DE-112024003114-T5 - SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRACKING AND CONTROLLING BATTERY CONSUMPTION IN FLEETS OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES POWERED BY BATTERIES

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Abstract

Systems and methods for tracking and controlling battery consumption in fleets of battery-powered electronic devices are disclosed herein. An exemplary method includes receiving energy consumption and usage information of a device over a period of time; determining an initial energy usage value of the device based on the energy consumption and usage information over the period; analyzing the energy consumption and usage information to determine an attribute associated with excessive energy consumption of the device over the period; identifying and applying attenuation to address the attribute and reduce the initial energy usage value over the period; determining a second energy usage value of the device based on the implemented attenuation over the period; determining a difference between the first and second energy usage values over the period; and determining at least one metric indicating energy savings over the period based on the determined difference.

Inventors

Charles Roark
Wayne Miller

Assignees

ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260513
Application Date: 20240719
Priority Date: 20230727

Claims (20)

A method comprising: Receiving energy consumption information and usage information of a device over a period of time; Determining an initial energy usage value of the device for the period of time based on the energy consumption information and the usage information over the period of time; Analyzing the energy consumption information and the usage information to determine at least one attribute associated with excessive energy use of the device over the period of time; Identifying and applying at least one attenuation to address the at least one attribute and reduce the initial energy usage value over the period of time; Determining a second energy usage value of the device based on the implemented at least one attenuation over the period of time; Determining a difference between the initial energy usage value and the second energy usage value over the period of time; and Determining at least one metric indicating energy savings over the period of time based on the determined difference.
Procedure according to Claim 1 , where the energy consumption information includes battery charging data over time.
Procedure according to Claim 1 , wherein the usage information includes one or more of: a battery discharge rate, a screen-on time, screen brightness data, a sampling rate, usage data associated with one or more business applications installed on the device, a battery cycle, a battery charge level, a battery temperature, a current battery capacity, a cumulative total battery charge, a nominal battery capacity, an average current, an average power, a voltage, charging turn-on/turn-off events, a battery charging source, or battery replacement data over time.
Procedure according to Claim 1 , wherein the determination of the first energy utilization value of the device for the time period is further based on one or more of: a battery type, a battery health state, a device type, a device screen timeout setting, a device brightness setting, a battery cycle, a battery charge level, a battery temperature, a current battery capacity, a cumulative total battery charge, a battery nominal capacity, an average current, an average power, a voltage, charging turn-on/turn-off events, a battery charging source, or a location name associated with the device.
Procedure according to Claim 1 , where the first energy usage value is a minimum battery charge required over the time period.
Procedure according to Claim 1 , wherein the at least one attribute associated with the excessive energy consumption of the device over time comprises one or more of: a screen brightness attribute, a screen power-on time attribute, a wireless signal strength attribute, a device location attribute, a physical device memory attribute, a physical application memory usage attribute, a battery-per-application usage attribute, a scanner usage attribute, a data transmission attribute associated with the device, a data transmission-per-application attribute, a receive usage attribute associated with the device, and a receive usage-per-application attribute.
Procedure according to Claim 1 , wherein at least one attenuation of one or more of: a reduction in screen brightness, a reduction in screen power-on time, an increase in wireless signal strength quality, an improvement in memory utilization, which the The device is associated with an improvement in memory usage per application, a reduction in battery usage per application, an optimization of data transmission, an optimization of reception, or an optimization of scanner usage.
Procedure according to Claim 1 , wherein the at least one metric indicating energy savings over time comprises one or more of: a battery life metric, a battery purchase metric, a battery disposal metric, an energy consumption metric, a CO2 emission rate metric or a precious metal degradation rate metric.
Procedure according to Claim 1 , where the duration is a duration assigned to a work shift.
System comprising: a device comprising: a smart battery comprising a battery memory and one or more battery processors storing first computer-readable instructions that cause the one or more battery processors to store battery usage and state-of-charge (SOC) data on the battery memory; a clock, a device communication system, one or more device processors, and a device memory that stores second computer-readable instructions; and a server comprising a server communication system, one or more server processors, and a server memory that stores third computer-readable instructions; wherein the second computer-readable instructions, when executed by the one or more device processors, cause the one or more device processors to: detect events associated with the battery; Compiling event data based on the detected events, wherein the event data for each of one or more detected events includes one or more of the following: battery usage data stored on the battery memory associated with the event, SOC data stored on the memory associated with the event, an indication of an event type associated with the event, a time associated with the event, an indication of a reserve voltage level during the event, a battery temperature associated with the event, a cumulative battery charge at the time of the event, or a battery charging source associated with the event; and transmitting the compiled event data to the server via the device communication system; wherein the third computer-readable instruction, when executed by the one or more server processors, causes the one or more server processors to: receive the compiled event data from the device via the server communication system; determine device activity data associated with the device based on the compiled event data; and Analyzing the device activity data using an electrical consumption model to estimate the electrical consumption for the device based on the battery consumption associated with the device.
System according to Claim 10 , wherein the device is one of: a mobile computing device, a mobile printer, a scanner device and a robot device.
System according Claim 10 , wherein the second computer-readable instructions, when executed by the one or more device processors, further cause the one or more device processors to: acquire additional device data comprising one or more of: power usage data associated with the device, screen power-on time associated with the device, screen brightness data associated with the device, sampling rate associated with the device, usage data associated with one or more business applications installed on the device, wireless signal strength associated with the device, device location, indication of physical device memory usage, indication of physical memory usage per application, indication of battery usage per application, indication of data transmission associated with the device, indication of data transmission per application, indication of receive usage associated with the device, or indication of receive usage per application; and transmit the additional device data to the server via the device communication system.
System according to Claim 12 , wherein the third computer-readable instructions, when executed by the one or more server processors, further cause the one or more server processors to: receive the additional device data via the server communication system; and Determining the device activity data further based on the additional device data.
System according Claim 10 , wherein the third computer-readable instructions, when executed by the one or more server processors, further cause the one or more server processors to: determine at least one metric associated with the estimated electrical consumption, wherein the at least one metric comprises one or more of: an emission rate, a precious metal extraction rate or a disposal rate.
System according Claim 10 , wherein the detected events associated with the battery include one or more of: a low battery event, a battery swap mode event, a battery swap entry event, a battery swap exit event, a battery swap power-on event, a battery charge power-off event, a battery status event, a battery temperature event, a cumulative battery charge event, a device suspension event, a device suspension recovery event, or a device shutdown event.
System comprising: a mobile device, including a battery, a clock, a mobile device communication system, one or more mobile device processors, and a mobile device memory, which stores, firstly, computer-readable instructions which, when executed by the one or more mobile device processors, cause the one or more mobile device processors to collect and transmit mobile device data, including battery and usage status data, via the mobile device communication system; a server, including a server communication system, one or more server processors, and a server memory, which stores, secondly, computer-readable instructions which, when executed by the one or more server processors, cause the one or more server processors to: receive mobile device data via the server communication system; Analyzing mobile device data to determine one or more of: durations of one or more shifts associated with the mobile device, required energy consumption associated with the mobile device, measured energy consumption associated with the mobile device, predicted energy consumption over time associated with the mobile device, predicted rate of battery purchases associated with the mobile device, predicted rate of battery disposals associated with the mobile device, predicted impact of mobile device energy consumption on emission rates, or predicted impact of mobile device energy consumption on landfill rates.
System according Claim 16 , wherein the mobile device is one of: a mobile computing device, a mobile printer, a scanning device or a robotic device.
System according Claim 16 , where the battery is a lithium-ion battery.
System according Claim 16 , where analyzing the mobile device data involves analyzing the mobile device data using one or more machine learning algorithms.
System according Claim 16 , where analyzing the mobile device data involves analyzing the mobile device data using one or more simulations.

Description

BACKGROUND Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) impact metrics are becoming a key factor in customer and consumer decisions. Improving the environmental impact component includes, for example, moving towards carbon neutrality, reducing emissions, and optimizing landfill use. However, these environmental impacts are often assessed qualitatively rather than quantitatively, making it difficult to determine an organization's standing in relation to these metrics. Consequently, a way to quantitatively assess these metrics is needed, particularly regarding the environmental impact of battery consumption and disposal by mobile devices such as mobile computers, symbology readers, and robotic devices. DESCRIPTION In one embodiment, the present invention is a method comprising: receiving energy consumption information of a device and usage information of the device over a period of time; determining a first energy usage value of the device for the period of time based on the energy consumption information and the usage information over the period of time; analyzing the energy consumption information and the usage information to determine at least one attribute associated with excessive energy use of the device over the period of time; identifying and applying at least one attenuation to address the at least one attribute and reduce the first energy usage value over the period of time; determining a second energy usage value of the device based on the implemented at least one attenuation over the period of time; determining a difference between the first energy usage value and the second energy usage value over the period of time; and determining at least one metric indicating energy savings over the period of time based on the determined difference. In one variation of this embodiment, the energy consumption information includes battery charging data over time. Furthermore, in a variation of this embodiment, the usage information includes one or more of: a battery discharge rate, a screen on time, screen brightness data, a sampling rate, usage data associated with one or more business applications installed on the device, a battery cycle, a battery charge level, a battery temperature, a current battery capacity, a cumulative total battery charge, a nominal battery capacity, an average current, an average power, a voltage, charging on/off events, a battery charging source, or battery replacement data over time. Furthermore, in a variation of this embodiment, the determination of the first energy utilization value of the device for the duration is also based on one or more of: a battery type, a battery health status, a device type, a device screen timeout setting, a device brightness setting, a battery cycle, a battery charge level, a battery temperature, a current battery capacity, a cumulative total battery charge, a battery nominal capacity, an average current, an average power, a voltage, charging turn-on/turn-off events, a battery charging source, or a location name associated with the device. Additionally, in a variation of this embodiment, the first energy utilization value is a minimum battery charge required over the period of time. Furthermore, in a variation of this embodiment, the at least one attribute associated with the excessive energy consumption of the device over time includes one or more of: a screen brightness attribute, a screen power-on time attribute, a wireless signal strength attribute, a device location attribute, a physical device memory attribute, a physical application memory usage attribute, a battery-per-application usage attribute, a scanner usage attribute, a data transmission attribute associated with the device, a data transmission-per-application attribute, a receive usage attribute associated with the device, and a receive usage-per-application attribute. Furthermore, in a variation of this embodiment, at least one attenuation of one or more of the following is included: a reduction in screen brightness, a reduction in screen on-time, an increase in wireless signal strength quality, an improvement in memory utilization associated with the device, an improvement in memory utilization per application, a reduction in battery utilization per application, an optimization of data transmission, an optimization of reception, or an optimization of scanner utilization. In addition, in a variation of this embodiment, the at least one metric that indicates energy savings over time includes one or more of: a battery life metric, a battery purchase metric, a battery disposal metric, an energy consumption metric, a CO2 emission rate metric, or a precious metal degradation rate metric. Furthermore, in a variation of this embodiment, the duration is a duration that is assigned to a work shift. In another embodiment, the present invention is a device comprising: a smart battery, including a battery memory and one or more battery processors, which store first computer-readable instructions tha