Attribute Energy Consumption Through Power Sensing and User Localizations

• US 20170082994A1
• Filed: 09/21/2015
• Published: 03/23/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/21/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Gu, Yu, Hwang, Inseok, Liu, Su, Wei, Yaoguang
• Granted Patent: US 10,169,835 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/048 Monitoring; Safety
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2639 Energy management, use maximum of cheap power, keep peak load low
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply

Abstract

An approach is provided for attributing energy usage to individual occupants in an area, such as a building or office space. The approach receives current locations of occupants from sensors deployed in the area being monitored. Identifiers corresponding to various occupants are determined, such as by tracking the occupants'"'"' mobile telephone location, biometrics such as facial recognition, or other device-enabled means of identifying people. Energy consumption values corresponding to energy consuming devices are received and device locations are identified. The approach further attributes the amount of energy consumed by each of the occupants, with the energy attribution being based on the occupants'"'"' current locations and the device locations.

Claims

1. A method executed by an information handling system comprising one or more processors and a memory, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of current locations from one or more sensors, wherein each of the current locations corresponds to one or more occupants occupying an area;

determining a plurality of identifiers corresponding, wherein each of the identifiers corresponding to one of the occupants;

receiving a plurality of energy consumption values, wherein each of the energy consumption values corresponds to an energy consuming device;

identifying a device location pertaining to each of the energy consuming devices; and

attributing an amount of energy consumed to each of occupants that correspond to a determined identifier, wherein the attributing is based on the occupants'"'"' current locations and the device locations.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

identifying at least one of the energy consuming devices that is not attributed to any of the occupants; and

reporting an energy waste corresponding to the one or more identified energy consuming devices.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

posting the amount of energy consumed by at least one of the occupants to a social media website.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

generating a graph with an occupant node corresponding to each of the received current locations of the occupants;

adding a device node corresponding to each of the energy consuming devices;

connecting the occupant nodes with the device nodes based on the current location of the occupants and the device locations.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising:

retrieving a set of device metadata corresponding to one or more of the energy consuming devices, wherein the device metadata identifies one or more usage characteristics of the energy consuming devices, wherein the connection of the occupant nodes with the device nodes is further based on the device metadata.

6. The method of claim 4 further comprising:

retrieving a set of occupant assigned devices that link one or more of the occupants to one or more of the energy consuming devices; and

connecting the occupant nodes linked to the occupant assigned devices to the respective energy consuming devices regardless of the current location of the respective occupants.

7. The method of claim 4 wherein the amount of energy consumed includes a total amount of energy consumed by each of the occupants and an energy amount attributed to each of the occupants for each of the energy consuming device nodes connected to each of the occupant nodes.

8. An information handling system comprising:

one or more processors;

a memory coupled to at least one of the processors; and

a set of instructions stored in the memory and executed by at least one of the processors, wherein the set of instructions perform actions comprising;

receiving a plurality of current locations from one or more sensors, wherein each of the current locations corresponds to one or more occupants occupying an area;

determining a plurality of identifiers corresponding, wherein each of the identifiers corresponding to one of the occupants;

receiving a plurality of energy consumption values, wherein each of the energy consumption values corresponds to an energy consuming device;

identifying a device location pertaining to each of the energy consuming devices; and

attributing an amount of energy consumed to each of occupants that correspond to a determined identifier, wherein the attributing is based on the occupants'"'"' current locations and the device locations.

9. The information handling system of claim 8 wherein the actions further comprise:

identifying at least one of the energy consuming devices that is not attributed to any of the occupants; and

reporting an energy waste corresponding to the one or more identified energy consuming devices.

10. The information handling system of claim 8 wherein the actions further comprise:

posting the amount of energy consumed by at least one of the occupants to a social media website.

11. The information handling system of claim 8 wherein the actions further comprise:

generating a graph with an occupant node corresponding to each of the received current locations of the occupants;

adding a device node corresponding to each of the energy consuming devices;

connecting the occupant nodes with the device nodes based on the current location of the occupants and the device locations.

12. The information handling system of claim 11 wherein the actions further comprise:

retrieving a set of device metadata corresponding to one or more of the energy consuming devices, wherein the device metadata identifies one or more usage characteristics of the energy consuming devices, wherein the connection of the occupant nodes with the device nodes is further based on the device metadata.

13. The information handling system of claim 11 wherein the actions further comprise:

retrieving a set of occupant assigned devices that link one or more of the occupants to one or more of the energy consuming devices; and

connecting the occupant nodes linked to the occupant assigned devices to the respective energy consuming devices regardless of the current location of the respective occupants.

14. The information handling system of claim 11 wherein the amount of energy consumed includes a total amount of energy consumed by each of the occupants and an energy amount attributed to each of the occupants for each of the energy consuming device nodes connected to each of the occupant nodes.

15. A computer program product stored in a computer readable storage medium, comprising computer instructions that, when executed by an information handling system, causes the information handling system to perform actions comprising:

receiving a plurality of current locations from one or more sensors, wherein each of the current locations corresponds to one or more occupants occupying an area;

determining a plurality of identifiers corresponding, wherein each of the identifiers corresponding to one of the occupants;

receiving a plurality of energy consumption values, wherein each of the energy consumption values corresponds to an energy consuming device;

identifying a device location pertaining to each of the energy consuming devices; and

attributing an amount of energy consumed to each of occupants that correspond to a determined identifier, wherein the attributing is based on the occupants'"'"' current locations and the device locations.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the actions further comprise:

identifying at least one of the energy consuming devices that is not attributed to any of the occupants; and

reporting an energy waste corresponding to the one or more identified energy consuming devices.

17. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the actions further comprise:

posting the amount of energy consumed by at least one of the occupants to a social media website.

18. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the actions further comprise:

generating a graph with an occupant node corresponding to each of the received current locations of the occupants;

adding a device node corresponding to each of the energy consuming devices;

connecting the occupant nodes with the device nodes based on the current location of the occupants and the device locations.

19. The computer program product of claim 18 wherein the actions further comprise:

retrieving a set of device metadata corresponding to one or more of the energy consuming devices, wherein the device metadata identifies one or more usage characteristics of the energy consuming devices, wherein the connection of the occupant nodes with the device nodes is further based on the device metadata.

20. The computer program product of claim 18 wherein the actions further comprise:

retrieving a set of occupant assigned devices that link one or more of the occupants to one or more of the energy consuming devices; and

connecting the occupant nodes linked to the occupant assigned devices to the respective energy consuming devices regardless of the current location of the respective occupants.