INTUITIVE SCHEDULING FOR ENERGY MANAGEMENT DEVICES

• US 20120296488A1
• Filed: 05/19/2011
• Published: 11/22/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ademco Inc. (Resideo Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Dharwada, Pallavi, Derby, Paul, Graber, Wendy Foslien, Thiruvengada, Hari, Tharanathan, Anand, Kolavennu, Soumitri N.
• Granted Patent: US 9,154,001 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/296
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00001 characterised by the display of information or by user interaction, e.g. supervisory control and data acquisition systems [SCADA] or graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00004 characterised by the power network being locally controlled
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00006 characterised by information or instructions transport means between the monitoring, controlling or managing units and monitored, controlled or operated power network element or electrical equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00024 by means of mobile telephony
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/14 The load or loads being home appliances
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/30 Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for improving the carbon footprint of the management of residential or tertiary loads, i.e. smart grids as climate change mitigation technology in the buildings sector, including also the last stages of power distribution and the control, monitoring or operating management systems at local level
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/3225 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• 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 20/221 General power management systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/222 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/242 Home appliances
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/12 characterised by data transport means between the monitoring, controlling or managing units and monitored, controlled or operated electrical equipment
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/126 using wireless data transmission

Abstract

An energy management device providing a series of user interface enhancements that enable the creation and modification of energy management schedules. The energy management device may provide these user interface enhancements in connection with a touch screen interface, as the user interface receives and processes a variety of touch screen gestures from users intended to create and manipulate the energy management schedules. Specific embodiments described herein include calendar views with customizable periods of interest, calendar views with overlays of scheduling and pricing information, and clocks providing runtime indications of specific energy consuming systems.

Claims

1. An energy management device, comprising:

a touch screen display;

a processor executing programming logic for interfacing with the touch screen display, the programming logic configured to;

establish a programming schedule specifying operational times and conditions of an energy-consuming system;

provide a visualization of the programming schedule on the touch screen display;

enable user selection of a period of interest within the programming schedule through a first set of user touch gestures received on the touch screen display; and

enable user movement and manipulation of the period of interest within the programming schedule through a second set of user touch gestures received on the touch screen display.

2. The energy management device of claim 1, wherein the programming schedule comprises a calendar providing visual indications of peak energy usage periods, peak usage rates, for multiple periods of interest within a time period specified for the calendar.

3. The energy management device of claim 2, wherein the user selection and user movement and manipulation for the period of interest comprises establishing, for each period of interest scheduled within the calendar, a starting point, an ending point, and a description, through the first set of user touch gestures received on the touch screen display.

4. The energy management device of claim 1, wherein the visualization of the programming schedule comprises presenting an indication for energy pricing tiers, runtime of each energy-consuming system, and occupancy status within a single calendar view.

5. The energy management device of claim 4, wherein the calendar view comprises a portion of a day, wherein the energy pricing tiers comprise at least two energy pricing tiers, and wherein the occupancy status comprises a home status and an away status.

6. The energy management device of claim 1, wherein the visualization of the programming schedule comprises presenting a clock having visual indications of peak and non-peak energy usage periods, and segments representing specific devices or appliances spanning periods of time overlaid on the clock.

7. The energy management device of claim 1, wherein the energy management device is a thermostat.

8. The energy management device of claim 1, wherein the energy management device is a self-powered portable device.

9. The energy management device of claim 1, wherein the energy management device is a mobile computing device operating software configured to perform energy management operations of the programming logic, the mobile computing device selected from the group consisting of a mobile telephone, a tablet computer, a netbook computer, or a notebook computer.

10. The energy management device of claim 1, wherein the energy-consuming system is one or more of a heating ventilating air conditioning (HVAC) system, an electric appliance, and a gas appliance.

11. An energy control system comprising:

a series of energy controls;

an energy management device operably coupled to the series of energy controls and configured to provide commands to the series of energy controls responsive to a series of programming schedules established with the energy management device, the energy management device comprising;

a touch screen display;

a processor executing programming logic for interfacing with the touch screen display, the programming logic configured to;

establish a programming schedule specifying operational times and conditions for energy-consuming systems coupled to the series of energy controls;

present a visualization of the programming schedule on the touch screen display in a programming schedule interface;

enable user selection of a period of interest within the programming schedule interface through a first set of user touch gestures received on the touch screen display, the first set of user touch gestures corresponding to a first set of programming schedule interface commands; and

enable user movement and manipulation of the period of interest within the programming schedule interface through a second set of user touch gestures received on the touch screen display, the second set of user touch gestures corresponding to a second set of programming schedule interface commands.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the series of energy controls interact with the energy-consuming systems to implement control of the energy-consuming systems based on the programming schedule.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the energy-consuming systems include one or more of a heating ventilating air conditioning (HVAC) system, an electric appliance, and a gas appliance.

14. A method for defining schedules on an energy management device, comprising:

establishing programming schedules for manipulation in an energy management interface, each of the programming schedules specifying operational times and conditions for an energy-consuming system, and the energy management interface provided through a touch screen display of the energy management device;

displaying a visualization of each of the programming schedules within the energy management interface provided through the touch screen display;

receiving, within the energy management interface provided through the touch screen display, user touch gestures upon a representation of a period of interest within a selected programming schedule;

processing the user touch gestures to perform modifications to the period of interest within the selected programming schedule; and

displaying an updated visualization of the selected programming schedule within the energy management interface provided through the touch screen display, the updated visualization incorporating the modifications to the period of interest.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein displaying the visualization of each of the programming schedules includes providing display of a calendar providing visual indications of peak energy usage periods, peak usage rates, and scheduling for multiple periods of interest within a time period of the calendar.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein processing the user touch gestures comprises establishing, for each period of interest scheduled within the calendar, a starting point, an ending point, and a description, through the user touch gestures received within the energy management interface provided through the touch screen display.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein displaying the visualization of each of the programming schedules comprises presenting an indication within a single calendar view of energy pricing tiers, runtime of each energy-consuming system, and occupancy status.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the single calendar view comprises a portion of a day, wherein the energy pricing tiers comprise at least two energy pricing tiers, and wherein the occupancy status comprises a home status and an away status.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein displaying the visualization of each of the programming schedules within the energy management interface includes presenting a clock with visual indications of peak and non-peak energy usage periods, and segments representing specific devices or appliances spanning periods of time overlaid on the clock.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein the energy management device is a thermostat.