Weighting Sensor Data with Environmental Factors for Passenger Transport

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing systems for monitoring the condition of passenger transportation systems, such as elevators and escalators, face challenges due to spurious sensor readings caused by environmental influences, which can lead to inaccurate data and maintenance needs.

Innovation Solution

A method that involves receiving condition data from sensors within the system and environmental data from external sensors, weighting the condition data with environmental factors to compensate for influences, and determining the system's state based on the weighted data, using a controller or cloud-based application to evaluate and determine the equipment's operational status.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Difficulty of detecting and measuring

If condition sensors are used to monitor equipment status, then equipment state detection capability is improved, but measurement precision deteriorates due to environmental influences causing spurious sensor readings

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveequipment state detection capabilityVSAvoidsensor reading accuracy

Core Design Contradiction:

Difficulty of detecting and measuringVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

Environmental sensors act as intermediary devices that measure environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, noise, vibration) and provide compensating data to correct the readings from condition sensors. This mediator approach allows the system to maintain equipment state detection capability while compensating for environmental influences that would otherwise degrade measurement precision.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes parameters by introducing environmental parameters (temperature, humidity, noise levels, vibration) as additional measurement variables. These environmental parameters are used to dynamically adjust and compensate the condition sensor readings, transforming the raw sensor data into corrected values that account for environmental variations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

2Measurement precision

If environmental sensors are added to compensate for environmental influences, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesensor reading accuracyVSAvoidsystem structure

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The controller is designed with multi-functionality, serving both as the control system for the passenger transportation system and as the evaluation system that processes both condition sensor data and environmental sensor data. This universal approach allows environmental compensation without requiring a separate dedicated evaluation device, thereby reducing overall system complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The system merges the condition monitoring function and environmental compensation function into a unified evaluation process. By combining the processing of condition sensor data and environmental sensor data within a single controller, the system achieves measurement precision improvement while avoiding the complexity of separate independent systems.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

3Reliability

If environmental data weighting is implemented, then reliability of equipment state determination is improved, but loss of information increases due to data processing requirements

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveequipment state determination accuracyVSAvoiddata processing overhead

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies partial action by selectively weighting environmental data based on relevance. Not all environmental parameters are equally important for all equipment conditions, so the system weights and processes only the most relevant environmental factors, achieving reliability improvement while minimizing unnecessary data processing and information loss.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentUS11679955B2Weighting sensor data with environmental data in a system for transportation of passengers

Publication Date: 2023.06.20 INVENTIO AG

AI summary

A method for determining a state of a system for transportation of passengers includes the steps of: receiving condition data of the system, the condition data being generated by a condition sensor adapted for sensing physical conditions of an equipment of the system; receiving environmental data of the system, the environmental data containing information on an influence of an environment of the system on the equipment and/or the condition sensor; weighting the condition data with the environmental data; and determining a state of the equipment based on the weighted condition data.