SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OCCUPANCY ESTIMATION AND MONITORING
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system for estimating occupancy in a region, the system comprising:
- a first input operably connected to receive sensor data from one or more sensor devices;
a second input operably connected to receive constraints;
a third input operably connected to receive utility functions;
an occupancy estimator operably connected to the first input, the second input, and the third input, wherein the sensor data, the utility functions, and an occupancy estimate are organized into an objective function, wherein the occupancy estimator executes a constrained optimization algorithm that computes the occupancy estimate, subject to the constraints, such that the objective function is minimized; and
an output operably connected to the occupancy estimator to communicate the occupancy estimate generated by the occupancy estimator.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system computes occupancy estimates based on one or more inputs, including sensor data from one or more sensor devices, constraints on allowable occupancy levels, and one or more utility functions. An occupancy estimator organizes the sensor data, the utility functions and an occupancy estimate into an objective function and executes a constrained optimization algorithm that computes the occupancy estimate, subject to the constraints, such that the objective function is minimized. The computed occupancy estimate is provided as an output by the system to one or more control and/or monitoring systems.
37 Citations
28 Claims
-
1. A system for estimating occupancy in a region, the system comprising:
-
a first input operably connected to receive sensor data from one or more sensor devices; a second input operably connected to receive constraints; a third input operably connected to receive utility functions; an occupancy estimator operably connected to the first input, the second input, and the third input, wherein the sensor data, the utility functions, and an occupancy estimate are organized into an objective function, wherein the occupancy estimator executes a constrained optimization algorithm that computes the occupancy estimate, subject to the constraints, such that the objective function is minimized; and an output operably connected to the occupancy estimator to communicate the occupancy estimate generated by the occupancy estimator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
-
-
18. A method for monitoring occupancy in a region, the method comprising:
-
acquiring sensor data from one or more sensor devices; computing an occupancy estimate that minimizes a result of an objective function, wherein the objective function is organized to compare a penalty associated with differences in the sensor data and the occupancy estimate with a utility function that describes a likely occupancy level; and generating an output that provides the occupancy estimate to one or more control and/or monitoring systems. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
-
26. A system for generating occupancy estimates for a region and conditional probability distributions defining occupant traffic in the region, the system comprising:
-
at least one sensor device for acquiring sensor data relevant to occupancy; means for generating an occupancy estimate and/or flow estimate that executes a constrained optimization algorithm in conjunction with an objective function organized to compare the sensor data to the occupancy estimate and/or flow estimate, wherein the constrained optimization algorithm computes the occupancy estimate and/or flow estimate to minimize the result of the objective function, subject to a plurality of constraints on allowable levels of occupancy; means for calculating an arrival parameter estimate associated with expected arrival of occupants to a zone within the region by applying a first statistical distribution to one or more calculated occupancy estimates and/or flow estimates and for calculating a transition parameter estimate associated with transition of occupants between zones in the region by applying a second statistical distribution to one or more calculated occupancy estimates and/or flow estimates; means for generating a conditional probability distribution based on the calculated arrival parameter estimate and the calculated transition parameter estimate by applying a parameterized Markov model, wherein the conditional probability distribution represents a probability of a particular zone within the region having various levels of occupancy at a current time step, conditioned on occupancy estimate of the particular zone and zones neighboring the particular zone at a previous time step; and means for providing as an output the occupancy estimate and/or flow estimate and the conditional probability distribution.
-
-
27. A computer readable storage medium encoded with a machine-readable computer program code for generating thereof occupancy estimates for a region and a conditional probability distribution describing normal occupant traffic for the region, the computer readable storage medium including instructions for causing a controller to implement a method comprising:
-
acquiring sensor data; computing an occupancy estimate that minimizes a result of an objective function, wherein the objective function is organized to compare a penalty associated with differences in the sensor data and the occupancy estimate with a utility function that describes a likely occupancy level; and generating an output that provides the occupancy estimate to selected systems within the region. - View Dependent Claims (28)
-
Specification