Thermostat with occupancy detection via proxy measurements of a proxy sensor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10731885-B2
Application number	US-201815953012-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 13, 2018
Priority date	Apr 14, 2017
Publication date	Aug 4, 2020
Grant date	Aug 4, 2020

Abstract

A controller for controlling an environmental condition of a building space includes a proxy sensor configured to measure a proxy value indicating whether an occupant is within the building space and an occupancy sensor configured to measure an occupancy value. The controller includes a processing circuit configured to determine whether the occupant is within the building space based on the occupancy value of the occupancy sensor, generate a proxy parameter based on a first proxy value measured via the proxy sensor in response to a determination that the occupant is not within the building space based on the occupancy value of the occupancy sensor, determine whether the occupant is within the building based on a second proxy value measured via the proxy sensor and the generated proxy parameter, and control one or more pieces of building equipment to control the environmental condition of the building space.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A controller for controlling an environmental condition of a building space comprising:
a proxy sensor configured to measure a proxy value indicating whether an occupant is within the building space;
an occupancy sensor configured to measure an occupancy value indicating whether the occupant is within the building space, wherein the occupancy sensor is different than the proxy sensor; and
a processing circuit configured to:
determine whether the occupant is within the building space based on the occupancy value of the occupancy sensor;
generate a proxy baseline based on a first proxy value measured via the proxy sensor, the proxy baseline,
collects a plurality of proxy values measured via the proxy sensor, wherein the plurality of proxy values include the first proxy value; and
averages the plurality of proxy values, wherein averaging the plurality of proxy values comprises performing a rolling average on the plurality of proxy values;

compare a second proxy value measured via the proxy sensor and the proxy baseline; and
control one or more pieces of building equipment to control the environmental condition of the building space based on a comparison of the second proxy value and the proxy baseline.

2. The controller of claim 1 , wherein the occupancy sensor or the proxy sensor is at least one of a camera configured to capture a camera signal associated with the building space, a light sensor configured to measure light in the building space, a microphone configured to measure sound within the building space, and a vibration sensor configured to measure vibrations within the building space.

3. The controller of claim 1 , wherein the occupancy sensor is a camera configured to capture one or more images of the building space, wherein the processing circuit is configured to determine whether the occupant is within the building space by searching the one or more images for an indication of the occupant within the one or more images.

4. The controller of claim 1 , wherein the proxy sensor is a microphone configured to measure audio signals of the building space;
wherein the processing circuit is configured to determine whether the occupant is within the building space by:
determining one or more characteristics of the audio signals; and
determining, based on the one of more characteristics, whether the occupant is within the building space.

5. The controller of claim 1 , wherein the proxy sensor is a vibration sensor configured to measure vibration signals of the building space;
wherein the processing circuit is configured to determine whether the occupant is within the building space based on the vibration signals.

6. The controller of claim 1 , wherein the proxy sensor is a light sensor configured to measure a light level of the building space;
wherein the processing circuit is configured to determine whether the occupant is within the building space based on the light level of the building space.

7. The controller of claim 1 , wherein the occupancy sensor is at least one of a proximity sensor and a passive infrared (PIR) sensor configured to determine an indication of whether the occupant is within the building space, wherein the processing circuit is configured to determine whether the occupant is within the building space based on the indication of whether the occupant is within the building space determined by the at least one of the proximity sensor and the PIR sensor.

8. The controller of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is configured to determine whether the occupant is within the building space based on the second proxy value measured via the proxy sensor and the proxy baseline by:
determining that the occupant is within the building space in response to at least one of:
determining that the occupant is within the building space based on the second proxy value and the proxy baseline; and
determining that the occupant is within the building space based on the occupancy value of the occupancy sensor; and

determining that the occupant is not within the building space in response to:
determining that the occupant is not within the building based on the second proxy value and the proxy baseline; and
determining that the occupant is not within the building space based on the occupancy value of the occupancy sensor.

9. The controller of claim 1 , wherein the proxy sensor is a gas sensor configured to measure a concentration level of an occupant generated gas in the building space, the occupant generated gas generated by the occupant.

10. The controller of claim 9 , wherein the concentration level of the occupant generated gas is at least one of a carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration level, a volatile organic compound (VOC) concentration level, and a nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentration level.

11. The controller of claim 9 , wherein the occupant generated gas is at least one of a volatile organic compound (VOC) concentration level and a nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentration level.

12. The controller of claim 9 , wherein the processing circuit is configured to:
generate a model parameter based on the first proxy value measured via the proxy sensor in response to a determination that the occupant is not within the building space based on the occupancy value of the occupancy sensor by training a model with the first proxy value; and
determine whether the occupant is within the building space based on the second proxy value, the model parameter, and the model.

13. The controller of claim 9 , wherein the processing circuit is configured to:
receive a plurality of concentration levels of the occupant generated gas via the gas sensor, each of the plurality of concentration levels associated with a particular time of a plurality of times; and
update the proxy baseline based on the plurality of concentration levels by performing a rolling average on the plurality of concentration levels.

14. The controller of claim 13 , wherein the processing circuit is configured to:
receive a plurality of occupancy values via the occupancy sensor, each of the plurality of occupancy values indicating whether the occupant is within the building space;
determine that the occupant is not within the building space based on the plurality of occupancy values;
associate the plurality of concentration levels with times of no occupancy in the building space responsive to a determination that the occupant is not within the building space based on the plurality of occupancy values of the occupancy sensor; and
update the proxy baseline based on the plurality of concentration levels of the proxy sensor.

15. A method for controlling an environmental condition of a building space, the method comprising:
measuring, via a proxy sensor, a proxy value indicating whether an occupant is within the building space;
measuring, via an occupancy sensor, an occupancy value indicating whether the occupant is within the building space, wherein the occupancy sensor is different than the proxy sensor; and
determining, by a processing circuit, whether an occupant is within the building space based on the occupancy value of the occupancy sensor, wherein the occupancy sensor is configured to measure the occupancy value indicating whether the occupant is within the building space;
generating, by the processing circuit, a proxy baseline based on a first proxy value measured via the proxy sensor, wherein the processing circuit
collects a plurality of proxy values measured via the proxy sensor, wherein the plurality of proxy values include the first proxy value; and
averages the plurality of proxy values, w

Assignees

• Johnson Controls Tech Co

Inventors

• Ajax Michael J
• Van Derven Nicholas S
• Ribbich Joseph R

Classifications

• Y02B30/70

  Efficient control or regulation technologies, e.g. for control of refrigerant flow, motor or heating · CPC title

• F24F2110/65

  Concentration of specific substances or contaminants · CPC title

• F24F2120/00

  Control inputs relating to users or occupants · CPC title

• F24F2110/70

  Carbon dioxide · CPC title

• F24F11/46 Primary

  Improving electric energy efficiency or saving · CPC title