AUTOMATED CONTROL-SCHEDULE ACQUISITION WITHIN AN INTELLIGENT CONTROLLER

• US 20150241079A1
• Filed: 04/27/2015
• Published: 08/27/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Matsuoka, Yoky, Lee, Eric A., Hales, Steven A., Stefanski, Mark D., Sharan, Rangoli
• Granted Patent: US 10,012,405 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/30 for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/523 for displaying temperature data
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/58 using Internet communication
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/62 characterised by the type of control or by internal processing, e.g. using fuzzy logic, adaptive control or estimation of values
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/64 using pre-stored data
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 13/0265 the criterion being a learning criterion
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1904 variable in time
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1917 using digital means
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2825 Reporting to a device located outside the home and the home network access arrangements H04L12/2856; for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with telemetering systems H04M11/002
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40013 Details regarding a bus controller
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/285 Generic home appliances, e.g. refrigerators

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.

Claims

1-20. -20. (canceled)

21. 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 one day in length;

receive, through the user interface, a first immediate-control input;

receive, through the user interface, a first control-schedule change;

receive, from a user device, a second immediate-control input;

receive, from the user device, a second control-schedule change;

process at least the first immediate-control input, the first control-schedule change, the second immediate-control input, and the second control-schedule change to generate an updated control schedule; and

control, after the monitoring period, the environmental system according to the updated control schedule.

31. A method of updating a control schedule implemented within an environmental controller, the method comprising:

accessing the control schedule stored in one or more memory devices of the environmental controller;

during a monitoring period;

controlling an environmental system according to the control schedule, wherein the length of the monitoring period is at least one day in length;

receiving, through a user interface of the environmental controller, a first immediate-control input;

receiving, through the user interface, a first control-schedule change;

receiving, from a user device, a second immediate-control input; and

receiving, from the user device, a second control-schedule change;

processing at least the first immediate-control input, the first control-schedule change, the second immediate-control input, and the second control-schedule change to generate an updated control schedule; and

controlling, after the monitoring period, the environmental system according to the updated control schedule.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the user interface comprises an control interface.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the first immediate-control input is made through the control interface to change an immediate target value for the environmental system.

34. The method of claim 31, wherein the user interface comprises a schedule interface.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the first control-schedule change is made through the schedule interface to change, add, or remove a setpoint in the control schedule.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein:

the setpoint comprises a time and a target value for the environmental system;

changing, adding, or moving the setpoint comprises changing the target of the setpoint while the time of the setpoint remains unchanged.

37. The method of claim 35, wherein:

the setpoint comprises a time and a target value for the environmental system;

changing, adding, or moving the setpoint comprises changing the time of the setpoint while the target value of the setpoint remains unchanged.

38. The method of claim 31 wherein generating the updated control schedule comprises:

clustering immediate-control inputs and control-schedule changes into one or more clusters;

resolving each of the one or more clusters to generate one or more setpoints; and

generating the updated control schedule to include the one or more setpoints.

39. The method of claim 38 wherein clustering immediate-control inputs and control-schedule changes into one or more clusters comprises collecting together, as a separate cluster, each group of immediate-control inputs and control-schedule changes that are each within a first threshold time interval of each other.

40. The method of claim 39 wherein resolving each of the one or more clusters to generate one or more setpoints comprises replacing each of the one or more clusters with one of:

no event, when no control-change trend is discerned in the cluster;

one event, when a single-event control-change trend is discerned in the cluster; and

two events, when a two-event control-change trend is discerned in the cluster.