8185results about "Static/dynamic balance measurement" patented technology

A system and method manage delivery of energy from a distribution network to one or more sites. Each site has at least one device coupled to the distribution network. The at least one device controllably consumes energy. The system includes a node and a control system. The node is coupled to the at least one device for sensing and controlling energy delivered to the device. A control system is coupled to the node and distribution network for delivering to the node at least one characteristic of the distribution network. The node for controls the supply of energy to the device as a function of the at least one characteristic.

A home automation system and method for automatic control of controlled devices throughout a home. A unique architecture of occupancy sensors includes entry/exit sensors for detecting movement through doorways that separate rooms in the home, room motion sensors for detecting room occupancy, spot sensors to detect occupancy of specific locations within the rooms, and house status sensors to detect the status of certain parameters of the home. A central controller communicates with the sensors and controlled objects over a communications network, where the sensors and controlled objects can be added to the system in a ‘plug and play’ manner. The central controller controls the controlled objects in response to the entry/exit sensors, room motion sensors, spot sensors and the house status sensors. This control is accomplished by assigning each room to one of a plurality of room occupancy states, and to one of a plurality of room modes for creating desired room atmospheres using the controlled objects, which both dictate how the controlled objects are controlled by the central controller. The room modes travel from room to room as the occupant moves throughout the home, and multiple occupants can be using different room modes as they move about the home. The controlled objects also have controlled object states, which are used by the central controller to control the controlled objects.

The improved building automation system of the present invention is modular in the extreme. This diminishes the amount of custom programming required in order to affect control of a particular building. It allows for a relatively open architecture which can accommodate a variety of unique control applications which are scripted for a particular building. By modularizing many of the common processes utilized in the automation system, the custom programming required to control any particular building is minimized. This modularity in design allows for uniform and coordinated control over a plurality of automation subsystems which may be incompatible with one another at the device or machine level, but which can be controlled utilizing a relatively small and uniform set of "interprocess control commands" which define an interprocess control protocol which is utilized in relatively high level scripts and control applications which may be written for a particular building.

An electronic HVAC monitoring computer continuously monitors the general condition and efficiency of an HVAC system and notifies a central station computer via modem link or other signal transmission means, when the general condition or efficiency of the HVAC system falls below certain industry standard values by a pre-set amount.

A system and method are disclosed for performing energy usage management within a network. The system may include an energy management system, such as a thermostat device, that may be associated with an energy consuming entity, such as a residence. A server may be remotely located from the energy consuming entity and may perform one or more energy curtailment management operations within the network. The server may be in communication with the energy management system over the network. One or more software applications may be stored thereon for remotely controlling the energy management system in accordance with a particular energy curtailment management operation. Additionally, a database may be associated with the server for storing curtailment event information relating to the network. A signal may be transmitted by the server to the thermostat device to alter an offset temperature setting of the thermostat device thereby remotely controlling the operation of the thermostat device. The thermostat device may also include a networking software application for enabling the remote monitoring and controlling of the thermostat device.

An environmental control system controls monitoring and operation of a multiplicity of disparate environmental control devices by determining an appropriate configuration for each control device and communicates corresponding monitoring and control commands to each device in accordance with its corresponding communication protocol over a selected I/O port. An operational instruction set includes a structural definition of an enterprise facility in which devices are defined by personality modules and communicate with a system host in accordance with a protocol defined in a protocol module. Facility implementation is defined by a node tree structure which collects suitable protocol nodes under a corresponding I/O interface port node. Device (personality) nodes are collected under corresponding protocol nodes, and data point nodes depend from their corresponding device nodes. Data points nodes are individually accessible by merely traversing the node tree using a URL-like notational structure, allowing off-site users to control and monitor environmental devices by issuing commands in the form of a URL.

A system PDA-based on line diagnostics for automatically discovering a thermostat configuration, turning off normal controller delays, temporary overriding sensor inputs and set points, and verifying proper output action including the monitoring the discharge air temperature for the resulting temperature behavior based on the equipment stages activated. The diagnosis may include the testing of sensors, set points, the fan, cooling equipment, heating equipment and the wiring connecting the controls with the fan, and the cooling and heating equipment. Problems discovered may be reported, automatically recorded and the original operating parameters may be restored.

Thermostatic HVAC and other energy management controls that are connected to a computer network. For instance, remotely managed load switches incorporating thermostatic controllers inform an energy management system, to provide enhanced efficiency, and to verify demand response with plug-in air conditioners and heaters. At least one load control device at a first location comprises a temperature sensor and a microprocessor. The load control device is configured to connect or disconnect electrical power to the an attached air conditioner or heater, and the microprocessor is configured to communicate over a network. In addition, the load control device is physically separate from an air conditioner or heater but located inside the space conditioned by the air conditioner or heater.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for making partial deliveries of cargo provisions includes a UAV having one or more ducted fans and a structural interconnect connecting the one or more fans to a cargo pod. The cargo pod has an outer aerodynamic shell and one or more internal drive systems for modifying a relative position of one or more cargo provisions contained within the cargo pod. Control logic is configured to, after delivery of a partial portion of the cargo provisions contained within the cargo pod, vary a position of at least a portion of the remaining cargo provisions to maintain a substantially same center of gravity of the UAV relative to a center of gravity prior to delivery of the partial portion. Other center of gravity compensation mechanisms may also be controlled by the control logic to aid in maintaining the center of gravity of the UAV.

The present invention is related to the field of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC). More particularly, the present invention is related to methods and systems for controlled heating and cooling in order to reduce costs and the carbon footprint of said heating and cooling by optimizing the use of fresh air ventilation. The present invention is directed to mathematical algorithms incorporated into a controller and a method of determining control signals that are dependent on said mathematical algorithms and user programming that integrates information from multiple sensors, thermostats as well as weather information. Used in any home or building, the controller controls heating, cooling and ventilation systems in order to reduce costs and the carbon footprint of said heating and cooling by optimizing the use of fresh air ventilation. The controller works with typical HVAC systems generally in buildings and homes. The Smart-Stat algorithms are programmed into the controller and enable the controller to identify user-determined set-points alongside data from one or multiple internal temperature sensors. The user-determined set-points are also linked to time of day and day of week in a manner typical for typical thermostat devices available today. In such typical thermostat devices the controller will call for cooling or heating depending on the set points and conditions determined by the sensors in the building. The present invention is capable of interrupting the call for cooling or heating depending on whether the mathematical algorithms identify suitable outside weather conditions that permit the use of outside air cooling or outside air heating. Thus the call for heating or cooling can be redirected to call for ventilation instead of heating or cooling.

In a coupled control mode, the surgeon directly controls movement of an associated slave manipulator with an input device while indirectly controlling movement of one or more non-associated slave manipulators, in response to commanded motion of the directly controlled slave manipulator, to achieve a secondary objective. By automatically performing secondary tasks through coupled control modes, the system's usability is enhanced by reducing the surgeon's need to switch to another direct mode to manually achieve the desired secondary objective. Thus, coupled control modes allow the surgeon to better focus on performing medical procedures and to pay less attention to managing the system.

A method and apparatus is disclosed for assessing performance of control applications in an environmental control network and for diagnosing performance problems. The apparatus includes a performance assessment and diagnostic display comprising a facility navigation tree, a system navigation tree and a performance/diagnostics window. The facility navigation tree and system navigation tree may be used to select the facilities and systems that are to have their associated control applications assessed and/or diagnosed. The performance/diagnostics window includes graphs of performance indictors that are indicative of performance levels for the included control applications. The system tree may be used to delve to more detailed views of the performance indicators to obtain additional information that may help to diagnose problems noted in performance of the selected control applications.

“Smart” controllers for windows having controllable optical transitions are described. Controllers with multiple features can sense and adapt to local environmental conditions. Controllers described herein can be integrated with a building management system (BMS) to greatly enhance the BMS's effectiveness at managing local environments in a building. The controllers may have one, two, three or more functions such as powering a smart window, determining the percent transmittance, size, and/or temperature of a smart window, providing wireless communication between the controller and a separate communication node, etc.

A user-friendly programmable thermostat is described that includes a central electronic display surrounded by a ring that can be rotated and pressed inwardly to provide user input in a simple and elegant fashion. The current temperature and setpoint are graphically displayed as prominent tick marks. Different colors and intensities can be displayed to indicate currently active HVAC functions and an amount of heating or cooling required to reach a target temperature. The setpoint can be altered by user rotation of the ring. The schedule can be displayed and altered by virtue of rotations and inward pressings of the ring. Initial device set up and installation, the viewing of device operation, the editing of various settings, and the viewing of historical energy usage information are made simple and elegant by virtue of the described form factor, display modalities, and user input modalities of the device.