Intelligent video for building management and automation

• US 7,529,646 B2
• Filed: 04/04/2006
• Issued: 05/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/05/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Ramsey, Carolyn, Lin, Yun-Ting, Brodsky, Tomas, Lee, Mi-Suen
• Primary Examiner(s): BARNES-BULLOCK, CRYSTAL JOY
• Application Number:
  US11/397,781
• Publication Number:
  US 20070024708A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,127 Days
• Field of Search: 700/17, 700/19, 700/83, 700/275, 700/276, 702/188, 705/1, 705/15, 705/28, 709/217, 709/223, 709/224, 715/700, 715/733, 715/740, 715/741, 340/3.1, 340/3.5, 340/3.9, 340/517, 340/521, 345/1.1, 345/2.1, 345/156, 348/113, 348/116, 348/135, 348/142, 348/143, 348/207.99, 348/211.11, 348/211.99, 379/102.01, 379/102.02, 725/78, 725/105
• US Class Current: 702/188
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

A video processing and analysis system is coupled to a building management and control system. The video processing system provides traffic, occupancy, and other information derived from video images of sections of the building and its environs to the building management and control systems. The building systems use this information in a variety of business management applications, including maintenance scheduling, asset replacement, elevator dispatching, HVAC and lighting control, and so on, to reduce operational or maintenance costs, expedite emergency procedures, improve service levels of building facilities, and regulate the building'"'"'s environmental conditions.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a video processing system that is configured to receive images from one or more video sources, and to produce therefrom video-based information, the video-based information further comprising a measure of traffic of objects including at least a count of objects, a count of objects per unit time, and a directional flow pattern; and

a building management system that is configured to control operation of one or more resources of a building based on the video-based information.

2. The system of claim 1, including

a plurality of video sources that are configured to provide the images to the video processing system.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein

the video sources provide the images in at least one of:

an infrared range and an X-ray range.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein

the building management system includes a model of a floor plan of the building, and

the video-based information is correlated to the floor plan.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein

the video-based information includes a state of at least one object in the images.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein

the at least one object includes at least one of:

a door and a window.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein

the video processing system includes a digital signal processor.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein

the building management system includes a maintenance planning system.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein

the maintenance planning system is configured to control maintenance activities based on the measure of traffic.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein

the maintenance planning system is configured to control asset replacement activities based on the measure of traffic.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein

the maintenance planning system is configured to control replenishment of supplies based on the measure of traffic.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein

the building management system includes an elevator control system.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein

the count of objects relates to one or more queues of objects at one or more floors of the building, and

the elevator control system is configured to dispatch elevator ears based on the one or more queues of objects.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein

the measure of traffic includes a classification associated with the one or more queues of objects, and

the elevator control system is configured to dispatch elevator cars based on the classification.

15. The system of claim 13, including

one or more video sources located at the one or more floors that are configured to provide the images to the video processing system.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein

the elevator control system is configured to provide a notification of available alternatives based on the measure of traffic.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein

the directional flow pattern relates to objects approaching one or more elevators, and

the elevator control system is configured to dispatch elevator cars based on the directional flow pattern.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein

the building management system includes an evacuation system.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein

the measure of traffic relates to objects at one or more egress locations, and

the evacuation system is configured to provide notification of available alternatives based on the measure of traffic.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein

the evacuation system is further configured to provide status information to responding personnel.

21. The system of claim 18, wherein

the count of objects relates to object occupancy at one or more locations in the building, and

the evacuation system is configured to provide egress directions based on the object occupancy.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein

the evacuation system is further configured to provide status information to responding personnel.

23. The system of claim 1, wherein the building management system includes a facilities monitoring system.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein

the measure of traffic includes a queue measure associated with each of a plurality of facilities, and

the facilities monitoring system is configured to provide notification of available alternative facilities based on the queue measures.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein

the plurality of facilities includes at least one of:

a plurality of meeting rooms,

a plurality of parking areas,

a plurality of Internet access workstations,

a plurality of rest rooms,

a plurality of elevators,

a plurality of ATMs, and

a plurality of restaurants.

26. The system of claim 1, wherein

the building management system includes an HVAC control system.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein

the measure of traffic includes a count of objects occupying the building, and

the HVAC control system is configured to control environmental conditions of the building based on the count of objects.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein

the directional flow pattern is based on objects entering and leaving the building.

29. The system of claim 27, wherein

the count of the objects is based on a presence of vehicles in an area associated with the building.

30. The system of claim 27, wherein

the directional flow pattern is based on objects entering and leaving one or more locations in the building.

31. The system of claim 26, wherein

the measure of traffic includes a count of objects occupying one or more locations of the building, and

the HVAC control system is configured to control environmental conditions at the one or more locations based on the count of objects.

32. The system of claim 26, wherein

the HVAC control system is configured to operate in accordance with a selection of a scheduled setting from a plurality of scheduled settings, and

the HVAC control system is configured to select the scheduled setting based on the measure of traffic.

33. The system of claim 26, wherein

the measure of traffic includes a state of at least one window of the building.

34. A method comprising:

receiving images from one or more video sources,

processing the images to produce video-based information, the video-based information further comprising a measure of traffic of objects, the measure of traffic including at least a count of objects, a count of objects per unit time, and a directional flow pattern; and

controlling one or more resources of a building based on the video-based information.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein

the video-based information is correlated to a floor plan of the building.

36. The method of claim 34, wherein

the video-based information includes a state of at least one object in the images.

37. The method of claim 34, further comprising

controlling the one or more resources includes controlling maintenance activities based on the measure of traffic.

38. The method of claim 34, wherein

the count of objects relates to one or more queues of objects at one or more floors of the building, and

controlling the one or more resources includes controlling elevator cars based on the one or more queues of objects.

39. The method of claim 34, wherein

the measure of traffic relates to objects at one or more egress locations, and

controlling the one or more resources includes providing notification of available alternatives based on the measure of traffic.

40. The method of claim 34, wherein

the measure of traffic includes a queue measure associated with each of a plurality of facilities, and

controlling the one or more resources includes providing notification of available alternative facilities based on the queue measures.

41. The method of claim 34, wherein the

measure of traffic includes a count of objects occupying the building, the method further comprising:

controlling the one or more resources includes controlling environmental conditions of the building based on the count of objects.

42. The method of claim 34, wherein the measure of traffic includes a count of objects occupying one or more locations of the building, the method further comprising:

controlling the one or more resources includes controlling environmental conditions at the one or more locations based on the count of objects.

43. A computer program that, when executed on a processing system, causes the processing system to:

receive images from one or more video sources,

process the images to produce video-based information, the video-based information further comprising a measure of traffic of objects, the measure of traffic including at least a count of objects, a count of objects per unit time, and a directional flow pattern; and

control one or more resources of a building based on the video-based information.

44. The program of claim 43, wherein

the video-based information is correlated to a floor plan of the building.

45. The program of claim 43, wherein

the video-based information includes a state of at least one object in the images.

46. The program of claim 43, wherein the processing system

controls of the one or more resources includes control of maintenance activities based on the measure of traffic.

47. The program of claim 43, wherein

the count of objects relates to one or more queues of objects at one or more floors of the building, and

control of the one or more resources includes control of elevator cars based on the one or more queues of objects.

48. The program of claim 43, wherein

the measure of traffic relates to objects at one or more egress locations, and

control of the one or more resources includes providing notification of available alternatives based on the measure of traffic.

49. The program of claim 43, wherein

the measure of traffic includes queue measure associated with each of a plurality of facilities, and

control of the one or more resources includes providing notification of available alternative facilities based on the queue measures.

50. The program of claim 43, wherein

the measure of traffic includes a count of objects occupying the building, and

control of the one or more resources includes control of environmental conditions of the building based on the count of objects.

51. The program of claim 43, wherein

the measure of traffic includes a count of objects occupying one or more locations of the building, and

control of the one or more resources includes control of environmental conditions at the one or more locations based on the count of objects.