EP1488398B1 - Method for controlling and regulating the operation of an actuator - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to the field of remote control and / or remote control of actuators, intended to provide protection and / or comfort and / or control of a building. It relates more particularly to a control and control method defined according to the preamble of claim 1. It also relates to a control device for implementing this method.

The actuators are, for example, motors controlled by command receivers and intended for the operation of solar protections, closures of the building. The command receiver modules driving the actuators are, depending on the case, directly integrated with the actuators or housed in boxes above the racks, or are housed in false ceilings in the vicinity of the actuators. In the best case, in terms of accessibility, the command receiver module is contained in a close-up control box, comprising control pushbuttons, located not far from the actuator, and connected thereto by means wired communication. The term "close control means" will henceforth denote an order receiver and a processing unit which are therefore, as the case may be, physically separated from the actuator, or integrated into the actuator.

These command receiver modules are commonly radio wave receiver modules and optionally have radio wave transmission means enabling them, for example, to acknowledge receipt of orders received and their proper execution.

Thanks to such means of communication, the actuators are capable of communicating remotely with each other and with nomadic or fixed order transmitters. This communication is done according to a common protocol.

These devices allow today a plurality of uses and these uses will evolve with the evolution of technologies.

This plurality makes it necessary for the manufacturers to create numerous references of actuators and / or close control means, each actuator and / or close control means intended to provide different functions carrying a proper reference. This results in a significant cost, without compensation for the user. Thus, for example, an on-board electronic actuator has different functional characteristics depending on whether it drives a blind or roller shutter. These are commonly two different products, while nothing fundamentally distinguishes them.

The evolution of technologies also tends to make the different generations of products incompatible, except also to increase their cost. The frequent difficulty of access to products also makes problematic any intervention improvement or update, common in other areas ("upgrade").

In other fields of the state of the art, there are known methods for using an external resource by means of a communication network to perform remote processing. He is known, for example, to use many computers to cooperate in a calculation requiring a large computing power.

In a field closer to that of the invention, there are devices for communicating data to a controller for heating comfort comfort and / or air conditioning (HVAC). In a simplified way, the heating actuators "deport" to a central thermostat the decision to put them automatically and collectively en-route. In modern installations, communication between the heaters and the central unit is via radio waves. However, it is not a matter of transmitting data relating to the dynamic operation of the heating or air-conditioning device (absorbed current, fluid pressure, etc.) intended for a dynamic calculation relating to this operation.

In the field specific to that of the invention, that of the actuators for safety systems, closing or solar protection of the building, there are known installations combining actuators with order transmitters communicating via radio waves, for example, in the form of a network home automation carrier, as described in the patent EP 0 718 729 , but this network is used only to propagate a general command and / or transmit an acknowledgment of receipt.

In the same way, it is common to use a wired or radio network, to transmit information on the open or closed state of the various products controlled by the actuators, or even information on their current position. This position information is transmitted on demand or periodically. It is not a question of data used to allow the analysis of the movement of the product operated by the actuator by a remote resource communicating by radio waves with the actuator, so as to control said actuator.

In the patent application FR 2,811,703 , so as to respond to the problem raised by the present invention, it is intended to handle the management of the limit switches of said actuator at a control unit close to the actuator. This management being done by analysis of the engine torque. Nothing is more natural, insofar as this control unit is interposed between the sector and the actuator: the analysis of the currents supplied to the actuator through this housing and, for example, their phase shift, is logically treated in this housing to dynamically calculate an image of the engine torque and thus detect the presence of stops. Not a single moment it is not imagined in this patent application to deport this calculation function to another resource accessible by the current carrier communication network, therefore radio frequencies, yet used alternatively in this patent.

It is the same in the patent application CA 2,299,689 , in which all the data from various sensors is processed in a control unit of the close control unit, although a communication link is provided with an external computer resource.

In the field of the invention, it has never been imagined to transmit, by means of the radio wave communication link normally used between a remote command transmitter and a close control means of the actuator, data dynamics relating to the operation of the actuator or the product connected to it, so as to allow an analysis of the movement of said product, and to deduce the commands to be sent to the actuator.

Demand is known EP 1 091 079 , an installation comprising two devices and in which the control of a first device can be deported to the second device. These commands are manual commands made by a user and independent of the dynamic operation of the first device.

It has never been imagined to improve the existing functionalities of said actuators by remote processing, with a radio wave communication link, all or part of their executable programs.

It was even less imagined to give actuators new features, not implemented in these actuators or in their close control boxes, by the use of a remote resource and a radio communication link.

The method according to the invention is characterized by the characterizing part of claim 1.

According to the invention the various actuators and / or close control means, contributing to the comfort or security in the building, are designed to deport to another unit, all or part of the dynamic analysis treatment that is specific to them this offset being effected by means of a two-way radio communication means implanted in each actuator or in the vicinity of each actuator to enable the actuator remote control. The method according to the invention thus makes it possible to confer on the actuators of the building new functionalities, not implanted in the equipment, nor in their close control means.

Dependent claims 2 to 9 define embodiments of the method.

The remote control device according to the invention is defined by claim 10.

• La Figure 1 représente de façon schématique la configuration matérielle nécessaire à la mise en oeuvre de l'invention.
• La Figure 2 représente sous forme d'ordinogramme le procédé applicable à l'invention.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description which follows with reference to the accompanying drawings which are given by way of non-limiting examples.

• The Figure 1 schematically represents the hardware configuration necessary for the implementation of the invention.
• The Figure 2 represents in the form of a flow chart the method applicable to the invention.

In figure 1 is represented an actuator (1) which is, for example, an electric motor, for actuating a movable member (50) such as, for example, a door, a shutter, a blind or any other sun protection. This actuator (1) is, for example, electrically connected by a wire link (2) to a local processing unit (10).

This local processing unit (10), containing at least one microprocessor (3), is connected to a communication means by radio waves such as a bidirectional radio transmitter (4). This radio transmitter (4) is therefore capable of communicating in reception and transmission with any radio-frequency device sharing the same transmission protocol.

The local processing unit (10) executes the programs contained in a memory (7).

The actuator (1) is of the drive motor type of doors, ventilation openings, shutters, blinds or various sun protection screens etc ... It can also be a lighting device or alarm whose access is difficult. The radio transmitter (4) then plays a primarily receiver role in normal operation.

One or more sensors are associated with the actuator, either to measure the torque directly, or to measure parameters (intensity, voltage, etc.) that make it possible to go back to the torque, or to measure any other quantity that is locally accessible. These sensors are placed on the motor and / or in a power converter (5), or directly on the driven product (50), the arrow (8) representing the feedback of such a sensor to the local processing unit (10). On the figure 1 a sensor (9) is integrated in the actuator (1).

On the figure 1 , which is schematic, electromagnetic or static contactors for providing power to the actuator in response to the orders of the processing unit have not been shown, because all these devices are well known to the man of the job.

If it is a non-autonomous actuator (1), as shown in figure 1 , the assembly is powered with a converter (5) from the AC network (6).

In case the actuator (1) is autonomous, the converter (5) and the alternating current network (6) would be replaced by an independent source, for example, a photovoltaic panel and a battery converter.

It should be noted that the local processing unit (10), the actuator (1), the converter (5) and the transmitter (4) can constitute a single material unit that will be called a local operating unit. (100).

It will be understood that the elements listed above are either integrated in the same mechanical assembly as the motor (1), as illustrated in FIG. figure 1 , then defining an actuator with integrated electronics, or are mechanically separated from the latter, for example, in the form of a close control box, then provided with push buttons, not shown.

As has been seen previously, the local processing unit (10) comprises a microprocessor (3). The latter includes a program of activation of the measuring means, a program of emission of measurements. It can also be any type of microcontroller, in which case the memory (7) can be integrated into the microcontroller. The radio transmitter (4) can contain its own microcontroller for managing the communication protocol, but this function can be provided by the local processing unit (10) or even distributed between the two units, namely, between said local unit of treatment (10) and the transmitter (4).

There is provided a command transmitter (200) which is used on the same communication network symbolized by bidirectional arrows (300). It consists of a bidirectional transmitter (20) similar to the radio transmitter (4) and a control unit (21), capable of generating commands in response to a solicitation of push buttons, not shown.

According to the invention, there is, moreover, provided a remote processing unit (400), constituting the remote resource. This remote processing unit (400) comprises at least one bidirectional transmitter (40) similar to the transmitter (20) of the command transmitter (200) and a processing unit (41), comprising a data reception program, a data processing program, and a program of issuing orders.

According to the invention, there is at least one mode of operation of the local operating unit (100), in which the dynamic processing of data relating to the operation of the actuator (1) or the displacement of the movable element (50) is not realized by the close control means, in particular the microprocessor (3) and its memory (7), but, at least partially, by the remote processing unit (400), using the link of radio communication (300).

The remote processing method can be implemented in multiple ways.

• une étape de configuration préalable (500),
• une étape d'activation (502),
• une étape de traitement déporté (504),
• une étape de désactivation (506).

It includes in all cases, as illustrated by the figure 2 :

• a prior configuration step (500),
• an activation step (502),
• a remote processing step (504),
• a deactivation step (506).

In a preferred embodiment, which serves as a basis for the description, the actuator (1) and all of its close control means, constituted by the local actuating unit (100) do not support any automated function. For example, the control means of the processing and actuating communication unit will be incapable of detecting a free stop or an obstacle during operation, just as they will be unable to react to a movement of the element. mobile (50) when the actuator (1) is not powered (in the case of a roller shutter, such a movement could be the sign of an attempted intrusion, being a blind, a such a movement could be the sign of a flurry of wind ...). However, the local actuating unit (100) comprises sensors whose analysis of the variations or combination of quantities, could provide information on said movement.

In its simplest form (which, moreover, guarantees a lowest possible cost price), the local actuation unit (100) is therefore such that it can receive and execute orders from the radio link and transmit data relating to the measurements of said sensors.

• Quelles données transmettre ?
• A quelle fréquence d'échantillonnage ?
• Sur quel événement initiateur ?
• Jusqu'à quel événement final ?

The prior configuration step (500) consists of configuring the local operating unit (100) under the control of the remote processing unit (400) to wait for the initiating event and receiving the data. This step consists, for example, in defining an initiator event as well as the data to be transmitted and their sampling frequency. She is normally engaged by a remote processing unit (400). With the aid of a specific communication frame of the "Request Data" type, this unit remotely informs the memory (7) of the local operating unit (100) on, for example:

• What data to transmit?
• At what sampling frequency?
• What initiator event?
• Until what final event?

By way of example, a configuration order is given such that, as soon as the motor start-up command is made, in a first direction of rotation, there is transmission every 10 milliseconds of the value of the voltages applied to the two windings. said engine, and stop this transmission, if the stop command is activated.

According to another example, in the case of a DC motor, a configuration command is given such that, as soon as it is put to rest, there is transmitted every 2 seconds the value of the voltage applied across the terminals. of the stator, and of cessation of this transmission, as soon as the power is turned on.

The prior configuration can be fixed by construction, but this deprives the product of the flexibility provided by the invention. One could, for example, conceive that the initiating event and / or that the data to be transmitted are defined in a pre-established way. A compromise may possibly be found between a partial set of data chosen in an immutable manner and a partial set of data chosen in a variable manner. Note that the pre-configuration step (500) can be changed several times for the same local operating unit (100), and it is possible to define several sets of transmission parameters related to different initiating events. Finally, the same prior configuration step (500) can make it possible to collectively configure a plurality of identical local operation units (100).

The activation step (502) is to activate the next processing step (504). This step corresponds to the recognition by the local activation unit (100) of the initiating event defined in the prior configuration step (500), and to the execution by the local actuating unit (100). orders related to this initiating event. For example, the local operating unit (100) receives a climb command from the command transmitter (200) and starts the engine in the first direction of rotation. One can just as easily imagine that the command command issued by the command transmitter (200) is actually picked up by the remote processing unit (400) and re-transmitted to the local operating unit (100). ) by this said remote unit (400).

• Pour l'unité locale d'actionnement (100)
  • à mesurer et à émettre la mesure faite ;
  • à attendre un ordre ;
  • à procéder à un bouclage sur la mesure suivante, à la fréquence d'échantillonnage ;
• et pour l'unité déportée de traitement (400)
  • à procéder à la réception de la mesure ;
  • à procéder au traitement et au test sur le résultat du traitement ;
  • à procéder au bouclage sur l'attente de réception de la mesure suivante si le test est négatif ;

The deported processing step (504) consists of:

• For the local actuation unit (100)
  • to measure and to emit the measure made;
  • to wait for an order;
  • loop back to the next measurement at the sampling rate;
• and for the remote processing unit (400)
  • to proceed to the receipt of the measure;
  • to proceed to the treatment and the test on the result of the treatment;
  • to proceed to the loopback on waiting to receive the next measurement if the test is negative;

The processing step (504) consists, for example, for the local operating unit (100), to transmit to the remote unit (400) the requested data respecting the requested sampling frequency. This data is therefore received and processed by the remote processing unit (400) which has a higher processing capacity than the local operating unit (100). For example, the dynamic comparison of the variations of the voltages applied across the two windings of the motor, by a complex algorithm, brings out an accurate image of the motor torque.

This treatment does not have to be absolutely synchronous with the sampling. It is therefore sufficient that the inevitable collisions or interference during the radio transmission do not disrupt, beyond measure, this transmission. A robust algorithm makes it possible to compensate for the possible absence of one or more missing data.

• pour l'unité déportée de traitement (400)
  • à procéder à l'élaboration d'un ordre de commande si le test est positif ;
  • à procéder à l'émission de cet ordre ;
• et pour l'unité locale d'actionnement (100)
  • à procéder à la réception de l'ordre de commande ;
  • et à exécuter la commande.

The deactivation step (506) is initiated by the remote unit. This step of deactivating the processing step (504) consists of:

• for the remote processing unit (400)
  • to proceed to the development of an order of order if the test is positive;
  • to issue this order;
• and for the local actuating unit (100)
  • to proceed to the receipt of the order;
  • and execute the command.

For example, when the processing unit (41) of the remote unit (400) calculatively detects, for example, a sudden change in torque, the remote unit (400) gives a stop command. This command is either sent directly to the local operating unit (100) or is sent to the command transmitter (200) which immediately passes it to the local operating unit (100).

If the capacity of the communication network allows, and if the computing power of the remote unit (400) is sufficient, this unit (400) can simultaneously be used to process different algorithms for several actuators activated simultaneously.

In the same way, several remote units (400) can be requested to share the same complex treatment.

Finally, it is clear that the command transmitter (200) and the remote processing unit (400) can constitute the same unit, both remote control and remote processing.

Of course, the invention is not limited to the embodiments described and shown by way of examples, but it also includes all the technical equivalents as well as their combinations falling within the scope of the following claims.

Claims (10)

1. A method of controlling and monitoring the dynamic operation of an actuator (1) for driving a movable element (50) of a building protection and/or comfort and/or monitoring installation, said actuator (1) being associated with nearby controlling means constituting a local actuation unit (100) and which comprise a supply device or converter (5), measuring means (9), a local processing unit (10) and a two-way radiofrequency transmitter (4), characterized in that it consists in diverting to another unit, called a remote processing unit (400), all or part of the processing for analyzing measurements made by the measuring means (9) and relating to said actuator (1) and/or to said movable element (50), this diversion being carried out with a bidirectional converter (4).
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the measurements are carried out in a phase in which the actuator (1) is electrically powered.
3. The method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the measurements are carried out in a phase during which the actuator (1) is not electrically powered.
4. The method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it comprises a remote processing step (504) comprising at least:

   in the case of the local actuation unit (100), the following phases:

   - measuring and transmitting the measurement made;

   - waiting for a command,

   - looping over to the next measurement, at a predetermined sampling frequency,

   and in the case of the remote actuation unit (400), the following phases:

   - receiving the measurement,

   - carrying out the processing and testing the result of the processing,

   - looping over to waiting for the next measurement to be received, if the test is negative.
5. The method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it comprises an activation step (502) which consists, in the case of the local actuation unit (100), in recognizing the initiating element defined in a prior configuration step (500) and in executing the commands associated with this initiating event.
6. The method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it comprises a prior configuration step (500) which consists in configuring a local actuation unit (100) under the control of the remote processing unit (400) and then, in the case of the local actuating unit (100), in waiting for an initiating event and, in the case of the remote processing unit (400), in waiting for the data relative to the measurements to be received.
7. The method as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the nature of the initiating event and/or the nature of the data to be measured and transmitted and/or a value of a data sampling frequency are transmitted from the remote processing unit (400) to the local actuation unit (100) during the prior configuration step (500).
8. The method as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the nature of the initiating event and/or the nature of the data to be measured and transmitted and/or the value of the data sampling frequency are defined in a pre-established manner in the local actuation unit (100).
9. The method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that it comprises a deactivation step (506) which comprises:

   in the case of the remote actuation unit (400), the following phases:

   - generating a control command if a test on a processing result is positive;

   - transmitting this command;

   and in the case of the local actuation unit (100), the following phases:

   - receiving the control command;

   - executing the command.
10. A device for the remote control of an actuator (1) intended to implement the method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the actuator (1) is intended to drive a shading or closure element (50), and in that said device comprises a two-way transmitter (4), measurement means (9), and a local processing unit (10) comprising a microprocessor (3), comprising a program for activating the measurement means and a program for transmitting the measurements, and in that said device comprises a remote processing unit (400) comprising a two-way transmitter (40) and a processing unit (41) comprising a data reception program, a data processing program, and a command transmission program.

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