The present disclosure generally relates to a method and a system of
intelligent eggs incubator. The present disclosure particularly relates to an IIoT,
10 Industrial Internet of Things, Enabled Smart Egg Incubator method and system.
BACKGROUND
[0002] As is generally known in the existing arts, the egg incubator is used for
15 hatching a variety of different types of eggs. Egg incubators have the skill to
maintain a specified temperature along with the controlled humidity and
ventilation during the operation. The incubator is an apparatus that is used for
environmental conditions, such as temperature and humidity that needs to be
controlled. It allows the foetus inside the eggs to grow without the mother needing
20 to be present to provide the warmth. It is to be noted that the chicken eggs hatch
after about 21 days, but other species of birds can either take a longer or shorter
duration of time. An incubator is supposed to be able to set the perfect
environment and condition for an egg to incubate because it regulates the factors
such as temperature, humidity, and turning the eggs when necessary. This is so
25 because the egg incubated properly as it plays the role of the hen in its natural
state. Turning off the eggs is important during the process to warm the egg from
everywhere.
[0003] But it should be appreciated that it is impossible for a human being to keep
30 an eye on each and every minute of the incubation process. Further, the human
beings cannot keep a track that the environmental conditions of the incubator are
ideal at all the times. Hence, there are certain drawbacks which have been
enumerated below related to the already existing technologies in the present area:
35 No track of the incubator uptime
4
5 [0004] There is no way to identify how much time the incubator was powered on
and off during the process. If the configured temperature and humidity is not
maintained in the incubator due to some power outage then the user will not get
the desired result at the end of the process.
10 ii. No track of the actual temperature of the incubator
[0005] Actual temperature and configured temperature are two very different
things. Assuming that the heating unit of the incubator gets damaged in between
the process and temperature in the incubator is not maintained properly then there
is no way to identify the details of the failure post completion of the process like
15 when the heating unit stopped working, what was the temperature maintained in
the incubator post failure, what was the average temperature during the process,
etc.
iii. No track of the actual humidity of the incubator
20 [0006] Actual humidity and configured humidity are two very different things.
Assuming humidity controlling unit of the incubator gets damaged in between the
process and humidity in the incubator is not maintained properly then there is no
way to identify the details of the failure post completion of the process like when
humidity controlling unit stopped working, what was the humidity maintained in
25 the incubator post failure, what was the average humidity during the process, etc.
iv. No track of the turning of the eggs
[0007] Eggs need to be turned in every 6 hours for one minute. For example, egg
turning duration in a day is like 00:00 hrs to 00:01 hrs, 06:00 hrs to 06:01 hrs,
30 12:00 hrs to 12:01 hrs and 18:00 hrs to 18:01 hrs. Now, in the worst case scenario,
assuming that there is a power outage on these time intervals then we will end up
in a case where the egg is not turned once in a day which will ultimately affect the
output of the process.
35 v. Traditional inefficient candling process
5
5 [0008] As is generally known in the art, candling is a process which is used to
detect the infertile eggs and dead embryos. Candling process can help to
determine if the chick is developing according to the expectations. Identified
infertile eggs during the candling process need to be removed from the incubator
otherwise they will produce unwanted gas. The candling process starts on the 9th
10 day of incubation. In the candling process, we take out eggs on the 9th day of
incubation from the incubator in a dark room and see manually whether embryos
are developing or not by putting a light source below the egg. However, there are
certain issues with the existing candling process which has been enumerated
below:
15 i. Time consuming process
ii. Need manual/human intervention
iii. Significant difference in environmental condition (because the eggs from
the incubator are taken out for the candling process)
20 [0009] Hence, it is to be noted that there is no visibility of the process to the user
during or after the process. If a user doesn’t get the desired output after process
completion then there is no way for the user to identify the reason behind it like
whether it is because of faulty incubator, or power outage, or egg is still infertile.
25 [0010] Thus, there is a need for a method and a system which can resolve the
drawbacks as mentioned above.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
30 a. This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a
simplified format that are further described in the detailed description of the
invention. This summary is not intended to identify key or essential inventive
concepts of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended for determining the
scope of the claimed subject matter.
35
6
5 b. The present subject matter refers to an IIoT Enabled Smart Egg Incubator
method which includes the steps of calculating the exact uptime of the incubator;
storing the heartbeat event when the incubator has power; calculating, by a sensor,
the exact temperature of the incubator at every moment; calculating, by a sensor,
the exact humidity of the incubator at every moment; starting the backup heating
10 unit, in case of any failure to maintain the temperature; identifying the missing
cycle of the egg turning and starting the egg turning system; notifying the user
about the completion of the process and starting the buzzer; and providing a high
resolution image of the eggs to the user.
15 c. The present subject matter also refers to an IIoT Enabled Smart Egg
Incubator system which further comprises the steps of the method as provided
above.
d. To further clarify advantages and features of the present invention, a more
20 particular description of the invention will be rendered by reference to specific
embodiments thereof, which is illustrated in the appended drawings. It is
appreciated that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention
and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. The invention will be
described and explained with additional specificity and detail with the
25 accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
e. The present disclosure will become better understood when the following
30 detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which
like characters represent like parts throughout the drawings, wherein:
f. Figure 1 illustrates the working of the IIoT, Industrial Internet of Things,
Enabled Smart Egg Incubator method and system, according to an embodiment of
35 the present disclosure.
7
5
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
g. For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles of the
invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the
10 drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will
nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is
thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated
system, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as
illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in
15 the art to which the invention relates. Unless otherwise defined, all technical and
scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by
one of ordinary skilled in the art to which this invention belongs. The system,
methods, and examples provided herein are illustrative only and not intended to be
limiting.
20
h. The terminology and structure employed herein is for describing, teaching
and illuminating some embodiments and their specific features and elements and
does not limit, restrict or reduce the scope of the claims or their equivalents.
25 i. Whether or not a certain feature or element was limited to being used only
once, either way, it may still be referred to as “one or more features” or “one or
more elements” or “at least one feature” or “at least one element.” Furthermore,
the use of the terms “one or more” or “at least one” feature or element do NOT
preclude there being none of that feature or element, unless otherwise specified by
30 limiting language such as “there NEEDS to be one or more . . . ” or “one or more
element is REQUIRED.”
j. Unless otherwise defined, all terms, and especially any technical and/or
scientific terms, used herein may be taken to have the same meaning as commonly
35 understood by one having ordinary skills in the art.
8
5
k. Reference is made herein to some “embodiments.” It should be understood
that an embodiment is an example of a possible implementation of any features
and/or elements presented in the attached claims. Some embodiments have been
described for the purpose of illuminating one or more of the potential ways in
10 which the specific features and/or elements of the attached claims fulfill the
requirements of uniqueness, utility and non-obviousness.
l. Any particular and all details set forth herein are used in the context of
some embodiments and therefore should NOT be necessarily taken as limiting
15 factors to the attached claims. The attached claims and their legal equivalents can
be realized in the context of embodiments other than the ones used as illustrative
examples in the description below.
m. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail
20 with reference to the accompanying drawings.
n. Figure 1 illustrates an embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein it
has been disclosed that the present subject matter refers to an IIoT Enabled Smart
Egg Incubator method which includes the steps of calculating the exact uptime of
25 the incubator; storing the heartbeat event when the incubator has power;
calculating, by a sensor, the exact temperature of the incubator at every moment;
calculating, by a sensor, the exact humidity of the incubator at every moment;
starting the backup heating unit, in case of any failure to maintain the temperature;
identifying the missing cycle of the egg turning and starting the egg turning
30 system; notifying the user about the completion of the process and starting the
buzzer; and providing a high resolution image of the eggs to the user. The
description will be made by referring to Figure 1.
i. Track of the incubator uptime
9
5 o. In the IIoT enabled smart egg incubators, users are able to get the exact
uptime of the incubator in the scenarios like when there is a power outage and
how long it was during the process and how it affected the output of the process.
IIoT enabled smart egg Incubator will store the heartbeat event when it has power.
So, for the power outage interval, there will be no heartbeat event and will be able
10 to identify the exact interval of power outage at any instance of time.
p. b. Track of the temperature
q. Users are able to get the exact temperature of the incubator at every
moment of time during the process. IIoT enabled smart egg incubator will store
15 the temperature read by the sensor every minute. Users will get the temperature
graph for the given time interval.
r. c. Temperature alert
s. In case, the temperature is not maintained during the process due to some
20 failure in the heating unit then the IIoT enabled smart egg incubator will show the
temperature alert and start the buzzer. If the temperature of the incubator is either
less or more than the configured temperature for the specified interval of time,
then the incubator will generate a temperature alert.
25 t. d. Track of the humidity
u. Users will be able to get the exact humidity of the incubator at every
moment of time during the process. IIoT enabled smart egg incubator will store
the humidity read by the sensor every minute. Users will get the humidity graph
for the given time interval.
30
v. e. Humidity alert
w. In during case humidity is not maintained the process due
to some failure in the humidity controlling unit, then the IIoT enabled smart egg
incubator will show the humidity alert and start the buzzer. If the humidity of the
10
5 incubator is either less or more than the configured humidity for the specified
interval of time, then the incubator will generate a humidity alert.
x. f. Immediate backup support in case of heating unit failure
y. In the present invention, the temperature instability during the process has
10 to be avoided. In case of failure of the heating unit, IIoT enabled smart egg
incubators will immediately start the backup heating unit in order to maintain the
temperature. In the worst case, if the backup heating unit also failed to maintain
the temperature, then the incubator will generate a temperature alert. If IIoT
enabled smart egg incubator identifies temperature instability during the process,
15 then it will first start the backup heating unit. If the backup heating unit also failed
to maintain the temperature then it will show an alert and start the buzzer.
z. g. Immediate backup support in case of humidity controlling unit
failure
20 aa. In the present invention, the humidity instability during the process has to
be avoided. In case of failure of the humidity controlling unit, IIoT enabled smart
egg incubators will immediately start the backup humidity controlling unit in
order to maintain the humidity. In the worst case if the backup humidity
controlling unit also failed to maintain the humidity, then the incubator will
25 generate a humidity alert. If IIoT enabled smart egg incubator identifies humidity
instability during the process then it will first start the backup humidity
controlling unit. If the backup humidity controlling unit also failed to maintain the
humidity, then it will show an alert and start the buzzer.
30 bb. h. Smart management of egg turning system
cc. IIoT enabled smart egg incubator identifies the missing cycle of the egg
turning and quickly starts the egg turning system. IIoT enabled smart egg
incubator stores the start event of the egg turning system. On every start, it checks
the last event of the egg turning system. If the time difference between the last
35 event and the current time is greater than 6 hours, then it starts the egg turning
11
5 system. With this mechanism, it is made sure that there is no egg turning cycle
that is missed during the process.
[0011] Automatic transition from setter to hatcher mode
a. The major difference between the setter mode and hatcher mode is the egg
10 turning system. In setter mode, the egg turning is required and in the hatcher
mode, egg turning is off. And there is some minor difference in temperature and
humidity configuration.
b. In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, it is to noted that
for chicken eggs:
15 c. Total duration is 21 days
d. Duration of eggs in setter mode is initial 18 days
e. Duration of eggs in hatcher mode is last 3 days
f. IIoT enabled smart egg incubator identifies transition time from setter
mode to hatcher mode automatically without any manual (human) intervention.
20 IIoT enabled smart egg incubator starts and stores the day counter at the beginning
of the process and it checks the day counters during the process periodically. It has
a configuration of around 40 species. For each bird, it has total process duration,
setter mode duration, setter mode temperature, setter mode humidity, hatcher
mode duration, hatcher mode temperature and hatcher mode humidity.
25
[0012] Process completion notification
a. IIoT enabled smart egg incubator notifies the user about the completion of
the process and starts the buzzer. With the help of in built species configuration
and day counter, the incubator is able to identify the completion of the process.
30
[0013] Inbuilt efficient candling system for eggs
a. IIoT enabled smart egg incubator provides a high resolution image of the
eggs to the user everyday of the process. An inbuilt visual imagery based artificial
intelligence system identifies infertile eggs in the process and reports them to the
35 user. Users can also see the daily embryos development during the process with
12
5 the provided high resolution images. With the help of an inbuilt efficient candling
system in the incubator, there is no need to take eggs out from the incubator for
the candling process. There is no change in the environmental conditions with the
system.
10 [0014] PIR motion detector
a. In IIoT Enabled Smart Egg Incubator, a PIR motion detector is also
provided. This sensor provides feed to the egg turning management system. The
egg turning management system will use it to verify the rotation of the eggs after
executing the command to the motor for the rotation of the eggs. With the help of
15 the PIR motion detector feed, IIoT Enabled Smart Egg Incubator will be able to
identify the egg rotation synchronous motor failure and will be able to generate
the subsequent alert to the user.
b. Further, the technical advantages associated with the method and system
20 as described above can be enumerated as follows:
i. The starting backup humidity unit is also available in case the main unit is
unable to maintain the required humidity or in case of failure.
ii. The starting backup temperature unit is also available in case the main unit
is unable to maintain the required temperature or in case of failure.
25 iii. Users will get the process report or report of the specified duration
containing the following environment conditions like an average temperature,
minimum temperature, maximum temperature, average humidity, minimum
humidity, maximum humidity, a heating unit failure event, a humidity unit failure
event, exact duration of incubator downtime, etc.
30 iv. User can also see the time-series data of temperature, humidity, egg
turning, alerts, heartbeat, process completion notification on the graph on mobile
app/ web interface by connecting to the incubator locally.
v. User also gets alerts and process completion notifications on the mobile
app.
13
5 vi. User can also upgrade his/her incubator management system to the latest
version through the mobile app.
vii. User can control incubator on local area network (LAN), either connecting
the incubator to an ethernet cable or configuring the Wifi.
viii. Incubator has a strong power source below the egg tray and has a high
10 resolution wide angle camera on top of the egg tray which helps to take high
resolution images periodically to see embryos development during the process.
c. Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have been described
above with regard to specific embodiments. However, the benefits, advantages,
15 solutions to problems, and any component(s) that may cause any benefit,
advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced are not to be
construed as a critical, required, or essential feature or component of any or all the
claims.
20 d. While specific language has been used to describe the present subject
matter, any limitations arising on account thereto, are not intended. As would be
apparent to a person in the art, various working modifications may be made to the
method in order to implement the inventive concept as taught herein. The
drawings and the foregoing description give examples of embodiments. Those
25 skilled in the art will appreciate that one or more of the described elements may
well be combined into a single functional element. Alternatively, certain elements
may be split into multiple functional elements. Elements from one embodiment
may be added to another embodiment.

We Claim:
1. An IIoT, Industrial Internet of Things, Enabled Smart Egg Incubator method,
the method comprising:
10 calculating the exact uptime of the incubator;
storing the heartbeat event when the incubator has power;
calculating, by a sensor, the exact temperature of the incubator at every moment;
calculating, by a sensor, the exact humidity of the incubator at every moment;
starting the backup heating unit, in case of any failure to maintain the temperature;
15 identifying the missing cycle of the egg turning and starting the egg turning
system
notifying the user about the completion of the process and starting the buzzer; and
providing a high resolution image of the eggs to the user.
20 2. The IIoT Enabled Smart Egg Incubator method as claimed in claim 1, wherein
the incubator will show the temperature alert and start the buzzer in case of any
failure in the heating unit.
3. The IIoT Enabled Smart Egg Incubator method as claimed in claim 1, wherein
25 the incubator will show the humidity alert and start the buzzer in case of any
failure in the humidity controlling unit.
4. The IIoT Enabled Smart Egg Incubator method as claimed in claim 1, wherein
the incubator will show the temperature alert and start the buzzer if the backup
30 heating unit also failed to maintain the temperature.
5. The IIoT Enabled Smart Egg Incubator method as claimed in claim 1, wherein
the incubator will show the humidity alert and start the buzzer in case of any
failure in the backup humidity controlling unit.
35
15
5 6. The IIoT Enabled Smart Egg Incubator method as claimed in claim 1, wherein
the incubator operates between the setter mode and the hatcher mode.
7. The IIoT Enabled Smart Egg Incubator method as claimed in claim 1, wherein
the incubator has an inbuilt visual imagery based artificial intelligence system
10 which identifies infertile eggs and reports them to the user.
8. The IIoT Enabled Smart Egg Incubator method as claimed in claim 1, wherein
the incubator has a strong power source below the egg tray and has a high
resolution wide angle camera on top of the egg tray.
15
9. The IIoT Enabled Smart Egg Incubator method as claimed in claim 1, wherein
the incubator has an inbuilt efficient candling system incubator and also has a PIR
motion detector sensor which provides feed to the egg turning management
system.
20
10. An IIoT, Industrial Internet of Things, Enabled Smart Egg Incubator system,
wherein the system is configured to perform the steps as claimed in any of the
claims 1-9.