Machine Failure Analyzing System and Wearable Electronic Device Having Machine Failure Analyzing Function

Abstract

Disclosures of the present invention describe a machine failure analyzing system. In the machine failure analyzing system, a wearable electronic device is for a user to wear, and a controlling and processing device is provided with a machine history data base and a failure causes analyzing unit. When a specific machine is malfunctioning or in a failure status, the controlling and processing device utilizes a machine status data collecting unit to collect machine status data from the specific machine. Subsequently, based on the machine status data, the failure causes analyzing unit can find relative failure causes from the machine history data base, thereby generating at least one troubleshooting solution. As such, under instructions of the troubleshooting solution, a field engineer who wears the wearable electronic device can achieve the troubleshooting of the specific machine rapidly and precisely, without needing to spend time finding the failure causes.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of machine repairing using artificial intelligence (AI), and more particularly to a machine failure analyzing system and a wearable electronic device having machine failure analyzing function.

2. Description of the Prior Art

It is known that, a specific-use process machine or an automated equipment commonly has several simple operation buttons. However, with the advancement of industrial science and technology, a technological machine is certainly provided with an electronic control interface, causing an operator fail to operate the technological machine by a simple and easy way. In fact, before the allowance of operating the technological machine, the operator is demanded to detailedly reading an operating manual of the technological machine and is required to pass a qualify test of the technological. Of course, it is not easy to complete a troubleshooting or a maintenance of the technological machine that is provided with the electronic control interface. Therefore, in case of the technological machine showing a failure or malfunction alarm, an engineer is informed by the operator for executing an inspection or a repairing of the technological machine. However, since the technological machine simultaneously consists of multi mechanical structures and a few of electronic control circuits, the engineer need to firstly refer to corresponding repair and maintenance manual so as to find the failure (or malfunction) causes of the technological machine, and then the engineer eventually finds a right solution for achieving the troubleshooting. However, practical experiences reveal that, the engineer needs to spend a lot of time reading the repair and maintenance manual, that causes the engineer fail to find the failure causes and the related troubleshooting solutions while there is a compelling need. In the most severe case, before exactly finding the failure (or malfunction) causes, the engineer may arbitrarily replace old machine part(s) with new machine part(s) or change machine settings without authorization, eventually resulting in an irreversible consequence.

Practical experiences also reveal that, once a junior engineer still fails to find a best troubleshooting solution after spending a lot of time reading the repair and maintenance manual, the junior engineer commonly gives a senior engineer who is in headquarters a call through a communication device, so as to report current machine status. As such, the senior engineer would find relative failure causes according to the reported machine status relying on his years of experience, thereby providing a best troubleshooting solution to the junior engineers through the communication device. On the other hand, some machine vendors make and provide a standard operation procedure (SOP) manual that records introductions of machine troubleshooting for their field engineers, such that the field engineer is able to complete the troubleshooting of a specific machine by referring to the SOP manual in case of the specific machine showing a failure or malfunction alarm.

In spite of the fact that the above-mentioned two ways are both helpful in shortening a whole time of completing the troubleshooting, the two ways still have shortcomings in practical use. For the former way, as long as the senior engineer has a day off or resigned, it is not helpful for finishing the troubleshooting for the field engineer who calls back headquarters through a communication device. For the latter way, it still needs to spend a lot of time reading the SOP manual for the field engineer. In addition, some unknown failure causes that are resulted from machine assembly defects or imperfection of machine parts would not be recorded in the general SOP manual, causing the field engineers fail to find the failure causes and achieve the troubleshooting.

From above descriptions, it is understood that, there is a need to develop and provide a device or system for a field maintenance engineer to effectively shorten a whole time of finding failure causes of a malfunctioning machine as well as completing a troubleshooting. In view of that, inventors of the present application have made great efforts to make inventive research and eventually provided a machine failure analyzing system and a wearable electronic device having machine failure analyzing function.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to disclose a machine failure analyzing system and a wearable electronic device having machine failure analyzing function, wherein the machine failure analyzing system mainly comprises: a machine status data collecting unit, at least one wearable electronic device and a controlling and processing device. In the present invention, the wearable electronic device is for a user to wear, and the controlling and processing device is provided with a machine history data base and a failure causes analyzing unit. When a specific machine is malfunctioning or in a failure status, the controlling and processing device utilizes the machine status data collecting unit to collect a variety of machine status data from the specific machine. Subsequently, based on the machine status data, the failure causes analyzing unit is able to find relative failure causes of the specific machine from the machine history data base, thereby generating at least one troubleshooting solution. As such, under instructions of the troubleshooting solution, a field maintenance engineer who wears the wearable electronic device can achieve the troubleshooting of the specific machine rapidly and precisely, without needing to spend time finding the failure causes.

For achieving the primary objective of the present invention, the present invention provides an embodiment of the machine failure analyzing system, comprising:

• a machine status data collecting unit, being configured for collecting a plurality of machine status data from at least one machine; at least one wearable electronic device, being for a user to wear, and having a first communication unit; and
• a controlling and processing device, comprising:
  • a second communication unit, being used for communicating with the first communication unit;
  • a processor unit, being coupled to the second communication unit;
  • a failure causes analyzing unit, being coupled to the processor unit; and
  • a machine history data base, being coupled to the failure causes analyzing unit and the processor unit, wherein there are a plurality of data of machine malfunction status, a plurality of data of machine failure causes, and a plurality of data of machine maintenance records stored in the machine history data base;
• wherein the processor unit receives the machine status data from the machine status data collecting unit through the second communication unit and the first communication unit, such that the failure causes analyzing unit finds the data of machine failure causes with respect to the machine status data from the machine history data base, thereby generating at least one troubleshooting solution after subsequently finding the data of machine maintenance records that are corresponding to the data of machine failure causes;
• wherein the processor unit transmits the troubleshooting solution to the wearable electronic device through the second communication unit and the first communication unit.

In addition, the present invention also provides an embodiment of the wearable electronic device having machine failure analyzing function, which is for a user to wear, and comprises:

• a processor unit;
• a machine status data collecting unit, being coupled to the processor unit, and being configured for collecting a plurality of machine status data from at least one machine;
• a machine history data base, being coupled to the processor unit, wherein there are a plurality of data of machine malfunction status, a plurality of data of machine failure causes, and a plurality of data of machine maintenance records stored in the machine history data base;
• a failure causes analyzing unit, being coupled to the processor unit and the machine history data base; and
• a display unit, being coupled to the processor unit;
• wherein the processor unit receives the machine status data from the machine status data collecting unit, such that the failure causes analyzing unit finds the data of machine failure causes with respect to the machine status data from the machine history data base, thereby generating at least one troubleshooting solution after subsequently finding the data of machine maintenance records that is corresponding to the data of machine failure causes;
• wherein the processor unit transmits the troubleshooting solution to the display unit, such that the troubleshooting solution is shown on the display unit by a mixed reality way.

In one embodiment, the machine is provided with a plurality of sensors, and the plurality of sensors are configured for sensing at least one machine status of the machine, so as to transmit the plurality of machine status data to the machine status data collecting unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention as well as a preferred mode of use and advantages thereof will be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a first framework view of a machine failure analyzing system according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a first function block diagram of the machine failure analyzing system;

FIG. 3A shows a stereo diagram for describing one practicable embodiment of a wearable electronic device of the machine failure analyzing system;

FIG. 3B shows a stereo diagram for depicting another one practicable embodiment of the wearable electronic device;

FIG. 4 shows a framework view of a wearable electronic device having machine failure analyzing function according to the present invention; and

FIG. 5 shows a function block diagram of the wearable electronic device having machine failure analyzing function.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

To more clearly describe a machine failure analyzing system and a wearable electronic device having machine failure analyzing function that are disclosed by the present invention, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings hereinafter.

Machine failure analyzing system

With reference to FIG. 1, there is shown a first framework view of a machine failure analyzing system according to the present invention. Moreover, FIG. 2 shows a first function block diagram of the machine failure analyzing system. As FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show, the machine failure analyzing system 1 of the present invention comprises: a machine status data collecting unit 101, at least one wearable electronic device 10, and a controlling and processing device 11, wherein the machine status data collecting unit 101 is configured for collecting a plurality of machine status data from at least one machine 3. On the other hand, the wearable electronic device 10 is for a user to wear, and has a first communication unit 103 and a display unit 102. FIG. 1 depicts that the wearable electronic device 10 is a mixed reality (MR) headset. However, the MR headset is not a limited embodiment of the wearable electronic device 10. FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B respectively show a stereo diagram for describing practicable embodiment of the wearable electronic device 10 of the machine failure analyzing system 1. In one practicable embodiment, the wearable electronic device 10 can be one smart glasses shown as the diagram of FIG. 3A. In addition, FIG. 3B illustrates that the wearable electronic device 10 can also be a Dragonball Z scouter.

On the other hand, FIG. 1 shows the controlling and processing device 11 by a form of a laptop computer. However, it needs to know that, a specific-use process machine or an automated equipment commonly is commonly controlled by a central control system, and there are a variety of machine setting data stored in a data base of the central control system. For above reason, it should be understood that, the laptop computer is not a limited embodiment of the controlling and processing device 11. In one practicable embodiment, the controlling and processing device 11 can be an industrial computer, a server computer, a central control computer, a desk computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, or a smart phone. As described more in detail below, FIG. 2 further shows that the controlling and processing device 11 comprises: a second communication unit 111 for communicating with the first communication unit 103, a processor unit 112 coupled to the second communication unit 111, a failure causes analyzing unit 113 coupled to the processor unit 112, and a machine history data base 114. In which, the machine history data base 114 is coupled to the failure causes analyzing unit 113 and the processor unit 112, and there are a plurality of data of machine malfunction status, a plurality of data of machine failure causes, and a plurality of data of machine maintenance records stored in the machine history data base 114.

In general, the machine 3 is commonly provided with a plurality of sensors 31, wherein the plurality of sensors 31 are configured for sensing at least one machine status of the machine 3. As such, in case of the machine 3 is malfunctioning or in a failure status, the sensors 31 show a failure or malfunction alarm, such that the controlling and processing device 11 utilizes the machine status data collecting unit 101 to collect machine status data from the sensors 31. Subsequently, the failure causes analyzing unit 113 finds the data of machine failure causes with respect to the machine status data from the machine history data base 114, thereby generating at least one troubleshooting solution after the data of machine maintenance records that are corresponding to the data of machine failure causes having been found from the machine history data base 114. Consequently, the processor unit 112 transmits the troubleshooting solution to the wearable electronic device 10 through the second communication unit 111 and the first communication unit 103.

It is easy to understand that, both the first communication unit 103 and the second communication 111 can be a wired communication interface or a wireless communication interface. On the other hand, the wearable electronic device 10 further comprises a display unit 102, such that the troubleshooting solution is able to be shown on the display unit 102 by a mixed reality way. It needs to further explain that, in the present invention, the troubleshooting solution comprises: a plurality of machine failures causes that are sequentially arranged and a plurality of machine maintenance records that are respectively relative to the plurality of machine failures. As such, under instructions of the troubleshooting solution, the user 2 (i.e., a field maintenance engineer) who wears the wearable electronic device 10 can achieve the troubleshooting of the machine 3 rapidly and precisely, without needing to spend time reading a repair and maintenance manual of the machine in order to find the failure causes. For example, when one machine 3 with serial number of 1 is malfunctioning, the field maintenance engineer who wears the wearable electronic device 10 is guided to complete a troubleshooting procedure comprises step A, step B and step C from the troubleshooting solution that is shown on the display unit 102 of the wearable electronic device 10. On the other hand, in case of another one machine 3 having serial number of 2 being in a failure state, the field maintenance engineer who wears the wearable electronic device 10 is guided to finish a troubleshooting procedure comprises step B, step C and step D from the troubleshooting solution. Briefly speaking, the failure causes analyzing unit 113 would not produce the same troubleshooting solution for two different machines according to the data of machine failure causes and the data of machine maintenance records. As a result, not only does the machine failure analyzing system 1 of the present invention is helpful in shortening a whole time of completing the troubleshooting, the field maintenance engineer is also prevented from arbitrarily replacing old machine part(s) with new machine part(s) or change machine settings without authorization ahead of exactly finding the failure causes of the machine that is malfunctioning.

It needs to further explain that, above descriptions have introduced that the machine 3 is provided with a plurality of sensors 31, and the plurality of sensors 31 are configured for sensing at least one machine status of the machine 3, so as to transmit the plurality of machine status data to the machine status data collecting unit 101. In general, the plurality of machine status data comprises at least one normal machine malfunction status and a urgent machine malfunction status. Moreover, the forgoing descriptions mean that the machine status data collecting unit 101 is a sensing data receiving interface. However, in one practicable embodiment, the machine status data collecting unit 101 can also be a sensor controlling device, and is configured for controlling the plurality of sensors 31 that are integrated in the machine 3.

In a specific case, however, the field maintenance engineer (i.e., the user 2) may still fail to achieve the troubleshooting of the machine 3 in spited of receiving the troubleshooting solution that is shown on the display unit 102 of the wearable electronic device 10. In such case, the field maintenance engineer is able to utilize an image capturing module, a sound capturing module or a camera of the wearable electronic device 10 to report a current machine status to a central control system (i.e., the controlling and processing device 11) that is disposed in headquarters. As such, a senior engineer who is in headquarters can find relative failure causes according to the reported machine status relying on his years of experience, thereby providing a best troubleshooting solution to the field maintenance engineers through the first communication unit 103 of the wearable electronic device 10.

Moreover, FIG. 2 also depicts that the wearable electronic device 10 further comprises an information feedback unit 104, such that the user 2 is able to utilize the information feedback unit 104 to unload an exact machine failure cause to the controlling and processing device 11 after completing a troubleshooting of the machine. Moreover, from FIG. 2, it is understood that the controlling and processing device 11 further comprises a self-learning unit 115 that is coupled to the processor unit 112 and the machine history data base 114. By such arrangement, the self-learning unit 115 is configured to update the wherein the data of machine malfunction status, the data of machine failure causes, and/or the data of machine maintenance records that are stored in the machine history data base 114 after the exact machine failure cause being uploaded to the controlling and processing device 11.

In general, the failure causes analyzing unit 113 and the self-learning unit 115 are edited to a form of firmware, function library, or application program so as to be established in the controlling and processing device 11. As such, the controlling and processing device 11 is not limited to a central control system. In one practicable embodiment, the controlling and processing device 11 can be an industrial computer, a server computer, a desk computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, or a smart phone. On the other hand, if the wearable electronic device 10 has a high-performance CPU, the forgoing failure causes analyzing unit 113 and the self-learning unit 115 can also be edited to a form of firmware, function library, or application program so as to be established in the wearable electronic device 10. As a result, the wearable electronic device 10 is provided with a failure analyzing function.

Wearable electronic device having machine failure analyzing function

With reference to FIG. 4, there is shown a framework view of a wearable electronic device having machine failure analyzing function. Moreover, FIG. 5 shows a function block diagram of the wearable electronic device having machine failure analyzing function. As FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 show, the wearable electronic device 5 is for a user 2 (i.e., a field maintenance engineer) to wear, and comprises: a processor unit 50, a machine status data collecting unit 51, a machine history data base 52, a failure causes analyzing unit 53, a display unit 54, an information feedback unit 55, a self-learning unit 56, a communication unit 57. In which, the machine status data collecting unit 51 is selected from the group consisting of sensing data receiving module, image capturing module, sound capturing module, and camera.

As described more in detail below, the machine history data base 52 is coupled to the processor unit 50, and there are a plurality of data of machine malfunction status, a plurality of data of machine failure causes, and a plurality of data of machine maintenance records stored in the machine history data base 52. Moreover, the failure causes analyzing unit 53 is coupled to the processor unit 50 and the machine history data base 52, and the display unit 54 is coupled to the processor unit 50. On the other hand, the information feedback unit 55 is coupled to the processor unit, and the self-learning unit 56 is coupled to the processor unit 50 and the machine history data base 52. In case of the machine 3 is malfunctioning or in a failure status, the sensors 31 show a failure or malfunction alarm, such that the wearable electronic device 10 utilizes the machine status data collecting unit 51 to collect machine status data from the sensors 31. Subsequently, the failure causes analyzing unit 53 finds the data of machine failure causes with respect to the machine status data from the machine history data base 52, thereby generating at least one troubleshooting solution after the data of machine maintenance records that are corresponding to the data of machine failure causes having been found from the machine history data base 52. Consequently, the processor unit 50 transmits the troubleshooting solution to the display unit 54, such that the troubleshooting solution is able to be shown on the display unit 54 by a mixed reality way. As such, under instructions of the troubleshooting solution, the user 2 (i.e., a field maintenance engineer) who wears the wearable electronic device 10 can achieve the troubleshooting of the machine 3 rapidly and precisely, without needing to spend time reading a repair and maintenance manual of the machine in order to find the failure causes.

It needs to further explain that, above descriptions have introduced that the machine 3 is provided with a plurality of sensors 31, and the plurality of sensors 31 are configured for sensing at least one machine status of the machine 3, so as to transmit the plurality of machine status data to the machine status data collecting unit 51. The forgoing descriptions mean that the machine status data collecting unit 51 is a sensing data receiving interface. However, in one practicable embodiment, the machine status data collecting unit 51 can also be a sensor controlling device, and is configured for controlling the plurality of sensors 31 that are integrated in the machine 3. As explained more in detail below, the machine status data collecting unit 51 can also be an independent module or device, and is no need to be integrated in the wearable electronic device 5. The independent machine status data collecting 51 can also be configured for controlling the plurality of sensors 31, and then transmit the sensing data to the wearable electronic device 5.

In a specific case, however, the field maintenance engineer (i.e., the user 2) may still fail to achieve the troubleshooting of the machine 3 in spited of receiving the troubleshooting solution that is shown on the display unit 54 of the wearable electronic device 10. In such case, the field maintenance engineer is able to utilize an image capturing module, a sound capturing module or a camera of the wearable electronic device 10 to report a current machine status to a central control system that is disposed in headquarters. As such, a senior engineer who is in headquarters can find relative failure causes according to the reported machine status relying on his years of experience, thereby providing a best troubleshooting solution to the field maintenance engineers through the communication unit 57 of the wearable electronic device 10.

In addition, the user 2 (i.e., the field maintenance engineer) who wears the wearable electronic device 5 is able to utilize the information feedback unit 55 to unload an exact machine failure cause to the processor unit 50 after completing a troubleshooting of the machine. Moreover, from FIG. 4, it is understood that the wearable electronic device 5 further comprises a self-learning unit 56 that is processor unit 50 and the machine history data base 52. By such arrangement, the self-learning unit 56 is configured to update the wherein the data of machine malfunction status, the data of machine failure causes, and/or the data of machine maintenance records that are stored in the machine history data base 52 after the exact machine failure cause being uploaded to the processor unit 50.

The above description is made on embodiments of the present invention. However, the embodiments are not intended to limit scope of the present invention, and all equivalent implementations or alterations within the spirit of the present invention still fall within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A machine failure analyzing system, comprising: a machine status data collecting unit, being configured for collecting a plurality of machine status data from at least one machine;at least one wearable electronic device, being for a user to wear, and having a first communication unit; anda controlling and processing device, comprising: a second communication unit, being used for communicating with the first communication unit;a processor unit, being coupled to the second communication unit;a failure causes analyzing unit, being coupled to the processor unit; anda machine history data base, being coupled to the failure causes analyzing unit and the processor unit, wherein there are a plurality of data of machine malfunction status, a plurality of data of machine failure causes, and a plurality of data of machine maintenance records stored in the machine history data base;wherein the processor unit receives the machine status data from the machine status data collecting unit through the second communication unit and the first communication unit, such that the failure causes analyzing unit finds the data of machine failure causes with respect to the machine status data from the machine history data base, thereby generating at least one troubleshooting solution after subsequently finding the data of machine maintenance records that are corresponding to the data of machine failure causes;wherein the processor unit transmits the troubleshooting solution to the wearable electronic device through the second communication unit and the first communication unit.

2. The machine failure analyzing system of claim 1, wherein the machine is provided with a plurality of sensors, and the plurality of sensors being configured for sensing at least one machine status of the machine, so as to transmit the plurality of machine status data to the machine status data collecting unit.

3. The machine failure analyzing system of claim 1, wherein the machine status data collecting unit is selected from the group consisting of sensing data receiving module, image capturing module, sound capturing module, and camera.

4. The machine failure analyzing system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of data of machine malfunction status comprises at least one normal machine malfunction status and a urgent machine malfunction status.

5. The machine failure analyzing system of claim 1, wherein the wearable electronic device further comprises a display unit, such that the troubleshooting solution is able to be shown on the display unit by a mixed reality way.

6. The machine failure analyzing system of claim 5, wherein the troubleshooting solution comprises: a plurality of machine failures causes that are sequentially arranged and a plurality of machine maintenance records that are respectively relative to the plurality of machine failures.

7. The machine failure analyzing system of claim 1, wherein the wearable electronic device further comprises an information feedback unit, such that the user is able to utilize the information feedback unit to unload an exact machine failure cause to the controlling and processing device after completing a troubleshooting of the machine.

8. The machine failure analyzing system of claim 7, wherein the controlling and processing device further comprises a self-learning unit that is coupled to the processor unit and the machine history data base; wherein the self-learning unit is configured to update the wherein the data of machine malfunction status, the data of machine failure causes, and/or the data of machine maintenance records that are stored in the machine history data base after the exact machine failure cause being uploaded to the controlling and processing device.

9. The machine failure analyzing system of claim 1, wherein both the first communication unit and the second communication are selected from the group consisting of wired communication interface and wireless communication interface.

10. The machine failure analyzing system of claim 1, wherein the controlling and processing device is selected from the group consisting of central control system, industrial computer, server computer, desk computer, laptop computer, tablet computer, and smart phone.

11. The machine failure analyzing system of claim 7, wherein the failure causes analyzing unit and the self-learning unit are edited to a form of firmware, function library, or application program so as to be established in the controlling and processing device.

12. A wearable electronic device having machine failure analyzing function, being for a user to wear, and comprising: a processor unit;a machine status data collecting unit, being coupled to the processor unit, and being configured for collecting a plurality of machine status data from at least one machine;a machine history data base, being coupled to the processor unit, wherein there are a plurality of data of machine malfunction status, a plurality of data of machine failure causes, and a plurality of data of machine maintenance records stored in the machine history data base;a failure causes analyzing unit, being coupled to the processor unit and the machine history data base; anda display unit, being coupled to the processor unit;wherein the processor unit receives the machine status data from the machine status data collecting unit, such that the failure causes analyzing unit finds the data of machine failure causes with respect to the machine status data from the machine history data base, thereby generating at least one troubleshooting solution after subsequently finding the data of machine maintenance records that is corresponding to the data of machine failure causes;wherein the processor unit transmits the troubleshooting solution to the display unit, such that the troubleshooting solution is shown on the display unit by a mixed reality way.

13. The wearable electronic device of claim 12, further comprising an information feedback unit coupled to the processor unit, such that the user is able to utilize the information feedback unit to unload an exact machine failure cause to the processor unit after completing a troubleshooting of the machine.

14. The wearable electronic device of claim 12, wherein the machine status data collecting unit is selected from the group consisting of sensing data receiving module, image capturing module, sound capturing module, and camera.

15. The wearable electronic device of claim 12, wherein the plurality of data of machine malfunction status comprises at least one normal machine malfunction status and a urgent machine malfunction status.

16. The wearable electronic device of claim 12, wherein the troubleshooting solution comprises: a plurality of machine failures causes that are sequentially arranged and a plurality of machine maintenance records that are respectively relative to the plurality of machine failures.

17. The wearable electronic device of claim 12, further comprising an information feedback unit that is coupled to the processor unit, such that the user is able to utilize the information feedback unit to unload an exact machine failure cause to the processor unit after completing a troubleshooting of the machine.

18. The wearable electronic device of claim 17, further comprising a self-learning unit that is coupled to the processor unit and the machine history data base; wherein the self-learning unit is configured to update the wherein the data of machine malfunction status, the data of machine failure causes, and/or the data of machine maintenance records that are stored in the machine history data base after the exact machine failure cause being uploaded to the processor unit.

19. The wearable electronic device of claim 17, further comprising a communication unit for communicating with a central control system.