Monitoring device for predictive fault detection

Abstract

In some implementations, a method includes: obtaining readings from one or more sensors; obtaining a set of electrical operating characteristics associated with the at least one electro-mechanical device from electrical sensing circuitry; determining an operating profile based on the readings from the one or more sensors and the set of electrical operating characteristics associated with the at least one electro-mechanical device; and generating a notification in response to determining that the operating profile satisfies a trigger condition.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A monitoring device comprising:
 a communication interface configured to communicate with one or more sensors coupled to a refrigeration loop of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system;   electrical sensing circuitry coupled to at least one electro-mechanical device associated with the HVAC system;   one or more processors;   non-transitory memory; and   one or more programs stored in the non-transitory memory, which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the monitoring device to:
 obtain, via the communication interface, readings from the one or more sensors; 
 obtain a set of electrical operating characteristics associated with the at least one electro-mechanical device from the electrical sensing circuitry: 
 determine an operating profile based on the readings from the one or more sensors and the set of electrical operating characteristics associated with the at least one electro-mechanical device; and 
 generate a notification in response to determining that the operating profile satisfies a trigger condition. 
   
     
     
         2 . The monitoring device of  claim 1 , wherein the trigger condition is satisfied when a degradation trend associated with the operating profile exceeds a threshold rate of change. 
     
     
         3 . The monitoring device of  claim 1 , wherein the trigger condition is satisfied when the operating profile exceeds a safety tolerance relative to a nominal operating profile. 
     
     
         4 . The monitoring device of  claim 1 , wherein the trigger condition is satisfied when the operating profile indicates a probable failure relative to a nominal operating profile. 
     
     
         5 . The monitoring device of  claim 3 , wherein the nominal operating profile corresponds to a learned model for at least one of the HVAC system, the one or more sensors, and the one or more electro-mechanical devices. 
     
     
         6 . The monitoring device of  claim 3 , wherein the communication interface enables collection of federated data from other HVAC systems to generate the nominal operating profile. 
     
     
         7 . The monitoring device of  claim 3 , wherein the communication interface enables collection of aggregated data from similar HVAC systems to generate the nominal operating profile. 
     
     
         8 . The monitoring device of  claim 1 , wherein the communication interface enables external communication, and wherein the notification corresponds to an SMS, email, an alert within a dashboard, or the like that is sent to a service provider and/or the owner/operator of the HVAC system. 
     
     
         9 . The monitoring device of  claim 1 , wherein the notification includes a time-to-event probability estimate to give early alerting capability for when preventative maintenance can be applied. 
     
     
         10 . The monitoring device of  claim 1 , wherein the one or programs further cause the monitoring device to:
 generate diagnostic rules for fault detection and diagnosis that is useable by a technician.   
     
     
         11 . The monitoring device of  claim 1 , wherein the one or programs further cause the monitoring device to:
 generate diagnostic rules for unknown or new faults that is useable by a technician.   
     
     
         12 . A method comprising:
 at a monitoring device including a communication interface configured to communicate with one or more sensors coupled to a refrigeration loop of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, electrical sensing circuitry coupled to at least one electromechanical device associated with the HVAC system, one or more processors, a non-transitory memory, and one or more programs stored in the non-transitory memory, which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the monitoring device to perform any of the operations including:
 obtain, via the communication interface, readings from the one or more sensors; 
 obtain a set of electrical operating characteristics associated with the at least one electro-mechanical device from the electrical sensing circuitry. 
 determine an operating profile based on the readings from the one or more sensors and the set of electrical operating characteristics associated with the at least one electro-mechanical device; and 
 generate a notification in response to determining that the operating profile satisfies a trigger condition. 
   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the trigger condition is satisfied when a degradation trend associated with the operating profile exceeds a threshold rate of change. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the trigger condition is satisfied when the operating profile exceeds a safety tolerance relative to a nominal operating profile. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the trigger condition is satisfied when the operating profile indicates a probable failure relative to a nominal operating profile. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the nominal operating profile corresponds to a learned model for at least one of the HVAC system, the one or more sensors, and the one or more electro-mechanical devices. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the communication interface enables collection of federated data from other HVAC systems to generate the nominal operating profile. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the communication interface enables collection of aggregated data from similar HVAC systems to generate the nominal operating profile. 
     
     
         19 . A server comprising:
 a communication interface configured to communicate with a plurality of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system monitoring devices;   one or more processors;   non-transitory memory; and   one or more programs stored in the non-transitory memory, which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the server to:
 obtain, via the communication interface, readings from one or more sensors coupled to a refrigeration loop of an HVAC system; 
 obtain, via the communication interface, a set of electrical operating characteristics associated with at least one electro-mechanical device associated with the HVAC system from electrical sensing circuitry of a monitoring device associated with the HVAC system; 
 generate a nominal operating profile based on the readings and the set of electrical operating characteristics associated with the HVAC system and similar data from other HVAC systems; and 
 transmit, via the communication interface, the nominal operating profile to the monitoring device. 
   
     
     
         20 . The server of  claim 19 , wherein the trigger condition is satisfied when a degradation trend associated with the operating profile exceeds a threshold rate of change, when the operating profile exceeds a safety tolerance relative to a nominal operating profile, or when the operating profile indicates a probable failure relative to a nominal operating profile.