SBIR Phase II: Radar-based Building Automation

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力在于显著减少多住宅和住宅建筑中的浪费能源，同时改善居住者的生活体验。该研究建议开发先进的传感器技术和机器学习算法，以使廉价的硬件基础设施能够自主控制室内空间条件。这一概念将促进建筑物，特别是多住宅和住宅建筑物更广泛地采用先进的自动化技术。室内自动化的一个主要好处是它节省了大量的能源。能源部估计，如果所有住宅单元都采用建筑自动化解决方案提供的节能功能，每年将节省1-3万亿个单位的能源。这可以减少国家年度能源预算180-360亿美元，并消除60-120吨二氧化碳排放。除了能源效率，拟议项目的相关社会效益可能会拯救生命。拟议的解决方案除了能够实时监控居住者的健康外，还集成了更高级别的住宅空间安全保护。这些救生功能可以显著限制入侵事件和医疗紧急情况的影响。拟议的项目将促进在室内空间实现完全自主控制所需的科学知识。今天的楼宇自动化解决方案使用原始的传感器基础设施，部署成本很高，限制了解决方案的优势。这导致了价值主张的降低和采用率的降低。该项目提出了在建筑物中使用先进的感知传感器。这些传感器提供的丰富数据流允许紧凑的硬件基础设施自主控制室内空间并改善建筑物内的生活体验。传感技术的进步是自动驾驶行业最近指数级增长和实现一代人梦想的基础。这一研究项目旨在推动室内空间自主控制方面的类似技术进步。将制定第一阶段评价研究的升级实施，以减少第一阶段的学习。该项目还旨在开发已开发的传感器技术的可生产实施，为其商业化和市场推介做好准备。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is in significantly reducing wasted energy in multi-dwelling and residential buildings while improving occupant living experiences. The research proposes the development of advanced sensor technologies and machine learning algorithms to enable an inexpensive hardware infrastructure to control indoor space conditions autonomously. This concept will foster broader adoption of advanced automation technologies among buildings, especially multi-dwelling and residential buildings. One main benefit of indoor automation is its deep energy savings. The Department of Energy estimates that if all residential units deploy energy-saving features offered by building automation solutions, 1-3 quadrillion units of energy will be saved yearly. This can reduce the nation's annual energy budget by $18-$36 billion and eliminate the release of 60-120 metric tons of CO2 emissions. Alongside energy efficiency, the associated societal benefits of the proposed project can potentially save lives. The proposed solution integrates a higher level of security protection in residential spaces in addition to its ability to monitor occupants' health in real time. These life-saving features can significantly limit the impacts of intrusion events and medical emergencies.The proposed project will advance the scientific knowledge required to approach full autonomous control in indoor spaces. Today’s building automation solutions utilize a primitive sensor infrastructure, which has high deployment costs and limits the solution benefits. This leads to a diminished value proposition and a small adoption rate. This project proposes the utilization of advanced perception sensors in buildings. The rich data stream these sensors offer allows for a compact hardware infrastructure to autonomously control indoor spaces and improve the living experience within buildings. Advances in sensing technologies were fundamental to the recent exponential growth in the autonomous driving industry and the realization of a generation-old dream. This research project aims to instigate a similar technological evolution in the autonomous control of indoor spaces. An upgraded implementation of the Phase I evaluation study will be developed to mitigate Phase I learnings. The project also aims to develop a production-ready implementation of the developed sensor technology to prepare it for commercialization and market introduction.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.