Universal Metering Cabinet for Multi-Protocol Sensor Data
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial metering systems face challenges in data integration and analysis due to disparate connectivity protocols, leading to inefficiencies in maintenance scheduling, measurement accuracy, and uncertainty analysis, which can result in resource wastage and compliance issues with legal metrology standards.
Innovation Solution
A universal metering cabinet (UMC) with a customizable programmable interface that converts multiple data streams from sensors with different connectivity protocols into a uniform protocol, enabling advanced analytics, data cleansing, and prognostic modeling, including the creation of a virtual meter for predictive maintenance and uncertainty analysis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If multiple data streams with different connectivity protocols are integrated into a unified system, then data analysis capability and measurement accuracy are improved, but system complexity increases due to protocol conversion requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a universal metering cabinet as an intermediary device that receives data streams from multiple sensors using different connectivity protocols and converts them into a uniform protocol. This mediator handles protocol conversion internally, allowing the upstream sensors and downstream analytics systems to remain simple while achieving integrated data analysis and improved measurement accuracy.
2Productivity
If real-time data analysis and prognostic modeling are implemented, then maintenance scheduling efficiency is improved, but computational resources and processing time are consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs prognostic modeling and advanced analytics on meter data to predict maintenance needs before failures occur. By conducting these computations proactively and continuously, the system optimizes maintenance scheduling efficiency, allowing planned maintenance during non-critical periods rather than reactive repairs, thereby reducing overall computational burden and energy consumption.
3Reliability
If condition-based uncertainty analysis is performed to ensure compliance with legal metrology standards, then measurement reliability is improved, but data processing complexity and time requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The universal metering cabinet continuously performs condition-based uncertainty analysis on incoming data streams, maintaining ongoing monitoring of measurement reliability rather than periodic batch processing. This continuous analysis ensures compliance with legal metrology standards in real-time, reducing the need for lengthy post-processing and enabling immediate detection and correction of reliability issues.
Data Source
AI summary
A universal metering cabinet (UMC) apparatus comprises an input/output (I/O) interface configured to receive at least two data streams, each of the at least two data streams received from one of at least two sensors, and each of the at least two data streams having a different connectivity protocol. The UMC further comprises a customizable programmable interface coupled with the I/O interface and configured to convert the connectivity protocol of each of the at least two data streams into a same uniform connectivity protocol. A method comprises receiving, from the UMC, at least one data stream that includes data from at least two sensors, and receiving, from at least one server, data related to an environment around the at least two sensors. The method further comprises performing data cleansing on the data stream and the data to generate validated data and performing prognostic modeling on the validated data.