Optical Sensor Assembly With Quality Index Fault Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sensor arrangements for positioning objects, such as vehicles and stacker cranes in high-bay warehouses, lack effective fault detection and diagnosis, leading to potential system failures and reduced availability due to external interference or sensor malfunctions.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating an optical sensor with a camera that generates a quality index to assess the detection quality of markings, allowing for early fault detection and diagnosis by outputting warning signals or images when the quality index falls below a threshold, enabling proactive maintenance and ensuring precise positioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the optical sensor is used for positioning the object, then the positioning accuracy is improved, but the system reliability deteriorates due to lack of fault detection capability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by calculating a quality index for the marking detection before the positioning process completes. This quality index serves as an early warning indicator that allows the system to detect potential faults before they cause positioning failures, thereby maintaining system reliability while preserving positioning accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback by continuously monitoring the quality of marking detection through the quality index and using this information to assess sensor functionality. This feedback mechanism enables the system to identify degradation in sensor performance or marking quality, allowing for timely intervention to maintain both positioning accuracy and system reliability.
2Reliability
If the quality index calculation is added to the optical sensor, then the fault detection capability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies self-service by enabling the optical sensor to independently calculate and output a quality index for the marking detection. This self-assessment capability allows the sensor to monitor its own performance and detect faults without requiring additional external diagnostic equipment, thereby improving fault detection capability while avoiding increased device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements multi-functionality by designing the optical sensor to perform both its primary function of generating position signals and a secondary function of calculating quality indices for fault detection. This universal approach allows a single device to serve multiple purposes, improving reliability through fault detection without adding separate diagnostic hardware that would increase complexity.
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
The solution enhances system availability by enabling early detection of faults, allowing for timely countermeasures and maintaining accurate positioning in high-bay warehouses, thereby preventing system failures and ensuring reliable operation.
Implementation Method 1
The optical sensor generates a position signal as an output variable by spatially resolved detection of a marking
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3a~4b
AI summary
The invention relates to a sensor arrangement for positioning an object and comprises an optical sensor (6) which is arranged on the object and has a camera (8) and an arrangement of markings. The object is movably arranged relative to the markings. The optical sensor (6) generates a position signal as an output variable by spatially resolved detection of a marking. A quality index is determined in the optical sensor (6) as a measure of the quality of the detection of the markings. The optical sensor (6) is designed to output the quality index or a variable derived from it as an output variable.