Surveying Instrument Task Queue for Reduced Idle Time
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surveying instruments face inefficiencies in data collection tasks, often requiring prolonged waiting times due to sequential completion of tasks, which can be minimized by interrupting ongoing tasks to perform additional tasks based on a queue system.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a method where surveying instruments, such as geodetic scanners or total stations, utilize a queue to manage data collection tasks, allowing for the interruption of ongoing tasks to perform additional tasks indicated by instructions, thereby optimizing resource utilization and reducing downtime.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If surveying instruments perform data collection tasks sequentially as defined by a queue, then task completion order is maintained and measurement accuracy is preserved, but instrument utilization efficiency deteriorates due to idle waiting times
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-queues multiple data collection tasks before the instrument is ready to execute them. When the instrument completes its current task or becomes idle, it can immediately begin executing the next pre-prepared task from the queue without waiting for user input or task preparation, thereby eliminating waiting time and improving utilization efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The queue system ensures that the surveying instrument continuously performs data collection tasks without idle periods. By maintaining a ready queue of tasks and automatically transitioning to the next task upon completion of the current one, the instrument's useful action continues uninterrupted, maximizing productivity and minimizing time loss.
2Ease of operation
If the surveying instrument waits for ongoing tasks to complete before accepting new instructions, then task execution order is maintained, but user responsiveness and instrument utilization deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system allows users to input and queue multiple tasks in advance while the instrument is executing ongoing tasks. The queue buffer stores these preliminary tasks, enabling users to respond and prepare new tasks without waiting for the instrument to complete current operations, thus improving ease of operation while maintaining instrument productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The task queue acts as an intermediary buffer between user input and instrument execution. It decouples the user's task input from the instrument's task execution, allowing users to submit tasks asynchronously without blocking the instrument's ongoing operations. This intermediary mechanism improves user responsiveness while maintaining continuous instrument utilization.
3Productivity
If additional data collection tasks are added during ongoing tasks, then instrument utilization improves by reducing idle time, but task management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments task management into distinct components: task creation, task queuing, and task execution. By separating these functions and using a structured queue data structure, the system can accept additional tasks during ongoing operations without creating management chaos. Each task is an independent unit in the queue, making tracking and execution straightforward despite multiple concurrent tasks.
Solution Approach 2:
The task queue is designed to be dynamic, allowing tasks to be added, removed, or prioritized during instrument operation. The queue automatically adjusts to new input tasks by appending them to the existing sequence, and the instrument dynamically transitions to the next task based on queue state changes. This dynamic structure enables flexible task management while maintaining simple execution logic.
Data Source
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AI summary
Methods (300), controllers (150) and computer program products for efficient utilization of a surveying instrument (100, 200) are provided. The surveying instrument may perform different types of data collection tasks, at least one of which includes measuring a direction and/or a distance to a target. The surveying instrument is controlled (310) to perform one or more data collection tasks in accordance with a queue (400) of one or more data collection tasks. The queue includes a data collection task (410) of at least one of the different types of data collection tasks. During an ongoing data collection task or during an ongoing sequence of data collection tasks, an instruction is received (320). The instruction indicates an additional data collection task to be performed by the surveying instrument in addition to the one or more tasks already in the queue. The surveying instrument is controlled (330) to perform data collection tasks in an order determined based on the queue and the received instruction.