CN-122002660-A - Work light control based on contextual monitoring

Abstract

One example provides a portable lighting device having at least two subsets of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) that are individually controllable to light at different brightness levels. The lighting device includes an electronic processor coupled to a thermal camera configured to capture a background image and to capture a current image of a working area of the lighting device. The electronic processor is configured to compare the current image with the background image to determine whether and where one or more personnel are present in the work area. The electronic processor is configured to determine a first zone in which the one or more persons are located and to control the lighting device to illuminate the first zone in which the one or more persons are located brighter than a second zone in which the persons are not located.

Inventors

• Seamus J. D. Hersen
• Alexander. Yu
• ZHAO DAPENG

Assignees

• 米沃奇电动工具公司

Dates

Publication Date

20260508

Application Date

20251104

Priority Date

20241107

Claims (20)

1. 1. A lighting device, comprising: A light source comprising a plurality of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), wherein the lighting device is a portable lighting device, and wherein at least two subsets of the plurality of LEDs are individually controllable to be illuminated at different brightness levels; a battery pack configured to provide power to the light source; Thermal camera and method for manufacturing the same An electronic processor coupled to the thermal camera, wherein the electronic processor is configured to: the thermal camera is controlled to capture a background image of the working area of the light source, Controlling the thermal camera to capture a current image of the working area of the light source after capturing the background image, Comparing the current image with the background image to determine if one or more persons are present in the work area, In response to determining that the one or more persons are present in the work area, determining a first section of the work area in which the one or more persons are located, and The light source is controlled to illuminate the first section of the work area where the one or more persons are located brighter than a second section of the work area where persons are not located.
2. 2. The lighting device of claim 1, wherein the electronic processor is configured to control the thermal camera to capture the background image in response to receiving a user input via a user interface.
3. 3. The lighting device of claim 1, further comprising an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensor, wherein the electronic processor is configured to: determining that the lighting device has been moved after the background image has been captured based on data received from the IMU sensor; Determining that the lighting device has stopped moving and is stationary, and In response to determining that the lighting device has stopped moving and is stationary, the thermal camera is controlled to recapture a second background image.
4. 4. The lighting device of claim 1, wherein the electronic processor is configured to: comparing the current temperature of each pixel of the current image with the background temperature of the corresponding pixel of the background image; determining that the background temperature of a first pixel in the background image is higher than the current temperature of the first pixel in the current image; in response to determining that the background temperature of the first pixel in the background image is higher than the current temperature of the first pixel in the current image, Marking the first pixel as excluding people, and Setting the background temperature of the first pixel in the background image to a value of the current temperature of the first pixel in the current image; Determining that the background temperature of a second pixel in the background image is lower than the current temperature of the second pixel in the current image by a predetermined threshold value, and In response to determining that the background temperature of the second pixel in the background image is lower than the current temperature of the second pixel in the current image by the predetermined threshold, the second pixel is marked as including the one or more people.
5. 5. The lighting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the electronic processor is configured to control the light source to illuminate the first section of the work area where the one or more personnel are located, regardless of whether the one or more personnel have remained stationary for a period of time.
6. 6. The lighting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the electronic processor is configured to dynamically control the brightness of the at least two subsets of LEDs to provide light to different sections of the work area as the one or more persons move within the work area by repeatedly performing the steps of: controlling the thermal camera to capture additional current images of the working area of the light source; Comparing each additional current image with the background image to determine if one or more people are present in the work area; in response to determining that the one or more persons are present in the work area, determining the first section of the work area in which the one or more persons are located, and The light source is controlled to illuminate the first section of the work area where the one or more persons are located brighter than a second section of the work area where persons are not located.
7. 7. The lighting device of claim 1, wherein the thermal camera is mounted adjacent to the light source and is configured such that a field of view of the thermal camera substantially corresponds to the working area of the light source.
8. 8. The lighting device of claim 1, further comprising: A housing; a telescoping arm assembly supported by the housing; a light assembly coupled to the telescoping arm assembly and movable relative to the housing, wherein the light assembly includes the light source and the thermal camera, and One or more leg assemblies coupled to the housing and configured to provide stability and support to the housing during operation of the light source.
9. 9. A method of controlling a lighting device, the method comprising: Controlling a thermal camera of the lighting device with an electronic processor of the lighting device to capture a background image of a working area of a light source of the lighting device, wherein the light source comprises a plurality of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), wherein the lighting device is a portable lighting device, wherein at least two subsets of LEDs of the plurality of LEDs are individually controllable to be illuminated at different brightness levels, and wherein a battery pack coupled to the lighting device is configured to power the light source; Controlling, with the electronic processor, the thermal camera to capture a current image of the working area of the light source after capturing the background image; comparing, with the electronic processor, the current image with the background image to determine whether one or more people are present in the work area; Determining, with the electronic processor and in response to determining that the one or more persons are present in the work area, a first section of the work area in which the one or more persons are located, and The electronic processor is used to control the light source to illuminate the first section of the work area where the one or more persons are located brighter than the second section of the work area where the persons are not located.
10. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein controlling the thermal camera to capture the background image comprises controlling the thermal camera to capture the background image with the electronic processor in response to receiving a user input via a user interface.
11. 11. The method of claim 9, further comprising: determining, with the electronic processor and based on data received from an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensor of the lighting device, that the lighting device has been moved after the background image has been captured; determining, with the electronic processor, that the lighting device has stopped moving and is stationary, and In response to determining that the lighting device has stopped moving and is stationary, controlling, with the electronic processor, the thermal camera to recapture a second background image.
12. 12. The method of claim 9, wherein comparing the current image with the background image to determine whether one or more persons are present in the work area comprises: Comparing, with the electronic processor, a current temperature of each pixel of the current image with a background temperature of a corresponding pixel of the background image; Determining, with the electronic processor, that the background temperature of a first pixel in the background image is higher than the current temperature of a first pixel in the current image; in response to determining that the background temperature of the first pixel in the background image is higher than the current temperature of the first pixel in the current image, Marking the first pixel as excluding personnel using the electronic processor, an Setting, with the electronic processor, the background temperature of the first pixel in the background image to a value of the current temperature of the first pixel in the current image; Determining, with the electronic processor, that the background temperature of a second pixel in the background image is lower than the current temperature of the second pixel in the current image by a predetermined threshold, and In response to determining that the background temperature of the second pixel in the background image is lower than the current temperature of the second pixel in the current image by the predetermined threshold, marking the second pixel as including the one or more people with the electronic processor.
13. 13. The method of claim 9, wherein controlling the light source to illuminate the first section of the work area brighter than the second section of the work area comprises controlling the light source with the electronic processor to illuminate the first section of the work area where the one or more personnel are located, regardless of whether the one or more personnel have remained stationary for a period of time.
14. 14. The method of claim 9, further comprising dynamically controlling the brightness of the at least two subsets of LEDs with the electronic processor by repeatedly performing the following steps to provide light to different sections of the work area as the one or more persons move within the work area: Controlling, with the electronic processor, the thermal camera to capture additional current images of the working area of the light source; Comparing, with the electronic processor, each additional current image with the background image to determine whether one or more people are present in the work area; determining, with the electronic processor and in response to determining that the one or more persons are present in the work area, the first section of the work area in which the one or more persons are located, and The electronic processor is used to control the light source to illuminate the first section of the work area where the one or more persons are located brighter than the second section of the work area where the persons are not located.
15. 15. The method of claim 9, wherein the thermal camera is mounted adjacent to the light source and is configured such that a field of view of the thermal camera substantially corresponds to the working area of the light source.
16. 16. A lighting device, comprising: A light source comprising a plurality of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), wherein the lighting device is a portable lighting device, and wherein at least two subsets of the plurality of LEDs are individually controllable to be illuminated at different brightness levels; a battery pack configured to supply power to the light source; Camera, and An electronic processor coupled to the camera, wherein the electronic processor is configured to: machine vision is used to analyze the data captured by the camera to detect one or more objects in the working area of the light source, Using machine vision to analyze the data captured by the camera to identify an object type for each of the one or more objects, Analyzing the data captured by the camera using machine vision, determining a position and orientation of each of the one or more objects, Determining, based at least in part on the object type, whether the position and the orientation of each of the one or more objects make the respective object sensitive to light emitted by the light source, and In response to determining that the position and orientation of the respective object are such that the respective object is sensitive to light emitted by the light source, the light source is controlled to (i) decrease the brightness of LEDs illuminating a first section of the work area in which the respective object sensitive to light emitted by the light source is located, and (ii) maintain the brightness of LEDs illuminating a second section of the work area in which the respective object sensitive to light emitted by the light source is not located.
17. 17. The lighting device of claim 16, wherein the electronic processor is configured to: Analyzing the data captured by the camera using machine vision to identify a plurality of people in a work area; Using machine vision to analyze the data captured by the camera to determine that a first gaze direction of a first person of the plurality of persons is toward the light source; using machine vision to analyze the data captured by the camera to determine that a second gaze direction of a second person of the plurality of persons is not toward the light source; Determining that the first person is sensitive to light emitted by the light source and the second person is insensitive to light emitted by the light source based on the gaze direction determination, wherein the first person is located in the first section of the work area and wherein the second person is located in the second section of the work area, and In response to determining that the first person is sensitive to light emitted by the light source and the second person is insensitive to light emitted by the light source, the light source is controlled to (i) decrease the brightness of LEDs illuminating the first section of the work area where the first person is located, and (ii) maintain the brightness of LEDs illuminating the second section of the work area where the second person is located.
18. 18. The lighting device of claim 16, wherein the electronic processor is configured to: Using machine vision to analyze the data captured by the camera to identify moving vehicles in the work area; Determining that the mobile vehicle is sensitive to light emitted by the light source based on identifying the mobile vehicle, wherein the mobile vehicle is located in the first section of the work area, and In response to determining that the mobile vehicle is sensitive to light emitted by the light source, control the light source to (i) decrease the brightness of LEDs illuminating the first section of the work area in which the mobile vehicle is located, and (ii) maintain the brightness of LEDs illuminating the second section of the work area in which the mobile vehicle is not located.
19. 19. The lighting device of claim 16, wherein the electronic processor is configured to: analyzing data captured by the camera using machine vision to determine that the position, the orientation, or both the position and the orientation of the respective object that is sensitive to light emitted by the light source has been changed such that the respective object is no longer present within the work area or such that the respective object is no longer sensitive to light emitted by the light source, and In response to determining that the position, the orientation, or both the position and the orientation of the respective object that is sensitive to light emitted by the light source have changed such that the respective object is no longer present within the work area or such that the respective object is no longer sensitive to light emitted by the light source, the light source is controlled to increase the brightness of LEDs illuminating the first section of the work area back to a previous brightness level.
20. 20. The lighting device of claim 16, further comprising a motorized pan/tilt/focus mechanism, a light assembly comprising the light source and the camera configured to mount to the motorized pan/tilt/focus mechanism, wherein the motorized pan/tilt/focus mechanism receives power from the battery pack, and wherein the electronic processor is coupled to the motorized pan/tilt/focus mechanism and configured to control the motorized pan/tilt/focus mechanism to mechanically adjust a direction of light emitted from the light source to reduce illumination of the first section of the work area where the respective object sensitive to light emitted by the light source is located.

Description

Work light control based on contextual monitoring RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application claims priority from U.S. provisional patent application No. 63/717,360, filed 11/7 at 2024, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Technical Field The invention relates to controlling a work light based on context detection performed by the work light. For example, the worklight can control one or more light sources in response to detecting one or more users within an operational area of the worklight (e.g., to direct light to one or more users while dimming light output in other directions). As another example, the worklight may additionally or alternatively control one or more light sources to reduce or prevent light from shining at one or more photosensitive objects detected by the worklight. Disclosure of Invention A work light, such as a free standing work light, may be used to illuminate a work area of a building site, such as within a building, on a road, etc. Such work light may be powered by a battery (e.g., one or more power tool battery packs) to enable easy transportation and setting of the work light. The work light may be manually turned off by a user when not in use. However, if the user temporarily leaves the area but plans to return to the area later, the user often forgets to turn off the work light or may choose not to turn off the work light. Thus, continuing to provide light to areas where work is not performed and/or where no user is present wastes battery power. In addition, the worklight often illuminates a large (e.g., wide) area, even if the area in which the user is performing work is smaller than the maximum work area (i.e., a portion) that the worklight is capable of providing light. Thus, providing light to a larger area than is required for a user to perform work wastes battery power. The disclosed systems, methods, and apparatus aim to address the above-described technical problems by controlling a work light to perform contextual detection and controlling one or more light sources of the work light based on the contextual detection. For example, the worklight is controlled to detect the presence or absence of a user within the workzone of the worklight. In response thereto, the work light may control one or more Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) of its light source to turn on, turn off, decrease brightness, increase brightness, etc., as described in more detail herein. According to the environment detection of the invention, the different light sources of the work light can be controlled in different ways. The disclosed systems, methods, and devices extend battery life (and generally reduce energy consumption) of a battery used to power a light source without reducing the functionality of a work light in relation to work to be performed by a user. In addition, by the worklight (i) providing light to track a user's location within the workzone of the worklight and/or (ii) automatically turning on and/or off depending on whether a user is detected within the workzone, the worklight provides additional automated functionality that reduces or eliminates user interaction to control the worklight. Thus, users can more easily perform their work without having to manually adjust the worklight as may be required by existing worklights, or without having to manually adjust the worklight at all. Additionally or alternatively, the worklight can automatically control one or more light sources to reduce or prevent light from shining at one or more photosensitive objects detected by the worklight, again providing enhanced functionality without manual user intervention. One disclosed example provides a lighting device that may include a light source. The light source may include a plurality of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). The lighting device may be a portable lighting device. At least two subsets of the plurality of LEDs may be individually controlled to be illuminated at different brightness levels. The lighting device may further include a battery pack configured to provide power to the light source. The lighting device may also include a thermal camera. The lighting device may also include an electronic processor coupled to the thermal camera. The electronic processor may be configured to control the thermal camera to capture a background image of the working area of the light source. The electronic processor may be further configured to control the thermal camera to capture a current image of the working area of the light source after capturing the background image. The electronic processor may be further configured to compare the current image with the background image to determine whether one or more persons are present in the work area. The electronic processor may be further configured to determine a first zone of the work area in which the one or more personnel are located in response to determining that the one or more personnel are present in the work area. The electron