SETBACK CONTROLS BASED ON OUT-OF-ROOM PRESENCE INFORMATION

• US 20160077532A1
• Filed: 07/26/2013
• Published: 03/17/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Assa Abloy AB
• Original Assignee: Assa Abloy AB
• Inventors: Lagerstedt, Stig, Berg, Daniel, Bailin, Daniel, Robinton, Mark, Davis, Michael Lawrence
• Granted Patent: US 10,001,791 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1917 using digital means
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1932 to control the temperature of a plurality of spaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2814 Exchanging control software or macros for controlling appliance services in a home automation network arrangements for maintenance or administration involving configuration of the network and network elements H04L41/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/282 based on user interaction within the home receiver circuitry for displaying additional information being controlled by a remote control apparatus H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2841 Wireless
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• 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 4/026 using orientation information, e.g. compass
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices for managing energy consumption in multi-room facilities are provided. In particular, intelligent mechanisms for determining a location of a mobile device (124) associated with a room (112a, 112b . . . 112n) and then for managing energy settings, especially setback controls, of that room (112a, 112b . . . 112n) are provided. Some logic for implementing these mechanisms may be provided in a mobile device (124) and in-room device, such as a motion detector, thermostat, HVAC controller, door, lock, television, set top box, etc.

Claims

1. A method of managing a multi-room facility, comprising:

associating a mobile device with at least one room of the multi-room facility;

determining, at a first time, a first location of the mobile device; and

controlling an energy use of the at least one room based at least partially on the first location of the mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein associating the mobile device further comprises:

installing a location application on the mobile device; and

registering, at an administrative device of the multi-room facility, the mobile device with an identifier, the identifier cross-referenced to the at least one room.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the first location of the mobile device further comprises:

sending a message from the mobile device to an administrative device of the multi-room facility, the message reporting at least a physical location of the mobile device.

3-4. -4. (canceled)

6-20. -20. (canceled)

21. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform a method comprising:

associating a mobile device with at least one room of the multi-room facility;

determining, at a first time, a first location of the mobile device; and

controlling an energy use of the at least one room based at least partially on the first location of the mobile device.

22-24. -24. (canceled)

25. A multi-room facility, comprising:

a plurality of rooms each containing at least one door and one or more in-room devices, at least one of the in-room devices comprising a controller adapted to manage selected aspects of the room;

a setback controls server configured to control energy use of at least one room of the plurality of rooms, wherein the setback controls server is capable of communicating with the one or more in-room devices; and

an administrative device configured to send and receive messages to and from one or more mobile devices, wherein the one or more mobile devices are associated with at least one room of the plurality of rooms.

26-32. -32. (canceled)

33. A method of controlling a thermostat of a room, comprising:

operating the thermostat according to a first operating condition;

determining a location of a mobile device associated with the thermostat and located outside of the room; and

operating the thermostat according to a second operating condition based on the determined location of the mobile device.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein prior to operating the thermostat according to the second operating condition, the method comprises:

determining whether the location of the mobile device is within a specific zone or distance from the room.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein the location of the mobile device is provided via the mobile device in communication with a setback control system associated with the room.

36. The method of claim 33, wherein prior to operating the thermostat according to the second operating condition, the method comprises:

sending a message from an administrative device associated with the room to the mobile device, wherein the message includes information corresponding to control settings of the room.

37. The method of claim 33, wherein prior to operating the thermostat according to the first operating condition, the method comprises:

determining whether the room is occupied or unoccupied;

operating the thermostat in a non-setback condition when the room is determined to be occupied; and

operating the thermostat in a setback condition when the room is determined to be unoccupied.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the first operating condition corresponds to the setback condition and the second operating condition corresponds to a non-setback condition.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein the location of the mobile device is determined via at least one Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, Wireless Communications (WiFi) module, and telephony/cellular module.

40. The method of claim 37, wherein at least one of the first and second operating condition is based on preferences defined by a user of the mobile device.

41. The method of claim 37, wherein determining whether the room is occupied or unoccupied is based at least partially on at least one of a motion sensor, a door lock, and a door switch.

42. The method of claim 37, wherein determining whether the room is occupied or unoccupied is based at least partially on the determined location of the mobile device.

43. The method of claim 37, wherein the room is determined to be occupied when the mobile device is located outside of the room and within a specific zone or distance from the room.

44. The method of claim 37, wherein the room is determined to be occupied when the mobile device is located outside of the room and at least one occupant is detected inside the room.

45. The method of claim 43, wherein the room is unoccupied when the mobile device is located outside of the room and outside of the specific zone or distance from the room.

46. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform the method of claim 33.

47. A setback control system, comprising:

a thermostat configured to control a temperature of a controlled space based on energy management settings; and

a controller configured to the alter the energy management settings based on a determined location of a mobile device associated with the thermostat and located outside of the controlled space.

48. A method of controlling an operating condition of a thermostat, comprising:

associating a mobile device with the thermostat;

detecting a state of a door of a controlled space;

determining, based at least on the detected state, a setback condition for the controlled space; and

sending, in response to determining the setback condition, a setback control options message to the mobile device that is associated with the thermostat.

49. The method of claim 48, further comprising:

receiving input provided via the mobile device; and

controlling the operating condition of the thermostat based on the input received from the mobile device.

50. The method of claim 48, wherein the state of the door is based on a message sent via a lock associated with the door.

51. The method of claim 48, wherein the setback control options message includes options for selectively controlling an operation of the thermostat.

52. The method of claim 48, wherein the setback control options message is sent to an application running on the mobile device, and wherein the message is sent via a setback control system server in communication with the thermostat.

53. A method of controlling an operating condition of a thermostat, comprising:

detecting an activity at a door lock;

sending, in response to detecting the activity, a message to a mobile device associated with the thermostat;

receiving, at a controller of the thermostat, operating condition control instructions sent via the mobile device; and

setting, via the controller, the operating condition of the thermostat based on the operating condition control instructions.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein prior to sending the message to the mobile device, the method comprises:

determining whether a room associated with the door lock is occupied or unoccupied and sending the message only when the room is determined to be unoccupied.

55. The method of claim 53, wherein the operating condition corresponds to a setback condition or a non-setback condition.

56. The method of claim 55, further comprising:

sending, via the door lock, a wireless message to the controller when the door is at least one of opened by key, opened from a side inside a room, and closed.

57. A method of controlling an operating condition of a thermostat, comprising:

receiving information regarding a setback condition for a room at a mobile device;

presenting the information regarding the setback condition for the room via a user interface of the mobile device;

receiving a user input at the mobile device, the user input corresponding to a desired control of the thermostat; and

sending a control message from the mobile device that includes the desired control of the thermostat.

58. The method of claim 57, wherein the presented information regarding the setback condition includes one or more setback levels.

59. The method of claim 58, wherein the one or more setback levels includes at least one of a low-level setback configured to change a set-point temperature of the room one or more degrees and a deep-level setback configured to deactivate thermostat controlled energy output for the room.

60. The method of claim 57, wherein the information regarding the setback condition is presented in response to detecting a location of the mobile device.

61. The method of claim 60, wherein the location of the mobile device is provided via at least one Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, Wireless Communications (WiFi) module, and telephony/cellular module associated with the mobile device.

62. The method of claim 57, wherein the information regarding the setback condition is presented in response to detecting a direction of travel associated with the mobile device.