Disclosed are implementations for minimizing substrate contamination during pressure changes in substrate processing systems. Over a duration of a pressure change (increase or decrease) in a chamber of a substrate processing system, a flow rate is adjusted multiple times to reduce occurrence of contaminant particles in an environment of the chamber. In some instances, the flow rate is changed continuously using at least one dynamic valve that enable continuous control over the pressure dynamics of the chamber.

The present disclosure presents infant soothing devices which provide timed, color, and intensity controlled light and sound projections to assist in sleep therapy. The devices may be part of a smart nursery which has a number of electronically connected devices which communicate with a central electronic application to gather information and provide operation instructions to the devices. The smart nursery may be connected to a larger network to provide feedback and controllability outside of the nursery.

There is presented a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system for conditioning air within a chamber, the system comprising: an inlet, an outlet, and a conditioning unit, the conditioning unit comprising a fan, and a heat exchanger configured to exchange heat with the air within the conditioning unit, wherein during operation, air is urged through conditioning unit by the fan such that heat is exchanged between the air and the heat exchanger, wherein the fan is configured to vary the flow rate of air urged through the conditioning unit to thereby control the amount of heat transferred between the air and the heat exchanger.

Systems and methods are configured to control operation of an HVAC system providing climate control for a zone of a structure. In various embodiments, a constrained optimization problem is performed to set control commands for controlling operation of the HVAC system to achieve one or more objectives while providing a supply air flow at an air temperature and a humidity ratio for the zone at a future time. For instance, the optimization problem may include a cost function having constraints based on a desired temperature setpoint and a humidity ratio for the zone. A value is set for each control command based on the performance of the constrained optimization problem to achieve at least one of the objectives and as a result, the supply air flow at the air temperature and humidity ratio is provided by the HVAC system at the future time to the zone based on the values.

An alarm system includes a monitoring component configured to detect a danger in a dwelling, and an alert component that includes an array of vibration devices placed throughout the dwelling. Each of the array of vibration devices are configured to provide a tactile alert in response to a detection of the danger in the dwelling. In another aspect, an alarm system includes a monitoring component configured to detect a ventilation-related danger in a building, and a mitigation component configured to open at least one of a door or a window in the building automatically in response to a detection of the ventilation-related danger. In a further aspect, a method includes monitoring a building for a ventilation-related danger, and opening at least one of a door or a window in the building automatically in response to a detection of the ventilation-related danger.

A ventilation system is provided, the ventilation system comprising at least one air flow generating device, the at least one air flow generating device having a calibrated speed to produce a downward air flow capable of forcing a cloud of infectious bacterial, viral or pathogen particles or droplets out of an ingestion zone of a mouth, a nose and eyes of an individual, at least one ultraviolet C light lamp positioned proximate at least one wall of an area in a pathway of an infected air flow, the infected air flow containing the cloud of infectious bacterial, viral or pathogen particles or droplets, an ultraviolet C radiation field created by the at least one ultraviolet C light lamp, the ultraviolet C radiation field extending throughout the area from the at least one wall near a ceiling of the area and the infected air flow containing the cloud of infectious bacterial, viral or pathogen particles or droplets passing through the ultraviolet C radiation field, wherein the at least one air flow generating device is positioned to enable an upward air flow return to the at least one air flow generating device to force the infected air flow and the cloud of infectious bacterial, viral or pathogen particles or droplets out of an area and through the ultraviolet C radiation field to eradicate the infectious bacteria, virus and pathogens from the infected air flow, and wherein a fresh air flow free of infectious bacteria, viruses and pathogens is reintroduced back into the area by the downward air flow of the at least one air flow generating device.

An environmental control system is provided and includes equipment to generate an environmental control effect, a damper associated with a zone to control a portion of the environmental control effect permitted to affect the zone by assuming one of various damper positions and a capacity controller operably coupled to the equipment and the damper to control operation of the equipment and to adjust the damper to assume the one of the various damper positions based on a demand of the zone and a capacity of the equipment.

A method of defrosting an energy recovery ventilator unit. The method comprises defrosting an energy recovery ventilator unit. The method comprises activating a defrost process of an enthalpy-exchange zone of the energy recovery ventilator unit when an air-flow blockage in the enthalpy-exchange zone coincides with a frost threshold in the ambient environment surrounding the energy recovery ventilator unit. The method also comprises terminating the defrost process when a heat transfer efficiency across the enthalpy-exchange zone returns to within 10 percent of a pre-frosting heat transfer efficiency wherein, the heat transfer efficiency is proportional to a temperature difference between an intake air zone of the energy recovery ventilator and a supply air zone of the energy recovery ventilator divided by a temperature difference between an return air zone of the energy recovery ventilator and the intake air zone.

Apparatus, systems and methods for ascertaining the occupancy of a building are presented. The building is divided into one or more control zones which correspond to physical areas of the building associated with controllable modules, such as HVAC units, lighting, irrigation, or other environmental features such as fountains, music, video, and the like. Zone parameters define how zone devices shall react to the number of occupants located in the particular zone. A building control system detects individual mobile devices in and around the building, and determines the locations of each device by using trilateration and/or location services. The identified mobile devices act as proxies for building occupants. The locations of these devices are correlated with the locations of the zones in the building, and the building control system then adjusts the operating parameters of the zone based on the number of devices present in the zone.

An air conditioner connection system includes an air conditioner having a first device connected via a power line in a communication-capable manner, and a second device capable of performing radio communication with the air conditioner. The air conditioner includes an authentication process control unit that controls the first device to perform an authentication process when a starting request of the authentication process for performing power carrier communication is received from the second device, the first device includes an authentication process unit that performs the authentication process under the control of the air conditioner, and the second device includes an authentication start process unit that transmits the starting request of the authentication process to the air conditioner.