Method for communication between at least one meter device and an airborne device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10962977-B2
Application number	US-201816175236-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 30, 2018
Priority date	Apr 30, 2016
Publication date	Mar 30, 2021
Grant date	Mar 30, 2021

Abstract

A method provides communication between a meter and a flying device. The meter records consumption data. The flying device performs flight movements to a prescribed target position of the meter. Radio signals are received by a reception device and information is ascertained, relating to the transmission quality of a radio channel, based on the received signals. A poor transmission quality, satisfaction of which is dependent on the quality of the information, results in the reception of received signals and the ascertainment of the information being repeated after a communication protocol for communication with the meter has been changed, a position of the flying device being altered and/or a directivity of the reception device is altered until the transmission quality or a termination condition is satisfied. Upon having a satisfactory quality condition, meter information is captured and a message for controlling the operation of the meter is sent to the meter.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for communicating between at least one meter device and a flying device, the meter device configured for recording consumption data and/or for collecting captured consumption data, which comprises the following steps of:
a) moving the flying device, being capable of flight, to a prescribed target position associated with the meter device;
b) receiving signals on a radio channel associated with the meter device by a reception device of the flying device and ascertaining at least one piece of quality information, relating to a communication quality of the radio channel, on a basis of received signals, wherein a non-satisfactory quality condition, satisfaction of which is dependent on the piece of quality information, results in a reception of the received signals and an ascertainment of the piece of quality information being repeated until a quality condition or a termination condition is satisfied, a repetition being performed after a communication protocol for communication with the meter device has been changed and/or while a position of the flying device and/or a directivity of the reception device are altered, wherein the piece of quality information describes at least one measure selected from the group consisting of: a summed power level for all the received signals, a meter power level for the received signals that have been sent by the meter device, a further power level for further received signals received with a temporal and/or spectral stagger in comparison with the received signals sent by the meter device, a signal-to-noise ratio, a channel load, an error rate based on data packets sent by the meter device, and a measure of errors in the data packets that are corrigible by the communication protocol used; and
c) when the quality condition is satisfied, performing at least one action selected from the group consisting of: capturing at least one piece of meter information sent by the meter device by means of evaluation of the received signals, and using the flying device to send a control message for controlling an operation of the meter device to the meter device.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the quality condition or one of multiple subconditions logically combined for evaluation of the quality condition is satisfied when, within a prescribed measurement interval, at least on measure selected from a croup is less than a respective prescribed reference value, the group consisting of: the summed power level, the further power level, a reciprocal of the signal-to-noise ratio, and the channel load for at least one prescribed time component of a measurement interval.

3. The method according to claim 2 , which further comprises taking an environment model describing at least a respective position of the at least one meter device as a basis for ascertaining a forecast value for the meter power level, after which a reference value is determined on a basis of the forecast value.

4. The method according to claim 1 , which further comprises altering the directivity by virtue of an orientation of the flying device being altered.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein:
the reception device has multiple antennas;
ascertainment of the received signals involves antenna signals received by the antennas being added to form a summed signal; and
the directivity is altered by means of alteration of a respective phase and/or of a respective amplitude of the antenna signals in the summed signal.

6. The method according to claim 1 , which further comprises sending the piece of meter information to a central facility by the flying device after capture and/or in that the control message sent to the meter device is previously received from the central facility by the flying device.

7. The method according to claim 6 , which further comprises using multiple flying devices, wherein for at least one of the flying devices the sending of the piece of meter information to the central facility and/or the receiving of the control message from the central facility are effected indirectly via at least one further flying device serving as a network node.

8. The method according to claim 6 , which further comprises providing the piece of meter information or a piece of information derived from the piece of meter information to a user by an output device of the central facility and/or in that a user input on an input device of the central facility triggers a sending of the control message to the meter device via the flying device.

9. The method according to claim 1 , which further comprises prescribing a flying area for the flying device, wherein a movement of the flying device to the prescribed target position and an alteration of the position of the flying device is controlled such that the flying device is always within the flying area.

10. The method according to claim 9 , which further comprises using multiple flying devices, wherein flying areas associated with individual ones of the flying devices are separated from one another.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the flying device is in a ground-based parking position before step a) and, after step c), is parked in the ground-based parking position or a further ground-based parking position, wherein the flying device flies without ground contact at the prescribed target position and/or during an alteration of the position of the flying device in step b).

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the prescribed target position is vertically above the ground-based parking position at a same horizontal position.

13. The method according to claim 11 , wherein after leaving the ground-based parking position the flying device is rotated about a vertical axis of the flying device before and/or during capture of the piece of meter information.

14. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the flying device remains at a standstill in the ground-based parking position up until reception of an activation signal and/or up until a prescribed activation time, wherein on reception of the activation signal and/or at the prescribed activation time the flying device is moved to the prescribed target position in order to perform at least one action selected from the group consisting of: capturing the piece of meter information, sending the control message, and being used as a network node in a network for transmitting the piece of meter information and/or the control message.

15. The method according to claim 1 , which further comprises remotely reading pieces of meter information from multiple meter devices having a same associated target position, wherein capture of the pieces of meter information from some of the meter devices is followed by the position of the flying device and/or the directivity being altered on a basis of a piece of position information describing a position of at least one meter device whose said piece of meter information has not yet been captured.

16. The method according to claim 1 , wherein alteration of the position of the flying device and/or of the directivity is effected such that the piece of quality information or at least one of the pieces of quality information or a variable derived from the piece of quality information or from at least one of the pieces of quality information is maximized or minimized.

17. The method according to claim 1 , which further comprises ascertaining a position of at least one interference source contributing to the received signals, after which the directivity is altered such that a reception sensitivity of the reception device in a direction

Assignees

• Diehl Metering Systems Gmbh
• Diehl Metering Gmbh

Inventors

• Petkov Hristo
• Lautenbacher Thomas
• Kauppert Thomas
• Gottschalk Klaus
• Mzyk Raphael
• Roehrle Philip
• Traenkler Michael

Classifications

• G05D1/028

  using a RF signal · CPC title

• G05D1/0011

  associated with a remote control arrangement · CPC title

• G05D1/0094 Primary

  involving pointing a payload, e.g. camera, weapon, sensor, towards a fixed or moving target · CPC title

• H04Q9/00 Primary

  Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom · CPC title

• Y02B90/20

  Smart grids as enabling technology in buildings sector (smart grids supporting the management or operation of end-user stationary applications in general, or like technologies with no associated climate change mitigation effect Y04S20/00) · CPC title