Occupancy sensor and method of operating same
DCFirst Claim
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1. An occupancy based load controller, comprising:
- at least one occupancy sensor for producing at least one occupancy estimator signal indicative of motion within a space;
a programmable microprocessor, connected to said at least one occupancy sensor, for calculating an occupancy signal from said at least one occupancy estimator signal, for comparing said occupancy signal to an activation threshold, and for adjusting a sensitivity of said at least one occupancy sensor as a function of time-varying noise that corrupts said at least one occupancy estimator signal when said electrical load is de-energized; and
a controllable load energizing device responsive to said programmable microprocessor, operable to automatically energize an electrical load when said microprocessor determines that said occupancy signal is greater than said activation threshold.
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Abstract
A multiple sensing technology-based occupancy sensor. Ultrasonic and infrared sensors are used to produce first and second occupancy estimator signals that are combined using a fusion based detection algorithm to produce a combined estimator signal. The combined estimator is then used to switch electrical loads when the combined estimator signal is above a predetermined threshold. The result is an occupancy sensor that has a very high probability of occupancy detection and a low probability of false tripping. In addition, infrared sensitivity is adjusted based upon an estimation of the background noise in order to minimize the occurrence of false tripping.
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9 Claims
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1. An occupancy based load controller, comprising:
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at least one occupancy sensor for producing at least one occupancy estimator signal indicative of motion within a space; a programmable microprocessor, connected to said at least one occupancy sensor, for calculating an occupancy signal from said at least one occupancy estimator signal, for comparing said occupancy signal to an activation threshold, and for adjusting a sensitivity of said at least one occupancy sensor as a function of time-varying noise that corrupts said at least one occupancy estimator signal when said electrical load is de-energized; and a controllable load energizing device responsive to said programmable microprocessor, operable to automatically energize an electrical load when said microprocessor determines that said occupancy signal is greater than said activation threshold. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A method of operating a occupancy based load controller, including:
- at least one occupancy sensor for producing at least one occupancy estimator signal indicative of motion within a space, a programmable microprocessor, connected to said at least one occupancy sensor, for comparing said occupancy estimator signal to a predetermined threshold; and
a controllable load energizing device responsive to said programmable microprocessor, operable to automatically energize an electrical load when said microprocessor determines that said occupancy estimator signal is greater than said predetermined threshold;
said method comprising;estimating noise that corrupts said at least one occupancy estimator signal when said electrical load is de-energized; and adjusting a sensitivity of said at least one occupancy sensor as a function of said estimated noise. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
- at least one occupancy sensor for producing at least one occupancy estimator signal indicative of motion within a space, a programmable microprocessor, connected to said at least one occupancy sensor, for comparing said occupancy estimator signal to a predetermined threshold; and
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