Control device having an illuminated portion controlled in response to an external sensor

Abstract

A load control system for controlling at least one electrical load may comprise a plurality of control devices and a sensor external to at least one of the control devices. The sensor may be configured to sense a condition of a space in which the control devices are installed. The at least one electrical load may be controlled in response to the condition sensed by the sensor. The control devices may include respective illuminated portions. The control devices may adjust the intensity of the respective illuminated portions in response to the condition sensed by the sensor. If multiple sensors are included in the load control system to sense the condition, the control devices may adjust the intensity of their respective illuminated portions by aggregating the condition sensed by each sensor.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An electrical load control system, comprising:
 a plurality of sensors; and   one or more illuminated electrical load control devices, each of the one or more illuminated electrical load control devices couplable to at least one electrical load device;
 wherein each of the one or more illuminated control devices includes:
 a user actuatable element; 
 a light source to illuminate at least a portion of the user actuatable element; and 
 control circuitry operatively coupled to the user actuatable element and the light source, the control circuitry to:
 adjust the intensity of the light source based on aggregated data generated using output data provided by each of the plurality of sensors. 
 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The electrical load control system of  claim 1  wherein each of the one or more illuminated electrical load control devices comprises a wallbox mountable control device. 
     
     
         3 . The electrical load control system of  claim 1  wherein the one or more illuminated electrical load control devices comprises a plurality of communicatively coupled illuminated electrical load control devices. 
     
     
         4 . The electrical load control system of  claim 3 , wherein to adjust the intensity of the light source based on aggregated data, the control circuit to further:
 adjust the intensity of the light source in each of the plurality of illuminated electrical load control devices in unison with the adjustment of the intensity of the light sources in the remaining illuminated electrical load control devices.   
     
     
         5 . The electrical load control system of  claim 1  wherein to adjust the intensity of the light source based on the aggregated data, the control circuit to further:
 receive the output data from each of the plurality of sensors; and 
 combine the received output data using an algorithm to provide the aggregated data. 
 
     
     
         6 . The electrical load control system of  claim 5  wherein to combine the received data using the algorithm to provide the aggregated data, the control circuit to further:
 combine the received sensor output data using at least one of:
 an arithmetic mean of the received sensor output signals; or 
 a weighted average of the received senor output signals. 
 
 
     
     
         7 . The electrical load control system of  claim 6  wherein to combine the received sensor output data using the weighted average of the received senor output signals, the control circuit to further:
 combine the received sensor output data using weighted values based on the distance between the respective sensor and the respective illuminated electrical load control device. 
 
     
     
         8 . The electrical load control system of  claim 1  wherein to adjust the intensity of the light source based on the aggregated data, the control circuit to further:
 receive the aggregated data from a communicatively coupled system controller. 
 
     
     
         9 . The electrical load control system of  claim 1 :
 wherein the one or more illuminated electrical load control devices comprises a plurality of ganged, communicatively coupled, illuminated electrical load control devices; and   wherein to adjust the intensity of the light source based on the aggregated data, the control circuit in each of the plurality of illuminated electrical load control devices to further:
 receive output data from each of the plurality of sensors external to the illuminated electrical load control device; and 
 combine the received sensor output data to provide the aggregated data using at least one of:
 an arithmetic mean of the received sensor output signals; or 
 a weighted average of the received sensor output signals. 
 
   
     
     
         10 . A method of illuminating one or more electrical load control devices, comprising:
 for each of one or more illuminated electrical load control devices:
 illuminating at least a portion of a user actuatable element via a light source operatively coupled to a control circuit disposed in the respective illuminated electrical load control device; 
 receiving, by the control circuit, aggregated data generated using output data provided by each of a plurality of sensors; and 
 adjusting, by the control circuit, an intensity of the light source in the illuminated electrical load control device based on the generated aggregate data. 
   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 11 :
 wherein the one or more illuminated electrical load control devices comprises a plurality of communicatively coupled illuminated electrical load control devices; and   wherein adjusting the intensity of the light source in each of the plurality of illuminated electrical load control devices based on the aggregated data further comprises:
 for each of the plurality of illuminated electrical load control devices:
 adjusting, by the control circuit, the intensity of the light source in the illuminated electrical load control device in unison with the adjustment of the intensity of the light sources in the remaining plurality of illuminated electrical load control devices. 
 
   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10  wherein receiving the aggregated data generated using the output data provided by each of the plurality of sensors further comprises:
 for each of the one or more illuminated electrical load control devices:
 receiving, by the control circuit, the output data from each of the plurality of sensors; and 
 combining, by the control circuit, the received output data using an algorithm to provide the aggregated data. 
 
 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  wherein combining the received output data using an algorithm to provide the aggregated data further comprises:
 for each of the one or more illuminated electrical load control devices:
 combining, by the control circuit, the received sensor output data using at least one of:
 an arithmetic mean of the received sensor output signals; or 
 a weighted average of the received senor output signals. 
 
 
 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  wherein combining the received sensor output data using the weighted average of the received senor output signals further comprises:
 combining, by the control circuit, the received sensor output data using weighted values based on the distance between the respective sensor and the respective illuminated electrical load control device. 
 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10  wherein adjusting the intensity of the light source based on the generated aggregated data further comprises:
 receiving, by the control circuit, the aggregated data from a communicatively coupled system controller. 
 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 10 :
 wherein the one or more illuminated electrical load control devices comprises a plurality of ganged, communicatively coupled, illuminated, electrical load control devices; and   wherein adjusting the intensity of the light source based on the aggregated data further comprises:
 for each of the plurality of illuminated electrical load control devices:
 receiving, by the control circuit, output data from each of the plurality of sensors external to the illuminated control device; and 
 combining, by the control circuit, the received sensor output data to provide the aggregated data using at least one of:
 an arithmetic mean of the received sensor output signals; or 
 a weighted average of the received sensor output signals. 
 
 
   
     
     
         17 . A non-transitory, machine-readable, storage device that includes instructions that, when executed by a control circuit disposed in each of one or more electrical load control devices, causes the control circuitry to:
 cause an operatively coupled light source to illuminate at least a portion of a user actuatable element via a light source operatively coupled to a control circuit disposed in the respective illuminated electrical load control device;   receive aggregated data generated using output data provided by each of a plurality of sensors; and   adjust an intensity of the light source in the illuminated electrical load control device based on the generated aggregate data.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory, machine-readable, storage device of  claim 17 :
 wherein the one or more illuminated electrical load control devices comprises a plurality of communicatively coupled illuminated electrical load control devices; and   wherein the instructions that cause the control circuit to adjust the intensity of the light source in the plurality of illuminated electrical load control devices based on the aggregated data further cause the control circuitry to:
 for each of the plurality of illuminated electrical load control devices:
 adjust the intensity of the light source in the illuminated electrical load control devices in unison with the adjustment of the intensity of the light sources in the remaining plurality of illuminated electrical load control devices. 
 
   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory, machine-readable, storage device of  claim 17  wherein the instructions that cause the control circuit to receive the aggregated data generated using the output data provided by each of the plurality of sensors further cause the control circuit to:
 for each of the one or more illuminated electrical load control devices:
 receive the output data from each of the plurality of sensors; and 
 combine the received output data using an algorithm to provide the aggregated data. 
 
 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory, machine-readable, storage device of  claim 19  wherein the instructions that cause the control circuit to the received output data using an algorithm to provide the aggregated data further cause the control circuit to:
 for each of the one or more illuminated electrical load control devices:
 combine the received sensor output data using at least one of:
 an arithmetic mean of the received sensor output signals; or 
 a weighted average of the received senor output signals. 
 
 
 
     
     
         21 . The non-transitory, machine-readable, storage device of  claim 20  wherein the instructions that cause the control circuit to combine the received sensor output data using the weighted average of the received senor output signals further cause the control circuit to:
 combine the received sensor output data using weighted values based on the distance between the respective sensor and the respective illuminated electrical load control device. 
 
     
     
         22 . The non-transitory, machine-readable, storage device of  claim 17  wherein the instructions that cause the control circuit to adjust the intensity of the light source based on the generated aggregated data further cause the control circuit to:
 receive the aggregated data from a communicatively coupled system controller. 
 
     
     
         23 . The non-transitory, machine-readable, storage device of  claim 17 :
 wherein the one or more illuminated electrical load control devices comprises a plurality of ganged, communicatively coupled, control devices; and   wherein the non-transitory, machine-readable, storage device that includes the instructions to adjust the intensity of the light source based on the aggregated data further cause the control circuit to:   
       for each of the plurality of illuminated electrical load control devices:
 receive output data from each of the plurality of sensors external to the illuminated control device; and 
 combine the received sensor output data to provide the aggregated data using at least one of: 
 an arithmetic mean of the received sensor output signals; or 
 a weighted average of the received sensor output signals.