Electronically-controlled portable lighting tower

Abstract

A portable lighting tower includes a frame, a mast coupled to the frame including a light, a plurality of legs coupled to the frame, each leg including an actuator operable to deploy and retract the respective leg, a controller operatively coupled to the actuators and configured to control operation of the actuators, and a tilt sensor operably coupled to the controller and configured to generate a tilt signal indicative of a tilt of the portable lighting tower relative to horizontal. The controller is configured to determine a grade of the portable lighting tower based on the tilt signal, determine an extended length of each leg based on the determined grade of the portable lighting tower, and, after determining the extended length of each leg, operate each of the actuators to deploy the respective leg from a storage configuration to the determined extended length.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A portable lighting tower comprising:
 a frame;   a mast coupled to the frame including a light;   a plurality of legs coupled to the frame, each leg including an actuator operable to deploy and retract the respective leg;   a controller operatively coupled to the actuators and configured to control operation of the actuators; and   a tilt sensor operably coupled to the controller and configured to generate a tilt signal indicative of a tilt of the portable lighting tower relative to horizontal;   wherein the controller is configured to:
 determine a grade of the portable lighting tower based on the tilt signal; 
 determine an extended length of each leg based on the determined grade of the portable lighting tower; and 
 after determining the extended length of each leg, operate each of the actuators to deploy the respective leg from a storage configuration to the respective extended length. 
   
     
     
         2 . The portable lighting tower of  claim 1 , wherein the tilt sensor is an accelerometer or a gyroscope sensor. 
     
     
         3 . The portable lighting tower of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the extended length of each leg such that, when the legs are deployed, the portable lighting tower is level. 
     
     
         4 . The portable lighting tower of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to operate the actuators only after determining that the grade of the portable lighting tower is below a predetermined threshold. 
     
     
         5 . The portable lighting tower of  claim 1 , further comprising a wind speed sensor operably coupled to the controller and configured to generate a wind sensor signal indicative of a wind speed and a wind direction. 
     
     
         6 . The portable lighting tower of  claim 5 , wherein the controller is configured to:
 determine the wind speed based on the wind sensor signal; and   operate the actuators only after determining that the wind speed is below a predetermined threshold.   
     
     
         7 . The portable lighting tower of  claim 5 , wherein the controller is configured to:
 determine the wind speed and the wind direction based on the wind sensor signal;   determine whether conditions support automatically deploying the legs based on the grade of the portable lighting tower, the wind speed, and the wind direction; and   operate the actuators only after determining that the conditions support deploying the legs.   
     
     
         8 . The portable lighting tower of  claim 7 , further comprising a user display operably coupled to the controller, wherein the controller is configured to generate a message for display on the user display, the message instructing a user to manually deploy the legs if the controller determines that the conditions do not support automatically deploying the legs. 
     
     
         9 . The portable lighting tower of  claim 1 , wherein the mast is an adjustable height mast operably coupled to the controller, wherein the controller is configured to:
 receive an updated tilt signal from the tilt sensor after the legs have been deployed;   determine, based on the updated tilt signal, an updated grade of the portable lighting tower; and   in response to determining that the portable lighting tower is level based on the updated grade, deploy the mast to a preset height.   
     
     
         10 . The portable lighting tower of  claim 9 , further comprising a battery configured to supply power to the mast, the actuators, the light, and the controller. 
     
     
         11 . The portable lighting tower of  claim 1 , wherein the extended length of each leg is further determined based on historical tilt sensor data. 
     
     
         12 . The portable lighting tower of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to operate each of the actuators deploy the respective leg simultaneously. 
     
     
         13 . A controller for a portable lighting tower, the controller comprising:
 one or more processing circuits, each comprising one or more processors and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
 receiving, from a tilt sensor, tilt sensor data; 
 determining, based on the tilt sensor data, a grade of the portable lighting tower; 
 determining, based on the grade of the lighting tower, an extended length for each of a plurality of legs of the lighting tower; and 
 controlling an actuator coupled to each leg to extend each leg to the respective extended length after determining the extended length of each leg. 
   
     
     
         14 . The controller of  claim 13 , wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
 receiving, from a wind sensor, wind sensor data; and   determining, based on the wind sensor data, a wind speed, wherein the controller is configured to control the actuator coupled to each leg to extend each leg to the respective extended length based on a determination that the wind speed is below a predetermined threshold wind speed.   
     
     
         15 . The controller of  claim 13 , wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
 receiving, from a wind sensor, wind sensor data;   determining, based on the wind sensor data, a wind speed and a wind direction; and   determining, based on the wind speed, the wind direction, and the grade of the lighting tower, whether conditions support deploying the legs, wherein the controller is configured to control the actuator coupled to each leg to extend each leg to the respective extended length in response to determining that the conditions support deploying the legs.   
     
     
         16 . The controller of  claim 13 , wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
 receiving an updated tilt signal from the tilt sensor after the legs have been extended;   determining, based on the updated tilt signal, an updated grade of the portable lighting tower; and   controlling a winch to deploy an adjustable mast in response to determining that the portable lighting tower is level based on the updated grade.   
     
     
         17 . A method of deploying a portable lighting tower, the method comprising:
 determining a grade of the lighting tower;   determining, based on the grade of the lighting tower, an extended length of each of a plurality of legs; and   deploying each leg from a stowed configuration to a respective determined length after determining the extended length of each leg.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising determining whether the grade of the portable lighting tower is below a predetermined threshold grade, wherein each leg is deployed in response to determining that the grade of the lighting tower is below the threshold grade. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 determining a wind speed; and   determining whether the grade of the portable lighting tower is below a predetermined threshold wind speed, wherein each leg is deployed in response to determining that the wind speed is below the threshold wind speed.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 determining a wind speed and a wind direction; and   determining, based on the wind speed, the wind direction, and the grade of the portable lighting tower, whether conditions support deploying the legs, wherein each leg is deployed in response to determining that the conditions support deploying the legs.