State-Machine Access Control for Lockout-Tagout Sequence Compliance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electronic access control systems face challenges in configuring context-dependent user-access permissions and maintaining multi-user coordination, particularly when utilizing electronic mobile devices as primary access keys, leading to complexity and potential safety compliance issues.
Innovation Solution
A wireless lockout-tagout state machine-based access control system and method that utilizes state machine-based access codes to manage access control devices, ensuring sequence compliance with safety protocols by transitioning between defined states based on access events and user inputs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If context-dependent user-access permissions are configured in electronic access control systems, then access control precision is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments access control into discrete state transitions within a state machine model. Each access control code is associated with specific state transitions, allowing precise control over when and how access is granted based on system state, thereby achieving context-dependent permissions without overwhelming system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic access control where permissions are not static but change based on system state. The state machine model allows access control codes to be enabled or disabled dynamically according to current system state, providing context-dependent access while maintaining manageable complexity through structured state transitions.
2Productivity
If multi-user coordination is implemented in access control systems, then collaboration efficiency is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The state machine model provides continuous feedback about system state to all users. When one user performs an action that changes system state, this state change is reflected in the access control model, automatically affecting what other users can access. This feedback mechanism coordinates multi-user actions without requiring complex communication protocols.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary configuration of state transitions and access control code associations before multi-user operations begin. By pre-defining how system state changes affect access permissions, the system prepares coordination rules in advance, allowing users to collaborate efficiently without real-time negotiation or complex runtime decision-making.
3Reliability
If safety and compliance protocols are enforced through access control, then system reliability is improved, but ease of operation decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The state machine-based access control system automatically enforces safety and compliance protocols without requiring manual intervention. The system self-monitors its own state and automatically enables or disables access control codes based on predefined state transitions, ensuring compliance while maintaining ease of operation for authorized users.
Solution Approach 2:
Safety and compliance rules are pre-configured into the state machine model as state transitions and access control associations. By establishing these protocols in advance, the system automatically enforces them during operation without requiring users to manually check compliance or navigate complex safety procedures, maintaining both reliability and ease of use.
Data Source
AI summary
A wireless lockout-tagout state machine-based access control system and method. Embodiments of the present disclosure provide for an electronic access control system that utilizes state machine-based single or multiple access codes to enable context-dependent or context-specific user-access permissions for different access points within an access-controlled area. Each state in the state machine may comprise an access event and a first state can lead to one or more subsequent different states, which may enable a feedback loop back to a past state to ensure a sequence of access events. In certain embodiments, the sequence of access events may be configured to ensure one or more safety protocols or parameters.