US 2017/0238072 A1 - Analysis Of Pipe Systems With Sensor Devices - The Lens

Analysis Of Pipe Systems With Sensor Devices

Published: Aug 17, 2017
Earliest Priority: Feb 15 2016
Family: 5
Cited Works: 0
Cited by: 25
Cites: 14
Additional Info: Full text

Abstract

An infrastructure and methods for the analysis of flow in pipe systems. In a preferred form, the infrastructure and methods account for energy status of a sensor device and wear cost functions. The infrastructure comprises a controller and a plurality of sensor devices coupled to the pipe system to collect measurements related to one or more of the following: vibration, magnetic field, fluid pressure, temperature, humidity, chemical composition of the fluid, fluid flow or fluid throughput. The controller has access to a database containing one or both of—(i) current energy status of a sensor device and/or (ii) a cost allocation relating to use of a sensor device and assigns workloads using energy status and/or cost.

Claims

A system of sensor devices connected to a pipe system transporting a fluid, comprising:
a plurality of sensor devices operatively coupled to the pipe system to collect measurements related to one or more of the following: vibration, magnetic field, fluid pressure, temperature, humidity, chemical compensation of the fluid, fluid flow or fluid throughput;

each sensor device having an autonomous power source, a current energy status and a network connector;

a network connecting a number of said sensor devices through said network connectors;

a controller connected to the network and to the number of sensor devices and to a database containing one or both of—(i) current energy status of a sensor device, (ii) a cost allocation relating to use of a sensor device;

the controller being operable to determine assigned workloads to one or more of said number of sensor devices based on one or both of—(i) maximizing the number of workloads performed by said sensor devices based at least in part on current energy status, (ii) said cost allocation relating to use of a sensor device,

the controller being operable to command operation of one or more of said number of sensor devices based on said assigned workloads by communicating through the network to said sensor devices.
The system of claim 1, said current energy status comprising charge status of a battery powering a sensor device.
The system of claim 1, said cost allocation comprising wear schedule of a sensor device before required maintenance and the cost of the required maintenance.
The system of claim 1, said cost allocation comprising wear schedule of a sensor device before failure of said sensor device.
The system of claim 1, said assigned workloads also based on priority of workload.
The system of claim 1, said assigned workloads comprising determining back pressure in the pipe system.
The system of claim 1, one of said assigned workloads comprising fluid flow rate at a location in the pipe system.
The system of claim 7, said assigned workloads comprising determining flow rate at said location over a time interval to determine fluid throughput in the pipe system.
The system of claim 8, said assigned workloads comprising determining fluid throughput at a second location and comparing the fluid throughput at the first and second locations to determine fluid leaks.
The system of claim 1, wherein said controller communicates through the network to a sensor device using a peer to peer scheme.
The system of claim 1, the pipe system comprising a municipal potable water distribution system and the sensor devices being distributed over a wide geographic area.
A method of operating a network of sensor devices connected to a pipe system transporting a fluid, comprising:
communicating the energy status of a number of said sensor devices through a network to a controller;

scheduling a workload for one or more sensor devices with the controller based at least in part on one or both of—(i) current energy status of a sensor device, (ii) a cost allocation relating to use of a sensor device;

communicating the scheduled workload to a sensor device through the network.
The method of claim 12, the scheduled workloads of said sensor devices comprising collecting measurements related to one or more of the following: vibration, magnetic field, fluid pressure, temperature, humidity, chemical compensation of the fluid, fluid flow or fluid throughput.
The method of claim 12, determining the current energy status based at least in part on the charge status of a battery powering a sensor device.
The method of claim 12, determining said cost allocation based on a wear schedule of a sensor device before required maintenance and the cost of the required maintenance.
The method of claim 12, using said scheduled workloads for determining one or more of—back pressure in the pipe system, fluid flow rate at a location in the pipe system, fluid throughput in the pipe system, fluid leaks.
The method of claim 13, recording the measurements in a database to analyze the current state of the pipe system.