WO2020244403A1 - Control system applicable to intelligent freezer and control method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

A control system applicable to an intelligent freezer and a control method therefor. The control system comprises an intelligent freezer, a 4G router, and an upper computer system, wherein the intelligent freezer comprises a sensor collection unit, a touch unit, an access control unit, and a main control unit; an information collection unit is used for sending collected environmental information and biometric information to the main control unit; the touch unit is used for receiving information input by a user; the access control unit is used for controlling turn-on or turn-off of an access control device; and the main control unit is used for processing the received information and sending the processed information to the upper computer system; and the upper computer system sends a door opening/closing instruction to the main control unit according to the received processed information, so as to control turn-on or turn-off of the access control device. The control system of the present invention implements a multi-path-input and single-path-output mode, and greatly saves communication resources of an upper computer; and when the control system cooperates with the upper computer system, application in the current most of unmanned retail freezer scenarios can be implemented.

Description

Control system and control method suitable for intelligent refrigerator Technical field

The present invention relates to the technical field of intelligent retail, in particular to a control system suitable for intelligent refrigerators and a control method thereof.

Background technique

In recent years, with the rising cost of offline retail and the impact of online e-commerce, the offline retail industry is in a state of shrinking. The survey found that the current status of offline retail operations mainly has the following problems: obvious homogeneity of the business model, severe impact from e-commerce, rising operating costs, and lagging consumer experience. For this reason, smart refrigerators for self-service vending have gradually appeared on the market. This kind of intelligent freezer does not require personnel to be on duty, is not restricted by time and location, greatly saves manpower, reduces operating costs, and also greatly facilitates users and improves user experience.

And with the improvement of people's living standards, people have higher and higher requirements for energy consumption and intelligent control of commercial and domestic freezers. Most of the existing freezer control methods on the market use mechanical controllers. The mechanical control function is single and cannot be intelligently adjusted when failures occur. It cannot meet people's requirements for intelligent control. The electronic control freezers in the home appliance market have some functions. The above has realized intelligence, but when the freezer fails, it cannot self-adjust and cannot realize intelligent fuzzy error correction control. And if people do not discover the temperature control failure of the freezer in time, the contents in the freezer are easily melted, causing a lot of inconvenience and even serious economic losses to customers.

Generally, many pain points encountered in software algorithms are solved by designing a control system with corresponding architecture configuration. However, the control system for intelligent refrigerators has problems such as redundancy of hardware parts, complicated installation, and high cost. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the existing control system for intelligent refrigerators.

Summary of the invention

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, the present invention proposes a control system and a control method suitable for intelligent refrigerators.

In order to achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

The first aspect of the present invention is to provide a control system suitable for a smart refrigerator, including a smart refrigerator, a 4G router, and a host computer system. The smart refrigerator includes a sensor acquisition unit, a touch unit, an access control unit, and a main control unit ;among them:

The information collection unit includes a number of sensors for collecting environmental information of the smart refrigerator and collecting user's biometric information, and sending the collected environmental information and the biometric information to the main control unit through an RS232 interface;

The touch control unit is used to receive information input by a user, and transmit the input information to the main control unit;

The access control unit is used to control the opening or closing of the access control device, and send the data of the access control state to the main control unit;

The main control unit is configured to process the received access control state data, environmental information, and biometric information, and send the processed information to the host computer system through a USB interface; and

The host computer system conducts information interaction with the main control unit in real time, and sends a door opening and closing instruction to the main control unit according to the received processed information, and the main control unit controls the opening or closing of the access control device .

Further, in the control system suitable for a smart refrigerator, the smart refrigerator further includes a power supply unit for supplying power to each functional unit, and the power supply unit is connected to the main control unit.

Further, in the control system suitable for a smart refrigerator, the smart refrigerator further includes an audio unit, the audio unit is connected to the main control unit, and the host computer system instruction is received through the main control unit, Voice feedback and prompts follow user behavior.

Further, in the control system suitable for the intelligent refrigerator, the main control unit is provided with a remote switch module, and the host computer system monitors and controls the remote switch module through a network HTTP service.

Further, in the control system suitable for a smart refrigerator, the sensor collection unit includes a camera, a temperature sensor, a gravity sensor, and a light sensor.

Further, in the control system suitable for the intelligent refrigerator, the main control unit adopts a 32-bit single-chip microcomputer.

Further, in the control system suitable for a smart refrigerator, the RS232 interface is a 4-way RS232 interface; the USB interface is a 10-way USB interface.

Further, in the control system suitable for the intelligent refrigerator, the host computer system sends a door opening and closing instruction to the main control unit through the USB interface, and the main control unit controls the door through the RS232 interface Opening or closing of access control equipment.

The second aspect of the present invention is to provide a control method of the system suitable for smart refrigerators, which includes the following steps:

S1: The host computer system detects whether the 4G router is connected to the Internet, and the main control unit waits for the host computer to exchange information;

S2, it is judged whether the main control unit can have received the feedback of the upper computer system's networking status, and if so, execute step S3;

S3: After receiving the feedback information of successful networking, the main control unit performs power-on operations on each functional unit in a certain logical sequence;

S4, the host computer system judges whether the remote switch module can request the HTTP server, if so, execute S5;

S5, the main control unit starts to continuously receive the serial port signal of the sensor acquisition unit, and processes the sensor data transmitted by the serial port, and after the processing is completed, it is converted into a USB signal and sent to the host computer system;

S6, the main control unit detects the signal output by the electric bolt lock in the current access control unit, recognizes the output data, and interacts with the upper computer system in real time, and waits for the upper computer system to issue an operation instruction to switch the electric bolt lock;

S7: It is judged whether the main control unit has received the electric bolt lock operation instruction sent by the host computer system. If it is, the system has completed one cycle; if not, the step S7 is repeated.

Further, in the control method suitable for the smart refrigerator, in step S2, if it is determined that the main control unit does not receive the feedback of the upper computer system's networking status, step S1 is repeated.

Further, in the control method applicable to the smart refrigerator, in step S4, if the host computer system determines that the remote switch module cannot request the HTTP server, then it determines the number of times the remote switch module requests the HTTP server. If it is greater than 3 times, then Perform step S5; if less than or equal to 3 times, perform step S4.

Compared with the prior art, the present invention adopts the above technical scheme and has the following technical effects:

(1) The scope of application is wide. The control system of the present invention is realized by combining multiple functional modules, and is finally packaged into a complete whole system. It is not restricted by usage scenarios, installation methods, etc., and can be installed on current commercial refrigerators of various brands;

(2) The realization cost is low and the reliability is high. Each functional unit included in the control system of the present invention is designed in accordance with industrial standards, and at the same time, optimization and cost integration are performed according to the previous version of the stable system;

(3) High scalability. Since the entire system uses standard serial communication methods both internally and externally, the entire system reserves multiple serial communication methods with different functions at the beginning of the design, so it has good scalability in subsequent update iterations. .

Description of the drawings

Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a control system suitable for intelligent refrigerators according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a control method suitable for a smart refrigerator according to the present invention.

Detailed ways

The present invention will be described in detail and concretely below through specific embodiments, so as to better understand the present invention, but the following embodiments do not limit the scope of the present invention.

Example 1

Referring to FIG. 1, this embodiment provides a control system suitable for a smart refrigerator, including a smart refrigerator, a 4G router, and an upper computer system. The smart refrigerator includes a sensor acquisition unit, a touch unit, an access control unit, and a main control unit. unit. The main control unit adopts a 32-bit single-chip microcomputer, and interacts with the host computer system through the 32-bit single-chip microcomputer to simulate multithreading.

In this embodiment, referring to FIG. 1, the information collection unit includes a number of sensors for collecting environmental information of a smart refrigerator and collecting biometric information of a user, and combining the collected environmental information and the biometrics. The information is sent to the main control unit through the RS232 interface. The information collection unit includes 4 sensors, which can be expanded to 5 sensors at most. The control system forwards the data of the 4 sensors at a frequency of 40 Hz. At the same time, the collected data of the 4 sensors is uncovered and converted into USB signals through RS232, and communicates with the host computer system through the built-in HUB chip. In order to integrate all the functional units in all intelligent refrigerators and the upper computer communication into a serial port.

As a preferred embodiment, the sensor collection unit includes a camera, a temperature sensor, a gravity sensor, a light sensor, etc., and is used to collect environmental factors such as temperature and light inside and outside the freezer in real time through a temperature sensor, a gravity sensor, and a light sensor. Collect the user's biometric information in real time. At the same time, the gravity sensor detects the gravity change of the items on the current storage tray to identify the user's holding and placing situation, and assists with the camera.

In this embodiment, referring to FIG. 1, the touch control unit is used to receive information input by a user and transmit the input information to the main control unit; the touch control unit is a touch switch, which It is used to identify the user's intention to open the freezer door. After analyzing the received information and identifying the user's identity through the host computer system, the access control unit performs an opening operation for the current user, and the user takes out the item.

In this embodiment, referring to FIG. 1, the main control unit is used to process the received access control state data, environmental information, and biometric information, and send the processed information to The host computer system; and the host computer system communicates information with the main control unit in real time, and sends a door opening and closing instruction to the main control unit according to the received processed information, and the main control unit Control the opening or closing of access control equipment. The host computer system monitors the electric lock status of the access control equipment on the intelligent freezer in real time, analyzes the status of the cabinet door and the status of the bolt, thereby judging the current door opening and closing conditions of the intelligent cabinet, and interacts with the main control unit to complete the host computer Logic realization between system algorithm and control program.

In this embodiment, please continue to refer to Figure 1. The smart freezer also includes a power supply unit for supplying power to each functional unit. The power supply unit is connected to the main control unit, and the main control unit provides Functional units such as sensor acquisition unit, touch control unit, access control unit, main control unit, audio unit, 4G router and host computer system provide power to ensure the normal operation of the system. The intelligent freezer control system is powered on for initialization. First, the function configuration of the main control unit is performed. After the function configuration is completed, the network chip is configured to the HTTP request mode, and the configuration is completed and enters the standby mode, waiting for network access.

In this embodiment, please continue to refer to FIG. 1. The smart refrigerator also includes an audio unit, which is connected to the main control unit, and receives host computer system instructions through the main control unit to communicate with the user Voice feedback and prompts for behavior.

In this embodiment, a remote switch module is provided on the main control unit, and the host computer system monitors and controls the remote switch module through a network HTTP service.

In this embodiment, the RS232 interface is a 4-way RS232 interface; the USB interface is a 10-way USB interface. The host computer system sends a door opening and closing instruction to the main control unit through the USB interface, and the main control unit controls the opening or closing of the access control device through the RS232 interface. Since the entire system of this embodiment uses a standard serial port communication method inside and outside, the entire system reserves multiple serial port communication methods with different functions at the beginning of the design, so it has good scalability in subsequent update iterations. Compared with the existing two hosts respectively providing 4 USB interfaces and corresponding sufficient bandwidth, the host configuration architecture of this embodiment can effectively increase the upper limit of the number of USB device connections of the current ordinary PC platform (equivalent to the upper computer system), and solve the problem of USB Insufficient bandwidth; solve the current situation of fewer serial ports on common PC platforms, and realize simultaneous multiple connections of USB and serial ports.

Please continue to refer to Figure 2. The present invention manages multiple different types of functional units in the smart refrigerator through the main control unit, and drives each part of the functional units through the main control unit, thus realizing multiple input and single output. This mode greatly saves the communication resources of the host computer; and the main control unit of the intelligent freezer itself controls all functional units. It does not depend on the host computer system. At the same time, it can be used in conjunction with the host computer system to realize most of the current unmanned retail freezer scenarios. application.

Example 2

Please refer to Figure 2, which shows the specific flow of the intelligent freezer control method based on the control system described in Example 1. The control system processes the data sent and received according to specific logic, and uses a 32-bit single-chip microcomputer to simulate multithreading with the host computer. System interaction.

The control method suitable for smart refrigerators includes the following steps:

S1, the host computer system detects whether the 4G router is connected to the Internet, and the main control unit waits for the host computer to exchange information; in this step S1, the upper computer and the main control unit are initialized, and the function configuration of the main control unit is first performed. The network chip is configured in HTTP request mode, and the configuration is completed and enters standby mode, waiting for network access;

S2, it is judged whether the main control unit can have received the feedback of the upper computer system's networking status, and if so, execute step S3;

S3: After the main control unit receives the feedback information of successful networking, it configures the system ID, and at the same time requests the specified server address at a frequency of 0.1 Hz, and waits for the server to return the current host status data. After the data is successfully received, the system exits the standby mode and follows Power-on operation of each functional unit in logical sequence;

S4: After the control system exits the standby mode, it enters the main loop. The host computer system determines whether the remote switch module can request the HTTP server. Specifically, the HTTP service continues to request the server at a frequency of 0.1 Hz, and waits for the server to issue instructions to realize remote switching Machine function, if yes, execute S5; if no, execute fault tolerance mechanism to improve overall stability;

S5: Forward the data of 4 sensors to the main control unit at a frequency of 40 Hz. The main control unit starts to continuously receive the serial port signal of the sensor acquisition unit, and processes the sensor data transmitted by the serial port. After the processing is completed, it is converted into a USB signal and sent to the upper level The computer system communicates with the host computer system through the built-in HUB chip;

S6, the main control unit detects the signal output by the electric bolt lock in the current access control unit, recognizes the output data, and interacts with the upper computer system in real time, and waits for the upper computer system to issue an operation instruction to switch the electric bolt lock;

S7: It is judged whether the main control unit has received the electric bolt lock operation instruction sent by the host computer system. If it is, the system has completed one cycle; if not, the step S7 is repeated.

In this embodiment, referring to FIG. 2, in step S2, if it is determined that the main control unit does not receive the feedback of the upper computer system networking status, step S1 is repeated.

In this embodiment, referring to FIG. 2, in step S4, if the host computer system determines that the remote switch module cannot request the HTTP server, then it determines the number of times the remote switch module requests the HTTP server. If it is greater than 3 times, then execute step S5; If it is less than or equal to 3 times, step S4 is executed.

In this embodiment, referring to Figure 2, in step S6, the host computer system monitors the electric lock status of the access control unit in the smart freezer in real time through the main control unit, and analyzes the status of the cabinet door and the lock tongue to determine The current door opening and closing conditions of the intelligent freezer and the interaction with the main control unit complete the logic realization between the upper computer algorithm and the main control unit control program.

The specific embodiments of the present invention are described in detail above, but they are only examples, and the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above. For those skilled in the art, any equivalent modifications and substitutions made to the present invention are also within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, all equivalent changes and modifications made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention should fall within the scope of the present invention.

Claims (10)

1. A control system suitable for a smart refrigerator, including a smart refrigerator, a 4G router, and an upper computer system, wherein the smart refrigerator includes a sensor acquisition unit, a touch unit, an access control unit and a main control unit; wherein:

   The information collection unit includes a number of sensors for collecting environmental information of the smart refrigerator and collecting user's biometric information, and sending the collected environmental information and the biometric information to the main control unit through an RS232 interface;

   The touch control unit is used to receive information input by a user, and transmit the input information to the main control unit;

   The access control unit is used to control the opening or closing of the access control device, and send the data of the access control state to the main control unit;

   The main control unit is configured to process the received access control state data, environmental information, and biometric information, and send the processed information to the host computer system through a USB interface; and

   The host computer system conducts information interaction with the main control unit in real time, and sends a door opening and closing instruction to the main control unit according to the received processed information, and the main control unit controls the opening or closing of the access control device .
2. The control system suitable for a smart refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the smart refrigerator further comprises a power supply unit for supplying power to each functional unit, and the power supply unit is connected to the main control unit.
3. The control system suitable for a smart refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the smart refrigerator further comprises an audio unit, the audio unit is connected to the main control unit, and the host computer is received by the main control unit System commands, voice feedback and prompts with user behavior.
4. The control system suitable for intelligent refrigerators according to claim 1, wherein the main control unit is provided with a remote switch module, and the host computer system monitors the remote switch module through a network HTTP service And control.
5. The control system suitable for a smart refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the sensor collection unit includes a camera, a temperature sensor, a gravity sensor, and a light sensor.
6. The control system suitable for a smart refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the RS232 interface is a 4-way RS232 interface; the USB interface is a 10-way USB interface.
7. The control system suitable for intelligent refrigerators according to claim 1, wherein the main control unit adopts a 32-bit single-chip microcomputer.
8. A control method suitable for a smart refrigerator of the system according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that it comprises the following steps:

   S1: The host computer system detects whether the 4G router is connected to the Internet, and the main control unit waits for the host computer to exchange information;

   S2, it is judged whether the main control unit can have received the feedback of the upper computer system's networking status, and if so, execute step S3;

   S3: After receiving the feedback information of successful networking, the main control unit performs power-on operations on each functional unit in a certain logical sequence;

   S4, the host computer system judges whether the remote switch module can request the HTTP server, if so, execute S5;

   S5, the main control unit starts to continuously receive the serial port signal of the sensor acquisition unit, and processes the sensor data transmitted by the serial port, and after the processing is completed, it is converted into a USB signal and sent to the host computer system;

   S6, the main control unit detects the signal output by the electric bolt lock in the current access control unit, recognizes the output data, and interacts with the upper computer system in real time, and waits for the upper computer system to issue an operation instruction to switch the electric bolt lock;

   S7: It is judged whether the main control unit has received the electric bolt lock operation instruction sent by the host computer system. If it is, the system has completed one cycle; if not, the step S7 is repeated.
9. The control method suitable for a smart refrigerator according to claim 8, characterized in that, in step S2, if it is determined that the main control unit cannot receive the feedback of the upper computer system's networking status, step S1 is repeated.
10. The control method suitable for a smart refrigerator according to claim 9, characterized in that, in step S4, if the host computer system determines that the remote switch module cannot request the HTTP server, then it is determined that the number of HTTP server requests from the remote switch module is greater than 3. If it is less than or equal to 3 times, then execute step S4.

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