RU199848U1 - DEVICE FOR COLLECTING AND TRANSMISSION OF SPATIAL-TIME DATA ON THE ENVIRONMENT DURING THE MOTION OF THE DEVICE - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model refers to a device for collecting and transmitting spatio-temporal data about the environment during the movement of the device itself and is designed to solve the problems of remote collection of spatio-temporal data at geographically distributed objects in industry, agriculture and utilities, to automate scientific research and in other sectors of the economy and social sphere. The device can also be used as part of a cyber-physical system for monitoring production processes. A device for collecting and transmitting spatio-temporal data about the environment during the movement of the device itself contains a central processor, a location determination unit, a communication unit using a wireless communication network, non-volatile memory, a time measurement unit, a sensor controller and the sensors themselves. At the same time, the sensors are connected to a single expandable bus supporting a unified digital data exchange protocol and provide parallel operation, independently interacting with the controller via the bus. The technical result of the proposed utility model is to increase the efficiency of collecting spatio-temporal data performed while the device is in motion, by providing a more accurate assessment of the spatial uncertainty of measurements associated with this movement, and taking them into account in the mathematical processing of measurements. 2 h. p. f-ly, 1 dwg

Description

The utility model refers to a device for collecting and transmitting spatio-temporal data about the environment during the movement of the device itself and is designed to solve the problems of remote collection of spatio-temporal data at geographically distributed objects in industry, agriculture and utilities, to automate scientific research and in other sectors of the economy and social sphere. The device can also be used as part of a cyber-physical system for monitoring production processes.

Uncertainty data should always be taken into account when evaluating the fitness of a measurement result for its purpose. Measurement uncertainty (according to GOST 34100.1-2017) measurement uncertainty is a general concept associated with any measurement. Uncertainty characterizes the spread of measured values within which they can be objectively attributed to the measured value. For example, the area of uncertainty in determining the location of the measurement at the time of measurement in the case of using for this purpose receivers of global navigation satellite systems (for example, GPS or GLONASS) can be determined by the coordinates of the center (latitude and longitude) received by the receiver and the radius determined based on the indicator "horizontal decrease in accuracy ”, which is denoted in the English-language scientific literature by the abbreviation HDOP (horizontal dilution of precision).

Uncertainty of measurement, as a rule, includes many components, which, generally speaking, can depend on each other, which complicates the assessment of the resulting uncertainty.

In connection with the emergence and introduction of cyber-physical systems into production, it became especially important to assess the spatial uncertainty of measurement, that is, to determine the area of space in which the measurement was made.

The roadmap of the direction of the National Technological Initiative "Technet" identified the technological directions that make up the components

Factories of the Future, which include industrial sensing, that is, the introduction of intelligent sensors into a room at the level of a workshop or a factory as a whole. With the observed tightening of tolerances in technological processes, the role of measurement uncertainty in assessing compliance with these tolerances is increasing.

According to the Russian standard GOST R GSI 8.673-2009, an intelligent sensor (sensor) is understood as an adaptive sensor with a metrological self-monitoring function, which must contain parameters and work algorithms that can change depending on external signals. The development of technologies in this area has led to the emergence of devices that provide the ability to determine their location, equipped with intelligent sensors and the ability to use wireless data transmission networks - geosensors. Geosensor wireless networks can be defined as wireless sensor networks that are designed to receive data on events for which the spatial aspect of the collected data is essential. The spatial significance of the collected data can manifest itself at at least one of the following levels:

- the content level, that is, the spatial aspect can be the main content of the data collected by the sensors of the network (for example, sensors that register the movement or deformation of objects);

- the level of analysis, that is, information about the location of the sensors can provide an integrative level for analyzing the collected data (for example, for analyzing the spatial distribution of any parameters that are significant for controlling the production process).

The growth of opportunities for obtaining various spatio-temporal data using networks of intelligent geosensors has led to the need to solve the problem of increasing the accuracy of estimating spatial uncertainty. In the case of measurements of spatially unevenly distributed environmental parameters at geographically distributed objects using moving devices, this complexity becomes especially high. Suppose we periodically (with a certain specified time interval) measure the parameters of the gaseous medium (for example, the content of CO and NO2) with a moving device and want to get as much as possible

a more accurate assessment of the spatial and temporal uncertainty of the obtained measurements of these parameters. In other words, we want to ascribe the CO and NO2 level values obtained from the sensors of this moving device as accurately as possible to the defined spatial and temporal regions.

In a solution known from the prior art (RF patent for utility model 102394, publ. 02/27/2011, IPC: G05B23 / 02), sensor nodes consist of one base module and one peripheral module, interacting with each other using the sensor node expansion bus. The base module has two interfaces, one of which is connected to the sensor node expansion bus, and the other is connected to the transport network, the peripheral module has two interfaces, one of which is connected to the sensor node expansion bus, and the other is connected to the sensor or actuator. I2C-based buses are used as an expansion bus for the sensor node

or CANbus. In the most preferred embodiment of the utility model, the sensor unit consists of a basic sensor unit and several peripheral modules, and the peripheral module has several interfaces for connecting various sensors and / or actuators, for example, interfaces, 4-20 mA, 0-24 V, dry contact ", RS-232, RS-422, RS-485, interfaces for connecting a thermocouple, copper and platinum resistance thermometers, strain gauges with a bridge circuit, electrochemical gas sensors.

In the case of connecting as one of the sensors connected to the peripheral module, a location device, we can get some location value associated with the measurement. However, to estimate the spatial uncertainty of this measurement in the case of a moving sensor node, it is possible to use only a very rough estimate from above, that is, to define this spatial region as a set of locations which can be reached from the obtained position value, taking into account the speed of the module (which can vary), the total time polling of all peripheral modules (for each peripheral module, the total polling time of all sensors connected to this module), as well as the uncertainty in determining the location of the positioning device itself (which, generally speaking, also changes).

The proposed utility model is aimed at solving the problem of obtaining an accurate estimate of the uncertainties of the measurements carried out during the movement of the device itself, associated with this movement, and is intended for solving the problems of remote collection of spatio-temporal data at geographically distributed objects in industry, agriculture and utilities.

Knowledge of the measurement uncertainty allows one to compare the measurement result with the established requirements in conformity assessment, find the probability of making a wrong decision and, taking it into account, manage the emerging risks.

The technical result of the proposed utility model is to increase the efficiency of collecting spatio-temporal data performed while the device is in motion, by providing a more accurate assessment of the spatial uncertainty of measurements associated with this movement, and taking them into account in the mathematical processing of measurements.

The technical result is achieved in that the claimed device for collecting and transmitting spatio-temporal data about the environment during the movement of the device itself contains a central processor, a location determination unit, a communication unit using a wireless communication network, non-volatile

memory, time measurement unit, sensor controller and the sensors themselves, while the sensors are connected to a single expandable bus that supports a unified digital data exchange protocol and provide parallel operation independently interacting with the controller through the bus.

In the preferred embodiment, all sensors are connected to a single expandable bus that supports a unified digital communication protocol. All sensors can work in parallel and independently, interacting with the controller via the bus.

The post-processing of the results of the primary transformation can be carried out independently of the measurements, on the central processor.

In a preferred embodiment, each sensor provides a timing coordination mechanism for timing the measurements (time intervals).

All measurement data (time stamps, location in space and values of other measured quantities) can be transmitted to the processing system together with the uncertainty data of the corresponding measurement.

Transformations of values of time, position in space and other measured quantities are made taking into account data on their uncertainty and, in turn, are also supplied with data on uncertainty.

Data transmission to external (in relation to the device) devices can be performed independently of the performance of the measurements themselves with a configurable frequency. All measurements performed can be transferred to external devices.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of the claimed device.

A position fixing device means a receiver of global positioning satellite systems (GPS, Glonass).

In some cases, these can be: - receivers of local positioning systems, in particular based on WiFi, - inertial positioning systems, - a combination of the above.

A communication device using a wireless communication network means devices for communicating with cellular networks (4G, LTE). In some cases, these can be local communication networks such as Wi-Fi, ZigBee, etc.

In the simplest case, a device with non-volatile memory means a flash memory (SD card), in a more complex case, a solid-state disk (SSD). Designed for storage mainly:

- measurements (not yet transferred to the external system or for a certain

period of time),

- device settings and sensor parameters.

A time measuring device is understood as an autonomous real time clock (RTC). For example, STMicroelectronics of the M41T6x family or Cymbet of the EnerChip RTC family.

Sensor controller is a microcontroller that interacts with the sensor bus on the one hand, and with the central processor on the other. Provides the ability for a CPU with a real-time operating system, which is not suitable for strict real-time tasks, to interact, via the bus, with real-time sensors.

Provides transfer of device settings to sensor microcontrollers, collection

data from them and buffering.

Able to give data to the central processor in batches, in the format "all measurements accumulated from the last request".

Sensors are a device consisting in turn of a primary

converter, microcontroller and peripheral devices providing them

functioning.

Primary transducer (Measuring transducer) - a technical means used to convert a measured value into another value or a measurement signal convenient for processing. It can be of any type and task, in particular, but not limited to the tasks of measuring meteorological (pressure, temperature, humidity, etc.) and environmental (illumination, concentration of gases in the air, etc.) indicators.

The microcontroller provides receiving of measuring signals from the primary converter, their presentation in a unified form, supplying them with the necessary time marks and measurement uncertainties. The microcontroller can be a representative of the AVR ATTiny family manufactured by Atmel Corporation.

The specific structure of uncertainty is the subject of

independent research, but in a rough form, at this stage, it consists of

number, from:

1.the uncertainties of the operation of the primary converter itself,

2.the uncertainties of the measurement signal conversion (for example

analog-to-digital conversion),

uncertainties of measured start and end times

measurements.

All sensors are connected to a single expandable bus. The bus technology can be any: SPI, I2C, CANbus, etc. The main requirement is to ensure that a sufficient number of devices with sufficient bandwidth can communicate. The values of these parameters are determined by the field of application of the device.

Each sensor has a mechanism for temporal coordination of measurements. Each microcontroller, including those used on sensors, has local time counters (as a rule, since the start of the microcontroller).

This mechanism involves receiving data on global accurate time from the sensor controller and comparing them with local time data.

As a result, each measurement carried out can be coordinated in time: i.e. have a record of the start and end times.

All transformations of values of time, position in space and other measured values are made taking into account data on their uncertainty and, in turn, are also supplied with data on uncertainty.

Any primary (measuring) and intermediate (analog-to-digital) converter, real time clock, positioning systems, etc. have a certain uncertainty.

Most often, it can be specified as a constant (for example, in the form A +/- B), or in the format of a table depending on other parameters: for example, many processes are temperature dependent. Less often - in an analytical form (in the form of formulas). In addition, the physical and logical organization of measurement processes, as well as the features of the subject area, also introduce uncertainties.

Simplest example: position of a positioning system antenna

physically does not coincide with the position of the primary head. Depending on the tasks assigned to the device, different requirements for accuracy are possible, which, in turn, determine which uncertainties can be neglected and which must be taken into account. If the uncertainty of the initial values is known, then the uncertainty of the values that are the result of the mathematical transformation of the initial values can be determined.

Thus, the device model assumes that uncertainty data accompanies measurements at all stages from primary conversion to their transfer to an external system.

Data transmission to external (in relation to the device) devices is performed regardless of the performance of the measurements themselves with a configurable frequency.

Each primary converter has its own optimal operating cycle, which can last from a few milliseconds to tens of seconds.

At the same time, the logic of sending data to external systems (data collection center), implemented by the application software running on the central processor, can assume different data sending frequencies, in the range from 0.01 to 10 Hz.

In addition, the frequency of sending measurements can be determined dynamically, depending on the measured data, the logic embedded in the application software and external commands.

Thus, the cycles of sending data and measurements should be as independent and isolated from each other as possible.

Claims (3)

1. A device for collecting and transmitting spatio-temporal data about the environment during the movement of the device itself, containing a central processor, a location determination unit, a communication unit using a wireless communication network, non-volatile memory, a time measurement unit, a sensor controller, and the sensors are made with the ability to connect to a single expandable bus that supports a unified digital data exchange protocol and the ability to provide parallel operation independently interacting with the controller through the bus, and the sensor controller on the one hand interacts with the sensor bus, on the other - with the central processor, provides the ability of the central processor to interact through buses with sensors and provides transfer of device settings to sensor microcontrollers, data collection from them and buffering. 2. The device according to claim. 1, in which each sensor is made with the possibility of temporal coordination of measurements and providing measurements with time stamps (time intervals). 3. The device according to claim 1, which is made with the possibility of converting the values of time, position in space and other measured quantities, taking into account the data on their uncertainty.

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