Power Outlet Control for Detecting Anomalies and Staged Restoration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Power anomalies such as surges, outages, and substandard quality can damage devices plugged into wall outlets, and existing technologies lack effective solutions to minimize this damage.
Innovation Solution
A power outlet control device equipped with a processing circuit and backup battery that monitors external power, detects anomalies, and automatically controls power supply to electrical outlets, including restoring power in a coordinated schedule with other devices to prevent damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If automatic power control and anomaly detection are implemented, then device protection against power anomalies is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
A communication bus serves as an intermediary between multiple outlet control devices, enabling coordinated power restoration without requiring complex direct communication protocols between each device pair. The bus mediates information exchange about power events and restoration schedules, simplifying individual device complexity while maintaining system-wide reliability
Solution Approach 2:
Outlet control devices detect power anomalies and establish restoration schedules in advance before power is restored. By detecting outages and pre-coordinating restoration sequences through the communication bus, devices prepare protective measures beforehand, ensuring reliable protection while using straightforward detection and scheduling logic
2Object-affected harmful factors
If coordinated power restoration scheduling is implemented among multiple devices, then damage from power surges is reduced, but communication and coordination complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The communication bus acts as a centralized intermediary that collects power event information from all outlet control devices and distributes coordinated restoration schedules. This mediator approach allows simple local devices to achieve complex coordinated restoration behavior without each device needing sophisticated communication capabilities
Solution Approach 2:
Outlet control devices monitor power conditions and provide feedback about detected anomalies to the communication bus. The system uses this feedback to dynamically adjust restoration schedules, creating a simple responsive coordination mechanism where devices react to shared information rather than implementing complex predictive algorithms
3Measurement precision
If real-time power monitoring is performed, then detection of powerline events is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of continuous monitoring, the outlet control device performs power measurements at periodic intervals using the power measurement circuit. This periodic sampling approach provides sufficient detection precision for power anomalies while significantly reducing average energy consumption compared to continuous real-time monitoring
Solution Approach 2:
The monitoring system uses partial action by measuring only when triggered by specific conditions or at scheduled intervals rather than constantly. The power measurement circuit activates selectively to detect anomalies, providing adequate detection capability while consuming less energy than full-time monitoring would require
Data Source
AI summary
A power outlet control device includes at least one electrical outlet and a processing circuit comprising a processor and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations. The operations include monitoring external power supplied to the power outlet control device, detecting one or more powerline events based on the external power supplied to the power outlet control device, and automatically controlling an amount of power supplied to the at least one electrical outlet based on the one or more powerline events.