Out of plane sensor or emitter for commissioning lighting devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018054876-A1
Application number	US-201615240134-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 18, 2016
Priority date	Aug 18, 2016
Publication date	Feb 22, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

Determining respective locations of lighting devices in a service area includes a sensing device that receives light signals emitted by a number of lighting devices that are configured in a common plane. The sensing device is located outside the common plane, e.g. below the plane of light outputs of fixture mounted in or below a ceiling. Respective distances between each lighting device and the sensing device are calculated based on the received light signals. The locations of the plurality of lighting devices relative to the sensing device are calculated based on the calculated distances using trilateration, triangulation or parallax. In other systems, each lighting device includes a sensing device and the light signals are emitted by a pendant or wall-mounted sensor located outside the common plane. In another system, the locations are determined by sensing devices in the lighting devices based on light reflected from objects in the service area.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method, comprising:
receiving at a sensing device, a plurality of light signals emitted by a respective plurality of lighting devices wherein the plurality of lighting devices are arranged such that light emitting elements of the plurality of lighting devices are in a common plane and the sensing device is located away from the common plane; calculating, based on the received light signals, respective distances between the sensing device and the plurality of lighting devices; and determining respective locations of each of the plurality of lighting devices relative to the sensing device based on the calculated distances.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
synchronizing the sensing device to the plurality of lighting devices prior to receiving the light signal emitted by each lighting device; wherein the calculating respective distances between the sensing device and the plurality of lighting devices includes extracting respective time stamps from the received light signals and subtracting the respective time stamps from a current time value to calculate respective time-of-flight (TOF) value for the light signals.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the calculating respective distances between the sensing device and the plurality of lighting devices includes:
measuring respective intensities for the received light signals from the plurality of lighting devices; and calculating the respective distances using the measured intensities by applying the inverse square law to the measured intensities based on respective known intensities at the lighting devices.

4 . The method of claim 1 wherein the determining respective locations for each of the plurality of lighting devices includes applying the respective distances and a known location of the sensing device to a system of trilateration equations.

5 . The method of claim 1 wherein the determining respective locations for each of the plurality of lighting devices includes determining respective headings for the light signals received from the lighting devices and calculating the respective locations using triangulation based on a known distance between the sensing device and the common plane and a known location of the sensing device.

6 . The method of claim 1 wherein the determining respective locations for each of the plurality of lighting devices includes determining respective angles of arrival for the light signals received from the lighting devices by the sensing device and a further sensing device and calculating the respective locations using parallax based on the angles of arrival, a known distance between the sensing device and the further sensing device and a known location of at least one of the sensing device and the further sensing device.

7 . A method, comprising:
receiving a light signal at respective sensing devices of a plurality lighting devices, wherein the plurality of lighting devices are arranged such that light emitting elements of the plurality of lighting devices are in a common plane and the light signal is received from an emitting device positioned away from the common plane; calculating, based on the received light signals, respective distances between the plurality of lighting devices and the emitting device; and determining respective locations of each of the plurality of lighting devices relative to the emitting device based on the calculated distances.

8 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
synchronizing the emitting device and the sensing devices in the plurality of lighting devices to a common time base prior to receiving the light signal emitted by the emitting device; wherein the calculating respective distances between the emitting device and the sensing devices of the plurality of lighting devices includes extracting respective time stamps from the received light signals and subtracting the extracted time stamps from a current time value to calculate respective time-of-flight (TOF) values for the light signals.

9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the calculating respective distances between the emitting device and the plurality of lighting devices includes:
measuring respective intensities for the received light signals; and calculating the respective distances using the measured intensities by applying the inverse square law based on respective known intensities at the emitting devices.

10 . The method of claim 7 wherein the determining respective locations for each of the plurality of lighting devices includes applying the respective distances and a known location of the emitting device to a system of trilateration equations.

11 . The method of claim 7 wherein the determining respective locations for each of the plurality of lighting devices includes determining respective headings for the light signals received from the emitting device and calculating the respective locations using triangulation based on a known spacing between the emitting device and the common plane and a known location of the emitting device.

12 . The method of claim 7 wherein the determining respective locations for each of the plurality of lighting devices includes determining, by the respective sensing devices, respective angles of arrival for the light signals received from the emitting device and from a further emitting device and calculating the respective locations using parallax based on the angles of arrival, a known distance between the emitting device and the further emitting device and a known location of at least one of the emitting device and the further emitting device.

13 . A method, comprising:
capturing at a plurality of sensing devices in a plurality of lighting devices, respective images each image including a respective light signal emitted by each respective lighting device of the plurality of lighting devices, wherein the plurality of lighting devices are arranged in a service area such that light emitting elements of the plurality of lighting devices are in a common plane and the received light signals are reflected from objects in the service area; calculating, based on the received light signals, respective distances traveled by the received light signals; and calculating, based on the received light signals, distances between the lighting devices and ones of the objects in the service area; stitching together the respective images captured by the plurality of sensing devices in the plurality of lighting devices to generate a composite image having a common coordinate system; and determining respective locations of each of the plurality of lighting devices based on the calculated distances and the composite image.

14 . The method of claim 13 further comprising:
synchronizing the sensing devices and the light sources in the plurality of lighting devices to a common time base prior to receiving the light signals;
wherein the calculating respective distances traveled by the light signals includes extracting respective time stamps from the received light signals and subtracting the extracted time stamps from a current time value to calculate respective time-of-flight (TOF) values for the light signals; and
wherein the calculating of the respective distances between the lighting devices and the ones of the objects in the service area includes, for each lighting device, extracting a time stamp from one of the received light signals that was emitted by the lighting device and reflected from one of the objects in the service area and subtracting the extracted time stamp from a current time to calculate a round-trip-time value for the light signal.

Assignees

• Abl Ip Holding Llc

Inventors

• White Sean P
• Megginson Daniel M
• Kastee Jenish S
• Aggarwal Januk
• Ramer David P

Classifications

• H05B47/125 Primary

  by using cameras · CPC title

• H05B47/105

  in response to determined parameters · CPC title

• H05B47/196

  characterised by user interface arrangements · CPC title

• H05B47/198

  Grouping of control procedures or address assignation to light sources · CPC title

• H05B37/0272 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic