IP Library Granted Patent US 11,415,486
Granted Patent B2
US 11,415,486 · App. 16/117,030 · Granted Aug 16, 2022

Systems and methods of alarm triggered equipment verification using drone deployment of sensors

Inventors: Matthew Roberts (North Chelmsford, MA); Stephen Tarmey (Leominster, MA)
Assignee: Johnson Controls Tyco IP Holdings LLP
G01M99/005G05D1/0011G05D1/0094G08B21/185B64C39/024B64C2201/123B64C2201/126B64C2201/146
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,415,486
App. No.
16/117,030
Granted
Aug 16, 2022
Kind
B2
Abstract

An equipment monitoring system includes an unmanned vehicle, an alarm circuit remote from the unmanned vehicle, and a vehicle control circuit remote from the unmanned vehicle. The unmanned vehicle can include a communications circuit and a flight controller. The alarm circuit detects a failure condition of a building component and outputs an indication of the failure condition. The vehicle control circuit receives the indication of the failure condition from the alarm circuit; generates, based on the indication of the failure condition, an equipment verification signal that includes an identifier of the building component, a position of the building component, and a test of the building component to be executed; and transmits the equipment verification signal to the flight controller of the unmanned vehicle via the communications circuit of the unmanned vehicle to cause the unmanned vehicle to execute the test of the building component.

Claims (56)

1. An equipment monitoring system, comprising:

an unmanned vehicle including a communications circuit and a flight controller;

an alarm circuit remote from the unmanned vehicle, the alarm circuit detects a failure condition of a building component and outputs an indication of the failure condition; and

a vehicle control circuit remote from the unmanned vehicle, the vehicle control circuit:

receives the indication of the failure condition from the alarm circuit;

generates, based on the indication of the failure condition, an equipment verification signal that includes an identifier of the building component, a position of the building component, and a test of the building component to be executed; and

transmits the equipment verification signal to the flight controller of the unmanned vehicle via the communications circuit of the unmanned vehicle to cause the unmanned vehicle to execute the test of the building component.

2. The equipment monitoring system of claim 1 , comprising:

a sensor circuit of the unmanned vehicle executes the test of the building component to detect sensor data regarding the building component and transmits a sensor signal based on the sensor data to the vehicle control circuit.

3. The equipment monitoring system of claim 1 , comprising:

the unmanned vehicle includes an image capture device that transmits at least one image of the building component to the vehicle control circuit.

4. The equipment monitoring system of claim 1 , comprising:

the unmanned vehicle includes an audio sensor that detects audio information regarding the building component.

5. The equipment monitoring system of claim 1 , comprising:

at least one of (1) a verification circuit of the unmanned vehicle and (2) the vehicle control circuit analyses sensor data detected by a sensor circuit of the unmanned vehicle, and generates a verification signal indicating whether the failure condition is verified based on the analyzed sensor data.

6. The equipment monitoring system of claim 1 , comprising:

the unmanned vehicle includes at least one of a temperature sensor, an infrared sensor, a fire detector, a smoke detector, a light sensor, and a gas detector.

7. The equipment monitoring system of claim 1 , comprising:

an operational temperature range of the unmanned vehicle includes a temperature of at least 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

8. The equipment monitoring system of claim 1 , comprising:

the unmanned vehicle returns to a base station responsive to at least one of (1) completing the test of the building component and (2) the alarm circuit indicating the building component is in a normal alarm state.

9. A method of alarm triggered equipment verification using drone deployment of sensors, comprising:

detecting, by an alarm circuit remote from an unmanned vehicle, a failure condition of a building component;

outputting, by the alarm circuit to a vehicle control circuit remote from the unmanned vehicle, an indication of the failure condition;

generating, by the vehicle control circuit based on the indication of the alarm condition, an equipment verification signal that includes an identifier of the building component, a position of the building component, and a test of the building component to be executed; and

transmitting, by the vehicle control circuit to a flight controller of the unmanned vehicle via a communications circuit of the unmanned vehicle, the equipment verification signal to cause the unmanned vehicle to execute the test of the building component.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

executing, by a sensor circuit of the unmanned vehicle, the test of the building component based on the equipment verification signal to detect sensor data regarding the building component; and

transmitting, by the communications circuit of the unmanned vehicle, a sensor signal based on the sensor data detected by the sensor circuit.

11. The method of claim 9 , comprising:

detecting, by an image capture device of the unmanned vehicle, at least one image of the building component; and

transmitting, by the communications circuit of the unmanned vehicle, the at least one image to the vehicle control circuit.

12. The method of claim 9 , comprising:

detecting, by an audio sensor, audio information regarding the building component.

13. The method of claim 9 , comprising:

analyzing, by a verification circuit, sensor data detected by a sensor circuit of the unmanned vehicle; and

generating, by the verification circuit based on the analyzed sensor data, a verification signal indicating whether the failure condition is verified.

14. The method of claim 9 , comprising:

the unmanned vehicle includes at least one of a temperature sensor, an infrared sensor, a fire detector, a smoke detector, a light sensor, and a gas detector.

15. The method of claim 9 , comprising:

directing, by the flight controller, the unmanned vehicle to return to a base station responsive to at least one of (1) completing the test of the building component and (2) the alarm circuit indicating the building component is in a normal alarm state.

16. A vehicle control circuit, comprising:

one or more processors; and

a non-transitory processor-executable medium storing processor-readable instructions that when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

receive, from an alarm circuit remote from an unmanned vehicle, an indication of an alarm condition regarding a building component;

generate, based on the indication of the alarm condition, an equipment verification signal that includes an identifier of the building component; and

output, to a flight controller of the unmanned vehicle via a communications circuit of the unmanned vehicle, the equipment verification signal to cause the unmanned vehicle to execute a test of the building component.

17. The vehicle control circuit of claim 16 , comprising instructions that cause the one or more processors to:

analyze sensor data detected by a sensor circuit of the unmanned vehicle; and

generate, based on the analyzed sensor data, a verification signal indicating whether the failure condition is verified based on executing the test of the building component.

18. The vehicle control circuit of claim 16 , comprising instructions that cause the one or more processors to:

set the alarm circuit to a normal alarm state responsive to determining the failure condition to not be verified.

19. The vehicle control circuit of claim 16 , comprising instructions that cause the one or more processors to:

generate the equipment verification signal to include a position of the building component by retrieving the position of the building component from a database mapping the identifier of the building component to the position of the building component.

20. The vehicle control circuit of claim 16 , comprising instructions that cause the one or more processors to:

generate the equipment verification signal to include the test of the building component to be executed by retrieving the test of the building component from a database mapping the identifier of the building component to the test of the building component.

Assignments (9)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 23, 2024
From: JOHNSON CONTROLS TYCO IP HOLDINGS LLP
To: TYCO FIRE & SECURITY GMBH
Reel/Frame 068494/0384 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 11, 2024
From: JOHNSON CONTROLS TYCO IP HOLDINGS LLP
To: TYCO FIRE & SECURITY GMBH
Reel/Frame 067969/0116 →
NUNC PRO TUNC ASSIGNMENT Recorded Feb 4, 2022
From: SENSORMATIC ELECTRONICS, LLC
To: JOHNSON CONTROLS US HOLDINGS LLC
Reel/Frame 058957/0138 →
NUNC PRO TUNC ASSIGNMENT Recorded Feb 4, 2022
From: JOHNSON CONTROLS US HOLDINGS LLC
To: JOHNSON CONTROLS, INC.
Reel/Frame 058955/0394 →
NUNC PRO TUNC ASSIGNMENT Recorded Feb 4, 2022
From: JOHNSON CONTROLS, INC.
To: JOHNSON CONTROLS TYCO IP HOLDINGS LLP
Reel/Frame 058955/0472 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 30, 2021
From: JOHNSON CONTROLS INC
To: JOHNSON CONTROLS TYCO IP HOLDINGS LLP
Reel/Frame 058600/0126 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 30, 2021
From: SENSORMATIC ELECTRONICS LLC
To: JOHNSON CONTROLS US HOLDINGS LLC
Reel/Frame 058600/0001 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 30, 2021
From: JOHNSON CONTROLS US HOLDINGS LLC
To: JOHNSON CONTROLS INC
Reel/Frame 058600/0080 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 23, 2019
From: ROBERTS, MATTHEW; TARMEY, STEPHEN
To: SENSORMATIC ELECTRONICS, LLC
Reel/Frame 049837/0064 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20200072706A1 · Mar 5, 2020
Cited By (1)
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