Turf Vehicle Controller for Property Run Time and PTO Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Turf maintenance vehicles lack efficient systems for tracking engine run time and PTO engagement time accurately, leading to incomplete job cost tracking and missed maintenance reminders, especially for professional landscape contractors working on multiple properties.
Innovation Solution
An electronic controller system that includes a system memory for non-resettable engine run time and PTO engagement time tracking, along with a property memory that can be reset for each property, and a maintenance monitor that adjusts maintenance intervals based on operator inputs and task completion records.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If a single memory system is used for tracking engine run time, then the system is simple, but it cannot distinguish between total run time and property-specific run time
Solution Approach 1:
The memory system is divided into two distinct segments: system memory for non-resettable total run time tracking and property memory for resettable property-specific run time tracking. This segmentation allows the system to maintain both overall equipment usage records and individual property job cost records separately, preventing information loss while managing complexity through functional division.
2Measurement precision
If maintenance reminders are based on fixed time intervals, then the system is simple to operate, but it does not accurately reflect actual job costs when PTO is disengaged
Solution Approach 1:
The maintenance tracking system dynamically adjusts what it measures based on PTO engagement status. When PTO is engaged, the system actively tracks run time for maintenance calculations; when PTO is disengaged, tracking pauses or excludes that period. This dynamic behavior enables precise job cost measurement by only counting productive time while maintaining operational simplicity through automatic state-based adjustments.
3Loss of information
If the controller tracks both engine run time and PTO engagement time, then job cost tracking is accurate, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The electronic controller is designed with multi-functionality to handle multiple tracking responsibilities simultaneously. It monitors engine run time, PTO engagement status, maintains system memory records, manages property memory data, and generates maintenance reminders all through a single integrated controller. This universal approach consolidates what could be multiple separate devices into one unit, achieving complete operational data tracking while actually reducing overall system complexity through integration.
Data Source
AI summary
A control system for use with a turf maintenance vehicle. In one embodiment, the control system may provide a discrete engine speed input that may provide one engine speed command upon actuation, but result in additional engine speed commands depending on an actuation time of the input. In other embodiments, the vehicle may include an electronic controller (EC) providing resettable property statistics for one or more properties. In still another embodiment, the EC may provide a maintenance monitor onboard the vehicle that indicates maintenance status, when maintenance tasks are due or past due, and permanently records historical information regarding maintenance tasks. The maintenance monitor may further adjust a maintenance interval before the maintenance task is again due based upon inputs to the maintenance monitor.