Water management using water consuming behavior to control water flow

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10329744-B2
Application number	US-201715492588-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 20, 2017
Priority date	Apr 20, 2017
Publication date	Jun 25, 2019
Grant date	Jun 25, 2019

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention provide a method, system and computer program product for managing water consumption when a user engages in a specified water using activity. In an embodiment, the method comprises detecting user movement during said activity; detecting water usage during said activity; creating a pattern associating said user movements with said water usage over a specified period of time; and using said pattern to control a supply of water for the user when the user engages in the water using activity. In an embodiment, movement sensors are used to generate data representing movement of the user during the water using activity; water sensors are used to generate data representing water usage during the water using activity; and the movement data and the water data are processed to generate a data structure correlating the user movement data with the water data.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of managing water consumption when a user engages in a specified water using activity, the method comprising:
detecting user movements during said activity using one or more movement sensors;
identifying, from the detected user movements, a plurality of states of the user during said activity;
detecting water usage during said activity using one or more water sensors;
identifying from the detected water usage a plurality of water states;
creating a pattern of water usage by the user during said activity over a specified period of time by associating the identified states of the user and the identified water states across time, said pattern relating the water usage by the user during said activity with the plurality of identified states of the user across time during said activity; and
using said created pattern to control a supply of water during said activity for the user when the user engages in the specified water using activity; wherein:
the using said created pattern to control a supply of water includes:
capturing the user movements through a movement recognizer;
determining the user states using a user state detector;
using a pattern matcher to detect a water flow based on one of the determined user states; and
controlling a flow of water based on the detected water flow.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein:
the detecting user movement includes using the one or more movement sensors to generate user movement data signals representing movement of the user during the water using activity;
the detecting water usage includes using the one or more water sensors to generate water data signals representing water usage during the water using activity; and
the creating a pattern associating said user movements with said water usage includes processing the user movement data signals and the water data signals to generate a data structure correlating the user movement data with the water data signals.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein:
the detecting user movements during said activity includes detecting defined states of the user at a first plurality of times during said activity; and
the detecting water usage during said activity includes detecting states of the water usage at a second plurality of times during aid activity.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the detecting defined states of the user includes detecting defined user movements at the first plurality of times.

5. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the detecting defined states of the water includes detecting defined flows of the water at the second plurality of times.

6. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the creating a pattern includes correlating the detected states of the user at the first plurality of times with the detected states of water usages at the second plurality of times.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising detecting one or more environmental factors during the specified activity; and wherein the using said pattern to control a supply of water for the user includes using the detected one or more environmental factors in the control of the supply of water.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the user repeats the specified water using activity a plurality of times, and the method further comprises:
obtaining information about movements of the user and water usages during the repeats of the specified water using activity; and
modifying said pattern based on the obtained information during the repeats of the specified water using activity.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein during said water using activity, water flows through a water outlet at a controlled, variable rate, and wherein:
the created pattern includes a variable water use rate over a time for the water using activity; and
the using said pattern to control a supply of water includes controlling the rate of water flow through the water outlet in accordance with the water use rate of the created pattern.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the using said pattern to control a supply of water for the user includes the use selecting said pattern to control a supply of water for the user during the specified water using activity, including:
showing a group of patterns to the user on a visual display; and
the user selecting one of the patterns of said group of patterns.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein:
the detecting user movements during said activity includes detecting user movements during a first occurrence of said activity;
the identifying a plurality of states of the user includes identifying the plurality of states of the user during the first occurrence of the activity;
the detecting water usage during said activity includes detecting water usage during the first occurrence of the activity;
the creating a pattern of water usage during said activity includes
creating a pattern of water usage during said first occurrence of the activity by associating the identified states of the user during the first occurrence of the activity and the identified water states during the first occurrence of the activity, and
recording the created pattern; and
the using said created pattern to control a supply of water during said activity includes using the created pattern to control a supply of water for the user during a second occurrence of the activity after the first occurrence of the activity.

12. A system for managing water consumption when a user engages in a specified water using activity, the system comprising:
one or more motion sensors for detecting user movements during said activity;
one or more water sensors for detecting water usage during said activity;
one or more processing units for identifying, from the detected user movements, a plurality of states of the user during said activity, for identifying from the detected water usage a plurality of water states, and for creating a pattern of water usage by the user during said activity over a specified period of time by associating the identified states of the user and the identified water states across time, said pattern relating the water usage by the user during said activity with the plurality of detected states of the user across time during said activity; and
a water control for using said created pattern to control a supply of water during said activity for the user when the user engages in the specified water using activity; wherein:
the using said created pattern to control a supply of water includes:
capturing the user movements through a movement recognizer;
determining the user states using a user state detector;
using a pattern matcher to detect a water flow based on one of the determined user states; and
controlling a flow of water based on the detected water flow.

13. The system according to claim 12 , wherein the water control controls a condition of the water when the user engages in the specified water using activity.

14. The system according to claim 13 , further comprising one or more environment sensors for measuring one or more environment conditions, and wherein:
the one or more water sensors include one or more water condition sensors for measuring specified conditions of the water;
the one or more processor units receive inputs from the one or more environment sensors and from the one or more water condition sensors to identify a temperature and time for supplying the water to the user, and includes said identified temperature and time in the created pattern; and
the water control uses said created pattern to supply the water at a given

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Abdel-Fattah Ahmed I
• Emam Ossama

Classifications

• E03B7/072

  Arrangement of flowmeters · CPC title

• E03C1/057

  touchless, i.e. using sensors · CPC title

• E03B7/078 Primary

  Combined units with different devices; Arrangement of different devices with respect to each other · CPC title

• G05D7/0623

  characterised by the set value given to the control element · CPC title

• E03B7/075

  Arrangement of devices for control of pressure or flow rate · CPC title