Method and system for generating occupant schedules

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10515322-B2
Application number	US-201113206357-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 9, 2011
Priority date	Aug 9, 2011
Publication date	Dec 24, 2019
Grant date	Dec 24, 2019

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to the modeling of building occupant behavior. An embodiment of the present invention relates to a method for generating interdependent schedules in an occupant simulation model. Within schedules generated in accordance with the present invention may be included activities that require the attendance of other occupants. Disclosed are methods for distributing multi-occupant activities among other occupants of a building. In another embodiment of the present invention, personas are used to generate simulated occupant schedules from a limited number of real-world occupant surveys. Characteristics of the real-world schedules are manipulated so as to fit desired characteristics. Multiple persona models are disclosed.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for generating schedules for models of individuals that are occupants of a building, comprising:
assigning, via a processor, one or more predetermined first tasks of a computer-generated simulation of occupants in the building to a first number of personas, wherein each persona is a description of an individual that can be associated with one or more of the occupants in the building;
assigning an identified task to an identified persona included in the first number of personas, wherein the identified task further requires participation of a first predetermined number of other personas included in the first number of personas;
assigning a weighting coefficient to the identified task to obtain a calibrated identified task, wherein the weighting coefficient is inversely proportional to the first predetermined number of other personas, and wherein the identified task is weighted by the weighting coefficient to reduce a rate at which the identified persona causes shared activities to be initially assigned to both the identified persona and the first predetermined number of other personas;
identifying a simulated occupant associated with a first other persona included in the first predetermined number of other personas, wherein a first task included in the one or more predetermined first tasks is assigned to the simulated occupant;
identifying a first number of simulated occupants required to switch to the calibrated identified task immediately and a second number of simulated occupants required to switch to the calibrated identified task after completion of one or more prior tasks;
assigning the calibrated identified task to the simulated occupant to be executed after completion of the first task, wherein the calibrated identified task is assigned to the simulated occupant based on the weighting coefficient, the first number, and the second number; and
executing the computer-generated simulation to cause the simulated occupant to perform the first task followed by the calibrated identified task in the computer-generated simulation.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising assigning attributes to the one or more predetermined first tasks and the identified first task.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein attributes of the one or more first tasks and the identified task include a start time and a duration.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein attributes of the one or more first tasks and the identified task include a priority indicator.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein attributes of the one or more first tasks and the identified task include a location in the building.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more predetermined first tasks include an indication of presence or absence in a building.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
immediately assigning the identified task to a second predetermined number of other personas, wherein the second predetermined number is less than the first predetermined number.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
assigning the identified task to a second predetermined number of other personas after completion of pending first tasks assigned to the second predetermined number of other personas, wherein the second predetermined number is less than the first predetermined number.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein assigning the calibrated identified task to the predetermined number of other personas comprises assigning the task to a queue to allow at least one other persona to complete previously scheduled activities.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein assigning the calibrated identified task to the first predetermined number of other personas prematurely terminates one or more activities currently assigned to at least one persona included in the first predetermined number of other personas.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identified task is generated according to a probability distribution.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first other persona comprises an artificial persona, and further comprising:
identifying a first plurality of input persona attributes and a second plurality of input activity schedules including a plurality of activities;
for each input persona attribute in the first plurality, computing a different schedule attribute for a corresponding input activity schedule in the second plurality, wherein a given schedule attribute for a first input persona attribute indicates a correlation between the input persona attribute and an activity included in the corresponding input activity schedule;
for each activity in the plurality, computing a weight based on the schedule attributes computed for each input persona attribute; and
generating the artificial persona based on computed weights, wherein the artificial persona is associated with a subset of the first plurality of input persona attributes,
wherein assigning the calibrated identified task to the simulated occupant is further based on the computed weights and the subset of the first plurality of input persona attributes.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium including instructions that, when executed by a processing unit, cause the processing unit to generate schedules for models of individuals that are occupants of a building, by performing the steps of:
assigning, via a processor, one or more predetermined first tasks of a computer-generated simulation of occupants in the building to a first number of personas, wherein each persona is a description of an individual that can be associated with one or more of the occupants in the building;
assigning an identified task to an identified persona included in the first number of personas, wherein the identified task further requires participation of a first predetermined number of other personas included in the first number of personas;
assigning a weighting coefficient to the identified task to obtain a calibrated identified task, wherein the weighting coefficient is inversely proportional to the first predetermined number of other personas, and wherein the identified task is weighted by the weighting coefficient to reduce a rate at which the identified persona causes shared activities to be initially assigned to both the identified persona and the first predetermined number of other personas;
identifying a simulated occupant associated with a first other persona included in the first predetermined number of other personas, wherein a first task included in the one or more predetermined first tasks is assigned to the simulated occupant;
identifying a first number of simulated occupants required to switch to the calibrated identified task immediately and a second number of simulated occupants required to switch to the calibrated identified task after completion of one or more prior tasks;
assigning the calibrated identified task to the simulated occupant to be executed after completion of the first task, wherein the calibrated identified task is assigned to the simulated occupant based on the weighting coefficient, the first number, and the second number; and
executing the computer-generated simulation to cause the simulated occupant to perform the first task followed by the calibrated identified task in the computer-generated simulation.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13 , further comprising assigning attributes to the one or more predetermined first tasks and the identified first task.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein attributes of the one or more first tasks and the identified task include a start time and a duration.

16. The

Assignees

• Goldstein Rhys
• Tessier Alexander
• Khan Azam
• Autodesk Inc

Inventors

• Goldstein Rhys
• Tessier Alexander
• Khan Azam

Classifications

• G06Q10/06311 Primary

  Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group · CPC title

• G06Q10/06315

  Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis · CPC title

• G06Q50/06

  Energy or water supply · CPC title

• G06Q10/04

  Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem" (market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities G06Q30/0202) · CPC title