Electrical enclosure with built in remote inspection and virtual control of sensor placement

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016100091-A1
Application number	US-201414505795-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 3, 2014
Priority date	Oct 3, 2014
Publication date	Apr 7, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A remote controllable monitoring system includes a movable sensor to monitor characteristic(s) of electrical components of equipment housed at different locations inside of an electrical enclosure. The movable sensor is movably mounted inside of the electrical enclosure. The monitoring system can also control the power supplied to the electrical components (e.g., turn power ON or OFF). A remote device interacts with the monitoring system to provide a user with remote control over the functions of the monitoring system. The remote device can include an interactive user interface with a virtual map of the electrical components. Accordingly, the user can monitor electrical components and turn OFF power to the electrical components if a problem or perspective problem is detected, via the interactive user interface of the remote device without opening or being near the electrical enclosure.

First claim

1 . A method of monitoring electrical components arranged at different locations inside of an electrical enclosure, the method comprising:
receiving a request from a remote device to monitor an electrical component from a plurality of electrical components inside the electrical enclosure, the remote device providing an interactive user interface with a virtual map of the plurality of electrical components inside of the electrical disclosure; moving a movable sensor inside the enclosure to a location relative to the location of the electrical component to be monitored according to the request, the movable sensor being movably mounted inside of the electrical enclosure; monitoring the electrical component with the movable sensor to sense a characteristic of the electrical component; and transmitting monitoring data relating to the sensed characteristic of the electrical component to the remote device.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
interrupting power to the plurality of electrical components in response to a power down request from the remote device.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of electrical components comprises components of a panelboard or residential load center.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
accessing layout data identifying locations of the plurality of electrical components inside the electrical enclosure, wherein the movable sensor is moved inside the enclosure to the location relative to the location of the electrical component to be monitored according to the layout data and the request.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the request is a manual request to monitor the electrical component in real time.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the request is a scheduling request to schedule monitoring of the electric component, wherein the movable sensor is moved inside of the electrical enclosure to monitor the electrical component according to the scheduling request.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the scheduling request includes a notification setting for notifying the remote device of a status of the electrical component when a predefined condition is detected based on the sensed characteristic of the electrical component.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
storing notification settings for notifying the remote device of a status of the electrical component when a predefined condition is detected based on a sensed characteristic of the electrical component; and transmitting a notification of the status of the electrical component if the sensed characteristic of the electrical component satisfies the predefined condition.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the movable sensor includes a temperature sensor and an image sensor, the monitoring operation comprising:
capturing an image of the electrical component via the image sensor; and sensing a temperature of the electrical component via the temperature sensor.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the captured image is a live video of the electrical component, and the monitoring data includes a feed of the live video and information relating to the sensed temperature of the electrical component.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the request includes position or identification information of the electrical component to be monitored corresponding to a user selection on the virtual map from the interactive user interface, the movable sensor being moved to a location relative to the electrical component according to the position or identification information.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the movable sensor device is movable in a two-dimensional space inside the electrical enclosure.

13 . A remote controllable monitoring system for monitoring electrical components arranged at different locations inside of an electrical enclosure, the remote controllable monitoring system comprising:
a communication device to communicate with a remote device outside of the electrical enclosure; a movable sensor movably mounted inside the electrical enclosure; and a processor, which interacts with the communication device and the movable sensor, to:
receive a request from a remote device to monitor an electrical component from a plurality of electrical components inside the electrical enclosure, the remote device providing an interactive user interface with a virtual map of the electrical components inside of the electrical disclosure;
control movement of a movable sensor inside the enclosure to a location relative to the location of the electrical component to be monitored according to the request, the movable sensor being movably mounted inside of the electrical enclosure;
monitor the electrical component with the movable sensor to sense a characteristic of the electrical component; and
transmit monitoring data relating to the sensed characteristic of the electrical component to the remote device.

14 . The remote controllable monitoring system of claim 13 , wherein the processor further interrupts power to the plurality of electrical components via a power interrupter in response to a power down request from the remote device.

15 . The remote controllable monitoring system of claim 13 , wherein the request is a manual request to monitor the electrical component in real time or a scheduling request to schedule monitoring of the electrical components.

16 . A method of remotely controlling a remote controllable monitoring system to monitor electrical components arranged at different locations inside of an electrical enclosure, the remote controllable monitoring system including a movable sensor movably mounted inside of the electrical enclosure, the method comprising:
providing an interactive user interface with a virtual map of a plurality of electrical components inside of the electrical enclosure; transmitting to the remote controllable monitoring system, via a communication device, a manual request to monitor in real time a selected electrical component from a plurality of electrical components housed inside of the electrical enclosure; receiving, via the communication device, real time monitoring data from the remote controllable monitoring system in response to the manual request, the monitoring data relating to a characteristic of the selected electrical component sensed by the movable sensor; and outputting, via the user interface, information relating to the monitoring data for the selected electrical component.

17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
downloading layout data of the electrical components inside of the electrical enclosure from a remote location, the data being used to generate the virtual map of the interactive user interface.

18 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
selecting, via the virtual map of the interactive user interface, an electrical component from the plurality of electrical components to monitor in real time.

19 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the movable sensor includes a temperature sensor and an image sensor, the monitoring data including a live video feed of the electrical component sensed by the image sensor and information relating to a temperature of the electrical component sensed by the temperature sensor.

20 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
identifying the electrical components that are overheating or in danger of overheating on the virtual map.

Assignees

• Schneider Electric Usa Inc

Inventors

• Curiel Montoya Carlos Eutimio
• Del Angel Marrufo Pablo Alejandro
• De Leon Sanchez Adrian Igor
• Arizpe Rodriguez Marcela Veronica
• Sharp Jeffrey Owen

Classifications

• G01R31/00 Primary

  Arrangements for testing electric properties; Arrangements for locating electric faults; Arrangements for electrical testing characterised by what is being tested not provided for elsewhere ({measuring superconductive properties G01R33/1238;} testing line transmission systems H04B3/46; testing or measuring semiconductors or solid state devices during manufacture {H10P74/00}) · CPC title

• G06F3/04842 Primary

  Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements (G06F3/0482 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04N7/183

  for receiving images from a single remote source · CPC title

• G06F3/04847

  Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials · CPC title

• H04N5/23206 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic