Ice-making machine that utilizes closed-loop harvest control with vibrational feedback

An ice-making system comprising:

• a structure that holds a body of water that is being frozen;
• a vibrator that produces an acoustic wave;
• a detector that detects said acoustic wave propagating through said body of water, and produces an electrical representation of said acoustic wave;
• and
• a controller configured to perform a method that includes operations of:
• controlling said vibrator to produce said acoustic wave in accordance with a signal having a pattern that includes (i) an on-time during which a packet of pulses is generated, followed by (ii) an off-time during which no pulses are generated, and thus includes (iii) a frequency component, wherein said pattern is differentiable from machine noise frequencies and vibrations in said ice-making system, and wherein said on-time is recurring, and said off-time is reduced in duration as said method progresses;
• receiving said electrical representation of said acoustic wave;
• extracts, from said electrical representation, (i) said frequency component, and (ii) a magnitude of said frequency component;
• recognizing that said magnitude of said frequency component exceeds a threshold value, thus yielding a recognition;
• and
• issuing a command to remove said body of water from said structure, in response to said recognition.

A storage device that is non-transitory and comprises instructions that are readable by a processor to cause said processor to perform a method that includes operations of:

• controlling a vibrator in an ice-making system to produce an acoustic wave in accordance with a signal having a pattern that includes (i) an on-time during which a packet of pulses is generated, followed by (ii) an off-time during which no pulses are generated, and thus includes (iii) a frequency component, wherein said pattern is differentiable from machine noise frequencies and vibrations in said ice-making system, and wherein said on-time is recurring, and said off-time is reduced in duration as said method progresses;
• receiving an electrical representation of said acoustic wave that has been detected from a body of water that is being frozen on a structure in said ice-making system;
• extracting, from said electrical representation, (i) said frequency component, and (ii) a magnitude of said frequency component;
• recognizing that said magnitude of said frequency component exceeds a threshold value, thus yielding a recognition;
• and
• issuing a command to remove said body of water from said structure, in response to said recognition.