Outdoor Utility Machine Weather Schedule Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing outdoor utility machines, such as lawn mowers, require complex and costly waterproof structures to detect rain, which complicates their design and operation, and users must manually adjust schedules based on weather forecasts, making the process cumbersome.
Innovation Solution
A control apparatus that uses a relay apparatus connected to a weather information server to autonomously adjust the operation schedule of utility machines based on weather forecasts, eliminating the need for rain sensors and simplifying the machine's structure by allowing it to operate according to predetermined weather conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a rain sensor is installed in the utility machine to detect rain, then the machine can detect adverse weather conditions, but the machine requires a waterproof structure which complicates the design and increases cost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a relay apparatus as an intermediary device that receives weather information from a server and transmits it to the utility machine. This mediator handles the weather detection function externally, allowing the utility machine to operate without its own rain sensor and waterproof structure, thus resolving the contradiction between detection capability and structural complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The weather detection function is extracted from the utility machine itself and placed in an external relay apparatus. By removing the rain sensor and waterproof structure requirements from the utility machine, the system achieves weather awareness without the associated complexity and cost
2Reliability
If users manually adjust the operation schedule based on weather forecasts, then the machine can avoid adverse weather conditions, but the process becomes cumbersome and requires user intervention
Solution Approach 1:
The utility machine automatically adjusts its own operation schedule based on weather information received from the relay apparatus. The system performs self-service by autonomously deciding when to operate or pause based on forecasted weather conditions, eliminating the need for users to manually check forecasts and adjust schedules
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements automatic feedback control where weather information is continuously received, processed, and used to adjust the operation schedule in real-time. This closed-loop feedback mechanism automatically responds to weather changes without requiring user intervention, resolving the contradiction between reliable weather-based scheduling and ease of operation
3Ease of manufacture
If the utility machine operates with a simple structure without waterproof structures, then manufacturing cost is reduced, but the machine cannot detect rain conditions directly
Solution Approach 1:
The relay apparatus serves multiple functions: it acts as a weather sensor, a communication relay, and a data processing unit. By consolidating these functions in a single external device, the system provides comprehensive weather information to the utility machine without requiring the machine itself to have complex sensing or waterproofing capabilities
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical rain sensor system (requiring physical contact with rain and waterproof structures) with an electronic information system that receives weather data remotely. This substitution eliminates the need for mechanical weather detection components while maintaining the ability to obtain accurate weather information
Data Source
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AI summary
A control apparatus for a utility machine (1) is configured to automatically work outdoors. The control apparatus includes a work actuator (13) installed in the utility machine (1), a setting unit (321) setting a time schedule of the utility machine (1) in advance, an information acquiring unit (322) acquiring current and future weather information for a work site or nearby, an adjusting unit (324) adjusting the time schedule based on the weather information acquired by the information acquiring unit (322), and an actuator control unit (12) configure to control the work actuator (13) so that the utility machine (1) works in accordance with a time schedule adjusted by the adjusting unit (324).