Luminaire Color Control via Daylight Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for controlling lamps to provide pleasant lighting are inadequate as they fail to accurately replicate natural daylight's color spectrum and temperature fluctuations, leading to insufficiently pleasant lighting and complex user interactions.
Innovation Solution
A method that uses a light color sensor to determine the natural daylight's color and temperature, adjusting the lamp's light output to match these conditions within a defined time interval, while outside this interval, it follows a stored curve to ensure smooth transitions and pleasant lighting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a predefined color temperature curve is stored in the luminaire's control system to control light sources, then the luminaire can provide illumination that is generally pleasant throughout the day, but it cannot fully meet human need for pleasant room lighting because it inadequately reproduces subtle color variations in natural daylight and creates discrepancy between room illumination and natural daylight
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies feedback by using a light sensor to continuously measure the actual natural daylight color temperature in the environment and feeding this information back to the control system. The control unit then adjusts the LED light sources based on this real-time feedback, dynamically matching the color temperature to actual natural daylight conditions rather than relying on a static predefined curve. This resolves the contradiction by enabling both pleasant illumination through adaptive control and high color temperature accuracy through continuous environmental sensing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamics by transitioning from a static predefined color temperature curve to a dynamic control system that continuously adapts to changing natural daylight conditions. The luminaire's color temperature is no longer fixed according to a predetermined schedule but dynamically adjusts based on real-time environmental light measurements. This enables the system to accurately reproduce subtle color variations in natural daylight throughout the day, resolving the contradiction between providing pleasant illumination and achieving color temperature accuracy.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the luminaire adjusts light color to match measured natural daylight color, then it can avoid discrepancy between room illumination and natural daylight, but current light sources are only partially suitable for accurately replicating the luminous color spectrum of natural daylight
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by controlling the intensity ratios of multiple LED light sources with different color temperatures (warm white, cool white, and potentially other spectral components). By independently adjusting the output parameters of each LED type, the system can synthesize a composite light spectrum that more accurately replicates natural daylight. This resolves the contradiction by enabling high color spectrum replication accuracy through multi-parameter control while maintaining adaptability to match measured natural daylight color.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements composite materials by combining multiple types of LED light sources with different spectral characteristics (warm white LEDs, cool white LEDs, and potentially other spectral components) to create a composite light output. This composite approach allows the system to replicate the complex luminous color spectrum of natural daylight more accurately than any single LED type could achieve alone. The control system integrates the output of these different LED types to match the measured natural daylight spectrum, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and replication accuracy.
3Adaptability or versatility
If users are provided with adjustment options to change light color, then they can intervene to change light color according to their wishes, but this requires complicated operation and user intervention
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies self-service by implementing an automatic control system that uses environmental light sensors to measure natural daylight conditions and autonomously adjusts the luminaire's color temperature without requiring user intervention. The system serves itself by continuously sensing the environment and making appropriate adjustments based on the measured data, eliminating the need for complicated manual controls. This resolves the contradiction by providing full adaptability to match natural daylight while maintaining ease of operation through automated control.
4Ease of operation
If conventional methods control luminaire to emit pleasant light, then they provide some level of illumination control, but they result in unpleasant and undesirable fluctuations in light temperature that do not reflect color temperature variations in natural daylight
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies feedback by using light sensors to continuously measure the actual color temperature of natural daylight in the environment and feeding this real-time information back to the control system. The control unit then adjusts the LED light sources based on this feedback, ensuring that the luminaire's color temperature variations accurately reflect those in natural daylight. This resolves the contradiction by enabling both illumination control and high color temperature variation accuracy through continuous environmental sensing and adaptive control.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamics by transitioning from static or pre-programmed color temperature control to a dynamic system that continuously adapts to real-time natural daylight variations. The luminaire's color temperature dynamically follows the natural fluctuations in outdoor daylight throughout the day, including subtle variations that conventional methods miss. This resolves the contradiction by providing both illumination control and accurate color temperature variation that reflects natural daylight patterns.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach provides a more natural and pleasant lighting experience by accurately replicating natural daylight's variations, reducing user intervention and avoiding unpleasant light temperature jumps, while being efficient and easy to implement.
Implementation Method 1
a light color sensor is used to determine a color temperature of the natural daylight
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for controlling a luminaire arranged in a room, which is designed to emit light with different light colors, wherein a light color of natural daylight is determined depending on the time of day and the light color of the light to be emitted by the luminaire is adjusted depending on the determined light color of natural daylight.A control system stores a curve of light temperature as a function of the time of day. During an operating phase, at each time of day, the light color emitted by the luminaire is determined based on the light color identified as natural daylight. This determination is made if, as a first boundary condition, the light temperature identified as natural daylight at that time of day is less than a defined threshold value below a value on the light temperature curve for that time of day, and if, as a second boundary condition, the time of day falls within a defined time interval. During the operating phase, whenever both boundary conditions are not met, the light color emitted by the luminaire is set to a color specified by the curve.