Patent Publication Number: US-2011069871-A1

Title: Indoor energy-saving system

Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
     1. Field of Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to an energy-saving system, and more particularly to an energy-saving system utilizing motion detection technologies for power management of an illuminating device and/or other electrical appliances. 
     2. Related Prior Art 
     There are many situations where lighting needs to be controlled in an automatic manner for energy saving. For this, a number of light management systems are known. One type of the light management system utilizes a motion detector or sensor. For example, a passive infrared (PIR) motion sensing is commonly used in the light management system for automatic illumination of room lighting when a person enters a room. In such systems, room lights are turned off, turned on and/or are dimmed according to a detected level of motion within the room. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     Broadly stated, the present invention is directed to an indoor energy-saving system, comprising an image capture device, a motion detection module and a switch module. The image capture device is configured for capturing image data from a monitored area of a room. The motion detection module is coupled to the image capture device for analyzing a human motion occurred in the monitored area according to the captured image data. The switch module is coupled to the motion detection module for controlling transmission of electric power to a load in the room according to an analyzed result of the motion detection module. 
     Specifically, the motion detection module can recognize a movable object from a static background according to the captured image data so as to identify whether the movable object is a human being or not and keep tracking the human motion. The switch module has a power control interface that allows a user to set up power conditions for a variety of appliances. 
     Preferably, the switch module is provided with a light source for illumination of the monitored area so as to maintain enough lighting for image capturing. 
     The construction of energy-saving system as described above is thus far largely conventional. According to the present invention, this configuration utilizes motion detection and track technologies to detect human motion for determining whether powers to the related electric appliances or not and thereby automatically reducing energy consumption. 
     Further features and advantages of the present invention will be appreciated by review of the following detailed description of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING 
       The invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawing in which corresponding parts are identified by the same numerals and in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an energy saving system according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring now to  FIG. 1  of the drawing, an energy saving system  10  in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention includes an image capture device  12 , a motion detection module  14  coupled to the image capture device  12 , and a switch module  16  coupled to the motion detection module  14 . 
     In this embodiment, the image capture device  12 , such as a CCD (Charged Coupled Device) camera, is configured for capturing image data from a monitored area of a room and transferring the captured image data to the motion detection module  14 . 
     The motion detection module  14  is generally configured to analyze a human motion occurred in the monitored area according to the captured image data. Specifically, the motion detection module  14  includes a processing unit  15  (not shown) that is capable of recognizing a movable object from a static background according to the captured image data and then identify whether the movable object is a human being or not. Upon concluding that the movable object is truly a human being, the processing unit  15  of the motion detection module  14  further identifies detail features of that person. Afterward, the motion detection module  14  sends the analyzed result to the switch module  16 . 
     The switch module  16  is provided to control transmission of electric power to a load, such as electrical appliances in the room, according to the analyzed result of the motion detection module  14 . Specifically, the switch module  16  includes a light source  11 , a power control interface  13  and a switching circuit  17 . The light source  11  is provided for illumination of the monitored area to maintain enough lighting when the light is too dim, such as at night, for the image capture device  12  to capture enough-quality image data for further recognition by the motion detection module  14 . The switching circuit  17  is provided to connect a power source with the electric appliances in the room. 
     The power control interface  13 , coupled with the switching circuit  17 , is provided to allow a user to set up some power conditions for those electric appliances. Once the conditions have been set up, the motion detection module  14  cooperates with the switch module  16  to carry out the power control over those related appliances according to the user-set conditions. 
     In a practical manner, the motion detection module  14  detects activities of the people in the room and determines how many people are there in the room and what specific locations are those people stay at? If the process unit  15  of the motion detection module  14  analyzes the captured image data from the image capture device  12  and concludes that the amount of the people in the room is increased or decreased, the processing unit  15  will drive the switching circuit  17  of the switch module  16  to adjust power supply for all the related appliances according to the use-set conditions. In this way, some or all of the appliances may be shut down or low-powered, as the user&#39;s desire, to make sure that the power goes exactly to the needed place and effectively used. 
     The construction of energy-saving system as described above is thus far largely conventional. According to the present invention, this configuration utilizes motion detection and track technologies to detect human motion for determining whether gives power to the related electric appliances or not and thereby automatically reducing energy consumption. 
     It will be appreciated that although a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, modifications may be made. It is intended in the claims to cover such modifications which come within the spirit and scope of the invention.