Milking Machine Remote Control Conflict Handling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Remote control systems for automatic milking machines can lead to conflicts over control, jeopardizing milk quality and animal well-being due to independent access by multiple users.
Innovation Solution
A control system that checks for previous control commands or parameter settings within a specific interval before allowing new remote control, providing status data to notify operators of ongoing sessions and allowing precedence for new commands, ensuring conflict-free operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If remote control enables multiple users independent access to the milking machine, then flexibility and efficiency are improved, but control conflicts arise jeopardizing milk quality and animal well-being
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit provides feedback to remote user terminals about the current control status of the milking machine. When a control session is active, the system notifies other users of the ongoing session, allowing them to wait or intentionally interrupt. This feedback mechanism prevents unintended control conflicts while maintaining remote access flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit acts as an intermediary between multiple remote user terminals and the milking machine. It manages control sessions by receiving control requests, checking for existing sessions, and coordinating access. This intermediary role resolves the contradiction by enabling multiple users to access the system while preventing harmful control conflicts through centralized session management.
2Reliability
If the system notifies new operators of ongoing control sessions, then control safety is improved, but system complexity increases due to additional status checking and communication
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit performs multiple functions: it processes control commands, manages communication with remote terminals, tracks control sessions, and provides status notifications. By making the control unit multi-functional, the patent avoids adding separate dedicated components for each function, thereby limiting the increase in system complexity while maintaining control safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines status notification and control command processing into a single communication interface and control unit. Rather than adding separate notification systems, the existing communication infrastructure is used to convey both control commands and status information, reducing overall system complexity while improving reliability.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
AI summary
An automatic milking machine is controlled (Ctrl) by a control unit in accordance with control commands and/or parameter settings produced via a local user interface fixedly arranged at the milking machine, or received via a communication interface from a remote user terminal (161, 162). In response to a control request (CR1) from a first remote user terminal (161), which control request (CR1) indicates an intention to initiate transmission of control commands and/or parameter settings (CMDl) from the first remote user terminal (161), the control unit checks if at least one control command and/ or parameter setting (CMD2) from a second remote user terminal (162) has been received in the communication interface within a particular interval (P) preceding a point in time (t3) when the control request (CR1) was received. If so, the control unit returns status data (SD2) to the first remote user terminal (161), which status data (SD2) indicate an identity (ID) of the second remote user terminal (162). Based thereon, an operator of the first remote user terminal (161) may decide whether or not he/she should proceed to remote control the milking machine at the present point in time.