METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AN ENERGY SAVING HEATING, VENTILATION, AND AIR CONDITIONING (HVAC) CONTROL SYSTEM
First Claim
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1. A method of controlling environmental comfort of at least one boundary zone, the method comprising:
- detecting motion of living beings of the at least one boundary zone, the at least one boundary zone having parameters associated therewith available to be used in adjusting an environmental control setting of the at least one boundary zone;
determining a number of living beings present in the at least one boundary zone based on the motion detected; and
determining at least one environmental control setting to enable control of environmental comfort of the at least one boundary zone based on the number of living beings determined and the parameters associated with the at least one boundary zone.
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Abstract
Embodiments of methods and apparatus disclosed herein may employ depth, visual, or motions sensors to enable three-dimensional people counting and data mining to enable an energy saving heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) control system. Head detection methods based on depth information may assist people counting in order to enable an accurate determination of room occupancy. A pattern of activities of room occupancy may be learned to predict the activity level of a building or its rooms, reducing energy usage and thereby providing a cost savings.
124 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method of controlling environmental comfort of at least one boundary zone, the method comprising:
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detecting motion of living beings of the at least one boundary zone, the at least one boundary zone having parameters associated therewith available to be used in adjusting an environmental control setting of the at least one boundary zone; determining a number of living beings present in the at least one boundary zone based on the motion detected; and determining at least one environmental control setting to enable control of environmental comfort of the at least one boundary zone based on the number of living beings determined and the parameters associated with the at least one boundary zone. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An apparatus for controlling environmental comfort of at least one boundary zone, the apparatus comprising:
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a sensing module configured to detect motion of living beings of at least one boundary zone, the at least one boundary zone having parameters associated therewith available to be used in adjusting an environmental control setting of the at least one boundary zone; a data center module configured to determine a number of living beings present in the at least one boundary zone based on the motion detected; and a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) control module configured to determine at least one environmental control setting used to control environmental comfort of the at least one boundary zone based on the number of living beings determined and the parameters associated with the at least one boundary zone. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having encoded thereon a sequence of instructions which, when loaded and executed by a processor, causes the processor to:
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detect motion of living beings of at least one boundary zone, the at least one boundary zone having parameters associated therewith available to be used in adjusting an environmental control setting of the at least one boundary zone; determine a number of living beings present in the at least one boundary zone based on the motion detected; and determine at least one environmental control setting to enable control of environmental comfort of the at least one boundary zone based on the number of living beings determined and the parameters associated with the at least one boundary zone.
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26. A method for controlling heating, ventilation, or air conditioning (HVAC), the method comprising:
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building a probability distribution of counts of living beings for at least one boundary zone during at least one time period to determine at least one HVAC control mode, the at least one HVAC control mode providing environmental comfort to the at least one boundary zone based on counts of living beings occupying the at least one boundary zone; building a statistical model including the probability distribution, the statistical model being configured to predict at least one HVAC control mode to use for a given time period based on a previous HVAC control mode of the at least one HVAC control mode having been used for a previous time period corresponding to the given time period; updating the probability distribution based on counting living beings in the at least one boundary zone for the given time period to adjust a predication of a future HVAC control mode of the at least one HVAC control mode; and controlling HVAC for the at least one boundary zone for the given time period using HVAC control mode predictions from the statistical model. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification