Abstract:
This invention is a novel smart lighting control system, which has a central control unit and at least one lighting module. The lighting module has its own controller, ambient light sensor, current sensor, emergency button and is connected to the central control unit and other modules via a serial port. Each lighting module can follow commands from the central control unit to display a specific lighting effect or adjust its brightness according to the ambient light automatically or switch to another color or lighting effect to generate a warning signal.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a smart lighting control system, and more particularly to the lighting control system capable of controlling the ON and OFF of a light source and adjusting the brightness automatically and achieving the effects of saving power consumption, changing colors of a light emitting device or blinking the light emitting device according to environments and road conditions to alert others to pay attention to safety. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    Roadlamp is one of the important public facilities for maintaining the traffic safety for man and motor vehicles at nighttime, so that a normal operation of the roadlamps is an important issue. Since roadlamps are installed along each road in a city or a remote area, the quantity of roadlamps is large, and their operation and management are relatively complicated. After the roadlamps are built, the management, repair and maintenance require much manpower and efforts. To lower the operation cost of the roadlamps, it is necessary to turn on and off the roadlamps effectively to achieve the effects, in addition to a choice of LED lamps that can save power and extend the service life. However, the management staff should understand the actual operation condition of the roadlamps, such that maintenance people can be informed to repair a failed road lamp quickly. To achieve the goal of power saving and carbon reduction, different solutions for controlling and managing smart roadlamps are provided. For example, a light detector is installed to the road lamp, and the roadlamps are turned on or off according to the brightness of the external light. However, the roadlamps may be turned on or off incorrectly due to a natural damage, an intentional damage or a failure of light sensor. As a result, no road lamp illumination is provided when needed or the road lamp keeps on operating and wastes electric power. The LED road lamp not only has the advantages of saving power, providing a long service life, being turned on or off quickly, the LED road lamp also provides the function of adjusting the color and brightness of the road lamp. A conventional way of controlling roadlamps is to install a timer switch to roadlamps scattered in a country side to control one to three roadlamps; and a timer switch with a solenoid control is installed to a row of roadlamps in suburban or industrial areas. The timer switch control is installed at the service center of an electricity company, and the timer switch with a first solenoid switch is linked with each solenoid switch installed to the same line of the roadlamps, and specified transformer is installed for turning on and off the roadlamps. Obviously, the present road lamp only provides the function of being turned on or off, but the whole row of roadlamps does not come with individual control, so that the inventor of the present invention conducted extensive researches and experiments, and finally developed a smart lighting control system to overcome the drawbacks of the conventional roadlamps. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a smart lighting control system capable of controlling the ON and OFF of a light source automatically and adjusting the brightness to save power consumption, and achieve the effects of changing the lighting color or blinking the light emitting device to achieve the effect of alerting others to pay attention to safety. 
         [0006]    To achieve the aforementioned objectives, the present invention provides a smart lighting control system having a central control unit coupled to a control module of at least one light emitting device through a transmission interface, wherein the control module comprises a digital signal processing unit coupled to a light sensor, at least one serial transmission interface, a current detector and an emergency button, and the digital signal processing unit is coupled to a control circuit of at least one light emitting device, and the control circuit is coupled to a collection module of the light emitting device. With the serial connection by the central control unit, control signals are transmitted to each light emitting device one by one to control the emitted light color of each light emitting device individually. In addition, the brightness of each light emitting device can be adjusted according to the ambient light intensity to save power consumption, and the light emitting device can blink to alert others to pay attention to safety. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a first preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a control module of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  is a schematic view of downloading a control data packet in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  is a schematic view of uploading an information data packet in accordance with the second preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0012]      FIG. 6  is a flow chart ( 1 ) of setting a central control unit number in accordance with the first preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 7  is a flow chart ( 1 ) of setting a control unit number in accordance with the first preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 8  is a flow chart ( 2 ) of setting a central control unit number in accordance with the first preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 9  is a flow chart ( 2 ) of setting a control unit number in accordance with the first preferred embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0016]      FIG. 10  is a flow chart of transmitting control data in accordance with the first preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0017]    The technical characteristics and effects of the present invention will become apparent with the detailed description of preferred embodiments accompanied with the illustration of related drawings of the present invention as follows. 
         [0018]    With reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2  for a central control unit  1  of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention, the central control unit  1  can be a numerical processor such as a computer, a PDA or any other mobile device with a transmission interface, the central control unit  1  is coupled to a control module  2  of at least one light emitting device  20  through a transmission interface  10 , and the transmission interface  10  is preferably a RS485 transmission interface, and the light emitting device  20  can be a light emitting diode (LED), wherein the control module  2  includes a digital signal processing unit  21  coupled to a light sensor  22 , two serial transmission interfaces  23 , a current detector  24 , a control circuit  25  and an emergency button  26  of at least one light emitting device  20 , and the control circuit  25  of the light emitting device  20  is coupled to a collection module  27  of the light emitting device  20 , and the serial transmission interface  23  is a RS485 serial interface, and the control module  2  of the light emitting device  20  comprises a pulse width modulation control circuit  28  for adjusting the brightness of the light emitting device  20 , wherein the control circuit  25  of the light emitting device  20  comprises a white-light LED control circuit  250 , a yellow-light LED control circuit  251  and a red-light LED control circuit  252 , and the collection module  27  of the light emitting device  20  comprises a white-light LED  270 , a yellow-light LED  271  and a red-light LED  272 , and the control module  25  of the light emitting device  20  is coupled to an external power supply  3 ; 
         [0019]    With reference to  FIG. 1 , the central control unit  1  can be installed in a road lamp management department or traffic control center for controlling the operation of the entire road lamp system, and the central control unit  1  can be a personal computer with an operating interface, so that users can use the operating interface to specific a desire illumination effect of each light emitting device  20  through the computer, and then a transmission interface  10  is provided for downloading the control signal to each control module  2 . The use of the RS485 transmission interface allows a 1-to-many communication or even a many-to-many communication, and the maximum transmission distance at the transmission rate of 100 KPS can be up to 1.2 Km, and this transmission interface has a very good interference resisting characteristic, so that the RS485 transmission interface can be used for building a long-distance network control. 
         [0020]    In  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the control modules  2  of the light emitting devices  20  are coupled to one another through the serial transmission interface  23 , the control module  2  of the front light emitting device  20  is coupled to the transmission interface  10  of the central control unit  1 . The digital signal processing unit  21  reads the ambient light intensity by the light sensor  22  to turn on/off or adjusting the brightness of the white-light LED  270 , and the yellow-light LED and red-light LED control circuits are provided for driving the yellow-light LED  271  and the red-light LED  272  roadlamps to be turned on, off, or blink. In addition, a user can press the emergency button  4  to turn on the red-light LED  272  to blink. Each control module  2  comes with a bi-directional data transmission feature, and the downloaded data are control signals, and the uploaded data are response signals. When the data received by the serial transmission interface is used for controlling the light emitting device  20 , the digital signal processing unit of the control module  2  transmits the control data to the control circuit  25  of the light emitting device  20  to control the light illumination effect of each LED, or else the data are transmitted to the next control module  2  through another serial transmission interface  23 . After the control module  2  receives information returned by the next control module  2  from another serial transmission interface  23 , the digital signal processing unit  21  will transmit this information to the previous control module  2  from the serial transmission interface  23 , and finally transmit the information to the central control unit  1  for further processing. 
         [0021]    With reference to  FIG. 3  for the second preferred embodiment of the present invention, the transmission interface  10  of the central control unit  1  is coupled to a serial signal distributor  4 , such that after the control modules  2  of the light emitting devices  20  are coupled to one another through the serial transmission interface  23 , the control module  2  of the front light emitting device  20  is coupled to the serial signal distributor  4 , wherein the serial signal distributor  4  outputs the data packet received from the central control unit  1  to the control module  2  of a selected light emitting device  20 . After the control module  2  of each light emitting device  20  receives the uploaded data packet, a number is added, and then uploaded to the central control unit  1 , so that the central control unit  1  receives returned information of a plurality of control modules  2  through a single serial transmission interface  23  (as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 ). 
         [0022]    In  FIG. 6 , each control module  2  has its own number, and the central control unit  1  controls each control module  2  by this number, and the central control unit  1  has the following first numbering procedure:
   (a) setting a number of the control module of the light emitting device to N, and setting N to 1;   (b) transmitting the number of the control module of the light emitting device to the collection module of the light emitting device;   (c) confirming whether or not the number is received;   (d) incrementing the number of the control module of the light emitting device to N+1, and returning to Step (b) if the number is received;   (e) detecting whether or not it is timeout, if the number is not received;   (f) returning to Step (c) if it is not timeout; and   (g) setting the total number of the collection modules of the light emitting device to N−1 if it is timeout.   
 
         [0030]    In  FIG. 7 , the control module has the following first numbering procedure:
   (a) setting an own number of the control module of the light emitting device to zero;   (b) detecting whether or not the number is received;   (c) detecting whether or not the own number is zero, if the number is received;   (d) registering the number as the own number, if the own number is zero;   (e) returning an acknowledge signal, and returning to Step (b);   (f) detecting whether or not the acknowledge signal of the control module of the next light emitting device is received, if the number is not received;   (g) continuously transmitting the acknowledge signal, and returning to Step (b) if the acknowledge signal of the control module of the next light emitting device is received;   (h) returning to Step (b) if the acknowledge signal of the next control module of the light emitting device is not received;   (i) continuously transmitting a number, and returning to Step (b) if the own number is not equal to zero.   
 
         [0040]    In  FIG. 8 , the central control unit has the following second numbering procedure:
   (a) setting a number of a control module of a first light emitting device to 1;   (b) detecting whether or not a response signal of the control module of the light emitting device is received;   (c) detecting whether or not the response signal is corresponsive to the number of the control module of the light emitting device, if the response signal is received;   (d) setting the quantity of the control modules of the light emitting device to n, if the number of the control module of the light emitting device is confirmed;   (e) determining whether or not it is a timeout, if the response signal is not received;   (f) returning to Step (a) if it is timeout;   (g) returning to Step (b) if it is not timeout; and   (h) returning to Step (a) if the response signal is not corresponsive to the number of the control module of the light emitting device.   
 
         [0049]    In  FIG. 9 , the control module the following second numbering procedure:
   (a) detecting whether or not the number of the control module of the light emitting device is received;   (b) registering the number of the control module of the light emitting device as its own number if the number of the control module of the light emitting device is received, and incrementing the number of the control module of the light emitting device to number+1, and transmitting said number to a control module of the next light emitting device;   (c) detecting whether or not the number of the control module of the next light emitting device is received;   (d) continuously transmitting a module number to the control module of the previous light emitting device, if the number of the control module of the next light emitting device is received;   (e) returning to Step (a) if the number of the control module of the light emitting device is not received;   (f) detecting whether or not it is timeout, if the number of the control module of the light emitting device is not received;   (g) returning to Step (c), if it is not timeout;   (h) transmitting the own number to the control module of the previous light emitting device if it is timeout.   
 
         [0058]    In  FIG. 10 , the control data transmission procedure of the control module of the light emitting device comprises the following steps: 
         [0000]    (a) transmitting a data packet to a first control module of the light emitting device coupled to the central control unit through a serial interface by a central control unit, wherein the data packet includes a control module number, a control instruction and a control datum of the light emitting device;
 
(b) checking whether or not the control module of the first light emitting device receives the data packet;
 
(c) checking whether or not the control module number in the data packet matches with the own number, if the data packet as described in Step (a) is received;
 
(d) executing a control instruction in the data packet by a digital signal processing unit installed in the control module of the light emitting device and controlling a display effect of the LED light emitting device according to the control data, and repeating Step (b), if the control module number of the light emitting device matches the own number;
 
(e) continuously transmitting a data packet to the next module by the control module of the light emitting device, and repeating Step (b), if the control module number of Step (c) is not matched with the own number;
 
(f) continuously transmitting a data packet to the previous module, and repeating Step (b), if the control module of the light emitting device receives a data packet returned from the next module, wherein the data packet includes a control module number and LED status information of the light emitting device; and
 
(g) repeating Steps (b) to (f) for the remaining control modules of each light emitting device.
 
         [0059]    In summation, the present invention has the following advantages and effects: 
         [0000]    1. Each control module  2  has a common control circuit  25 , and a serial transmission interface  23  is provided for serially connecting each control module  2 , so that when the control module  2  is damaged, the control module  2  can be replaced directly to facilitate repair and maintenance.
 
2. Each control module  2  has a light sensor  22  used for adjusting the light intensity automatically to save power consumption.
 
3. The display of each light emitting device  20  is controlled by the central control unit  1  at a remote site such as the traffic control center, so that the display effect of the light emitting device  20  can be controlled by modifying a main program without physically involving the installed light emitting device  20 . The central control unit  1  can monitor all or one light emitting device  20  and each light emitting device  20  can be turned ON/OFF, controlled or adjusted.
 
4. The number of the serially connected light emitting devices  20  in each system is unlimited, and the light emitting device  20  can be added or removed freely. The main control program can detect the total number automatically. If the quantity of the light emitting devices  20  does not match with the total number, then the failure location can be observed immediately.
 
5. The distance between light emitting devices  20  can be up to 1 Km.
 
6. The illumination color of each light emitting device  20  can be changed according to the environment and road conditions to alert drivers about the road condition in the front to improve traveling safety.
 
7. The emergency button  26  connected to each light emitting device  20  drives the red-light LED  272  to blink to alert other drivers, and allow ambulance to reach the accident site immediately.
 
         [0060]    While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations of the link rod mechanism could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims. 
         [0061]    In summation of the description above, the present invention improves over the prior art and complies with the patent application requirements, and is thus duly filed for patent application.