Lutron Technology Company LLC

Lutron Electronics Company, Inc.

Brent Protzman

Craig Alan Casey

Michelle L Greene

Erica L Clymer

Stephen Lundy

Jennifer Wong

Laura Marie Friedlander

Edward J Blair

Samuel F Chambers

Joseph Roy Parks

John N Callen

James P Steiner

Thomas M Shearer

Galen Edgar Knode

Rhodes B Baker

Laura M Gabriel

Staci L Quirk

Andrew J Lawler

Mark Stephen Taipale

Sanjeev Kumar

Venkatesh Chitta

Brian Michael Courtney

Ethan Charles Biery

Timothy Gill

Michael J Zizza

Benjamin F Bard

John B Nill

Neil R Orchowski

Christina Evans

Christoper Matthew Jones

Yogesh Venkata Gopalan

Jason C Killo

Daniel Curtis Raneri

Greg Edward Sloan

Christopher Matthew Jones

Rangasayee Sapthasayee

A load control environment may be controlled by adjusting load control devices, such as a lighting intensity level, a level of the covering material for a motorized window treatment, and/or a temperature level to reduce and/or optimize the consumption of power. The optimization of power may include reducing the total cost and consumption of power, while maintaining a target or minimum level of comfort for occupants and/or a net monetary gain. The optimization of power consumption may be performed by adaptively controlling the load control devices to reduce the total power consumption of the load control environment, while maintaining a minimum level for comfort metrics indicating a level of occupant comfort and/or the net monetary gain associated with the comfort metrics.

Optimization of load control environments

A motorized window treatment system controls a plurality of motorized window treatments to maximize daylight autonomy, while minimizing cognitive dissonance. The system may include motorized window treatments, window sensors, and a system controller. Each motorized window treatment may be operable to adjust a respective covering material to control the amount of light entering a space. Each sensor may be mounted adjacent to at least one of the motorized window treatments, and may be configured to measure an amount of daylight shining on the sensor. The system controller may receive sensor readings from the sensors and may control the motorized window treatments in response to the sensors to keep the covering materials aligned when the sensor readings are within a predetermined amount. The system controller may dynamically group and re-group the sensors into subgroups based upon the sensor readings and may control the motorized window treatments based upon the subgroups.

Controlling motorized window treatments in response to multiple sensors

A sensor and/or system controller may process an image multiple times at multiple resolutions to detect glare conditions. A glare condition threshold used to determine whether a glare condition exists may be based on the resolution of the image. When the resolution of the image is higher, the glare condition threshold may be higher. The sensor and/or system controller may organize one or more adjacent pixels having similar intensities into pixel groups. The pixel groups may vary in size and/or shape. The sensor and/or system controller may determine a representative group luminance for the pixel group (e.g., an average luminance of the pixels in the group). The sensor and/or system controller may determine a group glare condition threshold, which may be used to determine whether a glare condition exists for the group of pixels and/or may be based on the size of the group.

Sensor for detecting glare conditions

A load control system may be configured using a graphical user interface (GUI) software. The GUI software may be implemented to collect control devices and add the control devices to the load control system for configuration. Programming data may be automatically determined for the added control devices based on the type of control device, the location of the control device, and/or the load type controlled by the control device. The programming data may include control settings for a scene, a schedule, or an automated control feature. The programming data may be displayed for being viewed and/or adjusted by a user. The programming data may be transmitted to the control devices and/or a system controller for being implemented in performing load control.

Configuring a load control system

A visible light sensor (VLS) may be configured to sense environmental characteristics using images of a space. The VLS may be controlled in one or more modes, including a daylight glare sensor mode, a daylighting sensor mode, a color sensor mode, and/or an occupancy/vacancy sensor mode. In the daylight glare sensor mode, the VLS may be configured to decrease or eliminate glares. In the daylighting sensor mode and/or color sensor mode, the VLS may be configured to provide a preferred amount of light and color temperature, respectively, within the space. In the occupancy/vacancy sensor mode, the VLS may be configured to detect an occupancy/vacancy condition within the space and adjust one or more control devices according to the occupation or vacancy of the space. The visible light sensor may be configured to protect the privacy of users within the space via software, a removable module, and/or a special sensor.

Load control system having a visible light sensor

Methods and systems may be used for controlling the color temperature of one or more light sources (e.g., discrete-spectrum light sources) based on fixture capability information. Fixture capability information may be obtained using a configuration tool. The fixture capability information may be determined by the configuration tool, and the fixture capability information determined by the configuration tool may be stored and/or processed. The fixture may have a memory for storing the fixture capability information. The fixture capability information may also be stored in a remote network device. A system controller may obtain the fixture capability information from the fixture or the remote control device. The system controller may generate control instructions based on the fixture capability information and send the control instructions to the fixtures.

Systems and methods for controlling color temperature

A visible light sensor may be configured to sense environmental characteristics of a space using an image of the space. The visible light sensor may be controlled in one or more modes, including a daylight glare sensor mode, a daylighting sensor mode, a color sensor mode, and/or an occupancy/vacancy sensor mode. In the daylight glare sensor mode, the visible light sensor may be configured to decrease or eliminate glare within a space. In the daylighting sensor mode and the color sensor mode, the visible light sensor may be configured to provide a preferred amount of light and color temperature, respectively, within the space. In the occupancy/vacancy sensor mode, the visible light sensor may be configured to detect an occupancy/vacancy condition within the space and adjust one or more control devices according to the occupation or vacancy of the space. The visible light sensor may be configured to protect the privacy of users within the space via software, a removable module, and/or a special sensor.

Controlling lighting loads to achieve a desired lighting pattern

A system includes a window treatment adjacent to a window of a room. At least one motor drive unit is associated with the window treatment, for varying the position of the window treatment. A sensor measures a light level (e.g., an outdoor light level) at the window. A controller provides signals to the motor drive unit to automatically adjust the position of the window treatment so as to control a penetration distance of sunlight into the room when the window treatment is partially opened. The controller is configured to position the window treatment in a bright override position if the measured light level is at least a bright threshold value. The controller is configured to select the bright threshold value from among at least two predetermined values. The selection depends on an angle of incidence between light rays from the sun and a surface normal of the window.

Window treatment control using bright override

Motorized window treatments may each adjust a position of a covering material to allow light into a space in a building. The control information for controlling the motorized window treatments may be stored and/or accessed to understand how the motorized window treatments are operating. The control information may indicate a control state and/or a position of the covering material when an identified daylight intensity is being received at the space. The control information may inform a user of the operation of the motorized window treatments and allow the user to adjust various control parameters by which the motorized window treatments may be controlled. Recommended adjustments may also be provided to the user based on a user-identified problem with the operation of the motorized window treatments. The recommended adjustments to the control parameters may be accepted by the user and may be stored for being accessed and/or edited.

Motorized window treatment monitoring and control

A load control system may control an electrical load in a space of a building based on one or more parameters regarding the physical condition of an occupant. The parameters may be gathered by one or more sensing devices. The sensing devices may be included in a mobile device. A system controller may receive the parameters and may automatically control the electrical loads in response to the parameters. The system controller may control the electrical load to attempt to adjust the physical condition of the occupant in response to the sensed parameters. The system controller may control the electrical load to provide an alert, an alarm, and/or a warning in response to the sensed parameters.

Load control system responsive to sensors and mobile devices

A sensor may detect glare from a recorded image and a shade position of a motorized window treatment may be controlled based on the position of the detected glare in the image. A luminance of a pixel may be calculated in an image and a glare condition may be detected based on the luminance of the pixel. For example, the sensor may start at a first pixel in a bottom row of pixels and step through each of the pixels on the bottom row before moving to a next row of pixels. When the sensor detects a glare condition, the sensor may cease processing the remaining pixels of the image. The sensor may calculate a background luminance of the image by reordering the pixels of the image from darkest to lightest and calculating the luminance of a pixel that is a predetermined percentage from the darkest pixel.

Visible light sensor configured for glare detection and controlling motorized window treatments

A device may be configured to detect a glare condition and may comprise a photo sensing circuit and a visible light sensing circuit. The photo sensing circuit may be configured to periodically generate an illuminance signal that indicates an illuminance value. The visible light sensing circuit may be configured to periodically record images of the space at an exposure time. The device may receive an illuminance signal from the photo sensing circuit and determine a present illuminance based on the illuminance signal. The device may adjust the frequency at which the visible light sensing circuit records images based on the present illuminance. The exposure time may be determined based on the present illuminance and a glare condition type. An image recorded at a respective exposure time may wash out pixels above a certain illuminance value. The device may detect a glare condition at the location of washed out pixels.

Visible light sensor configured for detection of glare conditions

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Easton, PA, United States of America

Brent Protzman