Radiant heating controls and methods for an environmental control system
First Claim
1. A thermostat comprising:
- a housing;
a memory; and
a processing system disposed within the housing, the processing system being in operative communication with one or more temperature sensors to determine an ambient temperature in an enclosure, the processing system being in operative communication with the memory, and the processing system being in operative communication with a radiant heating system to heat the enclosure via radiant heating such that the ambient temperature is near a setpoint temperature, wherein control of the radiant heating system is performed in part by the processing system;
determining a parameterized model from which a predicted value for the ambient temperature of the enclosure responsive to a candidate radiant heating control strategy may be determined, the parameterized model being based on historical ambient temperatures for the enclosure acquired by the thermostat during associated historical periods in which radiant heat control was actuated by the thermostat and stored in said memory;
selecting a set of candidate control strategies for use in controlling the radiant heating system, wherein each said candidate control strategy is a binary-valued control trajectory having a candidate overall on-time percentage over a predefined candidate control duration, wherein each said candidate control strategy is constrained to have a minimum number of on-time cycles that achieves the candidate overall on-time percentage;
executing a predictive algorithm to determine an optimal control strategy from the set of candidate control strategies by;
applying each candidate control strategy to the parameterized model to predict a corresponding ambient temperature trajectory; and
processing each said corresponding ambient temperature trajectories in view of one or more predetermined assessment functions to select an optimal one of said candidate control strategies according to one or more predetermined assessment criteria; and
controlling the radiant heating system according to the selected optimal control strategy.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments of the invention describe thermostats that use model predictive controls and related methods. A method of controlling a thermostat using a model predictive control may involve determining a parameterized model. The parameterized model may be used to predicted ambient temperature values for an enclosure. A set of radiant heating system control strategies may be selected for evaluation to determine an optimal control strategy from the set of control strategies. To determine the optimal control strategy, a predictive algorithm may be executed, in which each control strategy is applied to the parameterized model to predict an ambient temperature trajectory and each ambient temperature trajectory is processed in view of a predetermined assessment function. Processing the ambient temperature trajectory in this manner may involve minimizing a cost value associated with the ambient temperature trajectory. The radiant heating system may subsequently be controlled according to the selected optimal control strategy.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A thermostat comprising:
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a housing; a memory; and a processing system disposed within the housing, the processing system being in operative communication with one or more temperature sensors to determine an ambient temperature in an enclosure, the processing system being in operative communication with the memory, and the processing system being in operative communication with a radiant heating system to heat the enclosure via radiant heating such that the ambient temperature is near a setpoint temperature, wherein control of the radiant heating system is performed in part by the processing system; determining a parameterized model from which a predicted value for the ambient temperature of the enclosure responsive to a candidate radiant heating control strategy may be determined, the parameterized model being based on historical ambient temperatures for the enclosure acquired by the thermostat during associated historical periods in which radiant heat control was actuated by the thermostat and stored in said memory; selecting a set of candidate control strategies for use in controlling the radiant heating system, wherein each said candidate control strategy is a binary-valued control trajectory having a candidate overall on-time percentage over a predefined candidate control duration, wherein each said candidate control strategy is constrained to have a minimum number of on-time cycles that achieves the candidate overall on-time percentage; executing a predictive algorithm to determine an optimal control strategy from the set of candidate control strategies by; applying each candidate control strategy to the parameterized model to predict a corresponding ambient temperature trajectory; and processing each said corresponding ambient temperature trajectories in view of one or more predetermined assessment functions to select an optimal one of said candidate control strategies according to one or more predetermined assessment criteria; and controlling the radiant heating system according to the selected optimal control strategy. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of controlling a thermostat using model predictive control comprising:
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providing a thermostat comprising; a housing; a memory; and a processing system disposed within the housing, the processing system being in operative communication with one or more temperature sensors to determine an ambient temperature in an enclosure, the processing system being in operative communication with the memory, and the processing system being in operative communication with a radiant heating system to heat the enclosure via radiant heating such that the ambient temperature is near a setpoint temperature; determining a parameterized model from which a predicted value for the ambient temperature of the enclosure responsive to a candidate radiant heating control strategy may be determined, the parameterized model being based on historical ambient temperatures for the enclosure acquired by the thermostat during associated historical periods in which radiant heat control was actuated by the thermostat and stored in said memory; selecting a set of candidate control strategies for use in controlling the radiant heating system, wherein each said candidate control strategy is a binary-valued control trajectory having a candidate overall on-time percentage over a predefined candidate control duration, wherein each said candidate control strategy is constrained to have a minimum number of on-time cycles that achieves the candidate overall on-time percentage; executing a predictive algorithm to determine an optimal control strategy from the set of candidate control strategies by; applying each candidate control strategy to the parameterized model to predict a corresponding ambient temperature trajectory; and processing each said corresponding ambient temperature trajectories in view of one or more predetermined assessment functions to select an optimal one of said candidate control strategies according to one or more predetermined assessment criteria; and controlling the radiant heating system according to the selected optimal control strategy. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification