METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND APPARATUS FOR INTELLIGENT LIGHTING

• US 20160360594A1
• Filed: 04/08/2016
• Published: 12/08/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Digital Lumens, Inc. (Ams-Osram AG)
• Original Assignee: Digital Lumens, Inc. (Ams-Osram AG)
• Inventors: CHEMEL, Brian J.
• Granted Patent: US 10,264,652 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10366 the interrogation device being adapted for miscellaneous applications
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 45/20 Controlling the colour of the light
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/105 in response to determined parameters
• 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 47/175 by remote control
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/19 via wireless transmission
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 20/40 Control techniques providing energy savings, e.g. smart controller or presence detection

Abstract

Intelligent lighting systems include lighting fixtures communicatively coupled to processors and memory to provide efficient, highly responsive, and custom-tailored lighting to meet the needs and preferences of a given user or application. A gateway device provides connectivity linking lighting fixtures to the cloud to enhance data collection, analysis, and lighting control. Configuration profiles along with identification sensing provide object-specific and person-specific lighting conditions within intelligent lighting system environments. Configuration, control, monitoring, and reporting related to intelligent lighting systems are simplified with cloud-based and mobile apps compared to legacy lighting system technologies.

Claims

1. A system for controlling illumination of an environment, the system comprising:

(A) at least one lighting fixture disposed to illuminate a first portion of the environment, the lighting fixture comprising;

(A1) a light source to emit illumination;

(A2) a light source driver, operably coupled to the light source, to provide a variable amount of power to the light source;

(A3) a power meter, operably coupled to the light source driver, to measure electrical power supplied to the light source;

(A4) a sensor, to sense the presence of a person and/or object within the first portion of the environment;

(A5) a fixture processor, operably coupled to the light source driver, the energy usage sensor, and the environmental sensor, to determine a location and identity of the person and/or object within the first portion of the environment, to identify a lighting profile associated with the person and/or object within the first portion of the environment, and to adjust the illumination emitted by the light source based at least in part on the lighting profile; and

(A6) a fixture memory, operably coupled to the power meter and the sensor, to store an indication of total electrical power supplied to the light source; and

(A7) a fixture communications interface, operably coupled to the fixture processor, to transmit an indication of the presence of the person and/or object and the indication of total electrical power supplied to the light source;

(B) at least one gateway, communicatively coupled to the at least one lighting fixture, the at least one gateway comprising;

(B1) a gateway communications interface to receive the indication of the presence of the person and/or object and the indication of total electrical power supplied to the light source;

(B2) a gateway memory, operably coupled to the gateway communications interface, to store the indication of the presence of the person and/or object and the indication of total electrical power supplied to the light source; and

(B3) a gateway processor, operably coupled to the gateway communications interface and the gateway memory, to provide an updated lighting profile associated with the person and/or object within the first portion of the environment to the at least one lighting fixture; and

(C) at least one server, communicatively coupled to the at least one gateway, the at least one server comprising;

(C1) a server communications interface to transmit the updated lighting profile to the at least one gateway and to receive the indication of total electrical power supplied to the light source from the at least one gateway; and

(C2) a server processor, operably coupled to the server communications interface, to determine the updated lighting profile based at least in part on the indication of total electrical power supplied to the light source from the at least one gateway.

2. A method of adjusting illumination of an environment by at least one lighting fixture in a network of lighting fixtures, the method comprising:

(A) sensing, via at least one sensor communicatively coupled to the network of lighting fixtures, an object and/or a person within the environment;

(B) identifying, with a processor communicatively coupled to the at least one sensor, a lighting profile associated with the object and/or the person sensed in (A), the lighting profile specifying at least one parameter for adjusting the illumination of the environment by the at least one lighting fixture; and

(C) adjusting the illumination provided by the at least one lighting fixture according to the lighting profile identified in (B).

3. The method of claim 2, wherein (A) comprises at least one of:

interrogating a radio-frequency identification tag (RFID) on the object with an RFID tag reader;

emitting an ultrasonic signal from the at least one wireless interface;

estimating a received signal strength of a wireless signal emitted by an electronic device associated with the object and/or the person;

detecting a positioning signal emitted by the electronic device associated with the object and/or the person;

acquiring a visible image of the object and/or the person;

or

acquiring an infrared representation of the object and/or the person.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein (B) comprises:

identifying the object and/or the person sensed in (A); and

retrieving the lighting profile associated with the object and/or the person sensed in (A) from a memory communicatively coupled to the processor.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein (B) further comprises:

querying another memory for an updated lighting profile associated with the object and/or the person sensed in (A).

6. The method of claim 2, wherein:

(A) comprises determining a location of the object and/or the person within the environment; and

(C) comprises adjusting the illumination provided by the at least one lighting fixture based at least in part on the location of the object and/or the person within the environment.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein:

(A) further comprises sensing, via the at least one sensor, another object and/or another person device within the device;

(B) identifying, with the processor, another lighting profile associated with the other object and/or the other person sensed in (A), the other lighting profile specifying at least one other parameter for adjusting the illumination of the environment by the at least one lighting fixture; and

(C) further comprises arbitrating, with the processor, between the at least one illumination parameter and the at least one other illumination parameter.

8. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

(D) tracking movement of the object and/or person within the environment; and

(E) adjusting the illumination provided by the at least one lighting fixture based on the movement tracked in (D).

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

(F) storing a record of the movement in a memory.

10. An apparatus for controlling at least one lighting fixture disposed to illuminate an environment, the apparatus comprising:

a memory to store sensor data associated with the at least one lighting fixture, energy usage data representing energy consumed by the at least one lighting fixture over a given time period, and at least one rule for providing a desired lighting level and/or adjusting power consumption by the at least one lighting fixture according to the sensor data and the energy usage data;

a local processor, operably coupled to the memory, to provide an updated rule based at least in part on the sensor data, the energy usage data, and/or instructions from a network-based processor; and

a communications interface, operably coupled to the local processor and the memory, to receive the sensor data and the energy usage data from the at least one lighting fixture, to transmit the sensor data and/or the energy usage data to the network-based processor, to receive the instructions from the network-based processor, and to transmit the updated rule to the at least one lighting fixture.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the communications interface comprises a wired communications port.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the wired communications port comprises an Ethernet port.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the apparatus is configured to receive electrical power via the Ethernet port.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the communications interface comprises a wireless communications interface, operably coupled to the local processor, to receive the sensor data and the energy usage data from the at least one lighting fixture and to transmit the updated rule from the local processor to the at least one lighting fixture.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the wireless communications interface comprises at least one of a cellular radio, a wireless mesh network interface, or a point-to-point wireless network interface.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the wireless communications interface is configured to receive, from at least one sensor, at least one measurement of a parameter associated with the environment, and wherein the local processor is configured to store a representation of the at least one measurement as sensor data.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the at least one measurement represents at least one of:

an occupancy of the environment,

an ambient light level of the environment,

a spectrum of illumination of the environment,

a temperature of the environment,

a sound in the environment,

an air quality of the environment,

an amplitude of a radio-frequency wave propagating in the environment,

a location of an object or a person in the environment, or

an identification of the object or the person in the environment.

18. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the communications interface comprises:

a wired communications port in communication with the network-based processor; and

a wireless communications interface in wireless communication with the at least one lighting fixture.

19. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the energy usage data comprises at least one of:

total energy consumed by the at least one lighting fixture over the given period of time,

instantaneous power consumption by the at least one lighting fixture,

average power consumption by the at least one lighting fixture over the given period of time,

maximum and/or minimum power consumption by the at least one lighting fixture over the given period of time,

a historical log of energy consumption by the at least one lighting fixture,

a power factor associated with the at least one lighting fixture,

an input voltage to the at least one lighting fixture, or

total harmonic distortion of power received by the at least one lighting fixture.

20. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the at least one rule specifies an illumination parameter associated with a specific portion of the environment, an object in the environment, and/or a person in the environment.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the at least one illumination parameter pertains to at least one of:

luminous flux emitted by the at least one lighting fixture,

illuminance delivered to a specified surface in the environment,

a correlated color temperature of light emitted by the at least one lighting fixture,

a spectral power distribution of light emitted by the at least one lighting fixture,

a color of light emitted by the at least one lighting fixture,

an illumination radius of the at least one lighting fixture,

a timing parameter related to a change in lighting emitted by the at least one lighting fixture, or

power consumption and/or energy usage of the at least one lighting fixture.

22. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the change in the at least one rule is based on at least in part based on a presence, absence, and/or location of a particular object and/or person in the environment.

23. A method of controlling illumination of an environment by at least one lighting fixture in a network of lighting fixtures, the method comprising:

(A) receiving, via a communications interface, sensor data associated with the at least one lighting fixture and energy usage data representing energy consumed by the at least one lighting fixture over a given time period;

(B) storing, in a memory operably coupled to the communications interface, the sensor data and the energy usage data received in (A) and at least one rule for providing a desired lighting level and/or adjusting power consumption by the at least one lighting fixture according to the sensor data and the energy usage data;

(C) transmitting, via the communications interface, the sensor data and/or the energy usage data stored in (B) to a network-based processor;

(D) receiving, via the communications interface, instructions from the network-based processor representative of a change to the at least one rule stored in the memory; and

(E) transmitting, via the communications interface, an updated rule to the at least one lighting fixture.

24. An apparatus for adjusting illumination of an environment by at least one lighting fixture in a network of lighting fixtures, the apparatus comprising:

a communications interface, operably coupled to a sensor in the network of lighting fixtures, to receive an indication of a presence of an object and/or a person within the environment; and

a processor, communicatively coupled to the communications interface, to receive the indication of the presence of the object and/or the person and to identify a lighting profile associated with the object and/or the person present within the environment, the lighting profile specifying at least one parameter for adjusting the illumination of the environment by the at least one lighting fixture, and to transmit the lighting profile to the at least one lighting fixture via the communications interface.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, further comprising:

a memory, operably coupled to the processor, to store the lighting profile, and

wherein the processor is configured to determine an identity of the object and/or the person within the environment and to retrieve the lighting profile associated with the object and/or the person from the memory based on the identity of the object and/or the person within the environment.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the processor is further configured to query the memory for an updated lighting profile associated with the object and/or the person within the environment.

27. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein:

the processor is further configured to determine a location of the object and/or the person within the environment; and

the lighting profile specifies an adjustment to the illumination provided by the at least one lighting fixture based at least in part on the location of the object and/or the person within the environment.