Environment driven solar power management

A computer receives determines a mobile device requires a recharge, where the mobile device have a solar cell and an imaging device. The computer identifies an object with a low diffusion rate. The computer recharges the mobile device, based on determining that the mobile device receiving the solar energy from the identified object.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates, generally, to the field of computing, and more particularly to a computerized method for solar power utilization and management.

Shifting from fossil fuels to electrical power systems are accelerating worldwide. Many mobile devices such as vehicles, ships and drones utilize electrical operation based on solar battery sources. Power optimization is essential for long running battery-operated devices. In many cases, mobile devices lack frequent access points for charging. The lack of charging locations is even more pronounced for flying mobile devices such as drones.

Drones are unmanned aerial vehicles that typically use electric power to operate and integrate mobile connectivity, geolocation, and visualization capabilities. In recent years, drones have become widely used for surveillance, weather forecasting, and package delivery applications.

A geolocation device is an electronic component for identification or estimation of a real-world geographic location of an object, such as a radar source, mobile phone, or Internet-connected computer terminal. In its simplest form, geolocation involves the generation of a set of geographic coordinates and is closely related to the use of positioning systems, such as Global Positioning System (GPS).

SUMMARY

According to one embodiment, a method, computer system, and computer program product for solar power management is provided. The present embodiment may include a computer determines a mobile device requires a recharge, where the mobile device have a solar cell and an imaging device. The computer may identify an object with a low diffusion rate and recharge the mobile device based on that the mobile device receiving the solar energy from the identified object.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of computing, and more particularly to a computerized method for solar power utilization and management. The following described exemplary embodiments provide a system, method, and program product to, among other things, enable solar power recharging of a mobile device when a direct source of the solar power is obstructed due to weather or other physical conditions. Therefore, the present embodiment has the capacity to improve the technical field of managing power of mobile devices by enabling solar charging when a direct solar source is obstructed.

As previously described, shifting from fossil fuels to electrical power systems are accelerating worldwide. Many mobile devices such as vehicles, ships and drones utilize electrical operation based on solar battery sources. Power optimization is essential for long running battery-operated devices. In many cases, mobile devices lack frequent access points for charging. The lack of charging locations is even more pronounced for flying mobile devices such as drones.

Due to changing weather, or other physical obstacles, battery recharging or operation under solar energy may be impinged when there are obstructions affecting a solar charging or operation-equipped device. For example, due to cloud formations, a drone may have little or no direct sunlight available for a solar cell and, thus, unable to adequately replenish expended battery energy. In addition, when the drone is above a body of water, the drone cannot perform an emergency landing in the event of full battery depletion. As such, it may be advantageous to, among other things, implement a system capable of recharging depleted battery energy by focusing equipped solar cells toward objects with low diffusion, such a body of water, in order to more effectively optimize available solar energy for battery recharging. In at least one other embodiment, the system may utilize an ad hoc network of one or more unmanned vehicles within a preconfigured radius to reflect available solar rays toward the device, thus enable recharging or continuous operation of the mobile device, such as unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), when direct solar energy is unavailable.

Typically, reflection ratio of solar radiation from a surface is a function of surface smoothness and angle of sunlight. Specular reflection occurs when solar light falls on the surface and reflects off in a single outgoing direction. A mirror presents an example of reflecting light in a single direction. On the other hand, when light rays are reflected in multiple directions, then diffuse, reflection occurs resulting in the reflected solar radiation being unusable.

The smoothness of a body that reflects solar radiation, such as a water surface, may be affected by environmental factors, such as wind speed and wind direction. For example, high wind speed may cause more disturbances on water and, therefore, may reduce the smoothness of the surface. This results in higher diffusion rate of a solar radiation.

According to one embodiment, a device may determine that power level of a battery may be below a threshold level and requires immediate, and possibly emergency, recharging through equipped solar panels. Captured weather, geolocation, and environmental data may be analyzed and, after identifying one or more nearby objects with low diffusion, utilizing the light emission from the one or more objects that may be reflected, either directly or indirectly, using other mobile devices in order to maximize the recharging energy of the mobile device requiring a recharge.

The following described exemplary embodiments provide a system, method, and program product to enable recharging of a mobile device using solar energy when a direct source (i.e., the sun) is obstructed.

Referring toFIG.1, an exemplary networked computer environment100is depicted, according to at least one embodiment. The networked computer environment100may include mobile device102and a server112interconnected via a communication network114. According to at least one implementation, the networked computer environment100may include a plurality of mobile devices102and servers112, of which only one of each is shown for illustrative brevity.

Mobile device102may include a processor104and a data storage device106that are connected or attached to a geolocation device122, imaging device124, solar cell126and light reflecting device128and is enabled to host and run a software program108and a solar power management (SPM) program110A and communicate with the server112via the communication network114, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. Mobile device102may be, for example, a mobile device, a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant, a netbook, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a drone, an electrical moving device, or any type of computing device capable of hosting and controlling one or more of the geolocation device122, imaging device124, solar cell126and light reflecting device128while running a program and accessing a network. As will be discussed with reference toFIG.4, the mobile device102may include internal components402aand external components404a, respectively. For example, mobile device102may be a mobile phone that has a solar cell122that may receive a light reflected from a light reflecting device of a drone in order to charge the battery.

According to an example embodiment, the geolocation device122may be a Global Positioning System (GPS) device that is based on a global navigation satellite system, or any other device that may receive a radio signal and determine a location of the mobile device using triangulation. The imaging device124, may be a camera or other image capturing device that may capture a photograph of a surrounding space in order to analyze the surface for determination of light sources or light reflecting objects. The solar cell126may be any type of device that is capable of transforming solar radiation, such as light, into an electrical current for charging an onboard battery installed on mobile device102or operating the mobile device102. According to an example embodiment, the solar cell126may incorporate one or more servo engines or other devices capable of angling, rotating and/or otherwise positioning a solar cell126placed on any directional surface of the mobile device102in order to maximize the transformation of the solar energy into the electrical current. The light reflecting device128may be a movable light reflector, such as a mirror or any other device capable of reflecting and focusing the solar energy into a specific direction. The light reflecting device128, may be a standalone device, a part of the solar cell126or integrated into the solar cell126. For example, the solar cell126may have a partially reflecting surface thus allowing it to convert part of the light into electricity and reflecting the rest to the requested direction.

The server112may be a laptop computer, netbook computer, personal computer (PC), a desktop computer, or any programmable electronic device or any network of programmable electronic devices capable of hosting and running a solar power management (SPM) program110B and a storage device116with geolocation data118and environmental data120. The server112is communicating with the mobile device102via the communication network114, in accordance with embodiments of the invention. As will be discussed with reference toFIG.4, the server112may include internal components402band external components404b, respectively. The server112may also operate in a cloud computing service model, such as Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), or Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). The server112may also be located in a cloud computing deployment model, such as a private cloud, community cloud, public cloud, or hybrid cloud.

The geolocation data118may store all of the current locations of the one or more mobile devices, such as mobile device102, that are received from geolocation device122via communication network114. The one or more mobile devices utilized to provide recharging assistance through the SPM program110A,110B may be owned and operated as part of a vehicle fleet with a common owner or have opted in to the SPM program110A,110B through a user opt-in procedure. The environmental data120may include weather conditions in the space area of the mobile device102, such as clouds, wind speed, and wind direction, water bodies and other light-emitting and reflecting objects, such as glass buildings or reflecting roofs. According to an example embodiment, the environmental data120may be limited in the area while the space area may be determined as a sphere or a hemisphere having a radius not more than a visibility range at the location of the mobile device102.

According to the present embodiment, the SPM program110A,110B may be a program capable of identifying an object with low diffusion that may be used directly or through other mobile devices in order to transmit the solar energy from the object to a solar panel of the mobile device in order to recharge or operate the mobile device. The solar power management method is explained in further detail below with respect toFIG.2.

Referring now toFIG.2, an operational flowchart illustrating a solar power management process200is depicted according to at least one embodiment. At202, the SPM program110A,110B determines a mobile device requires a solar energy. According to an example embodiment, the SPM program110A,110B may monitor battery levels of all the mobile devices connected to the service and, when one of the mobile devices, such as mobile device102, transmits a signal over the network that the battery level is low, determine that the mobile device requires a recharging. In another embodiment, SPM program110A,110B may determine that the mobile device requires recharging when the mobile device102is unable to use direct solar power after directing solar cell126to a source, such as the sun. For example, the SPM program110A,110B may use imaging device124to capture images and determine that the mobile device102requires a recharging when the power is below a predetermined threshold and no solar power source is identified when analyzing the images from imaging device124.

Next, at204, the SPM program110A,110B identifies objects with low diffusion rate. As previously mentioned, diffusion rate may be related to a smoothness of a body or a surface of an area that reflects solar energy, such as a water surface. The diffusion rate of the water surface may be affected by environmental factors, such as wind speed and wind direction. The wind may generate waves on the surface of the water that increase dissipation of the solar light thus having a higher diffusion rate that may not be useful for recharging a mobile device. According to an example embodiment, SPM program110A,110B may receive images from the imaging device124and, using a visual recognition method, identify one or more objects that reflect light from a source or have a low diffusion rate. In another embodiment, SPM program110A,110B may access and search the environmental data120for objects in the space area. In a further embodiment, SPM program110A,110B may use a trained deep neural network to analyze the received images and the environmental data120to identify objects with a low diffusion rate. For example, if the surface area incorporates several water surfaces and buildings having glass panes, the SPM program110A,110B may direct the solar cell126to a light reflection from each of the identified objects to determine a highest electricity generating source.

Then, at206, the SPM program110A,110B determines whether the mobile device can recharge directly from the identified objects. According to an example embodiment, when a mobile device102is below the clouds and cannot identify any solar energy reflecting or generating source or a solar energy the mobile device receives using a solar cell126that is directed to the source is below a minimum threshold required for recharging, the SPM program110A,110B determines it cannot recharge directly from the identified objects. For example, if SPM program110A,110B identifies a reflection of the light from the received image after visual recognition processing then the mobile device may charge directly from one or more identified objects. If the SPM program110A,110B can directly recharge from the identified object (step206, “YES” branch), the SPM program110A,110B may continue to step212to recharge the mobile device102. If the SPM program110A,110B determines the mobile device102cannot charge directly from the identified objects (step212, “NO” branch), the SPM program110A,110B may continue to step208to identify other mobile devices in the surface area of the mobile device.

Next, at208, in response to determining the mobile device102cannot recharge directly from the identified object, the SPM program110A,110B identifies other mobile devices within a threshold distance of the mobile device. According to an example embodiment, SPM program110A,110B may set a preconfigured spherical distance around the mobile device having a radius equal to the visibility distance acquired from environmental data120. In another embodiment, the SPM program110A,110B may determine a distance based on the imaging device124resolution and/or solar cell126aiming capabilities. For example, if a resolution of the imaging device124does not allow to identify objects further than several miles, the radius will not exceed the maximum resolution limitation. Similarly if a solar sell126has limitations on its movement and aiming, such as servo engines having angling incrementations of two degrees, it may affect aiming of the solar panel to a specific source. In another embodiment, the area may be of any shape or form predetermined by a user, such as cubical or hemispherical. Then, the SPM program110A,110B may identify and control all the mobile devices that were identified in the area and flag them as other mobile devices in the area in the geolocation data118in order to assist with recharging of the mobile device102.

Then, at210, the SPM program110A,110B arranges the identified mobile device to reflect the solar energy to the mobile device. According to an example embodiment, the SPM program110A,110B may team together all the identified mobile devices in the area of the mobile device by causing the identified mobile devices to relocate to a position that resembles a chain in order to reflect the solar energy from the object with low diffusion rate, through an associated light reflecting device128associated with each identified mobile device, to the mobile device that requires a recharging, as depicted inFIG.3. For example, the SPM program110A,110B may arrange the plurality of other mobile devices in the space to reflect the solar radiation by positioning the plurality of other mobile devices in a chain structure that reflects the solar radiation from the identified object using the light reflecting device of a first mobile device towards the light reflecting device of a second mobile device which in turn reflects the solar radiation to the solar cell of the mobile device. The optimal distance between the mobile devices and their relative location may be determined using a trained neural network that receives, as inputs, a voltage generated by the solar cells and location of each of the identified mobile devices. For example, if mobile devices are drones and one of the drones is under clouds and cannot directly charge from the sunlight, other drones that are in the area may arrange in a chain and, by reflecting and refocusing light from a water source, provide the requested solar power to the drone that requested recharging. In further embodiments, the distance between the identified mobile devices in the chain may be determined based on most efficient solar energy transfer when the maximum distance between each of two mobile devices may be determined based on a surface area of the solar cell126and an area of the reflected light that may be determined using imaging device124, such as that all the reflected light will be within the most efficient range of the solar cell. In another embodiment, the SPM program110A,110B may control the identified mobile devices reflect the solar energy to the mobile device that requires recharging using a solar energy generator that is incorporated in that device.

Next, at212, the SPM program110A,110B recharges the mobile device. According to an example embodiment, the SPM program110A,110B may instruct the mobile device that requires a recharge to align the solar cell126to the solar energy source such as either to the closest identified mobile device or to the closest object having a low emission rate. According to an example embodiment, the SPM program110A,110B may maintain the recharging of the mobile device until a battery of the mobile device reaches a threshold. The threshold for recharging may be determined by a user or based on determination what is a minimum battery charge for the mobile device102to reach a recharging location. In further embodiment, the SPM program110A,110B may charge the mobile device102until the batteries are fully charged.

FIG.3depicting an operation of the solar power management process according to at least one embodiment. The mobile device102, according to an example embodiment, is in need of a battery charge through solar cell126but sufficient solar radiation is obstructed by clouds306and a direct charge using solar radiation304is unavailable. In this scenario, SPM program110A,110B may utilizing objects with low diffusion coefficient, such as a body of water308, and other unmanned aerial vehicles302in order to deliver solar radiation for recharging of mobile device102.

It may be appreciated thatFIGS.2and3provide only an illustration of one implementation and do not imply any limitations with regard to how different embodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to the depicted environments may be made based on design and implementation requirements. According to one embodiment, in response to the SPM program110A,110B determining that the mobile device102can recharge directly without needing other mobile devices and multiple identified objects are present, the SPM program110A,110B may calculate a position at which an optimal amount of reflected light is received by the solar cell126. For example, if the SPM program110A,110B identifies three objects, such as nearby bodies of water, with satisfactory diffusion rates, the SPM program110A,110B may position the solar cell at an angle and direction toward all three bodies of water so that the light received is most optimal for recharging even though optimal light from any single body of water may not be received at that position. In another embodiment, if one of the identified mobile devices have a light source, the SPM program110A,110B may cause the light source of the identified mobile device to emit the light on a solar cell126of the mobile device102to recharge it when no other solar radiation is available.

FIG.3depicting an operation of the solar power management process according to at least one embodiment. The mobile device102, according to an example embodiment, is in need of a battery charge through solar cell126but sufficient solar radiation is obstructed by clouds306and a direct charge using solar energy304is unavailable. In this scenario, SPM program110A,110B may utilizing objects with low diffusion coefficient, such as a body of water308, and other unmanned aerial vehicles302in order to deliver solar energy for recharging of mobile device102.

The data processing system402,404is representative of any electronic device capable of executing machine-readable program instructions. The data processing system402,404may be representative of a smart phone, a computer system, PDA, or other electronic devices. Examples of computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may represented by the data processing system402,404include, but are not limited to, personal computer systems, server systems, thin clients, thick clients, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, network PCs, minicomputer systems, and distributed cloud computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices.

The mobile device102and the server112may include respective sets of internal components402a,b and external components404a,b illustrated inFIG.4. Each of the sets of internal components402include one or more processors420, one or more computer-readable RAMs422, and one or more computer-readable ROMs424on one or more buses426, and one or more operating systems428and one or more computer-readable tangible storage devices430. The one or more operating systems428, the software program108and the SPM program110A in the mobile device102, and the SPM program110B in the server112are stored on one or more of the respective computer-readable tangible storage devices430for execution by one or more of the respective processors420via one or more of the respective RAMs422(which typically include cache memory). In the embodiment illustrated inFIG.4, each of the computer-readable tangible storage devices430is a magnetic disk storage device of an internal hard drive. Alternatively, each of the computer-readable tangible storage devices430is a semiconductor storage device such as ROM424, EPROM, flash memory or any other computer-readable tangible storage device that can store a computer program and digital information.

Each set of internal components402a,b also includes a R/W drive or interface432to read from and write to one or more portable computer-readable tangible storage devices438such as a CD-ROM, DVD, memory stick, magnetic tape, magnetic disk, optical disk or semiconductor storage device. A software program, such as the SPM110A,110B, can be stored on one or more of the respective portable computer-readable tangible storage devices438, read via the respective R/W drive or interface432, and loaded into the respective hard drive430.

Each set of internal components402a,b also includes network adapters or interfaces436such as a TCP/IP adapter cards, wireless Wi-Fi interface cards, or 3G or 4G wireless interface cards or other wired or wireless communication links. The software program108and the SPM program110A in the mobile device102and the SPM program110B in the server112can be downloaded to the mobile device102and the server112from an external computer via a network (for example, the Internet, a local area network or other, wide area network) and respective network adapters or interfaces436. From the network adapters or interfaces436, the software program108and the SPM program110A in the mobile device102and the SPM program110B in the server112are loaded into the respective hard drive430. The network may comprise copper wires, optical fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers.

Each of the sets of external components404a,b can include a computer display monitor444, a keyboard442, and a computer mouse434. External components404a,b can also include touch screens, virtual keyboards, touch pads, pointing devices, and other human interface devices. Each of the sets of internal components402a,b also includes device drivers440to interface to computer display monitor444, keyboard442, and computer mouse434. The device drivers440, R/W drive or interface432, and network adapter or interface436comprise hardware and software (stored in storage device430and/or ROM424).

Characteristics are as follows:

Service Models are as follows:

Deployment Models are as follows:

Workloads layer90provides examples of functionality for which the cloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads and functions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping and navigation91; software development and lifecycle management92; virtual classroom education delivery93; data analytics processing94; transaction processing95; and solar power management96. Solar power management96may relate to enabling recharging of a mobile device by transmitting solar energy using other mobile devices from an object that reflects the solar energy in the instances when the mobile device is unable to charge directly from the source of the solar energy due to obstacles.