Work device, base station, and work system
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing work devices with energy storage systems waste significant energy on empty trips to charging stations and abruptly interrupt tasks when energy levels drop, leading to inefficient energy consumption and task completion.
Innovation Solution
The control unit adjusts the charging threshold based on route data, allowing the device to continue working near a base station and optimizing energy consumption by minimizing trips to charging stations, using inductive charging mats for flexible positioning and charging.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a fixed charge threshold is used to prompt the work equipment to return to the charging station, then the energy storage device is recharged in time, but significant energy is wasted on empty trips and task execution is interrupted
Solution Approach 1:
The charge threshold is made dynamic rather than fixed. The control unit continuously adjusts the threshold based on real-time factors including remaining task duration, distance to base station, current charge level, and energy consumption rate. This allows the system to optimize the return-to-charge decision dynamically, avoiding premature returns that would waste energy on empty trips while ensuring timely recharging when necessary.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary calculations and predictions about future energy needs and task completion timelines before making the return-to-charge decision. By anticipating future conditions and pre-calculating the optimal return time, the system avoids reactive decisions that lead to energy waste, instead proactively planning the charge cycle to minimize disruption and energy consumption.
2Reliability
If the work equipment returns to the base station when energy reaches the threshold, then the energy storage device is recharged, but task completion is abruptly interrupted and productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically evaluates both the charge threshold and the task completion status together. Rather than using a static threshold that interrupts tasks arbitrarily, the control unit continuously assesses whether returning to charge would significantly impact task completion. The threshold becomes a flexible guideline that adapts to task progress, allowing the equipment to complete meaningful task segments before returning, thereby maintaining productivity while ensuring energy management reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter of charge threshold from a fixed value to a variable that depends on multiple factors including task progress, distance to base station, and energy consumption rate. This parameter transformation allows the threshold to shift based on operational context, enabling the system to delay charge returns when tasks are nearing completion or when the base station is far away, thus reducing task interruptions and improving overall productivity.
3Productivity
If the work equipment continues working until energy is depleted, then task completion efficiency is improved, but the risk of energy exhaustion and equipment failure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit implements continuous feedback monitoring of energy consumption rate, remaining charge level, and task progress. This real-time feedback allows the system to adjust the return-to-charge decision dynamically, ensuring that the equipment returns with sufficient charge margin to avoid failure while minimizing task interruption. The feedback loop continuously refines the optimal return timing based on actual operational conditions rather than relying on fixed thresholds or predictions alone.
Data Source
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Figure 5
AI summary
The present invention relates to a work device (1) comprising at least one control unit (2) and at least one energy storage device (3), wherein the work device (1) is designed and configured to move autonomously in a work environment (4), wherein the control unit (2) is designed and configured to cause the work device (1) to move to a base station (5) in the work environment (4) when the charge level of the energy storage device (3) reaches a threshold value, wherein the control unit (2) is designed and configured to adjust the threshold value using route data with respect to at least one base station (5).