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Wireless industrial process field device with imaging

  • US 10,638,093 B2
  • Filed: 09/26/2013
  • Issued: 04/28/2020
  • Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2013
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A wireless field device for use in an industrial process control or monitoring system, comprising:

  • a controller configured to control operation of the field device;

    wireless communication circuitry configured to wirelessly communicate with a remote location using a communication protocol which has bandwidth limitations;

    an internal power source configured to wholly power the field device; and

    an image capture device coupled to the controller configured to capture an image of an environment of the field device, the image comprising process elements proximate the field device;

    a memory configured to store image information from images captured by the image capture device, the image information comprising a reference image;

    wherein the controller is adapted to retrieve the stored reference image from the memory, transmit the reference image to the remote location, detect changes between the image and the reference image, and transmit the compressed image information comprising a difference between the image captured by the image capture device and the stored image information, thereby reducing communication bandwidth used to transmit image information to the remote location and reduce power consumed by the wireless field device from the internal power source.

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