Self-balancing air fixture

Abstract

An air distribution apparatus that serves as a single sensing device for lighting, LiFi, and HVAC functions that are operable on a single platform by building automation systems. The building automation system may be controllable by a single software system or network accessible locally on site or remotely off site. The air distribution apparatus can operate in a single zone or coupled with multiple like apparatuses for multi-zone operation. It is a high turndown, self-balancing system which allows for continuous commissioning with built-in fault diagnostic systems and that may be used as a supply, return, or exhaust system, or a combination thereof. The air distribution apparatus includes multi-stage airflow control systems that operate progressively based on unique actuation mechanisms and/or algorithms that allow for precise flow control and feedback to self-balance and commission the system.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A device, comprising:
 an air diffuser device that receives conditioned air and discharges the conditioned air into a controlled environment;   a damper that controls a flow of the conditioned air through the air diffuser device; and   a processor; and   a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
 receiving set point data indicative of a set point for the controlled environment; 
 receiving sensor data indicative of a measurement performed by a sensor; 
 determining an indicator of a velocity of the flow of the conditioned air discharged by the air diffuser device, wherein the indicator is a function of the set point data and the sensor data; 
 determining self-balancing data indicative of a volume of the flow discharged by the air diffuser device, wherein the self-balancing data is determined, as a function of the indicator, to satisfy the set point; and 
 facilitating control of the damper according to the self-balancing data. 
   
     
     
         2 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the determining the indicator comprises receiving the indicator from an upstream device. 
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 2 , further comprising the upstream device, wherein the upstream device is communicatively coupled to a set of downstream devices, and wherein the set of downstream devices comprises the device. 
     
     
         4 . The device of  claim 3 , wherein the upstream device controls the flow of the conditioned air that is received by the set of downstream devices. 
     
     
         5 . The device of  claim 4 , wherein the upstream device controls the flow based on a discharge pressure that is adjusted to optimize zonal flow distribution. 
     
     
         6 . The device of  claim 5 , wherein the upstream device determines the discharge pressure as a function of damper state data received from the set of downstream devices. 
     
     
         7 . The device of  claim 2 , wherein the determining the self-balancing data comprises receiving a specified volume value from the upstream device. 
     
     
         8 . The device of  claim 7 , wherein the receiving the specified volume value is in response to transmitting the sensor data to the upstream device. 
     
     
         9 . The device of  claim 1 , further comprising an actuator device that controls a state of the damper, wherein the processor facilitates the control of the damper in response to an instruction provided to the actuator device that specifies the state of the damper. 
     
     
         10 . The device of  claim 9 , wherein the actuator device is a stepper motor having two or more step settings that correspond to respective states of the damper. 
     
     
         11 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the device further comprises the sensor. 
     
     
         12 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the device further comprises an air return pathway that receives a return flow of air from the controlled environment. 
     
     
         13 . The device of  claim 12 , wherein the device further comprises the sensor situated in the air return pathway. 
     
     
         14 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the measurement performed by the sensor is a member of a group comprising: a temperature of the conditioned air received by the air diffuser device, a temperature of the controlled environment, a temperature of return air received by a return pathway, a measurement of a volatile organic compound, a measurement of carbon dioxide, a measurement of carbon monoxide, a measurement of humidity, a measurement that identifies motion, a measurement that identifies occupancy of the controlled environment, a measurement of an electromagnetic wave, a measurement of a mechanical or acoustic wave, and a measurement that identifies a change in a state of the controlled environment. 
     
     
         15 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the sensor is a camera. 
     
     
         16 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the sensor measures electromagnetic radiation in at least one of a visible light spectrum, an infrared light spectrum. 
     
     
         17 . The device of  claim 1 , further comprising a light fixture device coupled to the air diffuser device, wherein the light fixture device is configured to illuminate the controlled environment. 
     
     
         18 . The device of  claim 17 , wherein the light fixture device is configured to support communication via a light fidelity (LiFi) protocol that transmits light signals above a ceiling of the controlled environment. 
     
     
         19 . The device of  claim 1 , further comprising a heat exchanger device configured to modify a temperature of the flow of the conditioned air. 
     
     
         20 . The device of  claim 1 , further comprising a filtration device configured to filter the flow of the conditioned air. 
     
     
         21 . The device of  claim 1 , further comprising speaker device configured to present acoustic signals. 
     
     
         22 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the sensor data indicates a presence of smoke in the controlled environment that exceeds a defined threshold, and wherein the processor initiates a smoke alert procedure comprising:
 transmitting a smoke alert signal to an upstream device that controls the velocity of the flow, wherein the smoke alert signal indicates a supply fan is to be turned off;   setting the damper to a closed state that prevents the air diffuser device from receiving and discharging the flow; and   transmitting the smoke alert signal to an exhaust device that controls an exhaust fan, wherein the smoke alert signal indicates the exhaust fan is to be turned on that evacuates air from the controlled environment via an air return pathway.   
     
     
         23 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the device controls respective states of a set of dampers that respectively control flows of the conditioned air to other controlled environments. 
     
     
         24 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the determining the self-balancing data is in response to fixing the velocity of the flow and varying the volume of the flow. 
     
     
         25 . A device, comprising:
 an air diffuser device that receives conditioned air and discharges the conditioned air into a controlled environment;   a damper that controls a flow of the conditioned air through the air diffuser device; and   an actuator that controls the damper according to self-balancing data that identifies a state of the damper that is determined to satisfy a set point for the controlled environment, wherein the self-balancing data is determined as a function of:
 an indicator of a velocity of the flow discharged by the air diffuser device; and 
 wherein the indicator is determined as a function of the sensor data indicative of a measurement performed by a sensor and the set point. 
   
     
     
         26 . The device of  claim 25 , wherein a processor determines the self-balancing data. 
     
     
         27 . The device of  claim 26 , wherein the processor determines the indicator and controls the actuator according to the self-balancing data. 
     
     
         28 . The device of  claim 26 , wherein the processor is situated on an upstream device that controls the flow for a set of devices comprising the device. 
     
     
         29 . The device of  claim 26 , wherein the processor is situated on a second device that receives the conditioned air. 
     
     
         30 . The device of  claim 26 , wherein the processor is situated on the device. 
     
     
         31 . The device of  claim 30 , wherein the processor situated on the device is communicatively coupled to a set of other devices that receive the condition air, and determines other self-balancing data for the other devices 
     
     
         32 . The device of  claim 31 , wherein the processor controls a remote actuator situated on one of the other devices according to other self-balancing data. 
     
     
         33 . The device of  claim 32 , wherein the processor determines second self-balancing data for the second device. 
     
     
         34 . The device of  claim 30 , wherein the processor determines the self-balancing data in response to input received from an upstream device that controls the flow. 
     
     
         35 . The device of  claim 25 , wherein the actuator device is a stepper motor having two or more step settings that correspond to respective states of the damper. 
     
     
         36 . The device of  claim 25 , further comprising an air return pathway that receives a return flow of air from the controlled environment. 
     
     
         37 . The device of  claim 36 , further comprising the sensor situated in the air return pathway. 
     
     
         38 . The device of  claim 25 , further comprising a light fixture device coupled to the air diffuser device, wherein the light fixture device is configured to illuminate the controlled environment. 
     
     
         39 . The device of  claim 38 , wherein the light fixture device is configured to support communication via a light fidelity (LiFi) protocol that transmits light signals above a ceiling of the controlled environment. 
     
     
         40 . The device of  claim 38 , wherein the light fixture device is situated proximal to an air return pathway in a manner determined to extend a life cycle of a light source device in response to the light source device being exposed to a return flow of air flowing through the air return pathway. 
     
     
         41 . The device of  claim 25 , further comprising a heat exchanger device configured to modify a temperature of the flow of the conditioned air. 
     
     
         42 . The device of  claim 25 , further comprising a filtration device configured to filter the flow of the conditioned air. 
     
     
         43 . The device of  claim 25 , wherein the sensor data indicates a presence of smoke in the controlled environment that exceeds a defined threshold, and wherein the processor initiates a smoke alert procedure comprising:
 transmitting a smoke alert signal to an upstream device that controls the flow, wherein the smoke alert signal indicates a supply fan is to be turned off;   setting the damper to a closed state that prevents the air diffuser device from discharging the flow; and   transmitting the smoke alert signal to an exhaust device that controls an exhaust fan, wherein the smoke alert signal indicates the exhaust fan is to be turned on evacuating air from the controlled environment via an air return pathway.   
     
     
         44 . The device of  claim 25 , wherein the determining the self-balancing data is in response to fixing the velocity of the flow and varying the volume of the flow. 
     
     
         45 . The device of  claim 25 , wherein the damper is situated at the air diffuser device. 
     
     
         46 . The device of  claim 45 , wherein the damper is situated at a ceiling level and is determined to facilitate discharge of the conditioned air horizontally along a ceiling in accordance with a Coanda effect. 
     
     
         47 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor of a device, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
 receiving sensor data representative of a measurement performed by a sensor;   receiving set point data representative of a set point for a controlled environment;   determining an indicator of a velocity of a flow of conditioned air that is discharged by an air diffuser, wherein the indicator is a function of the sensor data and the set point data;   determining volume data indicative of a volume of the flow that is to be discharged by the air diffuser in order to satisfy the set point, wherein the volume data is determined as a function of the indicator;   determining self-balancing data that is indicative of a state of a damper determined to satisfy the set point, wherein the damper controls the flow of the conditioned air through the air diffuser, and wherein the self-balancing data is determined as a function of the indicator and the volume data; and   instructing an actuator that controls the damper to set the damper to the state that is determined to satisfy the set point.   
     
     
         48 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 45 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 determining second volume data indicative of a second volume of the flow that is to be discharged by a second air diffuser in order to satisfy a second set point for second a controlled environment;   determining second self-balancing data that is indicative of a second state of a second damper determined to satisfy the second set point, wherein the second self-balancing data is a function of a second indicator and the second volume data, and wherein the second damper controls the flow of the conditioned air through the second air diffuser; and   instructing a second actuator that controls the second damper to set the second damper to the second state that is determined to satisfy the second set point.