Controlling a fume hood airflow using an image of a fume hood opening

Abstract

The present disclosure relates generally to fume hoods, and more particularly to systems and methods for controlling a fume hood airflow using an image (e.g., an optical image, an acoustic image, etc.) of a fume hood opening. A system for controlling a fume hood may include an image capture sensor, a configurator and a controller. The image capture sensor may be positioned to have a field of view that includes at least a portion of a fume hood opening, and may be configured to capture an image that includes at least part of the fume hood opening and/or a person working at the hood. The controller may then provide a control signal to a ventilation device for providing a desired airflow in the fume hood. The control signal may depending on the current size of the fume hood opening as captured by the image capture sensor.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A fume hood controller comprising:
 an image sensor to provide an image of an adjustable fume hood opening;   a configurator comprising a memory having stored thereon configuration information for two or more different fume hood models, the configuration information including dimensional information about each of the two or more different fume hood models; and   a controller configured to accept a selection of one of the two or more different fume hood models, and to provide a control signal to a ventilation device to provide a desired airflow through the fume hood opening, wherein the controller determines the control signal based at least in part on the image of the adjustable fume hood opening and the stored configuration information that corresponds to the selected fume hood model.   
     
     
         2 . The fume hood controller of  claim 1 , wherein the image sensor comprises an infrared light sensor to provide an infrared image of the fume hood opening. 
     
     
         3 . The fume hood controller of  claim 1 , wherein the image sensor comprises a visible light sensor to provide a visible light image of the fume hood opening. 
     
     
         4 . The fume hood controller of  claim 1 , wherein the image sensor comprises an infrared light sensor to provide an infrared image of the fume hood opening and a visible light sensor to provide a visible light image of the fume hood opening. 
     
     
         5 . The fume hood controller of  claim 1 , wherein a geometrical shape of the fume hood opening is adjustable using one or more movable sashes, the sashes being mechanically coupled to a fume hood. 
     
     
         6 . The fume hood controller of  claim 1 , wherein the configurator comprises a user interface that is configured to:
 allow a user to select the one of the two or more different fume hood models; and   allow a user to calibrate the image sensor using the selected fume hood model.   
     
     
         7 . The fume hood controller of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to provide a control signal to a ventilation device to provide a desired airflow through an opening of a containment enclosure, wherein the containment enclosure is at least one of a fume hood, a biological safety cabinet, a laminar flow cabinet, and/or a balance enclosure. 
     
     
         8 . A method to control airflow through a fume hood comprising:
 capturing one or more calibration images of a fume hood opening using an image sensor;   obtaining identification information about the fume hood, including dimensional information;   determining a calibration for the image sensor using the obtained identification information one or more of the calibration images;   capturing one or more images of the fume hood opening using the image sensor during subsequent operation;   determining a desired airflow in the fume hood using the one or more images of the fume hood opening; and   providing a control signal to a ventilation device to produce the desired airflow.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein calibrating the image sensor further comprises moving one or more movable sashes of the fume hood to obtain positional information about the fume hood opening. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 identifying a dangerous condition associated with a use of the fume hood via the image sensor;   issuing an alarm to notify a user about the dangerous condition.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the dangerous condition is an improper work practice and/or an improper containment condition. 
     
     
         12 . A system for controlling a fume hood comprising:
 a first image sensor configured to provide images from a first vantage point, the first image sensor having a field of view that includes at least part of a fume hood opening;   a second image sensor configured to provide images from a second vantage point that is different from the first vantage point, the second image sensor having a field of view that includes at least part of a fume hood opening; and   a controller operatively coupled to the first image sensor and the second image sensor, the controller is configured to provide a control signal to a ventilation device to produce a desired airflow in the fume hood, wherein the controller uses at least one of the images from the first image sensor and/or the second image sensor to generate the control signal.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the desired airflow is determined as in airflow per unit of area of the fume hood opening. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the first image sensor comprises an infrared light image sensor for providing infrared light images. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the first image sensor comprises a visible light image sensor for providing visible light images. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the first image sensor comprises an infrared light sensor for providing infrared light images and the second image sensor comprises a visible light sensor for providing visible light images. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein a size of the fume hood opening is defined, at least in part, based on a current position of one or more movable sash of the fume hood. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the first image sensor is located within the fume hood. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the first image sensor is located outside of the fume hood. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the controller is configured to detect at least one edge of the fume hood opening using at least one of the images from the first image sensor and/or the second image sensor to determine a measure related to a size of the fume hood opening and to calculate the desired airflow based at least in part on the determined measure related to the size of the fume hood opening.