Systems and methods for signature-based thermostat control

Abstract

A system includes a thermostat that controls a heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVAC) system of a structure in accordance with a signature-based temperature program. The thermostat includes one or more sensors configured to collect occupant activity data, a network interface configured to communicate with at least one online resource, a memory configured to store a signature-based temperature model, and a processor. The processor is configured to determine a temperature to implement from an output of the signature-based temperature model, wherein a current value of the at least one model input and a current measure of occupant activity are provided as inputs to the signature-based temperature model. The processor is further configured to provide control signals to the HVAC system to implement the determined temperature.

1 . A system, comprising:
 a thermostat that controls a heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVAC) system of a structure in accordance with a signature-based temperature program, wherein the thermostat comprises:
 one or more sensors configured to collect occupant activity data; 
 a network interface configured to communicate with at least one online resource; 
 a memory configured to store a signature-based temperature model; 
 a processor configured to:
 determine, via the network interface, a current value of at least one model input from at least one online resource; 
 determine, via the one or more sensors, a current measure of occupant activity from the occupant activity data; 
 determine a temperature to implement from an output of the signature-based temperature model, wherein the current value of the at least one model input and the current measure of occupant activity are provided as inputs to the signature-based temperature model; and 
 provide control signals to the HVAC system to implement the determined temperature. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise thermal sensors, motion sensors, light sensors, electromagnetic sensors, sound sensors, vibration sensors, gas sensors, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one online resource comprises a thermostat service, a weather website or datafeed, an emergency website or datafeed, an utility website or datafeed, a stock exchange website or datafeed, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the network interface is configured to receive the signature-based temperature model from an online thermostat service and store the signature-based temperature model in the memory of the thermostat. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the processor is configured to select the signature-based temperature model from a plurality of signature-based temperature models hosted by the online thermostat service based on classification data stored in the memory of the thermostat. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5  wherein the classification data comprises information regarding the structure, the thermostat, the HVAC system, one or more occupants of the structure, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one model input comprises weather data, emergency data, closure notification data, utility data, economic data, traffic data, transportation data, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the occupant activity data comprises a number of occupants in the structure, a location of the occupants in the structure, an air quality and composition measurements in the structure, an activity level of the occupants of the structure, a level of network traffic on a network of the structure, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the signature-based temperature model is constructed, at least in part, by correlating in time historical temperature preferences from one or more temperature setpoint schedules with historical values of the at least one model input, historical measures of occupant activity, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the thermostat is configured to not control the HVAC system according to a time-based temperature program. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein current time is not one of the at least one model inputs provided as inputs to the signature-based temperature model to determine the temperature to implement. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the system comprises one or more additional sensors that are not disposed in a housing of the thermostat but are communicatively coupled to the processor of the thermostat, wherein the one or more additional sensors are also configured to collect occupant activity data. 
     
     
         13 . A method, comprising:
 receiving thermostat data collected by one or more thermostats respectively controlling a heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVAC) system of one or more structures, wherein the thermostat data comprises plurality of temperature setpoints, and wherein each temperature setpoint is associated with a time and a temperature;   for each temperature setpoint of the plurality of temperature setpoints:
 determining historical values for one or more model inputs, wherein the historical values occur at or near the time associated with the temperature setpoint, and 
 determining correlations between the historical values of the one or more model inputs and the temperature associated with the temperature setpoint; and 
   constructing at least one signature-based temperature model based, at least in part, on the correlations.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the thermostat data comprises occupant activity data, and wherein the occupant activity data comprises a number of occupants in the one or more structures, a location of occupants in the one or more structures, air quality and composition measurements of the one or more structures, an activity level of the occupants in the one or more structures, a level of network traffic on a network of the one or more structures, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , comprising:
 for each temperature setpoint of the plurality of temperature setpoints:
 determining a piece of historical occupant activity data collected at or near a time associated with the temperature setpoint, and 
 determining additional correlations between the piece of historical occupant data and the temperature associated with the temperature setpoint; and 
   constructing the at least one signature-based temperature model based, at least in part, on the additional correlations.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the one or more model inputs comprise weather data, and wherein the weather data comprises humidity data, outdoor temperature data, seasonal data, air quality data, sunlight level data, precipitation data, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the one or more model inputs comprise emergency data, and wherein the emergency data comprises volcanic activity warnings, wild fire warnings, blizzard warnings, hurricane warnings, tornado warnings, flash flood warnings, earthquake warnings, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the one or more model inputs comprise closure notification data, and wherein the closure notification data comprises closure notifications for schools, offices, roads, bridges, cities, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the one or more model inputs comprise utility data, and wherein the utility data comprises power rates, capacity of a utility network, load of the utility network, peak power rates, peak power times, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the one or more model inputs comprise economic data, and wherein the economic data comprises a price of a particular stock or commodity, a performance measure of a market or an exchange, a consumer confidence index, a consumer price index, a volatility index, an unemployment rate, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the one or more model inputs comprise traffic data, and wherein the traffic data comprises locations and durations of traffic jams, traffic accidents, road construction, detours, road hazards, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the one or more model inputs comprise transportation data, and wherein the transportation data comprises public transportation schedules and routes, airport schedules, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the thermostat data comprises classification data. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the classification data comprises a location of the one or more structures, a model of the one or more thermostats, a number of the one or more thermostats in each of the one or more structures, a type of the HVAC system of the one or more structures, a temperature profile of the one or more structures, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the classification data comprises a total number of occupants of the one or more structures, ages of the occupants of the one or more structures, genders of the occupants of the one or more structures, ethnicities of the occupants of the one or more structures, group affiliations of the occupants of the one or more structures, income range of the occupants of the one or more structures, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 23 , comprising dividing the plurality of temperature setpoints into groups based on the classification data; and wherein constructing the at least one signature-based temperature model comprises constructing a different signature-based temperature model for each group. 
     
     
         27 . A system, comprising:
 a memory storing occupant activity data and a plurality of temperature setpoints of one or more temperature setpoint schedules;   a processor configured to:
 determine a value of a model input that occurred at or near a time associated with a particular temperature setpoint of the plurality of temperature setpoints, 
 determine a piece of the occupant activity data that occurred at or near the time of the particular temperature setpoint, and 
 determine a correlation between the value of the model input, the piece of the occupant activity data, and a temperature associated with the particular temperature setpoint; and 
 construct a portion of a signature-based temperature model based on the determined correlation. 
   
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 27 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the value of the model input from one or more respective online resources via a network connection. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 27 , wherein the processor is configured to construct the portion of a signature-based by training an artificial intelligence agent using the determined correlation. 
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 27 , wherein the correlation comprises a probability that the value of the model input and the portion of the occupant activity data will result in the temperature associated with the particular temperature setpoint being implemented. 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 27 , wherein the portion of the signature-based temperature model comprises a function configured to:
 receive a current value of the model input,   receive a current piece of the occupant activity data, and   output a temperature value using the determined correlation.   
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein the portion of the signature-based temperature model has an associated weight, and wherein the processor is configured to multiply the temperature value output by the portion of the signature-based temperature model by the associated weight when implementing a signature-based temperature program based on the signature-based temperature model. 
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 27 , wherein the system is a thermostat service configured to receive the plurality of temperature setpoints and the occupant activity data from one or more thermostats. 
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 33 , wherein the processor is configured to send the signature-based temperature model to the one or more thermostats to implement a signature-based temperature program based on the signature-based temperature model. 
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 27 , wherein the model input comprises weather data, emergency data, closure notification data, utility data, economic data, traffic data, or transportation data. 
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 27 , wherein the system is a thermostat controlling a heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVAC) system. 
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 36 , wherein the processor is configured to implement at least the portion of the signature-based temperature model to control the HVAC system. 
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 36 , wherein the system comprises one or more sensors communicatively coupled to the processor, wherein the one or more sensors are configured to collect the occupant activity data for storage in the memory. 
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 38 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise thermal sensors, motion sensors, light sensors, electromagnetic sensors, sound sensors, vibration sensors, gas sensors, or combinations thereof.