Automated control-schedule acquisition within an intelligent controller
First Claim
1. An environmental controller comprising:
- one or more processors;
one or more memory devices;
a control schedule stored in the one or more memory devices;
a user interface; and
instructions stored in the one or more memory devices that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the environmental controller to;
control, during a monitoring period, an environmental system according to the control schedule, wherein the length of the monitoring period is at least 24 hours in length;
receive, through the user interface, a first immediate-control input during the monitoring period, wherein immediate-control inputs comprise an input setpoint that overrides the control schedule by directing the environmental controller to control the environmental system according to the input setpoint;
receive, through the user interface, a first control-schedule change during the monitoring period, wherein control-schedule changes comprise adding, modifying, or removing setpoints in the control schedule;
receive, from a user device, a second immediate-control input during the monitoring period;
receive, from the user device, a second control-schedule change during the monitoring period;
process at least the first immediate-control input, the first control-schedule change, the second immediate-control input, and the second control-schedule change together to generate an updated control schedule; and
control, after the monitoring period, the environmental system according to the updated control schedule.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The current application is directed to intelligent controllers that initially aggressively learn, and then continue, in a steady-state mode, to monitor, learn, and modify one or more control schedules that specify a desired operational behavior of a device, machine, system, or organization controlled by the intelligent controller. An intelligent controller generally acquires one or more initial control schedules through schedule-creation and schedule-modification interfaces or by accessing a default control schedule stored locally or remotely in a memory or mass-storage device. The intelligent controller then proceeds to learn, over time, a desired operational behavior for the device, machine, system, or organization controlled by the intelligent controller based on immediate-control inputs, schedule-modification inputs, and previous and current control schedules, encoding the desired operational behavior in one or more control schedules and/or sub-schedules.
159 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An environmental controller comprising:
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one or more processors; one or more memory devices; a control schedule stored in the one or more memory devices; a user interface; and instructions stored in the one or more memory devices that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the environmental controller to; control, during a monitoring period, an environmental system according to the control schedule, wherein the length of the monitoring period is at least 24 hours in length; receive, through the user interface, a first immediate-control input during the monitoring period, wherein immediate-control inputs comprise an input setpoint that overrides the control schedule by directing the environmental controller to control the environmental system according to the input setpoint; receive, through the user interface, a first control-schedule change during the monitoring period, wherein control-schedule changes comprise adding, modifying, or removing setpoints in the control schedule; receive, from a user device, a second immediate-control input during the monitoring period; receive, from the user device, a second control-schedule change during the monitoring period; process at least the first immediate-control input, the first control-schedule change, the second immediate-control input, and the second control-schedule change together to generate an updated control schedule; and control, after the monitoring period, the environmental system according to the updated control schedule. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of updating a control schedule implemented within an environmental controller, the method comprising:
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accessing, by the environmental controller, the control schedule stored in one or more memory devices of the environmental controller; during a monitoring period; controlling, by the environmental controller, an environmental system according to the control schedule, wherein the length of the monitoring period is at least 24 hours in length; receiving, through a user interface of the environmental controller, a first immediate-control input during the monitoring period, wherein immediate-control inputs comprise an input setpoint that overrides the control schedule by directing the environmental controller to control the environmental system according to the input setpoint; receiving, through the user interface, a first control-schedule change during the monitoring period, wherein control-schedule changes comprise adding, modifying, or removing setpoints in the control schedule; receiving, from a user device, a second immediate-control input during the monitoring period; and receiving, from the user device, a second control-schedule change during the monitoring period; processing, by the environmental controller, at least the first immediate-control input, the first control-schedule change, the second immediate-control input, and the second control-schedule change together to generate an updated control schedule; and controlling, by the environmental controller after the monitoring period, the environmental system according to the updated control schedule. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification