Modular Sensor Lift and Positioning for Fast Rigid Deployment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for transporting and deploying sensor equipment face challenges in custody and transportability, position during transport, volume occupied during transport, deployment time, height of sensor lift, and rigidity of the sensor position, particularly for sensitive equipment like optical and laser systems.
Innovation Solution
A modular container system with three interconnected modules: a vertically translating module, a horizontally rotating module, and a constraint exchange module, allowing for precise positioning and elevation of sensors with automated kinematic interactions to ensure safety and efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If sensor vehicles are deployed to monitor large territories, then surveillance coverage is improved, but the complexity of managing and positioning multiple vehicles increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the large territory into multiple zones, each monitored by a gateway device. Sensor vehicles are assigned to specific zones, breaking down the complex task of monitoring entire large areas into smaller, more manageable segments. This segmentation allows the system to scale to larger areas without proportionally increasing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
Gateway devices serve as intermediary components between the central server and sensor vehicles in remote areas. These gateways locally manage and coordinate vehicles within their zones, reducing the direct communication burden on the central server and simplifying the overall system architecture while enabling broader coverage.
2Adaptability or versatility
If sensor vehicles are transported to remote locations, then surveillance capability is improved, but the time and resources required for deployment increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs dynamic deployment strategies where sensor vehicles can be rapidly deployed to different locations as needed. The modular architecture allows vehicles to be quickly activated and assigned to new zones without extensive reconfiguration, enabling flexible response to changing surveillance requirements while reducing deployment time.
Solution Approach 2:
Gateway devices are pre-deployed to strategic locations in advance, establishing local coordination hubs before sensor vehicles arrive. This preliminary action reduces the time required for vehicle deployment and integration, as the infrastructure for managing vehicles is already in place when needed.
3Area of stationary object
If sensor vehicles operate in remote areas without infrastructure, then surveillance coverage is improved, but the reliability of communication and positioning decreases
Solution Approach 1:
Gateway devices act as reliable intermediary nodes in remote areas, providing local communication infrastructure where none exists. These gateways establish stable local networks that sensor vehicles can connect to, ensuring reliable communication in the absence of external infrastructure while enabling coverage in previously unreachable areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from relying on external communication infrastructure to creating a distributed mesh network dimension within the surveillance system itself. Gateway devices and sensor vehicles form a self-contained communication layer that operates independently of external infrastructure, ensuring reliability in remote deployments.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
A modular system for the shelter, transport, positioning and elevation of sensors including a first module (A, I) and a second module (B, II) side by side and cooperating with each other. The first module operates as a functional block with vertical translation and the second module operates as a functional block with rotation/horizontal translation. Each module comprises a lifting means and together the two modules enable a sequential lifting of the sensor means in two phases. In one embodiment, there is also a third interfacing module (C) responsible for the switching of functional blocks included in the first and/or second module.