Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080277486 | HVAC control system and method - An HVAC control system configured to control the environment of a building zone includes a means for determining a number of people occupying the building zone and a means for determining properties of other heat transferring objects located within the building zone. The HVAC control system may also include a controller, the controller being configured to compute a projected heat gain in a building zone based on the determined number of people occupying the building zone and the determined properties of the other heat transferring objects located within the building zone. The controller may use the computed projected heat gain to determine a zone ventilation setpoint for the building zone. | 11-13-2008 |
20090065596 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR INCREASING BUILDING SPACE COMFORT USING WIRELESS DEVICES - A method for providing control to a building zone uses a building automation system and a portable wireless device located within the building zone. The method includes the step of identifying the portable wireless device using wireless communications. The method further includes retrieving information from a memory device specific to the identified portable wireless device. The retrieved information comprises a user preference relating to the building automation system. The method further includes adjusting a parameter of the building automation system based on the retrieved information. | 03-12-2009 |
20090083583 | FAULT DETECTION SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SELF-OPTIMIZING HEATING, VENTILATION, AND AIR CONDITIONING CONTROLS - A fault detection system for detecting a fault in a process system includes a first circuit configured to modify an input of the process system with a modifying signal. The fault detection system further includes a second circuit configured to receive an output from the process system and configured to determine whether the fault exists based on at least one of a reduction of a signal component and an unexpected transformation of the signal component, wherein the signal component corresponds to a function of the modifying signal. | 03-26-2009 |
20090144023 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ASSESSING PERFORMANCE OF CONTROL SYSTEMS - A system is disclosed for scaling performance indicators of control applications in an environmental control system. The system is configured to identify a probability distribution that is characteristic of a fault-free environmental control system and to use the probability distribution of a fault-free environmental control system in calculations to display probability distributions of data from first and second control applications on a common scale. | 06-04-2009 |
20100106328 | EXTREMUM SEEKING CONTROL WITH RESET CONTROL - An extremum seeking control method optimizes a control process for a plant such as an air handling unit. The method compensates for abrupt changes in the operation of the plant by resetting the extremum seeking control strategy in response to a detection of the abrupt change. | 04-29-2010 |
20100106331 | EXTREMUM SEEKING CONTROL WITH ACTUATOR SATURATION CONTROL - An extremum seeking control method optimizes a control process for a plant such as an air handling unit. The method improves the performance of an extremum seeking control strategy by limiting, removing or preventing the effects of an actuator saturation condition, particularly as the extremum seeking control strategy relates to HVAC applications. | 04-29-2010 |
20100324741 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FAULT DETECTION OF AIR HANDLING UNITS - A system is disclosed for detecting faults in an environmental control system for a building zone. The environmental control system is controlled by a finite state machine that causes states of the environmental control system to change based on a varying climate condition. A circuit is configured to receive a current value for the climate condition when the environmental control system is in a heating state and to calculate an estimate of the climate condition at which a transition from the heating state to a state of no heating by the environmental control system is expected to be caused by the finite state machine. The circuit is configured to determine that a fault exists based on a comparison of the current value for the climate condition in the heating state and the estimate of the climate condition at which a transition from the heating state to the no heating state is expected to be caused by the finite state machine. | 12-23-2010 |
20110029100 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IMPROVED START-UP IN FEEDBACK CONTROLLERS - A system for controlling start-up of a feedback controller includes a memory device and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive a gain parameter from the feedback controller and to store the gain parameter in the memory device. The processing circuit is further configured to multiply the stored gain parameter and to cause the feedback controller to use the multiplied gain parameter in response to a determination that the feedback controller has restarted. | 02-03-2011 |
20110056224 | SENSOR-FREE OPTIMAL CONTROL OF AIR-SIDE ECONOMIZER - Systems and methods for regulating the amount of outdoor air that is introduced into a building are shown and described. These systems and methods utilize extremum seeking control logic to vary the flow of outdoor air into the building in response to cooling load determinations. | 03-10-2011 |
20110276180 | PROCESS CONTROL SYSTEMS AND METHODS HAVING LEARNING FEATURES - A system for operating a process includes a processing circuit that uses a self-optimizing control strategy to learn a steady-state relationship between an input and an output. The processing circuit is configured to switch from using the self-optimizing control strategy to using a different control strategy that operates based on the learned steady-state relationship. | 11-10-2011 |
20110276182 | CONTROL OF COOLING TOWERS FOR CHILLED FLUID SYSTEMS - A system for controlling a cooling tower that cools condenser fluid for a condenser of a chiller includes a cooling tower fan system that controllably varies a speed of at least one fan motor. The system further includes an extremum seeking controller that receives inputs of power expended by the cooling tower fan system and of power expended by the chiller. The extremum seeking controller provides an output to the cooling tower fan system that controls the speed of the at least one fan motor. The extremum seeking controller determines the output by searching for a speed of the at least one fan motor that minimizes the sum of the power expended by the cooling tower fan system and the power expended by the chiller. | 11-10-2011 |
20110320045 | FAULT DETECTION SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SELF-OPTIMIZING HEATING, VENTILATION, AND AIR CONDITIONING CONTROLS - A fault detection system for detecting a fault in a process system includes a first circuit configured to modify an input of the process system with a modifying signal. The fault detection system further includes a second circuit configured to receive an output from the process system and configured to determine whether the fault exists based on at least one of a reduction of a signal component and an unexpected transformation of the signal component, wherein the signal component corresponds to a function of the modifying signal. | 12-29-2011 |
20120083926 | ADAPTIVE REAL-TIME OPTIMIZATION CONTROL - A system for regulating the amount of outdoor air that is introduced into a building determines characteristics of the outdoor air using sensor inputs. The system uses extremum seeking control logic to vary the flow of outdoor air provided into the building in response to the cooling load determinations. | 04-05-2012 |
20120239165 | EXTREMUM SEEKING CONTROL WITH ACTUATOR SATURATION CONTROL - An extremum seeking control method optimizes a control process for a plant such as an air handling unit. The method improves the performance of an extremum seeking control strategy by limiting, removing or preventing the effects of an actuator saturation condition, particularly as the extremum seeking control strategy relates to HVAC applications. | 09-20-2012 |
20120239166 | EXTREMUM SEEKING CONTROL WITH RESET CONTROL - An extremum seeking control method optimizes a control process for a plant such as an air handling unit. The method compensates for abrupt changes in the operation of the plant by resetting the extremum seeking control strategy in response to a detection of the abrupt change. | 09-20-2012 |
20130190900 | PROCESS CONTROL SYSTEMS AND METHODS HAVING LEARNING FEATURES - A system for operating a process includes a processing circuit that uses a self-optimizing control strategy to learn a steady-state relationship between an input and an output. The processing circuit is configured to switch from using the self-optimizing control strategy to using a different control strategy that operates based on the learned steady-state relationship. | 07-25-2013 |
20130197676 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETECTING A CONTROL LOOP INTERACTION - A system for detecting a control loop interaction between two or more control loops. The system includes a processing circuit configured to store a history of detected loop disturbances for a plurality of control loops. The processing circuit is also configured to compute a measure of interaction between control loops using the history of detected loop disturbances. The processing circuit is further configured to determine whether a loop interaction exists based on the computed measure of interaction. | 08-01-2013 |
20130300115 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR OPTIMIZING POWER GENERATION IN A WIND FARM TURBINE ARRAY - A method for controlling turbines in a wind farm turbine array is shown and described. The method includes using a cascade of self-optimizing controllers to in an attempt to maximize the power generated by at least a portion of the wind farm turbine array, wherein at least one of the self-optimizing controllers for an upstream turbine is configured to control the upstream turbine in an attempt to maximize the combined total of (a) the power output of the upstream turbine and (b) the power output of at least one downstream turbine. | 11-14-2013 |