Engine detection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9728013-B2
Application number	US-201514612925-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 3, 2015
Priority date	Feb 3, 2015
Publication date	Aug 8, 2017
Grant date	Aug 8, 2017

Abstract

Various implementations described herein are directed to a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a computer, may cause the computer to detect electrical noise corresponding to one or more engines starting or running. The computer may record a first timestamp corresponding to the engines starting or running. The computer may detect that the engines have stopped. The computer may record a second timestamp corresponding to the engines stopping. The computer may also use the first and second timestamps to determine engine runtimes.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:
detect, by an electronic device monitoring an electrical system, electrical noise emitted onto the electrical system via an electrical connection to the electrical system by one or more engines, the electrical noise corresponding to the one or more engines starting or running;
record a first timestamp corresponding to the one or more engines starting or running in response to the detection of the electrical noise;
analyze, by the electronic device monitoring the electrical system, the electrical noise emitted by one of the one or more engines to determine a revolutions per minute (RPM) corresponding to the one engine;
store a record describing the RPM of the one engine while the one engine is running;
detect, by the electronic device monitoring the electrical system, an absence of the electrical noise on the electrical system indicating that the one or more engines have stopped;
record a second timestamp corresponding to the one or more engines stopping in response to the detection of the absence of the electrical noise on the electrical system; and
determine an engine runtimes based on the first and second timestamps.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the computer-executable instructions that cause the computer to detect the electrical noise comprise computer-executable instructions that cause the computer to detect the electrical noise, wherein the electrical noise is electromagnetic interference introduced to the electrical system by the one or more engines.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the computer to:
retrieve a total engine hours value; and
add an engine runtime to the total engine hours value.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 3 , wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the computer to:
retrieve a number of hours corresponding to a next scheduled maintenance;
determine a difference between the total engine hours value and the next scheduled maintenance number of hours; and
display the difference.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the computer to determine the RPM based on an analysis, by the electronic device monitoring the electrical system, of a frequency of the electrical noise emitted by the one engine.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the computer to:
analyze the electrical noise emitted by one of the one or more engines to determine a type of engine; and
record the type of engine.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the computer-executable instructions that cause the computer to detect the electrical noise corresponding to the one or more engines starting or running comprise computer-executable instructions that cause the computer to detect the electrical noise on the electrical system, the electrical system being a direct current (DC) electrical system coupled to the one or more engines and a marine electronics device, and wherein the electrical noise is electromagnetic interference introduced to the DC electrical system by the one or more engines.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the computer-executable instructions that cause the computer to detect the electrical noise corresponding to the one more engines starting or running further comprise computer-executable instructions that cause the computer to disable an electrical noise filter.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the computer-executable instructions that cause the computer to display the engine runtime in association with the RPM on a display screen.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the computer to detect time periods where the one or more engines are idling by monitoring the electrical noise corresponding to the one or more engines.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the computer-executable instructions that cause the computer to detect the electrical noise corresponding to the one or more engines starting or running comprise computer-executable instructions that cause the computer to detect the electrical noise corresponding to a frequency signature of one of the one or more engines.

12. An apparatus for displaying marine electronic data, the apparatus comprising:
one or more processors;
a screen configured to display marine data; and
memory having a plurality of executable instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
detect, by an electronic device monitoring an electrical system, electrical noise emitted onto the electrical system via an electrical connection to the electrical system by one or more engines, the electrical noise corresponding to the one or more engines starting or running;
record a first timestamp corresponding to the one or more engines starting or running in response to the detection of the electrical noise;
analyze, by the electronic device monitoring the electrical system, the electrical noise emitted by one of the one or more engines to determine a revolutions per minute (RPM) corresponding to the one engine;
store a record describing the RPM of the one engine while the one engine is running;
detect, by the electronic device monitoring the electrical system, an absence of the electrical noise indicating that the one or more engines have stopped;
record a second timestamp corresponding to the one or more engines stopping in response to the detection of the absence of the electrical noise on the electrical system; and
determine engine runtimes based on the first and second timestamps.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the executable instructions further cause the processors to transmit the engine runtimes to a cloud software service.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the executable instructions further cause the processors to:
retrieve a total engine hours value corresponding to one of the one or more engines; and
add an engine runtime to the total engine hours value.

15. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the executable instructions that cause the processors to detect the electrical noise corresponding the one or more engines starting or running comprise executable instructions that cause the processors to detect the electrical noise on the electrical system, the electrical system being a direct current (DC) electrical system and the electrical noise being electromagnetic interference introduced to the DC electrical system by the one or more engines.

16. A method for detecting engine hours, the method comprising:
detecting electrical noise emitted onto the electrical system via an electrical connection to the electrical system by one or more engines, the electrical noise corresponding to the engine running, wherein the engine is connected to the electrical system, the electrical system being a direct current (DC) electrical system and the electrical noise is detected by a computerized device connected to the electrical system;
monitoring, by the computerized device connected to the electrical system, the electrical noise to determine an amount of time that the engi

Assignees

• Navico Holding As

Inventors

• Gaynor Phillip King

Classifications

• G07C5/0858 Primary

  wherein the data carrier is removable · CPC title

• G07C1/02 Primary

  not involving the registering, indicating or recording of other data · CPC title

• G01R31/001

  Measuring interference from external sources to, or emission from, the device under test, e.g. EMC, EMI, EMP or ESD testing (measuring electromagnetic fields G01R29/08; circuits for generating HV pulses in dielectric strength testing G01R31/14) · CPC title