SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR COMMUNICATING VIA A TRACK WITH AN INDUSTRIAL CART

• US 20180367614A1
• Filed: 05/21/2018
• Published: 12/20/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2017
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Grow Solutions Tech LLC (Nu Skin Enterprises Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Grow Solutions Tech LLC (Nu Skin Enterprises Incorporated)
• Inventors: Millar, Gary Bret
• Application Number:
  US15/985,164
• Publication Number:
  US 20180367614A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 1/188 Use of coded current
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 3/246 using coded current
• CPC Class Codes: E01B 25/28 Rail tracks for guiding vehicles when running on road or similar surface wheel tracks on roads E01C9/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/542 using zero crossing information
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/542 the information being in digital form
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2858 Access network architectures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/90 Buffering arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/12 Electric charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles

Abstract

A system includes a track having conductive rails, a signal generating circuit coupled to the conductive rails, and an electrical power source coupled to the conductive rails via the signal generating circuit. The signal generating circuit includes a power supply for generating trigger signals. The electrical power source provides an electrical signal to the conductive rails via the signal generating circuit. The signal generating circuit generates a first trigger signal within the electrical signal at a first time interval and generates a second trigger signal within the electrical signal at a second time interval. The first trigger signal corresponds to a beginning of a communication signal and the second trigger signal corresponds to an end of the communication signal. The communication signal is transmitted over a predetermined number of cycles of the electrical signal provided by the electrical power source. The predetermined number of cycles correspond to a coded communication.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a length of track having one or more conductive rails;

a signal generating circuit electrically coupled to the one or more conductive rails of the length of track; and

an electrical power source electrically coupled to the one or more conductive rails of the length of track via the signal generating circuit, wherein;

the signal generating circuit includes a power supply for generating a plurality of trigger signals,

the electrical power source provides an alternating current electrical signal to the one or more conductive rails of the length of track via the signal generating circuit,

the signal generating circuit generates a first trigger signal within the alternating current electrical signal at a first time interval and generates a second trigger signal within the alternating current electrical signal at a second time interval,

the first trigger signal corresponds to a beginning of a communication signal and the second trigger signal corresponds to an end of the communication signal,

the communication signal is transmitted over a predetermined number of cycles of the alternating current electrical signal provided by the electrical power source, and

the predetermined number of cycles correspond to a coded communication.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a cart comprising:

a wheel supported on the length of track and electrically coupled to the one or more conductive rails of the length of track; and

a cart-computing device communicatively coupled to the wheel, the cart-computing device comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable memory, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable memory comprises a machine-readable instruction set that, when executed, causes the processor to;

detect the first trigger signal transmitted over the one or more conductive rails of the length of track and the wheel of the cart by the signal generating circuit,

detect the second trigger signal transmitted over the one or more conductive rails of the length of track and the wheel of the cart by the signal generating circuit,

determine the predetermined number of cycles of the alternating current electrical signal provided by the electrical power source that occur between the first trigger signal and the second trigger signal, and

determine the coded communication from the predetermined number of cycles.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the machine-readable instruction set, when executed, further causes the processor to:

determine the predetermined number of cycles of the alternating current electrical signal based on a number of zero-crossings of the alternating current electrical signal that occur between the first trigger signal and the second trigger signal.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein:

the cart further comprises a drive motor rotatably coupled to the wheel such that an output of the drive motor propels the cart along the length of track and the drive motor electrically couples to the one or more conductive rails of the length of track via the wheel;

the cart-computing device is communicatively coupled to the drive motor, and

the machine-readable instruction set, when executed, further causes the processor to generate and transmit a control signal to the drive motor to cause the drive motor to operate in response to the coded communication.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a master controller communicatively coupled to the signal generating circuit, the master controller comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable memory, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable memory comprises a machine-readable instruction set that, when executed, causes the processor to:

determine an action,

encode an instruction to complete the action in the coded communication, and

direct the signal generating circuit to generate the first trigger signal and the second trigger signal such that the coded communication contains the instruction.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the first trigger signal comprises a first voltage pulse generated by the signal generating circuit during a first zero-crossing of the alternating current electrical signal and the second trigger signal comprises a second voltage pulse generated by the signal generating circuit during a subsequent zero-crossing of the alternating current electrical signal.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the alternating current electrical signal comprises a positive peak voltage and a negative peak voltage, and the signal generating circuit generates the first trigger signal by reducing an amplitude of the positive peak voltage, the negative peak voltage, or both the positive peak voltage and the negative peak voltage to a trigger voltage level for one cycle of the alternating current electrical signal.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the signal generating circuit generates the second trigger signal by reducing the amplitude of the positive peak voltage, the negative peak voltage, or both the positive peak voltage and the negative peak voltage to the trigger voltage level for one cycle of the alternating current electrical signal subsequent to the first trigger signal.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the trigger voltage level of the first trigger signal is greater than an operating voltage of a cart receiving the alternating current electrical signal such that operation of the cart continues uninterrupted.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the alternating current electrical signal comprises a positive peak voltage and a negative peak voltage, the signal generating circuit generates the first trigger signal by reducing an amplitude of the positive peak voltage, the negative peak voltage, or both the positive peak voltage and the negative peak voltage to a trigger voltage level for each cycle of the alternating current electrical signal of the communication signal until the signal generating circuit generates the second trigger signal by returning the alternating current electrical signal to the positive peak voltage and the negative peak voltage output by the electrical power source.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the trigger voltage level of the first trigger signal is greater than an operating voltage of a cart receiving the alternating current electrical signal such that operation of the cart continues uninterrupted.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising an assembly line grow pod having a plurality of carts for growing a plurality of plants, wherein the length of track is part of the assembly line grow pod and the plurality of carts are supported on the length of track.

13. A system comprising:

a length of track having one or more conductive rails;

an electrical power source electrically coupled to the one or more conductive rails of the length of track; and

a cart comprising;

one or more first wheels supported on the length of track and electrically coupled to the one or more conductive rails of the length of track,

a cart-computing device communicatively coupled to the one or more first wheels, and

a signal generating circuit electrically coupled to the cart-computing device and the one or more first wheels, wherein;

the signal generating circuit includes a power supply for generating a plurality of trigger signals,

the electrical power source provides an alternating current electrical signal to the one or more conductive rails of the length of track,

the signal generating circuit generates a first trigger signal within the alternating current electrical signal at a first time interval and generates a second trigger signal within the alternating current electrical signal at a second time interval,

the first trigger signal corresponds to a beginning of a communication signal and the second trigger signal corresponds to an end of the communication signal,

the communication signal is transmitted over a predetermined number of cycles of the alternating current electrical signal provided by the electrical power source, and

the predetermined number of cycles correspond to a coded communication.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the first trigger signal comprises a first voltage pulse generated by the signal generating circuit during a first zero-crossing of the alternating current electrical signal and the second trigger signal comprises a second voltage pulse generated by the signal generating circuit during a subsequent zero-crossing of the alternating current electrical signal.

15. The system of claim 13, further comprising a master controller communicatively coupled to the one or more conductive rails of the length of track, the master controller comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable memory, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable memory comprises a machine-readable instruction set that, when executed, causes the processor to:

detect the first trigger signal transmitted over the one or more conductive rails of the length of track and the one or more first wheels of the cart by the signal generating circuit,

detect the second trigger signal transmitted over the one or more conductive rails of the length of track and the one or more first wheels of the cart by the signal generating circuit,

determine the predetermined number of cycles of the alternating current electrical signal provided by the electrical power source that occur between the first trigger signal and the second trigger signal, and

determine the coded communication from the predetermined number of cycles.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the communication signal corresponds to a status information of the cart.

17. The system of claim 13, further comprising a second cart comprising:

one or more second wheels supported on the length of track and electrically coupled to the one or more conductive rails of the length of track,

a second cart-computing device communicatively coupled to the one or more second wheels, the cart-computing device of the second cart comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable memory, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable memory comprises a machine-readable instruction set that, when executed, causes the processor to;

detect the first trigger signal transmitted over the one or more conductive rails of the length of track and the one or more second wheels of the cart by the signal generating circuit,

detect the second trigger signal transmitted over the one or more conductive rails of the length of track and the one or more second wheels of the cart by the signal generating circuit,

determine the predetermined number of cycles of the alternating current electrical signal provided by the electrical power source occurring between the first trigger signal and the second trigger signal, and

determine the coded communication corresponding to the predetermined number of cycles.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the communication signal corresponds to a control signal for controlling an operation of a drive motor of the second cart supported on the length of track.

19. A method for communicating via an alternating current electrical signal from a master controller to a cart supported on a length of track in an assembly line grow pod, the method comprising:

determining, by the master controller, an action to be completed by the cart;

generating one or more coded communications for the action;

generating a first trigger signal within the alternating current electrical signal from an electrical power source;

determining when a predetermined number of cycles of the alternating current electrical signal corresponding to a coded communication of the one or more coded communications have propagated from the electrical power source following the first trigger signal;

generating a second trigger signal within the alternating current electrical signal when the predetermined number of cycles of the alternating current electrical signal corresponding to the coded communication have propagated following the first trigger signal.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the one or more coded communications for the cart to complete the action include a first coded communication for powering on a drive motor and a second coded communication for communicating a predefined period of time to power on the drive motor to cause the cart to advance along the length of track.