Automated window-shading system and method adaptable to varying levels of integration with other systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
The market lacks standardized approaches for integrating automated window shading systems with other devices and systems, leading to cybersecurity risks and high costs, and fully integrated systems have received mixed reviews due to occupant dissatisfaction with automatic adjustments.
Innovation Solution
An automated window-shading system that uses predefined hierarchies to select the best available information from multiple sources, supporting varying levels of integration, including fully autonomous, partial, and fully integrated modes, without requiring high-level network interfaces or IT overhead, and minimizing cybersecurity risks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If automated window shading systems are integrated with other devices and systems, then functionality and information availability are enhanced, but cybersecurity risks and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides integration into distinct levels: Level 1 (basic automation with local sensors and simple protocols), Level 2 (integration with building management systems via standardized interfaces), and Level 3 (full IoT connectivity with cloud services). This segmentation allows users to choose appropriate integration depth, reducing cybersecurity exposure while maintaining necessary functionality at each level.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces standardized communication interfaces and protocol translators as intermediaries between the shading system and external devices. These intermediaries act as security buffers, enabling integration functionality while isolating the core shading control from direct cybersecurity threats through standardized, controlled communication channels.
2Productivity
If fully integrated systems are implemented, then coordinated operation and information sharing are improved, but cost and installation complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs universal communication interfaces and standardized protocols that enable the shading system to interact with multiple different building systems (HVAC, lighting, security) through a common framework. This multi-functionality approach reduces installation complexity by eliminating the need for custom integration solutions for each system combination.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates pre-configured integration templates, default communication settings, and automated discovery protocols that are prepared in advance. During installation, the system automatically detects available building systems and configures appropriate integration parameters, significantly reducing on-site configuration complexity and installation time.
3Reliability
If automated shading protocols use multiple information sources, then shading effectiveness is enhanced, but information selection complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the weighting and priority of different information sources based on operational parameters such as time of day, occupancy detection status, external weather conditions, and current shading position. This parameter-based adaptive selection simplifies information processing by automatically prioritizing relevant data sources without requiring complex manual configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where the shading system continuously monitors the effectiveness of decisions made using multiple information sources and adjusts its information selection strategy accordingly. The system learns from past performance data to optimize which information sources provide the most value under different conditions, reducing processing complexity through experience-based refinement.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for, and method of, automated window-shading which uses predefined hierarchies of information to select the best available information from multiple sources, and thereby supports varying levels of integration with other systems. A preferred embodiment includes enough functionality to perform automated functions on its own, but also includes low-level and high-level interfaces to accept information from external devices and systems to provide additional automated shading functionality. It executes operating steps that include the application of predefined hierarchies to select the best available information in order to select a mode of operation and determine a window-shading setting. In this way, the system is capable of supporting varying levels of integration with other systems, including fully autonomous operation without integration, partial integration via a low-level interface that does not require IT overhead and does not present cybersecurity risks, and full integration with a Building Management System.