System and method to assist building automation system end user based on alarm parameters

• US 10,269,235 B2
• Filed: 08/24/2017
• Issued: 04/23/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/26/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Trane International Inc. (Trane Technologies plc)
• Original Assignee: Trane International Inc. (Trane Technologies plc)
• Inventors: Dayalan, Udhaya Kumar, Martin, Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): Lu, Shirley
• Application Number:
  US15/685,856
• Publication Number:
  US 20180061212A1
• Time in Patent Office: 607 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/185 Electrical failure alarms
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/187 Machine fault alarms
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/001 Alarm cancelling procedures or alarm forwarding decisions, e.g. based on absence of alarm confirmation
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/10 using wireless transmission systems G08B25/009 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/14 Central alarm receiver or annunciator arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/38 for collecting sensor information

Abstract

Disclosed are systems and methods for operating a Building Automation System (BAS) that communicates with end devices via a master-slave token passing network (MSTP), e.g., BACNet, a local operating network (LON), or any other suitable communications protocol to receive alarm messages. The BAC enables a user to rapidly and effectively respond to an alarm by providing an alarm assistance message that provides the user with detailed remediation procedures concerning the current alarm. The nature and content of the alarm assistance message and/or the attachments is determined based upon on a combination of alarm and system parameters, and may be tailored by an administrator to meet local requirements. The alarm assistance message may include one or more remedial or diagnostic attachments, such as a troubleshooting guide, user manual, a video, graphics, or a firmware update, and may include links to external media or cloud-hosted documents.

Claims

1. A building automation system (BAS) controller having a plurality of end devices coupled to the BAS controller via a building automation communication network, comprising:

an alarm processor configured to receive an alarm message comprising one or more alarm parameters to generate an alarm assistance message comprising remediation media and a recipient address; and

an alarm assistance map that associates distinct combinations of one or more alarm parameters with corresponding remediation media and/or corresponding recipient address, wherein the alarm processor generates the alarm assistance message in accordance with the alarm assistance map.

2. The BAS controller in accordance with claim 1, wherein the alarm processor is configured to receive the alarm message from at least one of the plurality of end devices.

3. The BAS controller in accordance with claim 1, wherein the building automation communication network comprises a BACnet, a LON, and/or a wireless mesh network.

4. The BAS controller in accordance with claim 1, wherein the alarm assistance message is generated based on at least one alarm parameter included in the alarm message.

5. The BAS controller in accordance with claim 4, wherein the alarm parameter is selected from the group consisting of an end device type, a unique end device identifier, a sensor value, a status identifier, an alarm severity indicator, an end device location, a network identifier, a timestamp, and/or an alarm priority.

6. The BAS controller in accordance with claim 1, wherein the alarm assistance message is transmitted to an end user at the recipient address.

7. The BAS controller in accordance with claim 6, wherein the recipient address is determined, at least in part, based upon the time of day at which the alarm assistance message is transmitted.

8. The BAS controller in accordance with claim 1, wherein the transmission of the alarm response is via one or more of an email message, an SMS message, an MMS message, and/or an application programming interface.

9. The BAS controller in accordance with claim 1, wherein the remediation media comprises at least one of a document and/or a hyperlink.

10. The BAS controller in accordance with claim 1, wherein the alarm assistance map is user-configurable.

11. The BAS controller in accordance with claim 1, wherein the alarm assistance map is configurable via instructions downloaded from a remote server.

12. A building automation system (BAS) comprising:

one or more end devices configured to transmit an alarm message comprising at least one alarm parameter;

a building automation network communicatively coupled to the one or more end devices;

a BAS controller communicatively coupled to the building automation network, the BAS controller including a processor and a memory storing executable instructions, which, when executed on the processor, cause the BAS controller to;

receive, from one of the one or more end devices, an alarm message comprising one or more alarm parameters;

identify, from an alarm assistance map that associates distinct combinations of one or more alarm parameters with corresponding remediation media and/or corresponding recipient address, the alarm assistance message in accordance with the alarm assistance map; and

transmit the alarm assistance message comprising the identified remediation media to the recipient address.

13. The BAS in accordance with claim 12, wherein the executable instructions further cause the BAS controller to format the alarm assistance message in accordance with the type of recipient address.

14. The BAS in accordance with claim 12, wherein the executable instructions further cause the BAS controller to transmit the alarm assistance message based upon a determination that the identified recipient address of the alarm assistance message is designated to receive an alarm assistance messages at the current time.

15. The BAS in accordance with claim 12, further comprising a graphical user interface (GUI) communicatively coupled to the BAS controller, wherein the GUI enables an end user to associate BAS end device alarm parameters with remediation media and/or a recipient address.

16. The BAS in accordance with claim 12, wherein the building automation communication network comprises a BACnet, a LON, and/or a wireless mesh network.

17. A method of operating a building automation system (BAS), comprising:

providing an alarm assistance map that associates distinct combinations of one or more alarm parameters with corresponding remediation media and a corresponding recipient address;

receiving, from an end device of a building automation network, an alarm message comprising one or more alarm parameters;

identifying, in accordance with the alarm assistance map and the one or more alarm parameters, remediation media and a recipient address corresponding to the alarm message; and

transmitting an alarm assistance message to the recipient address, wherein the alarm assistance message includes the identified remediation media.

18. The method in accordance with claim 17, further comprising formatting the alarm assistance message in accordance with the type of recipient address.

19. The method in accordance with claim 17, further comprising performing the transmitting based upon a determination that the identified recipient address is designated to receive an alarm assistance messages at the current time.

20. The method in accordance with claim 17, further comprising detecting an access to the remediation media by the recipient.