WO2021172892A1 - Smart onsite control panel for underground facility measurement - Google Patents

Abstract

A smart onsite control panel for underground facility measurement is provided. A battery is provided in a case, an antenna connection unit is connected to an antenna, an analog sensor connection unit is mounted on an underground facility so as to be connected to a plurality of analog sensors for sensing a designated state according to a use of the underground facility, and a SIM card transmits, through the antenna, state sensing information sensed by the plurality of analog sensors to an external device located on the ground.

Description

Smart field control panel for underground facility measurement

The present invention relates to a smart field control panel for measuring underground facilities.

Recently, due to deterioration of underground facilities, improper construction or difficulties in management, road damage and red tap water supply due to poor water supply pipelines, sinkholes and river water quality accidents due to poor sewage pipelines, fatal accidents due to damage to heating pipelines, gas pipeline damage Various social problems are occurring, such as explosion accidents, communication service interruption due to a fire in the common pit, and illegal oil theft from oil pipelines.

On the other hand, due to the development of sensing technology, monitoring of urban facilities has been activated in traffic and crime prevention, but it is still difficult to monitor the above-mentioned underground facilities.

This is because most of the underground facilities exist under the road or sidewalk and require excavation work for burying electricity and sensors, and also require a large on-site control panel as shown in FIG. 1 .

In the case of FIG. 1 , a sensor mounted in an underground facility receives power at all times through a wire, and has a plurality of wires in order to transmit the sensed information to the on-site control panel. In addition, in the large field control panel, the transducer and the sensing device provided in the field control panel must be changed according to the purpose of measurement such as flow rate or water level, the characteristics of the place to be measured, and the measurement method, but they are provided uniformly. For example, in order to measure the flow rate and water quality in one place, one transducer for measuring the flow rate and the transducer for measuring the water quality should be installed, respectively, and the transducers are respectively connected to the flow sensor and the water quality sensor through sensor cables.

In addition, there is a battery-based mobile measurement equipment, but this has a high accident risk and inconvenience in data collection because the operator must directly enter the manhole to collect data.

The technical problem to be achieved by the present invention in order to solve the above problems is to use a small on-site control panel that is easy to carry, move, and install, to sense the state related to water and sewage and to collect or transmit it to an external device. It is to present a smart field control panel for

The problems to be solved of the present invention are not limited to those mentioned above, and other problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

As a means for solving the above-described technical problem, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a smart field control panel for measuring underground facilities, a case; a battery provided in the case; Antenna connection unit connected to the antenna; an analog sensor connection unit mounted on an underground facility and connected to a plurality of analog sensors for sensing a state designated according to the purpose of the underground facility; and a SIM (Subscriber Identification Module) card provided in the case and configured to transmit status sensing information sensed by the plurality of analog sensors to an external device through the antenna.

The analog sensor connection unit is simultaneously connected to a plurality of analog sensors using a multi-connector, and receives different state sensing information from the plurality of analog sensors.

When the underground facility is one of a water pipe and a heating pipe, the plurality of analog sensors include at least one of a flow sensor, a water quality sensor, a sound wave sensor, and a lid opening/closing sensor, and when the underground facility is a sewage pipe, the plurality of analog sensors The analog sensors include at least one of a water level sensor, a flow sensor, a water quality sensor, and a lid opening/closing sensor. contains at least one.

Further comprising; a digital connection unit connected to a driving device for driving the underground facility to transmit a driving control signal, wherein the SIM card receives the driving control signal from the external device, a driving control signal through the digital connection unit is transmitted to the driving device.

A serial sensor connection unit mounted in the underground facility and connected to a plurality of serial sensors communicating using one of an RS485 communication method and an RS232 communication method; further including, wherein the SIM card is sensed by the serial sensors The sensing information is transmitted to an external device through the antenna.

According to the present invention, by making the smart field control panel small, it is easy to install and move in a manhole, and by mounting a SIM card, there is an effect that it can be used wherever communication is possible without being limited by data communication.

Effects of the present invention are not limited to those mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

1 is a view showing a measurement system using a conventional fixed field control panel and a fixed sensing device;

2 is a view briefly showing a site in which a smart field control panel for measuring underground facilities is installed according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a perspective view of the smart field control panel shown in FIG. 2;

4 is a block diagram showing a smart field control panel;

5 is a diagram showing an example in which a smart field control panel and a plurality of sensors are connected by a multi-connector, and

6 is a view showing the effect of quickly identifying a problem area according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The above objects, other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be easily understood through the following preferred embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein and may be embodied in other forms. Rather, the embodiments introduced herein are provided so that the disclosed content may be thorough and complete, and the spirit of the present invention may be sufficiently conveyed to those skilled in the art.

In this specification, when a component is referred to as being on another component, it may be directly formed on the other component or a third component may be interposed therebetween. In addition, in the drawings, the thickness of the components is exaggerated for effective description of the technical content.

Where it is stated herein that any element, component, apparatus, or system includes a component consisting of a program or software, even if not explicitly stated, that element, component, apparatus, or system means that the program or software is It should be understood to include hardware (eg, memory, CPU, etc.) or other programs or software (eg, drivers necessary to run an operating system or hardware) necessary for execution or operation.

In addition, it should be understood that, unless specifically stated in the implementation of an element (or component), the element (or component) may be implemented in software, hardware, or any form of software and hardware.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In describing the specific embodiments below, various specific contents have been prepared to more specifically describe the invention and help understanding. However, a reader having enough knowledge in this field to understand the present invention may recognize that it may be used without these various specific details.

In some cases, it is mentioned in advance that in describing the invention, parts that are commonly known and not largely related to the invention are not described in order to avoid confusion for no reason in explaining the invention.

2 is a view briefly showing a site in which the smart field control panel 100 for measuring underground facilities according to an embodiment of the present invention is installed.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the smart field control panel 100 is connected to a plurality of sensors 10 to 40 and may be installed underground, for example, in a manhole. A plurality of sensors 10 to 40 may be mounted on an underground facility to sense a state designated according to the purpose of the underground facility, and may transmit a sensed result, ie, state sensing information, to the smart field control panel 100 .

The plurality of sensors 10 to 40 may be an analog sensor communicating in an analog manner or a serial sensor communicating in a serial manner.

A plurality of sensors 10 to 40 are a water level sensor for measuring distance, water level and volume, a flow rate sensor, a water quality sensor for measuring salinity, a water quality sensor for measuring dissolved oxygen, a water quality sensor for measuring pH, redox reaction, It may include various sensors such as a water quality sensor for measuring turbidity, a rainfall sensor, and the like.

The underground facility may include, for example, a water supply pipe, a sewage pipe, a heating pipe, a gas pipe and an oil pipe related to a fluid, a communication pipe for communication, and a power pipe for supplying power.

The smart field control panel 100 may transmit state sensing information to the external device 200 located on the ground through a wireless communication network.

The external device 200 may be one of devices for managing underground facilities such as a programmable logic controller (PLC), a remote terminal unit (RTU), and an underground facility control server, and the smart field control panel 100 is buried It may be located in a designated area or in a control center that collects, stores, and analyzes status sensing information from all smart field control panels.

The external device 200 may collect, store, or analyze the received state sensing information to determine the state of the underground facility and, if necessary, control the operation of the underground facility.

For example, when the water level in the water pipe exceeds the reference value among the received state sensing information, the external device 200 drives the pump to discharge the water in the water pipe to the outside, and at this time, the water flows into another water pipe In order to prevent this, a drive control signal to close the valve may be generated and transmitted to the smart field control panel 100 . The smart field control panel 100 may transmit the received drive control signal to the pump or valve to cause the pump or valve to perform an operation corresponding to the drive control signal.

3 is a perspective view of the smart field control panel 100 shown in FIG. 2 , and FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the smart field control panel 100 .

3 and 4, the smart field control panel 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a case 110, an antenna 120, an antenna connection unit 125, a battery 130, a power connection unit 135, Analog sensor connection unit 140 , serial sensor connection unit 145 , digital connection unit 150 , communication interface unit 155 , SIM (Subscriber Identification Module: Subscriber Identification Module) card 160 , memory 170 and control unit 180 ) may be included.

The case 110 serves as a housing that protects the smart field control panel 100 from external impact. The battery 130, the communication interface unit 155, the SIM card 160, the memory 170, and the control unit 180 are provided inside the case 110, the antenna connection unit 125, the power connection unit 135, The analog sensor connection unit 140 , the serial sensor connection unit 145 , and the digital connection unit 150 may be provided on the outer surface of the case 110 as shown in FIG. 3 .

The antenna 120 is connected through the antenna connector 125 provided in the case 100 , and transmits state sensing information to the external device 200 or transmits a driving control signal and an operation control signal of the smart field control panel 100 to the external device. may be received from the device 200 .

The battery 130 is mounted inside the case 110 to supply power to the smart field control panel 100 .

The power connection unit 135 receives commercial power from an external power supply device through a power line (PL) when the battery 130 is discharged or is set to the regular power use mode by the administrator and the smart field control panel 100 . can supply to In addition, the power connector 135 may receive solar energy generated by the solar module from the solar module to supply power.

The analog sensor connection unit 140 may be connected to a plurality of analog sensors to receive information sensed by the analog sensors (hereinafter, referred to as 'status sensing information').

The analog sensor connection unit 140 is simultaneously connected with a plurality of analog sensors (eg, up to four) by the multi-connector 50 as shown in FIG. 5 to receive different state sensing information from each analog sensor. can A maximum of 4 is an example and is not limited thereto. A plurality of analog sensors may be installed in an underground facility to sense a state designated according to the purpose of the underground facility.

[Table 1] shows the state information that can be sensed in the underground facility according to the purpose of the underground facility.

In [Table 1], 'water level, flow rate, water quality, sound wave, lid opening/closing, manhole flooding, and fire monitoring' are the types of information sensed by the sensor.

Referring to [Table 1], when the underground facility is one of a water pipe and a heating pipe, the analog sensors mounted on the water pipe or the heating pipe may include at least one of a flow sensor, a water quality sensor, a sound wave sensor, and a lid opening/closing sensor. can

When the underground facility is a sewage pipe, the analog sensors mounted on the sewage pipe may include at least one of a water level sensor, a flow sensor, a water quality sensor, and a lid opening/closing sensor.

When the underground facility is one of a gas pipe and an oil pipe, analog sensors mounted on the gas pipe or the oil pipe may include at least one of a flow sensor, a sound wave sensor, and a lid opening/closing sensor.

When the underground facility is one of the communication pipe and the power pipe, analog sensors mounted on the communication pipe or the power pipe may include a manhole immersion sensor and a fire monitoring sensor.

In addition, 'control' in [Table 1] means that when it is determined that a problem has occurred in an underground facility or manhole as a result of analyzing the state sensing information, a drive control signal is sent to the drive device of the corresponding underground facility to solve the problem. .

For example, if it is determined that the water quality is contaminated as a result of analyzing the state sensing information sensed from the water quality sensor mounted on the water supply pipe, the control unit 180 controls the water supply flowing into the water pipe from the water supply source (houses, buildings, etc.) A drive control signal that locks the valve of the water supply pipe so that it is not supplied to .

Meanwhile, the serial sensor connection unit 145 may be connected to a plurality of serial sensors that perform serial communication such as an RS485 communication method or an RS232 communication method by a serial cable. The serial sensors may be one or more of the plurality of sensors 10 to 40 described above. The serial sensor connection unit 145 may be connected to a plurality of serial sensors by the multi-connector 50 .

The digital connection unit 150 may be connected to a driving device for driving an underground facility by a digital cable to transmit a driving control signal. The digital connector 150 may be connected to a plurality of driving devices by the multi-connector 50 .

The communication interface unit 155 includes a communication circuit supporting communication between the smart field control panel 100 and the external device 200 . The communication interface unit 155 may support one or more of various wireless communication methods such as LoRaWAN, Bluetooth, and 4G/3G/2G. In addition, the communication interface unit 155 is capable of cellular roaming by the SIM card 160 and it is possible to transmit location information using GPS.

The SIM card 160 may be provided in the case 110 and transmit state sensing information sensed by a plurality of analog sensors to the external device 200 through the antenna 120 .

Also, the SIM card 160 may transmit status sensing information sensed by the serial sensors to the external device 200 through the antenna 120 .

In addition, when the SIM card 160 receives a driving control signal for driving the driving device from the external device through the communication interface unit 155 , the SIM card 160 transmits the received driving control signal to the controller 180 and transmits it to the driving device. you might as well make it

Memory 170 may include volatile memory and/or non-volatile memory. In the memory 170, for example, in order to implement and/or provide functions provided by the smart field control panel 100, commands or data related to the components 110 to 180, one or more programs and/or software , an operating system, and the like may be stored.

For example, the program stored in the memory 170 transmits the state sensing information received from the plurality of sensors 10 to 40 to the external device 200 through the SIM card 160 , and the external device 200 . It may include a program to receive the driving control signal received from the SIM card 160 through the transfer to the driving device.

In addition, the memory 170 may store a mapping table in which identification information of a plurality of sensors 10 to 40 and identification information and location information of a driving device provided with the sensors 10 to 40 are mapped.

The controller 180 controls the overall operation of the smart field control panel 100 by executing one or more programs stored in the memory 170 . The controller 180 may be a small control module such as a micro control unit (MCU) or a digital signal processor (DSP).

For example, the controller 180 processes and controls the state sensing information received from the plurality of sensors 10 to 40 to be transferred to the external device 200 through the SIM card 160 and the communication interface unit 155 . can do. The state sensing information may include a sensing value and sensor identification information. The controller 180 converts the state sensing information into a digital signal or into an analog signal according to the form (analog or digital) of the received state sensing information and the signal form used by the communication interface unit 155, and converts the state sensing information into an analog signal, Signal processing such as filtering or amplification may be selectively performed.

In addition, the controller 180 receives the driving control signal received from the external device 200 from the SIM card 160 and analyzes it to determine a driving device to control the driving, and transmit the driving control signal to the determined driving device. can be processed and controlled. The driving control signal received from the external device 200 includes identification information of a driving device to be controlled.

In addition, the controller 180 may process the state sensing information received from the plurality of sensors 10 to 40 to be stored in the memory 170, and directly analyze the stored state sensing information to determine the state of the underground facility. . As a result of the determination of the controller 180 , when a problem occurs, and control of the driving device is required to solve the problem, the controller 180 may directly generate a driving control signal and transmit it to the driving device through the digital connection unit 150 . Thereafter, when it is determined that the problem is solved by analyzing the received state sensing information, the controller 180 may transmit a driving control signal for returning to the original operation of the underground facility to the driving device.

In addition, when the battery 130 is discharged, the controller 180 switches to the regular power mode and processes to receive commercial power through the power connection unit 135 .

In addition, when a problem occurs in the underground facility, the controller 180 may send a warning text to the manager connected through the communication interface unit 155 and transmit warning data to the external device 200 .

[Table 2] to [Table 7] are tables showing overall performance or specifications of the smart field control panel 100 .

[Table 2] shows the performance or specifications of data and software.

function	Contents
data hosting	Cloud or On-Premises (Physical Server)
cyber security	TLS 1.2 Protocol
software integration	REST API
SCADA Integration	CSV, DNP3, OPC-UA, FTP
IoT platform software	Web-based on desktop, tablet and mobile
Data export options	CSV
device memory	8 GB
data communication	duplication
alarm threshold	Up to 4 per data stream
alarm alarm	SMS, email, voice
System health check function	including

[Table 3] shows the performance or specifications of the power supply (battery or constant power).

function	Contents
power supply	Internal lithium battery replacement type
internal battery capacity	3.9V DC 3A 32Ah
total operating time	Up to 5 years or more (subject to change depending on transmission cycle)
battery status	Remaining amount display function
external power	Solar and commercial power (auto power switching function)
input voltage	5-28 VDC

[Table 4] shows the performance or specifications of internal safety (optional).

function	Contents
certification	USA/Canada Class I Div 1 Zone 0 ATEX Zone 0 IECEx
internal circuit protection	5-12VDC, 1.65~2.2A current limit function

[Table 5] shows the performance or specifications of the communication interface unit 155.

function	Contents
communication interface	Cellular (4G/3G/2G), LoRaWAN, Bluetooth
SIM card(s)	double sim slot
cellular roaming	Multi-Network International SIM: Data plan included, support over 140 countries
Configuration and Upgrade	Remote access and Universal Serial Bus (USB) connection
data transfer	Periodic (transmission and collection cycle adjustable)
antenna	External antenna support including internal antenna for backup
GPS (Satellite Navigation System)	guts

[Table 6] shows the performance or specifications of the machine enclosure.

function	Contents
operation check	LED indication
Dimensions (W, H, D)	Approx. 13 cm, 16 cm, 7 cm
weight	about 0.9 kg
texture	Polycarbonate
waterproof rating	IP 68/NEMA 6P
operating temperature	-40℃~80℃
data storage temperature	-40℃~80℃

[Table 7] shows the performance or specifications of the integrated sensor.

function	Contents
Sensor support port	2 ports (up to 4 ports supported - 4 sensors)
sensor connection	connector type
communication interface	RS485, RS232, SDI-12
communication protocol	Modbus RTU, ASCII, custom
communication channel	Up to 16 (optional)
Analog channels (A/I)	4point max (4-20mA, 0-27.5V)
Digital Channel (D/I)	Dry contact, open collector/maximum 3 points (or 2 pulses)
Sensor power supply available	350mA, 12V

In [Table 2] to [Table 7], the number written together with the maximum or minimum is an example and is not limited thereto and can be changed.

6 is a view showing the effect of quickly identifying a problem area according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6 , there is a limitation in monitoring problem points among complexly installed underground facilities by measuring only the distal end of local facilities. That is, when a problem occurs, it takes a long time to figure out which line (eg, which sewer pipe) has the problem.

On the other hand, in an embodiment of the present invention, by installing and sensing the smart field control panels 100 at multiple points (monitoring points marked with ●) within a local facility, a problem area can be quickly identified through detailed measurement, and low-cost construction is possible .

In the above, even though it has been described that all components constituting the embodiment of the present invention are combined or operated as one, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this embodiment. That is, within the scope of the object of the present invention, all the components may operate by selectively combining one or more. In addition, although all of the components may be implemented as one independent hardware, some or all of the components are selectively combined to perform some or all functions of the combined components in one or a plurality of hardware program modules It may be implemented as a computer program having Codes and code segments constituting the computer program can be easily deduced by those skilled in the art of the present invention. Such a computer program is stored in a computer readable storage medium (Computer Readable Media), read and executed by the computer, thereby implementing the embodiment of the present invention.

On the other hand, although described and illustrated in relation to a preferred embodiment for illustrating the technical idea of the present invention as described above, the present invention is not limited to the configuration and operation as shown and described as such, and deviates from the scope of the technical idea. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many changes and modifications to the present invention are possible without such limitation. Accordingly, all such suitable alterations and modifications and equivalents are to be considered as falling within the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the true technical protection scope of the present invention should be determined by the technical spirit of the appended claims.

Claims (5)

1. case;

   a battery provided in the case;

   Antenna connection unit connected to the antenna;

   an analog sensor connection unit mounted on an underground facility and connected to a plurality of analog sensors for sensing a state designated according to the purpose of the underground facility; and

   A subscriber identification module (SIM) card provided in the case and configured to transmit status sensing information sensed by the plurality of analog sensors to an external device located on the ground through the antenna; Smart field control panel for underground facility measurement characterized by.
2. According to claim 1,

   The analog sensor connection unit is simultaneously connected to a plurality of analog sensors using a multi-connector, and a smart field control panel for underground facility measurement, characterized in that it receives different state sensing information from the plurality of analog sensors.
3. 3. The method of claim 2,

   When the underground facility is one of a water pipe and a heating pipe, the plurality of analog sensors include at least one of a flow sensor, a water quality sensor, a sound wave sensor, and a lid opening/closing sensor,

   When the underground facility is a sewage pipe, the plurality of analog sensors include at least one of a water level sensor, a flow sensor, a water quality sensor, and a lid opening/closing sensor,

   When the underground facility is one of a gas pipe and an oil pipeline, the plurality of analog sensors includes at least one of a flow sensor, a sound wave sensor, and a lid opening/closing sensor.
4. 4. The method of claim 3,

   Further comprising; a digital connection unit connected to a driving device for driving the underground facility to transmit a driving control signal;

   When the SIM card receives the driving control signal from the external device, the smart field control panel for underground facility measurement, characterized in that the driving control signal is transmitted to the driving device through the digital connection unit.
5. According to claim 1,

   A serial sensor connection unit mounted on the underground facility and connected to a plurality of serial sensors communicating using one of an RS485 communication method and an RS232 communication method;

   The smart field control panel for underground facility measurement, characterized in that the SIM card transmits state sensing information sensed by the serial sensors to an external device through the antenna.

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