METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND APPARATUS FOR INTELLIGENT LIGHTING
First Claim
1. A lighting fixture to illuminate an environment, the lighting fixture comprising:
- A) a memory to store a first transfer function mapping first ambient light levels at a first position within the environment to corresponding second ambient light levels at a second position within the environment;
B) an ambient light sensor to measure an actual ambient light level at the first position within the environment;
C) a processor, communicatively coupled to the memory and the ambient light sensor, to determine;
C1) an expected ambient light level at the second position, based on the actual ambient light level measured at the first position and the first transfer function stored in the memory; and
C2) a change in a light output of the lighting fixture to provide a desired ambient light level at the second position, based at least in part on the expected ambient light level at the second position; and
D) at least one light source, communicatively coupled to the processor, to generate the change in the light output of the lighting fixture so as to provide the desired ambient light level at the second position.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An ambient light sensor measures an ambient light level at one point in an illuminated environment, such as a warehouse, office, shop, cold-storage facility, or industrial facility, and provides an indication of the measured ambient light level to a processor. The processor maps the measured ambient light level to an estimated ambient light level at a different point in the illuminated environment from the measured ambient light level (e.g., a “task height” about three feet from a warehouse floor). The processor may determine the difference between the estimated ambient light level and a desired light level at the task height, and may change the artificial illumination provided by a light fixture to make the actual ambient light level at task height match the desired light level at the task height.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. A lighting fixture to illuminate an environment, the lighting fixture comprising:
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A) a memory to store a first transfer function mapping first ambient light levels at a first position within the environment to corresponding second ambient light levels at a second position within the environment; B) an ambient light sensor to measure an actual ambient light level at the first position within the environment; C) a processor, communicatively coupled to the memory and the ambient light sensor, to determine; C1) an expected ambient light level at the second position, based on the actual ambient light level measured at the first position and the first transfer function stored in the memory; and C2) a change in a light output of the lighting fixture to provide a desired ambient light level at the second position, based at least in part on the expected ambient light level at the second position; and D) at least one light source, communicatively coupled to the processor, to generate the change in the light output of the lighting fixture so as to provide the desired ambient light level at the second position. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of illuminating an environment with a lighting fixture, the method comprising:
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A) storing, in a memory, a first transfer function mapping ambient light levels at a first position within the environment to corresponding ambient light levels at a second position within the environment; B) measuring, with an ambient light sensor, an actual ambient light level at the first position within the environment; C) determining an expected ambient light level at the second position, based at least in part on the first transfer function stored in A) and the actual ambient light level at the first position measured in B); D) determining a change in a light output of the lighting fixture to provide a desired ambient light level, based at least in part on the expected ambient light level at the second position determined in C); and E) causing the change in the light output of the lighting fixture determined in D) so as to provide the desired ambient light level at the second position. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A lighting fixture to illuminate an environment, the lighting fixture comprising:
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A) a memory to store at least one transfer function mapping ambient light levels at a first position within the environment to corresponding ambient light levels at a second position within the environment; B) an ambient light sensor to perform a first measurement of an actual ambient light level at the first position within the environment and provide a first ambient light signal indicative of the first measurement; C) an occupancy sensor to sense a presence of at least one occupant at the second position within the environment and to provide an occupancy signal indicative of the presence of the at least one occupant; D) a processor, communicatively coupled to the memory, the ambient light sensor, and the occupancy sensor, to; D1) determine a first expected ambient light level at the second position, based on the first ambient light signal and the at least one transfer function stored in the memory; and D2) select a desired ambient light level at the second position within the environment, based at least in part on the occupancy signal; and D3) determine a change in a light output of the lighting fixture to provide the desired ambient light level at the second position, based at least in part on the first expected ambient light level and the desired ambient light level; and E) at least one light source to generate the change in the light output of the lighting fixture so as to provide the desired ambient light level at the second position, wherein the ambient light sensor is configured to perform a second measurement the actual ambient light level at the first position after the change in the light output of the lighting fixture generated by the at least one light source and to produce a second ambient light signal indicative of the second measurement, and wherein the processor is further configured to; D4) determine a second expected ambient light level at the second position based on the at least one transfer function stored in the memory and the second ambient light signal; D5) determine a difference between the second expected ambient light level and the desired ambient light level; and D6) adjust the at least one transfer function stored in the memory based on the difference between the second expected ambient light level and the desired ambient light level.
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24. A method of illuminating an environment with a lighting fixture, the method comprising:
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A) storing, in a memory, at least one transfer function mapping ambient light levels at a first position within the environment to corresponding ambient light levels at a second position within the environment; B) measuring, with an ambient light sensor, an actual ambient light level at the first position within the environment; C) determining a first expected ambient light level at the second position based at least in part on the at least one transfer function stored in A) and the ambient light level at the first position measured in B); D) sensing, with an occupancy sensor, a presence of at least one occupant at the second position within the environment; E) selecting a desired ambient light level at the second position within the environment based at least in part on the presence of the at least one occupant sensed in D); F) determining a change in a light output of the lighting fixture to provide the desired ambient light level at the second position based at least in part on the first expected ambient light level at the second position determined in C) and the desired ambient light level at the second position selected in E); G) causing the change in the light output of the lighting fixture determined in F) so as to provide the desired ambient light level at the second position; H) measuring the actual ambient light level at the first position after a change in the light output of lighting fixture illuminating the environment; I) determining a second expected ambient light level at the second position based on the at least one transfer function stored in A) and the actual ambient light level at the first position measured in H); J) determining a difference between the second expected ambient light level at the second position determined in I) and the desired ambient light level at the second position selected in E); and K) adjusting the at least one transfer function stored in A) based on the difference determined in I).
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25. A sensing module comprising:
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A) an ambient light sensor to generate an actual output representative of a change in an actual ambient light level of the environment caused by a change in a light output of at least one light source illuminating the environment; B) a memory to store at least one transfer function mapping ambient light levels of an environment to corresponding outputs of the ambient light sensor; C) a processor, communicatively coupled to the ambient light sensor and the memory, to; C1) determine an expected output of the ambient light sensor based on the at least one transfer function stored in the memory and the change in the ambient light level; C2) determining a difference between the actual output and the expected output; and C3) update the at least one transfer function stored in the memory based on the difference between the actual output and the expected output.
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26. The sensing module of 25, further comprising:
D) a communications interface, communicatively coupled to the processor, to transmit a signal that causes the at least one light source to generate the change in the light output.
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27. The sensing module of 25, wherein the processor is configured to log, in the memory, the output, the expect output, and the change in the light output of the at least one light source illuminating the environment.
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28. A ballast interface for a light-emitting diode (LED) lighting fixture, the ballast interface comprising:
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a power input to receive alternating current (AC) power; an LED driver circuit, operatively coupled to the power input, to transform the AC power to power suitable for driving at least one LED in the LED lighting fixture; a power meter, operatively coupled to the power input, to sense a waveform of the AC power; and a power management unit, communicatively coupled to the power meter, to adjust the LED driver circuit in response to the waveform of the AC power. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method of powering a light-emitting diode (LED) lighting fixture, the method comprising:
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A) receiving alternating current (AC) power; B) transforming the AC power received in A) to power suitable for driving at least one LED in the LED lighting fixture; C) sensing a waveform of the AC power received in A); D) identifying at least one fault condition based at least in part on the waveform sensed in C); E) generating a digital signal based at least in part on the at least one fault identified in D); and F) adjusting the LED driver circuit in response to the digital signal generated in E). - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37)
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Specification