LOAD CONTROL SYSTEM RESPONSIVE TO LOCATION OF AN OCCUPANT AND MOBILE DEVICES

• US 20160056629A1
• Filed: 08/21/2015
• Published: 02/25/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/22/2014
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Lutron Technology Company LLC
• Original Assignee: Lutron Electronics Company Incorporated (Lutron Electronics)
• Inventors: Baker, Rhodes B., Bull, John H., Fricke, William Bryce, Killo, Jason C., Knode, Galen Edgar, Pearson, Sean R., Twaddell, Daniel L., Raneri, Daniel Curtis, Mann, Timothy, Gopalakrishnan, Sriram, Karc, Jeffrey, Sloan, Greg Edward, Kumar, Sanjeev, Weber, James Mathias
• Application Number:
  US14/832,798
• Publication Number:
  US 20160056629A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2642 Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart house
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00004 characterised by the power network being locally controlled
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00024 by means of mobile telephony
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00026 involving a local wireless network, e.g. Wi-Fi, ZigBee or Bluetooth
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/14 The load or loads being home appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/14 by switching loads on to, or off from, network, e.g. progressively balanced loading
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/11 by determining the brightness or colour temperature of ambient light
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/115 by determining the presence or movement of objects or living beings
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/125 by using cameras
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/19 via wireless transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/1965 using handheld communication devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 20/40 Control techniques providing energy savings, e.g. smart controller or presence detection
• 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 20/00 Management or operation of end-user stationary applications or the last stages of power distribution; Controlling, monitoring or operating thereof
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/20 End-user application control systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/222 : Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/246 : the system involving the remote operation of lamps or lighting equipment
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/126 : using wireless data transmission

Abstract

A load control system may control an electrical load in a space of a building occupied by an occupant. The load control system may include a controller configured to determine the location of the occupant, and a load control device configured to automatically control the electrical load in response to the location of the occupant. The load control system may also include a mobile device adapted to be located on or immediately adjacent the occupant and configured to transmit and receive wireless signals. The load control device may be configured to automatically control the electrical load when the mobile device is located in the space. The load control system may further comprise an occupancy sensor and the load control device may automatically control the electrical load when the occupancy sensor indicates that the space is occupied and the mobile device is located in the space.

Claims

1. A load control system for controlling an electrical load, the load control system comprising:

a mobile device configured to transmit and receive wireless signals;

a system controller configured to determine a location of the mobile device; and

a load control device configured to control the electrical load in response to the location of the mobile device.

2. The load control system of claim 1, wherein the system controller is configured to automatically transmit a command to the load control device to control the electrical load when the system controller determines that the mobile device is near the load.

3. The load control system of claim 2, wherein the mobile device is configured to receive a beacon signal indicating the location of the mobile device.

4. The load control system of claim 3, wherein the beacon signal includes a unique identifier.

5. The load control system of claim 4, wherein the mobile device is configured to transmit the unique identifier to the controller, and the controller is configured to determine the location of the mobile device in response to the unique identifier.

6. The load control system of claim 3, wherein the load control device is configured to transmit the beacon signal.

7. The load control system of claim 6, wherein the load control device comprises a wall-mounted dimmer switch.

8. The load control system of claim 3, further comprising:

a beacon transmitting device configured to transmit the beacon signal.

9. The load control system of claim 8, wherein the load control device comprises a lighting control device for controlling an intensity of a lighting load, the lighting control device configured to control the intensity of the lighting load as a function of a distance between the mobile device and the beacon transmitting device.

10. The load control system of claim 3, wherein the beacon signal is transmitted via a short-range communication link.

11. The load control system of claim 1, wherein the load control device is configured to control the electrical load according to an occupant control parameter stored on the mobile device when the mobile device is located near the load.

12. The load control system of claim 11, wherein the load control device is configured to receive the occupant control parameter from the mobile device when a command to control the load is received.

13. The load control system of claim 12, wherein the load control device comprises a button for receiving a user input, the load control device configured to control the load according to the occupant control parameter stored on the mobile device when the button is actuated.

14. The load control system of claim 11, further comprising:

an occupancy sensor configured to detect an occupancy or vacancy condition in a space, the occupancy sensor configured to transmit a digital message in response to detecting an occupancy or vacancy condition in the space; and

wherein the load control device is configure to control the load according to the occupant control parameter stored on the mobile device when the occupancy sensor detects an occupancy or vacancy condition in the space.

15. The load control system of claim 11, wherein the occupant control parameter is at least one of a preset setting for the electrical load, biometric data measured by the mobile device, a user input received by the mobile device, and an environmental characteristic measured by the mobile device.

16. The load control system of claim 1, further comprising:

multiple mobile devices located on or adjacent to the respective occupants and configured to store occupant control parameters of the respective occupants, each mobile device configured to transmit and receive wireless signals; and

wherein the system controller is configured to determine the location of each of the multiple mobile devices to determine that the multiple mobile devices are all located in a single space, the system controller configured to transmit a digital message to the load control device to control the load according to the occupant control parameters stored on the mobile devices of the occupants.

17. The load control system of claim 16, wherein the system controller is configured to control the electrical load according to the occupant control parameter of one of the multiple mobile devices, where the one of the multiple mobile devices is either the mobile device having a highest priority, a first mobile device to enter the space, or the mobile device closest to a location within the space.

18. The load control system of claim 16, wherein the system controller is configured to control the electrical load according to an average of the occupant control parameters of the multiple mobile devices.

19. The load control system of claim 16, wherein the system controller is configured to count the number of mobile devices in the single space and to store the number in memory.

20. The load control system of claim 1, wherein the system controller is configured to transmit a location-based control element associated with the determined location to the mobile device.

21. The load control system of claim 20, wherein the mobile device comprises a visual display and is configured to display the location-based control element on the visual display.

22. The load control system of claim 20, wherein the load control device is configured to control the load in response to a selection of at least one of the displayed location-based control element.

23. The load control system of claim 1, wherein the system controller is configured to determine a predicted future location of an occupant and to control the electrical load according to the predicted future location of the occupant.

24. The load control system of claim 23, wherein the load control device comprises a lighting control device for controlling an intensity of a lighting load, the system controller configured to learn a pathway taken by an occupant by monitoring the movements of the occupant over a period of time, detect that the occupant is moving along the pathway, and illuminate multiple lighting loads along the pathway.

25. The load control system of claim 1, wherein the load control device comprises a lighting control device for controlling an intensity of a lighting load.

26. The load control system of claim 25, wherein the lighting control device is configured to control the intensity of the lighting load according to the location of the mobile device.

27. The load control system of claim 1, wherein the load control device comprises a motorized window treatment configured to automatically adjust an amount of daylight entering a space in response to the location of the mobile device.

28. The load control system of claim 1, wherein the load control device comprises a temperature control device configured to automatically adjust a temperature of a space in response to the location of the mobile device.

29. The load control system of claim 1, further comprising:

at least three control devices located at fixed locations around a building, each control device configured to transmit and receive wireless signals; and

wherein each of the control devices is configured to measure a signal strength of the wireless signals received from the mobile device and to transmit the signal strength to the controller, and wherein the controller configured to determine a location of an occupant in response to the signal strengths received from the control devices.

30. The load control system of claim 1, wherein the mobile device comprises a smart phone, a tablet, a smart watch, or other personal computing device.

31. The load control system of claim 1, wherein the mobile device comprises an activity tracker, a smart wrist band, a smart watch, smart glasses, or other wearable wireless device.

32. A load control system for controlling an electrical load, the load control system comprising:

a mobile device configured to transmit and receive wireless signals; and

a system controller configured to determine a location of the mobile device, the system controller configured to transmit a location-based control element associated with the determined location to the mobile device; and

wherein a subsequent selection of the location-based control element allows for control of the electrical load.

33. The load control system of claim 32, wherein the mobile device comprises a visual display and is configured to display the location-based control element on the visual display.

34. The load control system of claim 33, wherein the mobile device is configured to receive a plurality of location-based control elements from the system controller, and to reconfigure a way in which the location-based control elements are displayed on the visual display in response to the location of the mobile device.

35. The load control system of claim 32, wherein the location-based control element comprises an identifier of an area, a group, a load, an electrical load, a lighting load, a control device, a load control device, an input device, a preset, or a scene.

36. A load control system for controlling an electrical load, the load control system comprising:

a mobile device configured to transmit and receive wireless signals, the mobile device configured to transmit a digital message including a selected control element;

a system controller configured to determine a location of the mobile device and to receive the digital message including the selected control element from the mobile device; and

a load control device configured to control the load in response to the selected control element according to the determined location of the mobile device.

37. The load control system of claim 36, wherein the system controller is configured to transmit a location-based control element associated with the determined location to the mobile device, the mobile device configured to display the location-based control element on a visual display, the load control device configured to control the load in response to a selection of at least one of the displayed location-based control element.

38. The load control system of claim 36, wherein the mobile device comprises a visual display and is configured to display a generic control element on the visual display.

39. The load control system of claim 36, wherein the mobile device comprises an actuator and is configured to transmit a digital message in response to an actuation of the actuator, the system controller configured to control the load in response to the digital message in a manner depending upon the determined location of the load control device.

40. A load control system for controlling an electrical load located in a space, the load control system comprising:

a load control device configured to control the electrical load; and

a mobile device configured to transmit and receive wireless signals; and

wherein the load control device is configured to control the electrical load according to an occupant control parameter stored on the mobile device when the mobile device is located near the load.

41. The load control system of claim 40, wherein the load control device is configured to receive the occupant control parameter from the mobile device when a command to control the load is received.

42. The load control system of claim 41, wherein the load control device comprises a button for receiving a user input, the load control device configured to control the load according to the occupant control parameter stored on the mobile device when the button is actuated.

43. The load control system of claim 42, wherein the load control device is configured to adjust an amount of power delivered to the load to a desired amount in response to an actuation of the button, the mobile device is configured to store the desired amount in response to the actuation of the button.

44. The load control system of claim 41, further comprising:

an input device configured to transmit a digital message including the command to control the load.

45. The load control system of claim 41, wherein the mobile device is configured to transmit a digital message in response to receiving a user input, the digital message including the command to control the load.

46. The load control system of claim 41, further comprising:

an occupancy sensor configured to detect an occupancy or vacancy condition in the space, the occupancy sensor configured to transmit a digital message in response to detecting an occupancy or vacancy condition in the space; and

wherein the load control device is configure to control the load according to the occupant control parameter stored on the mobile device when the occupancy sensor detects an occupancy or vacancy condition in the space.

47. The load control system of claim 41, further comprising:

a system controller configured to determine a location of the mobile device; and

wherein the system controller is configured to determine when the mobile device is located in the space of the load, the system controller configured to retrieve the occupant control parameter from the mobile device and to transmit a digital message including the occupant control parameter and the command to control the load to the load control device when the mobile device is located in the space of the load.

48. The load control system of claim 41, wherein the load control device is configured to transmit a beacon signal, the mobile device configured to receive the beacon signal and to transmit a digital message including the occupant control parameter and the command to control the load to the load control device in response to receive the beacon signal.

49. The load control system of claim 40, wherein the occupant control parameter is at least one of a preset setting for the electrical load, biometric data measured by the mobile device, a user input received by the mobile device, and an environmental characteristic measured by the mobile device.

50. A load control system for controlling an electrical load located in a space, the load control system comprising:

a load control device configured to control the electrical load;

a mobile device configured to transmit and receive wireless signals; and

a system controller configured determine if the mobile device is located near the space, the system controller configured to receive a digital message indicating the presence of an occupant in the space; and

wherein the load control device is configured to automatically control the electrical load in response to the controller determining that the mobile device is located near the space and receiving the digital message indicating the presence of the occupant in the space.

51. The load control system of claim 50, further comprising:

an occupancy sensor configured to determine an occupancy or vacancy condition in the space.

52. The load control system of claim 51, wherein the system controller is configured to receive a signal from the occupancy sensor indicating that the space is occupied, and to transmit a command to the load control device for controlling the electrical load when the system controller determines that the mobile device is located in the space and the occupancy sensor indicates that the space is occupied.

53. The load control system of claim 51, wherein the load control device is configured to automatically control the electrical load when the occupancy sensor indicates that the space is occupied and the mobile device is located in the space.

54. The load control system of claim 50, wherein the load control device is configured to control the electrical load according to an occupant control parameter stored on the mobile device in response to the system controller determining that the mobile device is located near the space and receiving the digital message indicating the presence of the occupant in the space.

55. The load control system of claim 50, wherein the controller is configured to receive the digital message indicating the presence of the occupant in the space from at least one of an occupancy sensor, a vacancy sensor, a motion sensor, a proximity sensor, a door entrance sensor, a door movement sensor, a keycard door-opening device, and a camera.

56. A load control system for controlling an electrical load in a space of a building occupied by multiple occupants, the load control system comprising:

a load control device configured to control the electrical load; and

a system controller configured to determine at least one occupant control parameter of each of the multiple occupants in the space; and

wherein the system controller is configured to transmit a digital message to the load control device to control the load according to the at least one occupant control parameter associated with each of the occupants.

57. The load control system of claim 56, further comprising:

multiple mobile devices located on or adjacent to the respective occupants, each mobile device configured to transmit and receive wireless signals; and

wherein the system controller is configured to determine the location of each of the multiple mobile devices to determine that the multiple mobile devices are all located in the space.

58. The load control system of claim 57, wherein the system controller is configured to control the electrical load according to a function of the occupant control parameters of the multiple mobile devices.

59. The load control system of claim 58, wherein the function comprises an average of the occupant control parameters of the multiple mobile devices.

60. The load control system of claim 57, wherein the system controller is configured to determine the location of each mobile device within the space, to choose a first one of the multiple mobile devices based on the location of the first mobile device within the space, the system controller configured to control the electrical load according to the at least one occupant control parameter associated with the first one of the multiple mobile devices.

61. The load control system of claim 60, wherein the first one of the mobile devices is located closest to at least one of the electrical load, the load control device, an input device, a door of the space, and a window of the space.

62. The load control system of claim 57, wherein the system controller is configured to determine that a first one of the multiple mobile devices has a highest priority of the multiple mobile devices, the system controller configured to control the electrical load according to the at least one occupant control parameter associated with the first one of the multiple mobile devices.

63. The load control system of claim 57, wherein the system controller is configured to determine that a first one of the multiple mobile devices of the multiple mobile devices was the first mobile device to enter the space, the system controller configured to control the electrical load according to the at least one occupant control parameter associated with the first one of the multiple mobile devices.

64. The load control system of claim 57, wherein the system controller is configured to receive a digital message including a request to control the electrical load from a first one of the multiple mobile devices of the multiple mobile devices, the system controller configured to control the electrical load according to the at least one occupant control parameter associated with the first one of the multiple mobile devices.

65. The load control system of claim 57, wherein the system controller is configured to count the number of mobile devices in the space and to store the number in memory.

66. The load control system of claim 57, wherein each mobile device is configured to store the respective at least one occupant control parameter.

67. A load control system for controlling an electrical load in a space of a building occupied by an occupant, the load control system comprising:

a load control device configured to control the electrical load; and

a system controller configured to determine a location of the occupant and to determine a predicted future location of the occupant, the system controller configured to control the electrical load according to the predicted future location of the occupant.

68. The load control system of claim 67, wherein the load control device comprises a lighting control device for controlling an intensity of a lighting load.

69. The load control system of claim 68, wherein the lighting load is located at the predicted future location and the system controller is configured to illuminate the lighting load before the occupant arrives at the predicted future location.

70. The load control system of claim 68, wherein the system controller is configured to learn a pathway taken by the occupant by monitoring the movements of the occupant over a period of time, detect that the occupant is moving along the pathway, and illuminate multiple lighting loads along the pathway.

71. The load control system of claim 67, wherein the system controller is configured to determine a direction of movement of the occupant, and to determine the predicted future location based on the direction of movement.

72. The load control system of claim 67, wherein the system controller is configured to learn the predicted future location by monitoring the movements of the occupant over a period of time.

73. The load control system of claim 67, wherein the system controller is configured to turn the electrical load on before the occupant arrives at the predicted future location.

74. The load control system of claim 67, further comprising:

a mobile device adapted to be located on or immediately adjacent the occupant, the mobile device configured to transmit and receive wireless signals; and

wherein the system controller is to determine a location of the mobile device and to control the electrical load according to a predicted future location of the mobile device.

75. A load control system for controlling an electrical load in a space of a building occupied by an occupant, the load control system comprising:

an input device fixedly mounted in the space;

a system controller configured to determine a location of the occupant in response to the input device; and

a load control device configured to automatically control the electrical load in response to the location of the occupant.

76. The load control system of claim 75, wherein the input device comprises a camera, and the system controller is configured to determine a location of the occupant using facial recognition.

77. The load control system of claim 75, wherein the input device comprises a microphone, and the system controller is configured to determine a location of the occupant using voice recognition.

78. The load control system of claim 75, wherein the input device comprises a fingerprint recognition device.