Smart Power Plug for Appliance Fault Detection and Remote Switching
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need for a power monitoring solution that can effectively track the performance and status of electrical appliances connected to a power supply, detecting potential faults and allowing for remote control of the appliances, while also being user-reconfigurable and capable of high-frequency voltage and current measurement.
Innovation Solution
A smart power plug equipped with current and voltage sensors, a processor for data analysis, and a transmitter, which generates feature sets from power consumption data, compares them to historical or manufacturer-provided data, and can control the power supply to the appliance based on performance thresholds, allowing for remote monitoring and control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a power monitoring solution is implemented to track appliance performance and detect faults, then the reliability of appliance operation is improved, but the device complexity increases due to additional sensors, processors, and transmitters
Solution Approach 1:
The power plug is designed to perform multiple functions: it provides electrical power connection, monitors voltage and current, analyzes power consumption data, detects appliance faults, and enables remote control. By integrating these diverse functions into a single device, the invention improves reliability through comprehensive monitoring while managing device complexity through functional consolidation rather than adding separate monitoring equipment
Solution Approach 2:
The power plug autonomously monitors its own operational parameters (voltage, current, power consumption) and automatically detects appliance faults by analyzing the data. The processor continuously analyzes power consumption patterns without external intervention, and the system can automatically control power supply to the appliance based on detected conditions, eliminating the need for manual monitoring or external control systems
2Measurement precision
If high-frequency voltage and current measurement is implemented, then the measurement precision of power consumption data is improved, but the use of energy by the monitoring device increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs high-frequency voltage and current measurements at periodic intervals rather than continuously, with the processor analyzing power consumption data at optimized sampling rates. This periodic measurement approach maintains measurement precision for detecting power consumption patterns and appliance faults while significantly reducing the energy consumption of the monitoring device compared to continuous high-frequency sampling
3Ease of operation
If remote monitoring and control capabilities are added to the power plug, then the ease of operation is improved, but the device complexity increases due to additional communication components
Solution Approach 1:
The power plug integrates communication and control functions into its existing structure, using the same processor and power management system to handle both local monitoring and remote communication. The transmitter component leverages the already-collected power consumption data for remote transmission, eliminating the need for separate sensing systems and reducing overall device complexity while enabling remote monitoring and control capabilities
Data Source
AI summary
A power plug for coupling an electrical appliance to an electrical power supply, comprising: a current sensor, configured to measure current supplied through the plug to the electrical appliance; a voltage sensor, configured to measure voltage supplied through the plug to the electrical appliance; a processor configured to determine power consumption data from data relating to the current and voltage measurements made by the current and voltage sensors and monitor the performance of the electrical appliance using the power consumption data; and a transmitter, configured to transmit information relating to the performance of the electrical appliance.