Machine Command Buffering for Synchronous Wireless Control
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In machine control systems, particularly those utilizing wireless communication, fluctuations in reception timing make it difficult to maintain synchronous communication between devices, leading to challenges in controlling machines according to predetermined cycles.
Innovation Solution
A machine control system that buffers machine commands and response information until their designated use timings, absorbing fluctuations in reception timing and ensuring synchronization with control cycles through the use of cycle information and buffering mechanisms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If wireless communication is used for machine control, then communication flexibility and ease of installation are improved, but reception timing fluctuations increase making synchronous communication difficult to maintain
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by adding cycle information to commands before transmission and pre-buffering received commands with timing data. This allows the receiving device to know in advance when commands should be executed, enabling it to compensate for transmission delays and maintain synchronous operation despite wireless communication variations.
Solution Approach 2:
Cycle information acts as an intermediary element between the transmitting and receiving devices. This timing metadata mediates the synchronization process by providing a reference that both devices use to align their operations, allowing the system to bridge the timing gap introduced by wireless communication without requiring complex real-time synchronization protocols.
2Speed
If commands are transmitted in real-time without buffering, then response speed is improved, but timing synchronization accuracy deteriorates due to reception fluctuations
Solution Approach 1:
The transmitting device performs preliminary action by attaching cycle information to commands before transmission. The receiving device uses this pre-provided timing data to determine exactly when to execute commands, ensuring precise synchronization without requiring post-reception timing adjustments that would delay execution.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a temporal copy of the intended execution timing by embedding cycle information within the command itself. This copied timing reference travels with the command through the wireless medium, allowing the receiving device to reproduce the original timing intent even if actual reception occurs at a different moment than transmission.
3Reliability
If buffering is implemented to absorb timing fluctuations, then synchronous communication reliability is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The complexity is reduced by performing preliminary action at the transmission end where cycle information is added to commands before sending. This shifts the buffering burden to simple storage and timing-based retrieval operations rather than requiring complex real-time synchronization logic, making the buffering mechanism easier to implement and manage.
Solution Approach 2:
Cycle information serves as a simple intermediary that mediates between transmission and reception without requiring complex processing. Both devices use this straightforward timing metadata to synchronize operations, avoiding the need for complex handshake protocols, acknowledgment mechanisms, or dynamic timing adjustment algorithms.
4Measurement precision
If cycle information is added to commands, then timing precision for command execution is improved, but communication data volume increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cycle information is added locally to each command message at the point of transmission. This localized addition ensures that only the necessary timing data for that specific command is included, avoiding redundant timing information and minimizing the overall data volume increase while maintaining precise timing control for each individual command execution.
Data Source
AI summary
A machine control system includes: a machine configured to execute a motion according to a machine command; and one or more servers configured to control the machine. The one or more servers include control circuitry configured to: repeat an execution of a motion program to generate the machine command for the machine; add first cycle information designating a first use timing to the machine command; and transmit the machine command including the first cycle information to the machine via a communication network. The machine includes a machine circuitry configured to: repeat a local processing for controlling the machine according to a machine control cycle; receive the machine command from the one or more servers; store the received machine command; and call the stored machine command, based on the first cycle information added to the stored machine command, to use the machine command in the local processing corresponding to the first use timing.