired power, but batteries require periodic manual replacement which becomes impractical as device quantity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical battery replacement system with an optical power transmission system using light beams. The power providing component transmits power wirelessly through directed light beams to edge devices, eliminating the need for physical battery installation and removal. This substitution resolves the contradiction by maintaining operational independence while removing the time-consuming manual battery replacement process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces light beams as an intermediary medium to transfer power from the power providing component to edge devices. This intermediary enables power transmission through the environment without direct physical contact or wired connections, allowing devices to remain independently powered while eliminating manual battery intervention. The light beam acts as a carrier that bridges the power source and device without requiring mechanical interaction.
2Ease of operation
If manual interactions are used for device management, then individual devices can be configured and updated, but manual interactions become increasingly difficult to perform at scale as device quantity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal power providing component that can serve multiple edge devices simultaneously through environmental light beam transmission. This single component can discover, locate, and power numerous devices across the environment without requiring individual manual configuration for each device. The system performs multiple functions including device discovery, location determination, power amount calculation, and directed power transmission, replacing numerous manual operations with a single automated system.
Solution Approach 2:
The power providing component autonomously performs device discovery, locates target devices, determines appropriate power amounts, and transmits power without human intervention. The system self-manages the entire power distribution process by detecting devices in the environment, calculating required power based on device needs and distance, and automatically directing light beams accordingly. This self-service capability resolves the scalability issue by eliminating manual device management entirely.
3Extent of automation
If light beams are used to provide power to edge devices, then manual battery replacement is eliminated, but the system must determine device location and calculate appropriate power amounts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functions into the power providing component: device discovery, location determination, power requirement calculation, and directed power transmission. By merging these functions into a single integrated system, the patent achieves high automation while managing complexity through consolidation rather than separate independent systems. The component uses environmental features and device characteristics to perform all calculations and transmissions unified through a single control mechanism.
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
This system efficiently provides power and communication to edge devices without manual intervention, reducing the need for battery replacements and enabling automated data transmission and software updates.
Implementation Method 1
transmitting the power amount in the direction to provide power to the target device
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and techniques are provided for providing power for target devices. For example, a process can include performing, at an environment infrastructure system, a device discovery procedure to discover a target device in an environment; obtaining power requirement information corresponding to the target device; obtaining a distance between a power providing component of the environment infrastructure system and the target device; determining a power amount to transmit to the target device based at least in part on the distance, the power requirement information, and an operation to be performed at the target device; determining a direction from the power providing component to the target device; transmitting the power amount in the direction to provide power to the target device for performing the operation; and receiving an operation result from the target device based on the operation.