Automation attachment including environmental, motion or directional sensor assemblies utilized with existing parasols or umbrellas

Abstract

An automation attachment for an existing umbrella includes a housing having an opening in an interior of the housing, one or more couplers or connectors to connect the opening of the housing to a center support pole or umbrella of the existing umbrella, a motor and pulley assembly, located inside the housing, to connect to a rope of the existing umbrella and pull on or release the rope in order to expand or retract an umbrella frame of the existing umbrella; and a rechargeable power source assembly, located inside the housing, to transfer power to the motor and pulley assembly for operation of the motor and pulley assembly.

1 . An automation attachment for an existing umbrella, comprising:
 a housing having an opening in an interior of the housing;   one or more couplers or connectors to connect the opening of the housing to a center support pole or umbrella of the existing umbrella;   one or more environmental sensor assemblies located within the housing, the one or more environmental sensor assemblies capturing sensor measurements from an environment around the existing umbrella; and   a rechargeable power source assembly, located inside the housing, to provide power to the one or more sensor assemblies to activate the one or more sensor assemblies.   
     
     
         2 . The automation attachment of  claim 1 , further comprising a main processor module, located inside the housing, the main processor module comprising one or more processors, one or more memory devices and/or computer-readable instructions, the computer-readable instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the one or more processors to generate a signal or instruction to be communicated to the one or more environmental sensor assemblies to initiate operation of the one or more environmental sensor assemblies to capture sensor measurements or to provide operational status indicators of the one or more environmental sensor assemblies. 
     
     
         3 . The automation attachment of  claim 1 , wherein the rechargeable power assembly includes a removable rechargeable battery, the removable rechargeable battery to be charged by an external power source. 
     
     
         4 . The automation attachment of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more lighting assemblies, located inside the housing, the one or more lighting assemblies to receive power from the rechargeable power source assembly and to generate light to project to an area around the existing umbrella. 
     
     
         5 . The automation attachment of  claim 2 , wherein the main processor module further comprises a wireless communication transceiver, the computer-readable instructions executable by the one or more processors to receive the captured sensor measurements or operational status indicators and to communicate the captured sensor measurements or operational status indicators via the wireless communication transceiver to a mobile computing device. 
     
     
         6 . The automation attachment of  claim 2 , wherein the one or more environmental sensor assemblies comprises an air quality sensor. 
     
     
         7 . The automation attachment of  claim 5 , further comprising one or more speaker assemblies, the one or more speaker assemblies located within the housing,
 wherein the automation attachment to receive an audio file from the mobile computing device, and   wherein computer-readable instructions executable by the one or more processors cause the received audio file to be transferred to the one or more speaker assemblies for playback.   
     
     
         8 . The automation attachment of  claim 1 , further comprising a motor and pulley assembly,
 the motor and pulley assembly located inside the housing and to connect to a rope of the existing umbrella,   the motor and pulley assembly to pull or release the rope in order to expand or retract an umbrella frame of the existing umbrella.   
     
     
         9 . The automation attachment of  claim 8 , the computer-readable instructions executable by the one or more processors further to cause the one or more processors to generate a signal or instruction to be communicated to the motor and pulley assembly to initiate operation of the motor and pulley assembly. 
     
     
         10 . The automation attachment of  claim 1 , wherein the rechargeable power source assembly includes a removable rechargeable battery, the removable rechargeable battery to be charged by an external power source. 
     
     
         11 . The automation attachment of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more lighting assemblies, located inside the housing, the one or more lighting assemblies to receive power from the rechargeable power source assembly and to generate light to project to an area around the existing umbrella. 
     
     
         12 . The automation attachment of  claim 1 , further comprising a universal serial bus (USB) charging port, the USB charging port located on an outside surface of the housing, wherein the rechargeable power source provides power to the USB charging port. 
     
     
         13 . The automation attachment of  claim 1 , further comprising a solar panel assembly and a solar cable, the solar panel assembly coupled to the frame or a shade fabric of the existing umbrella and the solar cable connecting the solar panel assembly to the housing, wherein the cable transfers power generated by the solar panel assembly to the rechargeable power source. 
     
     
         14 . The automation attachment of  claim 2 , further comprising one or more cameras, the main processor module controlling operation of the one or more cameras, the one or more cameras being integrated into the housing and to capture images and/or video of an area surrounding the existing umbrella. 
     
     
         15 . The automation attachment of  claim 14 , the computer-readable instructions executable by the one or more processors of the main processor module to transfer the captured images or video to a mobile computing device. 
     
     
         16 . The automation attachment of  claim 8 , further comprising one or more wireless communication transceivers, the one or more wireless communication transceivers to control operation of the motor and put 
     
     
         17 . An automation attachment for an existing umbrella, comprising:
 a housing having an opening in an interior of the housing;   one or more couplers or connectors to connect the opening of the housing to a center support pole or umbrella of the existing umbrella;   one or more directional sensor assemblies located within the housing, the one or more directional sensor assemblies capturing directional measurements with respect to one or more arm support assemblies of an umbrella frame of the existing umbrella; and   a rechargeable power source assembly, located inside the housing, to provide power to the one or more sensor assemblies to activate the one or more directional sensor assemblies.   
     
     
         18 . The automation attachment of  claim 17 , further comprising a main processor module, located inside the housing, the main processor module comprising one or more processors, one or more memory devices and/or computer-readable instructions, the computer-readable instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the one or more processors to generate a signal or instruction to be communicated to the one or more directional sensor assemblies to initiate operation of the one or more environmental sensor assemblies to capture directional measurements or to provide operational status indicators of the one or more directional sensor assemblies. 
     
     
         19 . An automation attachment for an existing umbrella, comprising:
 a housing having an opening in an interior of the housing;   one or more couplers or connectors to connect the opening of the housing to a center support pole or umbrella of the existing umbrella;   one or more motion sensor assemblies located within the housing, the one or more directional sensor assemblies receiving motion indicators or motion detection signals with respect to movement of an object or an individual organism within an area around of the existing umbrella; and   a rechargeable power source assembly, located inside the housing, to provide power to the one or more sensor assemblies to activate the one or more motion sensor assemblies.   
     
     
         20 . The automation attachment of  claim 19 , further comprising a main processor module, located inside the housing, the main processor module comprising one or more processors, one or more memory devices and/or computer-readable instructions, the computer-readable instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the one or more processors to generate a signal or instruction to be communicated to the one or more motion sensor assemblies to initiate operation of the one or more motion sensor assemblies to capture motion indicators or motion detection signals, or to provide operational status indicators of the one or more motion sensor assemblies.