System and method of predictive occupancy room conditioning

Abstract

A HVAC controls system for zone controls that is comprised of one or more Wall Sensor Units (WSU) and zero or more Damper/Register Units (DRUs). The invention is a low networked cost solution for residential and light commercial that is easy to install in new and existing building. The WSUs detect, log and use occupancy data to predict where in a building HVAC conditioning is needed and to save energy where it is not needed. The DRU use shape memory alloy wires to control the opening and closing of a damper plate with very little power allowing batter operation.

1 . A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) control system, comprising:
 at least one HVAC automated damper/register unit (DRU), each HVAC automated DRU having a functional unit configured to be directed to a first position to permit air flow through the HVAC damper/register unit and further directed to a second position to restrict air flow through the HVAC damper/register unit, a DRU processor unit configured to direct the functional unit, and a DRU network communications circuit;   at least one wall sensor unit (WSU), each WSU having an occupancy sensor, an environmental sensor, a WSU processor unit configured to receive data from the occupancy sensor and the environmental sensor, and a WSU network communications circuit;   a system coordinator, the system coordinator having a system coordinator processor unit and a system coordinator network communications circuit configured to bi-directionally communicate with the at least one HVAC automated DRU and the at least one WSU via the respective network communications circuits; and   a memory coupled to the system coordinator and arranged to store instructions executable by the system coordinator processor unit, the instructions configured to perform an occupancy logging algorithm and an occupancy prediction algorithm, the occupancy prediction algorithm configured to receive input from the at least one WSU and send control commands to the at least one HVAC automated DRU.   
     
     
         2 . The HVAC control system of  claim 1  wherein the system coordinator is integrated into a first WSU, the system coordinator processor unit is the WSU processor unit of the first WSU, and the system coordinator network communications circuit is the WSU network communications circuit of the first WSU. 
     
     
         3 . The HVAC control system of  claim 1  wherein the occupancy sensor includes at least one of a motion sensor, an acoustic sensor, and a light sensor. 
     
     
         4 . The HVAC control system of  claim 1  wherein the environmental sensor includes at least one of a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, and a pressure sensor. 
     
     
         5 . The HVAC control system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a network computing device module, the network computing device module having:   a display interface configured to communicate HVAC control system status information;   a user input interface configured to receive manually entered HVAC control system command information; and   an electronic signal interface configured to bidirectionally pass electronic HVAC control system control information.   
     
     
         6 . The HVAC control system of  claim 5  wherein the network computing device module further has a smart-grid interface configured to pass information to a smart grid. 
     
     
         7 . The HVAC control system of  claim 1  wherein the DRU network communications circuit, the WSU network communications circuit, and the system coordinator network communications circuit are configured according to a ZigBee architecture. 
     
     
         8 . The HVAC control system of  claim 1  wherein the occupancy prediction algorithm is arranged to predict periodic events based on the periodic occupancy records logged by the system coordinator, each predicted periodic event representing the occupancy status of a room during a certain time. 
     
     
         9 . The HVAC control system of  claim 8  wherein the occupancy prediction algorithm includes a decaying occupancy temporal (DOT) algorithm configured to analyze periodic occupancy records logged by the system coordinator and assign decaying impact from older occupancy records. 
     
     
         10 . The HVAC control system of  claim 8  wherein the occupancy prediction algorithm is configured to send a first control command to the at least one HVAC automated DRU based on a predicted periodic event. 
     
     
         11 . A computer readable storage device having thereon a plurality of computer instructions, the computer instructions arranged to direct a system coordinator processing unit to perform acts in a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, the acts comprising:
 initializing a plurality of occupancy data structures, at least one occupancy data structure for each room of a plurality of rooms, each occupancy data structure of a corresponding selected room configured to store information representing the occupancy status of the selected room during a plurality of time windows;   periodically accessing the occupancy data structures at an index representative of an access period and logging in each occupancy data structure a first status when the corresponding selected room is determined to be occupied and logging in each occupancy data structure a second status when the corresponding selected room is determined to be unoccupied, wherein each access period corresponds to one of the plurality of time windows;   retrieving occupancy status information from the plurality of occupancy data structures;   predicting if an occupancy status of a first room will change in a future time window; and   directing an HVAC automated damper/register unit to change position based on a predicted occupancy status change of the first room.   
     
     
         12 . The computer readable storage device of  claim 11  wherein each time window represents N minutes, N an integer between 1 and 60, and wherein each occupancy data structure includes entries for M time windows, M. an integer between 24 and 52560000. 
     
     
         13 . The computer readable storage device of  claim 11 , having computer instructions arranged to direct the system coordinator processing unit to perform acts further comprising:
 receiving occupancy status information from a plurality of wall sensor units, the wall sensor units mounted in a plurality of rooms.   
     
     
         14 . The computer readable storage device of  claim 11 , having computer instructions arranged to direct the system coordinator processing unit to perform acts further comprising:
 receiving occupancy status information from a manually operated user interface.   
     
     
         15 . The computer readable storage device of  claim 11 , having computer instructions arranged to direct the system coordinator processing unit to perform acts further comprising:
 performing a decaying occupancy temporal (DOT) algorithm configured to analyze occupancy status information stored in the plurality of occupancy data structures and assign decaying impact from older occupancy records.   
     
     
         16 . A system comprising a system controller to control a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, the system controller including:
 an input interface;   an output interface;   a network communications circuit;   a processor unit coupled to the input interface, the output interface, and the network communications circuit; and   a memory coupled to the processor unit, the memory arranged to direct the processor unit to:
 store, over a first period of time, occupancy data detected by a plurality of wall sensor units; 
 store, over a second period of time, position information related to positions of a plurality of functional units, each functional unit associated with one of a plurality of HVAC automated damper/register units (DRU's); 
 store, over a third period of time, selected temperature data received via the input interface; 
 predict a periodic event based on the occupancy data, position information, and selected temperature data, the predicted periodic event representative of predicted temperature conditions of a selected room during a future fourth time period; and 
 generate a command arranged to direct the functional unit of at least one HVAC automated DRU. 
   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16  wherein the network communications circuit is configured to receive the occupancy data from the plurality of wall sensor units. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16  wherein the system controller is embedded in a first wall sensor unit. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 16  wherein the system controller is embedded in an HVAC furnace control module. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 16  wherein the predicted periodic event is related to a pattern of usage of a plurality of rooms.