Smart Plug Harmonic Analysis for Appliance Cycle Recognition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing household appliances without electronic connection systems cannot be included in home network systems, preventing users from accessing appliance services and information, despite the availability of smart plug technologies that measure and transmit electric power consumption.
Innovation Solution
A smart plug that measures current and voltage, determines electric quantities indicative of harmonics, and recognizes operating cycles of household appliances, communicating this information to a network system without adding new components to the appliances, using electronic control means to store and communicate load signatures and activation profiles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If a smart plug measures and transmits electric power consumption data, then energy monitoring capability is improved, but the ability to determine specific operating cycle information of the appliance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-storing reference profiles of operating cycles and their associated load activation patterns in the smart plug's memory. When an appliance operates, the system compares real-time load activation sequences against these pre-stored profiles to identify the specific operating cycle, thereby extracting detailed operational information beyond simple energy consumption measurements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses load activation patterns as an intermediary between raw power consumption data and meaningful operating cycle information. By analyzing the sequence and timing of load activations during power delivery, the system mediates the transformation of basic electrical measurements into specific operational insights about the appliance's state and cycle phase.
2Reliability
If a communication device is permanently mounted in the household appliance, then network connectivity is improved, but the adaptability to existing non-connectible appliances deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The smart plug serves as an intermediary device that bridges existing non-connectible appliances to the home network. Instead of modifying the appliance itself, the plug intercepts and analyzes the electrical signals between the power source and the appliance, extracting operational information through power signature analysis and load pattern recognition, thereby providing network connectivity without appliance modification.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/electrical approach of permanently mounting communication devices in appliances with an electrical signal analysis approach. By monitoring and analyzing the electrical characteristics of power consumption and load activation patterns, the system substitutes physical integration with electronic characterization, enabling retrofittable connectivity.
3Measurement precision
If the smart plug analyzes detailed power consumption data to determine operating cycles, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent reduces computational complexity by performing preliminary action - pre-storing reference profiles of operating cycles and their characteristic load activation patterns in the smart plug's memory during manufacturing. This allows the device to operate by simple pattern matching and comparison against stored references, rather than performing complex real-time analysis, thereby maintaining high detection accuracy with minimal processing requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the operating cycle detection task into distinct components: monitoring individual load activation events, sequencing these events temporally, and comparing the resulting pattern against segmented reference profiles. This modular approach breaks down the complex analysis into manageable steps that can be executed with simple logic in the smart plug's processor.
Data Source
AI summary
A smart plug designed to electrically connect a household appliance to power lines. The smart plug has an electronic controller configured to measure current and voltage of the electric power supplied to household appliance via a smart plug, determine electric quantities indicative at least of prefixed current harmonics and/or prefixed voltage harmonics, based on said measured current and voltage, determine load information which are indicative of electric loads of the household appliance being activated during an operating cycle performed by household appliance, based on determined electric quantities; determine the operating cycle performed by the household appliance based on the load information, communicate determined operating cycle to a network system.