SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETECTING AND USING EQUIPMENT LOCATION IN A BUILDING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

• US 20150327010A1
• Filed: 05/07/2014
• Published: 11/12/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tyco Fire & Security GmbH (Johnson Controls International plc)
• Original Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company (Johnson Controls International plc)
• Inventors: Gottschalk, Donald A., Goldschmidt, Troy A., Brophy, Christopher
• Granted Patent: US 9,571,986 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25062 Detect physical location of field device
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25065 Configure attributes of parameters
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/32014 Augmented reality assists operator in maintenance, repair, programming, assembly, use of head mounted display with 2-D 3-D display and voice feedback, voice and gesture command
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/00 Computer-aided design [CAD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

Systems and methods for detecting and using equipment location in a building management system are provided. Location information (e.g., GPS coordinates, altitude data, etc.) is measured by one or more measurement devices at a physical location of building equipment. The measured location information is used to automatically determine the physical location of the building equipment in or around a building. The location of the building equipment is integrated with an architectural model of a building served by the building equipment and a graphical visualization of the integrated model is generated. The location of the building equipment can be used to automatically associate the building equipment with other building equipment or with a building zone, to automatically generate control parameters and control algorithms, and/or to generate an augmented reality display of the building equipment in the building.

Claims

1. A method for detecting and using equipment location in a building management system, the method comprising:

receiving measured location information at a processing circuit, wherein the measured location information is obtained by one or more measurement devices at a physical location of building equipment in a building management system;

automatically determining, by the processing circuit, the physical location of the building equipment in the building management system using the measured location information;

using the physical location of the building equipment and an architectural model of a building served by the building equipment to automatically associate, by the processing circuit, the building equipment with a first zone of the building;

controlling, by the processing circuit, the first zone of the building using a control loop comprising the building equipment; and

expanding the control loop to include other building equipment associated with a second zone of the building separate from the first zone in response to a determination that conditions within the first zone affect conditions within the second zone, wherein the determination is based on a spatial relationship between the first and second zones indicated by the architectural model of the building.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

predicting at least one of a heat exchange and an air exchange between the first and second zones of the building based on the spatial relationship between the first and second zones;

using the predicted heat exchange or air exchange to generate a control algorithm for the expanded control loop; and

controlling the first and second zones of the building using the expanded control loop.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein generating a control algorithm for the expanded control loop comprises:

determining whether the building equipment associated with the first zone can be used to reduce an amount of energy consumption required to achieve target conditions within the second zone; and

generating at least one of a control algorithm and a control parameter that uses the building equipment associated with the first zone to achieve target conditions within the second zone in response to a positive determination.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein controlling the first and second zones of the building using the expanded control loop comprises causing an airflow between the first and second zones by establishing a pressure gradient between the first and second zones.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a device identifier in conjunction with the location information, the device identifier indicating a particular building equipment device; and

storing an association between the device identifier and the physical location of the building equipment.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating, by the processing circuit, a graphical visualization of the building equipment integrated with the architectural model of the building, wherein the building equipment is displayed in the graphical visualization at the location determined by the processing circuit.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the graphical visualization of the building equipment comprises at least one of equipment-specific attributes for the building equipment and a current status of the building equipment.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the physical location of the building equipment is three-dimensional physical location;

and

wherein the architectural model of the building is a three-dimensional architectural model.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more measurement devices comprise at least one of a GPS device and an altimeter;

and

wherein the location information comprise at least one of GPS coordinates and an altitude measurement.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more measurement devices are components of the building equipment.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more measurement devices are components of a mobile device separate from the building equipment.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the location information comprise GPS coordinates measured by the mobile device at an entrance of the building and distance differential data indicating a distance between the entrance of the building and the building equipment;

wherein automatically determining the physical location of the building equipment comprises calculating the physical location of the building equipment using the GPS coordinates and the distance differential data.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

using the physical location of the building equipment to generate an association between the building equipment and other building equipment of the building management system.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

using the physical location of the building equipment to automatically address the building equipment.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating an augmented reality display of the building equipment, the augmented reality display comprising a view of the graphical visualization of the building equipment from a perspective of a mobile device superimposed over a camera-derived view of the building from the perspective of the mobile device.

16. A method for assigning relationships between building management system (BMS) devices, the method comprising:

automatically determining, by a processing circuit, a physical location of a first BMS device and a physical location of a plurality of other BMS devices using location information measured at the physical locations;

identifying a type of the first BMS device and the plurality of other BMS devices;

identifying one or more of the other BMS devices as potentially related to the first BMS device based on the type of the first BMS device;

ranking each identified BMS device based on a physical distance between the first BMS device and the identified BMS device, wherein the physical distance is a function of the physical location of the first BMS device and the physical location of the identified BMS device; and

generating an association between the first BMS device and one of the other BMS devices based on a result of the ranking.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the association between the first BMS device and one of the other BMS devices is a recommended association, the method further comprising:

presenting the recommended association via a user interface device; and

prompting a user to confirm or reject the recommended association.

18. A system for detecting and using equipment location in a building management system, the system comprising:

a processing circuit configured to receive measured location information, wherein the measured location information is obtained by one or more measurement devices at a physical location of building equipment in a building management system;

wherein the processing circuit is configured to automatically determine the physical location of the building equipment in the building management system using the measured location information;

wherein the processing circuit is configured to integrate the physical location of the building equipment with an architectural model of a building serviced by the building management system;

wherein the processing circuit is configured to generate a graphical visualization of the building equipment integrated with the architectural model of the building, wherein the building equipment is displayed in the graphical visualization at the location determined by the processing circuit; and

wherein the processing circuit is configured to generate an augmented reality display of the building equipment, the augmented reality display comprising a view of the graphical visualization of the building equipment from a perspective of a mobile device superimposed over a camera-derived view of the building from the perspective of the mobile device.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the augmented reality display of the building equipment comprises at least one of equipment-specific attributes for the building equipment and a current status of the building equipment.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the one or more measurement devices comprise at least one of a GPS device and an altimeter;

and

wherein the one or more measurement devices are components of the building equipment or components of a mobile device separate from the building equipment.