Human machine interface for an energy analytics system

• US 20040225648A1
• Filed: 02/09/2004
• Published: 11/11/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Power Measurement Ltd. (Schneider Electric SE)
• Original Assignee: Power Measurement Ltd. (Schneider Electric SE)
• Inventors: Ransom, Douglas Stephen, Stevenson, Thomas S., Yeo, Jeffrey W.
• Granted Patent: US 7,246,014 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/3
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 4/004 Remote reading of utility meters to a fixed location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 90/20 Smart grids as enabling technology in buildings sector smart grids supporting the management or operation of end-user stationary applications in general, or like technologies with no associated climate change mitigation effect Y04S20/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/30 Smart metering, e.g. specially adapted for remote reading

Abstract

An Enterprise Energy Management (“EEM”) software system is disclosed that displays EEM data and allows a user to interact with the data to better understand and manage their electrical system. The EEM software system collects real-time, near real-time and historical input data from various data sources, creates useful information from that data by filtering and isolating relevant data and performing analytics on the data, displays that data to the user in an easy to understand format, and allows the user to interact with the displayed data. The EEM software allows the user to perform what-if analysis, make changes in their system and verify results of those changes. The graphical user interfaces provide context sensitive and relevant guidance to novice and expert users.

Claims

1. A method of providing enterprise energy management data in a computing device display, the method comprising:

displaying an interactive natural language user interface on the computing device display, the interactive natural language user interface having at least one selectable menu;

forming a query with the interactive natural language user interface by selecting at least one predefined variable in the at least one selectable menu;

searching an energy enterprise management database to obtain a result for the query; and

adjusting a charting area on the computing device display of a computing device as a function of the result.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one selectable menu is a drop down menu.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising allowing the user to switch chart types by selection of a chart type control.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing device is coupled to a network.

5. A method of providing enterprise energy management data over a network, the method comprising:

selecting a scenario on a computing device display;

displaying an interactive natural language user interface on the computing device display, the interactive natural language user interface having at least one selectable menu, the interactive natural language user interface further based on the scenario;

forming a query with the interactive natural language user interface by selecting at least one predefined variable in the selectable menu;

searching an energy enterprise management database to obtain a result for the query; and

adjusting a charting area on the computing device display of the computing device as a function of the result.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the charting area is further adjusted based on at least one of a filtering scenario, a “

what if”

scenario, a trend scenario and a statistical scenario.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the scenario is at least one of a filtering scenario, a “

what if”

scenario, a trend scenario and a statistical scenario.

8. A computer program product for use in an enterprise energy management system, the computer program product comprising:

computer readable program code for displaying an interactive natural language user interface to a user of a computing device, the interactive natural language user interface having a selectable menu;

computer readable program code for forming a search query based on the natural sentence through the selection of at least one predefined variable in the selectable menu by the user;

computer readable program code for searching an energy enterprise management database for a result; and

computer readable program code for generating a graphical representation of the result on the computing device.

9. The computer program product of claim 8 where computer readable program code provides scenarios selection wherein the interactive natural language query is a function of the scenario selection.

10. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the result may be adjusted based on at least one of a second filtering scenario, a “

what if”

scenario, a trend scenario and a statistical scenario.

11. The computer program product of claim 8, further comprising allowing the user to select a chart type to display the result.

12. The computer program product of claim 8 wherein the selectable menu is a drop down menu.

13. A enterprise electrical management system, the system comprising:

means for allowing the user to interface with a natural language query to create a search query;

means for searching an enterprise energy management database containing a plurality of energy management data records to obtain a result to the search query; and

means for displaying the result on the computing device.

14. The enterprise electrical management system of claim 13, wherein the natural language query is formed by the user creating a sentence by selecting a variable in at least one predefined selectable menu displayed in the graphical user interface.

15. The enterprise electrical management system of claim 13, wherein the user may alter the natural language query by applying a scenario selected from a group of scenarios including a filtering scenario, a “

what if”

scenario, a trend scenario and a statistical scenario.

16. A method of providing enterprise energy data over a network, the method comprising:

generating a polar coordinated plot on a display of a computing device;

generating at least one power line data value on the polar coordinated plot as a function of a power indication value monitored over a predetermined period of time;

generating a vector on the polar coordinated plot originating from a point of origin on the polar coordinated plot to the at least one power line data value;

adjusting a power level display on the display of the computing device as a function of the location of the vector to display a data value associated with the location of the vector.

17. The method of claim 16 further allowing a user to adjust the position of the vector.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising plotting a tariff line data value on the polar coordinated plot as a function of the tariff structure.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising generating a tariff vector on the polar coordinated plot originating from the point of origin of the polar coordinated plot to the tariff line data value.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising allowing a user to adjust the position of the tariff vector thereby adjusting a tariff display value on the display of the computing device as a function of the location of the tariff vector.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the at least one power line data value may comprise an amount of power consumed at a pre-selected data source.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising generating a cost line data value on the polar coordinated plot as a function of the amount of power consumed.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising generating a cost vector on the polar coordinated plot originating from the point of origin of the polar coordinated plot to the cost line data value.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising allowing a user to adjust the position of the cost vector thereby adjusting a cost display value on the display of the computing device as a function of the location of the cost vector.

25. The method of claim 16, further comprising generating a normalized power operations line data value on the polar coordinated plot.

26. The method of claim 16, wherein the polar coordinated plot includes a horizontal axis and a vertical axis, wherein the horizontal axis and the vertical axis represent the predetermined period of time.

27. A computer program product for use in an enterprise energy management system, comprising:

computer readable program code for generating a polar coordinated plot having a horizontal axis and a vertical axis indicative of a predetermined period of time;

computer readable program code for obtaining a power line data value over the predetermined period of time from a enterprise energy management database;

computer readable program code for plotting the power line data value on the polar coordinated plot over the predetermined period of time;

computer readable program code for generating a vector on the polar coordinated plot stemming from a point of origin of the polar coordinated plot to the at least one power line data value; and

computer readable program code for adjusting a power line display value associated with the power line data value as a function of the position of the vector.

28. The computer program product of claim 27 wherein the predetermined period of time is at least one of an hour, a shift, a day, a week, a month, a quarter and a year.

29. The computer program product of claim 27 further allowing a user to adjust the position of the vector on the polar coordinated plot.

30. The computer program product of claim 27, further comprising computer readable program code for obtaining a cost line data value over the predetermined period of time from the enterprise energy management database.

31. The computer program product of claim 30, further comprising computer readable program code for plotting the cost line data value on the polar coordinated plot over the predetermined period of time.

32. The computer program product of claim 31, further comprising computer readable program code for generating a cost vector on the polar coordinated plot originating from the point of origin of the polar coordinated plot to the cost line data value.

33. The computer program product of claim 32, further comprising computer readable program code for adjusting a cost display value associated with the cost line data value as a function of the position of the cost vector.

34. The computer program product of claim 27, further comprising computer readable program code for plotting a tariff line data value on the polar coordinated plot as a function of the tariff structure.

35. The computer program product of claim 34 further comprising computer readable program code for generating a tariff vector on the polar coordinated plot originating from the point of origin of the polar coordinated plot to the tariff line data value.

36. The computer program product of claim 35, further comprising computer readable program code for allowing a user to adjust the position of the tariff vector thereby adjusting a tariff display value on the display of the computing device as a function of the location of the tariff vector.

37. A computer program product for use in an enterprise energy management system, comprising:

computer readable program code for generating a polar coordinated plot having a horizontal axis and a vertical axis indicative of a predetermined period of time;

computer readable program code for obtaining line data value over the predetermined period of time from a enterprise energy management database;

computer readable program code for plotting the line data value on the polar coordinated plot over the predetermined period of time;

computer readable program code for generating a vector on the polar coordinated plot stemming from a point of origin of the polar coordinated plot to the at least one line data value; and

computer readable program code for adjusting a line display value associated with the line data value as a function of the position of the vector.

38. The computer program product of claim 37 wherein the line data value is at least one of a cost line data value, a tariff line data value and a power line data value.

39. An enterprise energy management system, comprising:

means for displaying a polar coordinated plot on a display of a computing device;

means for plotting a plurality of power line data values on the polar coordinated plot as a function of a power indication value monitored over a predetermined period of time;

means for generating a vector on the polar coordinated plot stemming from a point of origin to the power line data values; and

means for adjusting a power level display on the display of the computing device as a function of the position of the vector to display a data value associated with the position of the vector.

40. The enterprise energy management system of claim 39, further comprising means for allowing a user to adjust the position of the vector relative to the power line data values.

41. The enterprise energy management system of claim 39, further comprising means for plotting a plurality of cost line data values on the polar coordinated plot as a function of a cost indication value monitored over the predetermined period of time.

42. The enterprise energy management system of claim 41, further comprising means for generating a cost vector on the polar coordinated plot stemming from the point of origin to the cost line data values.

43. The enterprise energy management system of claim 42, further comprising means for allowing a user to adjust the position of the cost vector relative to the cost line data values.

44. The enterprise energy management system of claim 39, further comprising means for adjusting a cost level display on the display of computing device as a function of the position of the cost vector to display a second data value associated with the position of the cost vector.

45. The enterprise energy management system of claim 39, further comprising means for plotting a tariff line data value on the polar coordinated plot as a function of the tariff structure.

46. The enterprise energy management system of claim 39, further comprising means for generating a tariff vector on the polar coordinated plot originating from the point of origin of the polar coordinated plot to the tariff line data value.

47. The enterprise energy management system of claim 39, further comprising means for allowing a user to adjust the position of the tariff vector thereby adjusting a tariff display value on the display of the computing device as a function of the location of the tariff vector.

48. A method of providing load shifting analysis on a computing device for a user, the method comprising:

generating a graphical representation of a power consumption value for at least one load being used over the course of a first time period;

selecting a portion of the power consumption value within the first time period;

shifting the selected portion of the power consumption value to a second time period; and

calculating a data value associated with shifting the selected portion of power consumption value to the second time period.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein the data value is cost data.

50. The method of claim 48, wherein the first time period comprises a plurality of time intervals.

51. The method of claim 48, wherein the portion of power consumption value may be further represented by an amount of power being consumed by the at least one load.

52. The method of claim 48, wherein the data value is calculated as a function of a magnitude of the portion of the power consumption value and a tariff structure.

53. The method of claim 48, further comprising generating a cost savings text display associated with shifting the selected portion of the power consumption value to the second time period.

54. The method of claim 48, further comprising generating a cost increase text display associated with shifting the selected portion of the power consumption value to the second time period.

55. A computer program product for use in an enterprise energy management system, the computer program comprising:

computer readable program code for generating a graphical representation of a power consumption value for at least one load being used over the course of a time period, wherein the power consumption value may be further represented by an amount of power being consumed the at least one load;

computer readable program code for selecting a respective power consumption value in a respective time period;

computer readable program code for shifting the selected power consumption value to a different time period; and

computer readable program code for displaying a data value associated with shifting the selected power consumption value to the different time period.

56. The computer program product of claim 55, wherein the data value is a cost data value.

57. The computer program product of claim 55, wherein the data value is adjusted as a function of a magnitude of the power consumption value and a contract between a user and a utility.

58. The computer program product of claim 55, further comprising computer readable program code for generating a cost savings display associated with shifting the selected power consumption value to the different time period.

59. The computer program product of claim 55, further comprising computer readable program code for adjusting an operating period of the at least one load to the different time period.

60. An energy enterprise management system comprising:

means for generating a graphical representation of a power consumption value for at least one load being used over the course of at least one time period;

means for selecting a respective power consumption value in a respective time period;

means for shifting the selected power consumption value to a different time period;

means calculating a cost value associated with moving the selected power consumption value to the different time period; and

means for shifting an operating range of the at least one load to the different time period if the data value indicates a cost savings.

61. A method of providing event aggregation in an enterprise energy management system, the method comprising:

associating at least one feed with an energy consumption site having a load;

allowing a user to subscribe to the at least one feed;

displaying a viewer having a feed summary selection area and a content summary viewing area; and

posting energy data events in the content summary viewing area as a function of the selection of a respective feed in the feed summary selection area.

62. The method of claim 61, wherein the load may be defined by the user to include a predetermined number of power consuming areas within a respective enterprise.

63. The method of claim 61, wherein the energy data events are generated as a function of recent changes in the load.

64. The method of claim 63, wherein the recent changes in the load may comprise at least one of a load start, a load stop, and a demand overload.

65. The method of claim 61, wherein the at least one feed displayed in the feed summary selection area is associated with a hyper text transfer protocol universal resource identifier that is functional to retrieve the energy data events associated with that respective load from an enterprise energy management database.

66. The method of claim 61, wherein the energy data events are generated as a function of a change made to a device associated with the load.

67. The method of claim 61 wherein the energy data events are written to an RSS file.

68. The method of claim 61, further comprising posting news data in the content summary viewing area as a function of the selection of a respective feed in the feed summary selection area.

69. The method of claim 61, further comprising posting webpage data in the content summary viewing area as a function of the selection of a respective feed in the feed summary selection area.

70. A computer program product for use in an enterprise energy management system, comprising:

computer readable program code for associating at least one feed with an energy consumption site having a load, wherein the load may be defined by the user to include a predetermined number of power consuming areas within a respective enterprise;

computer readable program code for allowing a user to subscribe to the at least one feed;

computer readable program code for displaying a viewer having a feed summary selection area and a content summary viewing area; and

computer readable program code for posting energy data events in the content summary viewing area that are associated with at least one feed as a function of the selection of a respective feed in the feed summary selection area.

71. The computer program product of claim 70, wherein the energy data events are generated as a function of recent changes in the load.

72. The computer program product of claim 70, wherein the recent changes in the load may comprise a load start, a load stop, and a demand overload.

73. The computer program product of claim 70, wherein the at least one feed displayed in the feed summary selection area is associated with a hyper text transfer protocol universal resource identifier that is functional to retrieve the energy data events associated with that respective load from an enterprise energy management database.

74. The computer program product of claim 70, further comprising computer readable program code for allowing the user to stop the load based on an evaluation of the energy data events.

75. The computer program product of claim 70 wherein the energy data events are generated as a function of a change made to a device associated with the load.

76. The computer program product of claim 70, wherein the energy data events are written to an RSS file.

77. An energy enterprise management system comprising:

means for associating at least one feed with an energy consumption site having a load;

means for allowing a user to subscribe to at least one feed;

means for displaying a viewer having a feed summary selection area and a content summary viewing area; and

means for posting energy data events in the content summary viewing area that are associated with at least one feed as a function of the selection of a respective feed in the feed summary selection area.

78. An computer program product for use in an enterprise energy management system, the computer program product comprising:

computer readable program code for displaying an interactive natural language interface query to a user of a computer device on a display;

computer readable program code for generating and displaying a first set of energy data on a polar coordinated plot on the display of the computer device;

computer readable program code for providing a load shifting analysis of a second set of energy data between a first time period and a second time period; and

computer readable program code for generating and displaying event aggregation of a third set of energy data.