Autonomous operation of an electrical power outlet device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10935951-B2
Application number	US-201916373711-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 3, 2019
Priority date	Oct 5, 2017
Publication date	Mar 2, 2021
Grant date	Mar 2, 2021

Abstract

In an electrical power outlet device, a processor and a memory are configured to execute an application within the outlet device, which computes a pattern of usage of the outlet device. A set of sensors in the outlet device includes a first sensor that is usable to detect an event in an environment in which the outlet device is supplying power. The environment includes elements that are not participating in an electrical circuit that receives power from the outlet device and the event is usable by the application to alter the pattern of usage. An autonomous modification of an operation of the outlet device is performed in response to the pattern of usage, the event, or both. The operation changes a power supplying state of the outlet device without using an external switching apparatus or an external logic implemented outside the outlet device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
configuring in an electrical power outlet device, a set of sensors, a first sensor in the set of sensors configured to detect an event in an environment where the electrical power outlet device is supplying power, the environment comprising elements not participating in an electrical circuit that receives power from the electrical circuit, wherein the event is usable by an application executing in the electrical power outlet device to alter a pattern of usage computed at the electrical power outlet device;
determining, using the application within the electrical power outlet device, an autonomous modification of an operation of the electrical power outlet device to be performed responsive to at least one of the pattern of usage and the event; and
performing, by the electrical power outlet device, the autonomous modification at the electrical power outlet device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein when a current drawn from the electrical power outlet device fails to exceed a current threshold, the autonomous modification ceases a flow of the current to an appliance that is electrically coupled to the electrical power outlet device.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
configuring a second sensor in the set of sensors to detect a value of an environmental attribute, and wherein the environmental attribute is usable by the application to alter the pattern of usage.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the event comprises an occurrence of a non-electrical nature, and wherein the event of the non-electrical nature occurs outside the electrical circuit to which the electrical power outlet device is supplying electrical power.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the event comprises a presence of a person within a distance range from the electrical power outlet device, and wherein the presence is detected using the first sensor by detecting a pattern of sound associated with the person.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the event comprises a presence of a person within a distance range from the electrical power outlet device, and wherein the presence is detected using the first sensor by detecting a visual pattern associated with the person in an image captured by the first sensor.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pattern of usage comprises a sequence of periods, wherein the electrical power outlet device is turned ON during a period in the sequence and turned OFF during another period in the sequence.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving external data at the electrical power outlet device, wherein the external data comprises a calendar information of a user; and
performing an autonomous alteration of the pattern of usage of the electrical power outlet device, wherein the autonomous alteration changes the pattern without using an external switching apparatus and an external logic.

9. A computer usable program product comprising one or more computer-readable storage devices, and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, the stored program instructions comprising:
program instructions to configure in an electrical power outlet device, a set of sensors, a first sensor in the set of sensors configured to detect an event in an environment where the electrical power outlet device is supplying power, the environment comprising elements not participating in an electrical circuit that receives power from the electrical circuit, wherein the event is usable by an application executing in the electrical power outlet device to alter a pattern of usage computed at the electrical power outlet device;
program instructions to determine, using the application within the electrical power outlet device, an autonomous modification of an operation of the electrical power outlet device to be performed responsive to at least one of the pattern of usage and the event; and
program instructions to perform, by the electrical power outlet device, the autonomous modification at the electrical power outlet device.

10. The computer usable program product of claim 9 , wherein when a current drawn from the electrical power outlet device fails to exceed a current threshold, the autonomous modification ceases a flow of the current to an appliance that is electrically coupled to the electrical power outlet device.

11. The computer usable program product of claim 9 , further comprising:
program instructions to configure a second sensor in the set of sensors to detect a value of an environmental attribute, and wherein the environmental attribute is usable by the application to alter the pattern of usage.

12. The computer usable program product of claim 9 , wherein the event comprises an occurrence of a non-electrical nature, and wherein the event of the non-electrical nature occurs outside the electrical circuit to which the electrical power outlet device is supplying electrical power.

13. The computer usable program product of claim 12 , wherein the event comprises a presence of a person within a distance range from the electrical power outlet device, and wherein the presence is detected using the first sensor by detecting a pattern of sound associated with the person.

14. The computer usable program product of claim 12 , wherein the event comprises a presence of a person within a distance range from the electrical power outlet device, and wherein the presence is detected using the first sensor by detecting a visual pattern associated with the person in an image captured by the first sensor.

15. The computer usable program product of claim 9 , wherein the pattern of usage comprises a sequence of periods, wherein the electrical power outlet device is turned ON during a period in the sequence and turned OFF during another period in the sequence.

16. The computer usable program product of claim 9 , further comprising:
program instructions to receive external data at the electrical power outlet device, wherein the external data comprises a calendar information of a user; and
program instructions to perform an autonomous alteration of the pattern of usage of the electrical power outlet device, wherein the autonomous alteration changes the pattern without using an external switching apparatus and an external logic.

17. The computer usable program product of claim 9 , wherein the program instructions are stored in a computer readable storage device in a data processing system, and wherein the program instructions are transferred over a network from a remote data processing system.

18. The computer usable program product of claim 9 , wherein the program instructions are stored in a computer readable storage device in a server data processing system, and wherein the program instructions are downloaded over a network to a remote data processing system for use in a computer readable storage device associated with the remote data processing system.

19. A computer system comprising one or more processors, one or more computer-readable memories, and one or more computer-readable storage devices, and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, the stored program instructions comprising:
program instructions to configure in an electrical power outlet device, a set of sensors, a first sensor in the set of sensors configured to detect an event in an environment where the electrical power outlet device is supplying power, the environment comprisin

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Gordon Michael S
• Gordon Ryan T
• Vukovic Maja

Classifications

• H02J2105/42

  Home appliances · CPC title

• H02J13/1335

  involving a local wireless network, e.g. Wi-Fi®, ZigBee® or Bluetooth® · CPC title

• H02J13/1331

  using wireless data transmission · CPC title

• H02J13/1321

  using a wired telecommunication network or a data transmission bus · CPC title

• H02J13/38

  the equipment being power outlets · CPC title