Modular Emergency Egress Lighting with Distributed Battery Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current egress emergency lighting systems in commercial and industrial buildings face challenges with high maintenance costs and unpredictable failure rates due to short-lived batteries and large, inefficient inverters, as well as the noise and theft risks associated with generators used for auxiliary power during power interruptions.
Innovation Solution
A networked system of devices with microcontrollers, communication modules, and sensor modules that integrate lighting, sensors, and other components to provide adaptive and efficient emergency lighting, monitoring, and security functions, allowing for real-time data processing and selective activation of output modules to address environmental conditions and ensure safe egress paths.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If overhead egress lighting is placed in difficult to reach places, then code compliance is achieved, but maintenance costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The egress lighting system is divided into modular units with individual batteries and control circuits. Each luminaire operates independently, allowing maintenance of single units without affecting the entire system. This segmentation enables easier maintenance while maintaining code compliance through distributed reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates automatic battery testing and monitoring capabilities that allow the lighting system to self-diagnose and report its status. This self-service functionality reduces the need for manual inspection and maintenance intervention, lowering maintenance costs while ensuring continuous code compliance.
2Reliability
If large and heavy inverters are used for auxiliary power, then power interruption coverage is achieved, but system efficiency decreases and installation becomes costly
Solution Approach 1:
The inverter function is extracted from the overhead luminaires and relocated to a centralized remote location. This eliminates the need for large, heavy inverters within the lighting fixtures, improving system efficiency and reducing installation costs while maintaining continuous power coverage during interruptions.
Solution Approach 2:
A centralized power management system acts as an intermediary between the main power source and the egress lighting. This mediator optimizes power distribution and conversion efficiency, eliminating the need for inefficient local inverters in each luminaire while ensuring reliable power during interruptions.
3Reliability
If generators are used for auxiliary power, then power interruption coverage is achieved, but noise and theft risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The external generator is replaced by extracting the power conversion function to a centralized indoor location. This eliminates the need for noisy outdoor generators and associated theft risks, while maintaining power interruption coverage through controlled environmental conditions and secure access.
Solution Approach 2:
The mechanical generator system is replaced with an electrical power management system using solid-state power conversion. This substitution eliminates mechanical noise and reduces vulnerability to theft while providing equivalent power interruption coverage through electronic control and monitoring.
4Reliability
If batteries are maintained at high and difficult to reach places, then code compliance is achieved, but maintenance costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
Batteries are segmented into individual modular units within each luminaire rather than centralized in hard-to-reach locations. This segmentation allows maintenance personnel to access and replace batteries at the luminaire level, improving accessibility while maintaining code-compliant backup power capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates automatic battery monitoring and testing that provides feedback on battery health and status. This feedback mechanism reduces the frequency and complexity of manual maintenance interventions, making the system easier to operate and maintain while ensuring continuous code compliance.
Data Source
AI summary
Various embodiments of the present technology may comprise a system disposed within a structure comprising a network of individually addressed devices, wherein each device comprises a microcontroller electrically connected to a communication module, an output module, and/or a sensor module. The sensor module may produce data of an environmental condition and may transmit a signal to the microcontroller based on the data. The microcontroller may receive and processes the signal from the sensor module to identify a detected event and selectively activates at least one of the output module and the sensor module based on the detected event. The selectively activated output module and sensor module may located within the same device as the microcontroller and/or any number of devices in the network.