Decision dashboard balancing competing objectives

• US 9,482,442 B1
• Filed: 04/24/2015
• Issued: 11/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ROKU DX Holdings Incorporated (Roku, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dataxu (Roku, Inc.)
• Inventors: Mengle, Saket, Logan, Beth Teresa, Sidorsky, Misha Natan, Simmons, Willard
• Primary Examiner(s): Ali, Mohammad
• Assistant Examiner(s): AZAD, MD ABUL K
• Application Number:
  US14/695,883
• Publication Number:
  US 20160313019A1
• Time in Patent Office: 557 Days
• Field of Search: 702/60, 705/7.12, 348/222.1, 340/12.32, 165/11.1, 703/8
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/30 for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/46 Improving electric energy efficiency or saving
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/62 characterised by the type of control or by internal processing, e.g. using fuzzy logic, adaptive control or estimation of values
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/64 using pre-stored data
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2642 Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart house
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials

Abstract

A decision dashboard system to balance competing objectives in a control system suggests control parameter settings for the control system based on specified weights for the competing objectives. For example, given a target amount of energy consumption for a campus-wide, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) control system, providing an optimal amount of climate control to the different campus locations may compete against the length of time climate control is provided to each of the locations. In some aspects, sets of control system settings may be used to predict outcomes based on a history of control parameter settings and measurements from the control system. In further aspects, the predicted outcomes and their associated control parameter settings may be mapped to different weights for the competing objectives and displayed in a graphical user interface.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

providing, by a processing circuit, a graphical user interface (GUI) to an electronic display, wherein a screen of the GUI includes an input mechanism operable to assign one or more weights to competing objectives for a controlled system, wherein the competing objectives cannot be maximized or minimized at the same time due to a constrained resource, and wherein the screen of the GUI further includes an area in which suggested control parameter settings for the controlled system are displayed based on the one or more weights assigned to the competing objectives for the controlled system;

receiving, at the processing circuit, data indicative of the one or more weights assigned to the competing objectives via the input mechanism of the screen of the GUI;

generating, by the processing circuit, a plurality of unique sets of control parameter settings for the controlled system;

retrieving, by the processing circuit, a history of control parameter settings used in the controlled system and resulting measurements from the controlled system;

predicting, by the processing circuit, outcomes for each of the plurality of unique sets of control parameter settings for the controlled system based on the history of control parameter settings used in the controlled system and resulting measurements from the controlled system, wherein each predicted outcome corresponds to one or more measurements from the controlled system that are predicted to occur as a result of the controlled system using a particular one of the unique sets of control parameter settings;

selecting, by the processing circuit, an optimal subset of the plurality of unique sets of control parameter settings based on the predicted outcomes and the competing objectives, wherein the optimal subset of the plurality of unique sets of control parameter settings corresponds to a Pareto frontier;

selecting, by the processing circuit, a particular set of control parameter settings from among the optimal subset of the plurality of unique sets of control parameter settings based on the one or more weights assigned to the competing objectives; and

providing, by the processing circuit, the particular selected set of control parameter settings to the screen of the GUI for presentation as the suggested control parameter settings.

2. The method as in claim 1, wherein generating the plurality of unique sets of control parameter settings for the controlled system comprises:

applying one or more constraints to a solution space of possible control parameter settings.

3. The method as in claim 2, wherein generating the plurality of unique sets of control parameter settings for the controlled system comprises:

randomly generating different combinations of control parameter settings from the constrained solution space.

4. The method as in claim 2, wherein generating the plurality of unique sets of control parameter settings for the controlled system comprises:

generating the unique sets of control parameter settings from among the constrained solution space using linear programming.

5. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the processing circuit, data regarding the control parameter settings used in the controlled system;

receiving, at the processing circuit, the measurements from the controlled system that resulted from the control parameter settings being used in the controlled system; and

storing, in a memory device, the history of control parameter settings used in the controlled system and resulting measurements from the controlled system.

6. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the processing circuit, one or more user settings to exclude a particular control parameter setting from consideration; and

excluding, by the processing circuit, the particular control parameter setting from consideration when suggesting control parameter settings via the screen of the GUI.

7. The method as in claim 1, wherein the input mechanism comprises a slider bar graphic.

8. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

setting, by the processing circuit, control parameters of the controlled system to be the suggested control parameter settings, in response to selecting the particular set of control parameter settings from among the optimal subset of the plurality of unique sets of control parameter settings.

9. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

setting, by the processing circuit, control parameters of the controlled system to be the suggested control parameter settings, in response to receiving a user command via the GUI.

10. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the processing circuit, data indicative of an adjustment made to the one or more weights assigned to the competing objectives via the input mechanism of the screen of the GUI;

selecting, by the processing circuit, a second set of control parameter settings from among the optimal subset of the plurality of unique sets of control parameter settings based on the adjustment made to the one or more weights assigned to the competing objectives; and

providing, by the processing circuit, the second set of control parameter settings to the screen of the GUI for presentation as the suggested control parameter settings.

11. The method as in claim 1, wherein the controlled system comprises a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, and wherein the competing objectives comprise energy consumption and a climate comfort level.

12. The method as in claim 1, wherein the controlled system comprises an online content selection system.

13. An apparatus, comprising:

one or more network interfaces to communicate with a computer network;

a processor coupled to the one or more network interfaces and configured to execute a process; and

a memory configured to store the process executable by the processor, the process when executed operable to;

provide a graphical user interface (GUI) to an electronic display, wherein a screen of the GUI includes an input mechanism operable to assign one or more weights to competing objectives for a controlled system, wherein the competing objectives cannot be maximized or minimized at the same time due to a constrained resource, and wherein the screen of the GUI further includes an area in which suggested control parameter settings for the controlled system are displayed based on the one or more weights assigned to the competing objectives for the controlled system;

receive data indicative of the one or more weights assigned to the competing objectives via the input mechanism of the screen of the GUI;

generate a plurality of unique sets of control parameter settings for the controlled system;

retrieve a history of control parameter settings used in the controlled system and resulting measurements from the controlled system;

predict outcomes for each of the plurality of unique sets of control parameter settings for the controlled system based on the history of control parameter settings used in the controlled system and resulting measurements from the controlled system, wherein each predicted outcome corresponds to one or more measurements from the controlled system that are predicted to occur as a result of the controlled system using a particular one of the unique sets of control parameter settings;

select an optimal subset of the plurality of unique sets of control parameter settings based on the predicted outcomes and the competing objectives, wherein the optimal subset of the plurality of unique sets of control parameter settings corresponds to a Pareto frontier;

select a particular set of control parameter settings from among the optimal subset of the plurality of unique sets of control parameter settings based on the one or more weights assigned to the competing objectives; and

provide the particular selected set of control parameter settings to the screen of the GUI for presentation as the suggested control parameter settings.

14. The apparatus as in claim 13, wherein the apparatus generates the plurality of unique sets of control parameter settings for the controlled system by:

applying one or more constraints to a solution space of possible control parameter settings.

15. The apparatus as in claim 14, wherein the apparatus generates the plurality of unique sets of control parameter settings for the controlled system by:

randomly generating different combinations of control parameter settings from the constrained solution space.

16. The apparatus as in claim 14, wherein the apparatus generates the plurality of unique sets of control parameter settings for the controlled system by:

generating the unique sets of control parameter settings from among the constrained solution space using linear programming.

17. The apparatus as in claim 13, wherein the process when executed is further operable to:

receive data regarding the control parameter settings used in the controlled system;

receive the measurements from the controlled system that resulted from the control parameter settings being used in the controlled system; and

store the history of control parameter settings used in the controlled system and resulting measurements from the controlled system in the memory.

18. The apparatus as in claim 13, wherein the process when executed is further operable to:

receive one or more user settings to exclude a particular control parameter setting from consideration; and

exclude the particular control parameter setting from consideration when suggesting control parameter settings via the screen of the GUI.

19. The apparatus as in claim 13, wherein the input mechanism comprises a slider bar graphic.

20. The apparatus as in claim 13, wherein the process when executed is further operable to:

set control parameters of the controlled system to be the suggested control parameter settings, in response to selecting the particular set of control parameter settings from among the optimal subset of the plurality of unique sets of control parameter settings.

21. The apparatus as in claim 13, wherein the process when executed is further operable to:

set control parameters of the controlled system to be the suggested control parameter settings, in response to receiving a user command via the GUI.

22. The apparatus as in claim 13, wherein the process when executed is further operable to:

receive data indicative of an adjustment made to the one or more weights assigned to the competing objectives via the input mechanism of the screen of the GUI;

select a second set of control parameter settings from among the optimal subset of the plurality of unique sets of control parameter settings based on the adjustment made to the one or more weights assigned to the competing objectives; and

provide the second set of control parameter settings to the screen of the GUI for presentation as the suggested control parameter settings.

23. A tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media having software encoded thereon, the software when executed by a processor operable to:

provide a graphical user interface (GUI) to an electronic display, wherein a screen of the GUI includes an input mechanism operable to assign one or more weights to competing objectives for a controlled system, wherein the competing objectives cannot be maximized or minimized at the same time due to a constrained resource, and wherein the screen of the GUI further includes an area in which suggested control parameter settings for the controlled system are displayed based on the one or more weights assigned to the competing objectives for the controlled system;

receive data indicative of the one or more weights assigned to the competing objectives via the input mechanism of the screen of the GUI;

generate a plurality of unique sets of control parameter settings for the controlled system;

retrieve a history of control parameter settings used in the controlled system and resulting measurements from the controlled system;

predict outcomes for each of the plurality of unique sets of control parameter settings for the controlled system based on the history of control parameter settings used in the controlled system and resulting measurements from the controlled system, wherein each predicted outcome corresponds to one or more measurements from the controlled system that are predicted to occur as a result of the controlled system using a particular one of the unique sets of control parameter settings;

select an optimal subset of the plurality of unique sets of control parameter settings based on the predicted outcomes and the competing objectives, wherein the optimal subset of the plurality of unique sets of control parameter settings corresponds to a Pareto frontier;

select a particular set of control parameter settings from among the optimal subset of the plurality of unique sets of control parameter settings based on the one or more weights assigned to the competing objectives; and

provide the particular selected set of control parameter settings to the screen of the GUI for presentation as the suggested control parameter settings.

24. The computer-readable media of claim 23, wherein the software when executed is further operable to:

receive data indicative of an adjustment made to the one or more weights assigned to the competing objectives via the input mechanism of the screen of the GUI;

select a second set of control parameter settings from among the optimal subset of the plurality of unique sets of control parameter settings based on the adjustment made to the one or more weights assigned to the competing objectives; and

provide the second set of control parameter settings to the screen of the GUI for presentation as the suggested control parameter settings.

25. The computer-readable media of claim 23, wherein the input mechanism comprises a slider bar graphic.

26. The computer-readable media of claim 23, wherein the software when executed is further operable to:

apply one or more constraints to a solution space of possible control parameter settings; and

generate the unique sets of control parameter settings from among the constrained solution space using linear programming.