An arrangement of multiple environmental control systems for a multi-unit structure has a first environmental control system installed in a first unit, a second environmental control system installed in a second unit, a system monitor in communication with each of the environmental control systems and a firewall. Each environmental control system has a control unit coupled to the system monitor through the firewall that prevents unauthorized devices from accessing the respective control unit and a HVAC system device coupled to the respective control unit through the firewall. For each unit, a local user device that is located inside the unit is coupled to the control unit through a local communication interface, and an external user device that is located outside the unit communicates with the control unit through the firewall.

Methods and systems are disclosed for simulating a fabrication process based on real time sensor measurements obtained during the process. In one embodiment, a first simulation of the process computes a set of predicted physical responses based on a first set of assumed boundary conditions, and then, during the fabrication process sensor measurements are obtained and used to compute a second set of boundary conditions. A second simulation, based on the second set of boundary conditions, can then be performed to compute an updated set of predicted physical responses that can be compared to the previously computed set of physical responses. The difference(s) can be used to determine line, surface or volumetric response distribution from point, line or surface boundary conditions respectively, whether and how to modify the fabrication process (or other processes) and how to take additive and other manufacturing process decisions real-time using simulation. Other examples are also described.

The present disclosure describes system and method to virtualize a plant facility with remote sites that are separated from a central site. The method includes: receiving, at a remote site of the plant facility and from a transport vehicle of a transport network, an engineering package assembled by a server computer located at the central site of the plant facility and addressed to the remote site of the plant facility, the engineering package comprising a command script and a data component; and extracting, by one or more computing devices at the remote site, the command script from the engineering package such that the command script is executed to cause the one or more computing devices to perform tasks of managing site operations at the remote site of the plant facility as if a human control systems engineer is present to perform such tasks on-site.

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for performing a thermostat-based demand response event. In one aspect, a method includes accessing, for sites, historical readings of HVAC activity, indoor temperature, and outdoor temperature and building a model for each of the sites using the historical readings of HVAC activity, indoor temperature, and outdoor temperature. The method also includes using a simulation engine to achieve a target load shed and load reduction shape for a thermostat-based demand response event, and performing the thermostat-based demand response event based on results of the simulation engine.

A method and apparatus for applying a cladding layer to a surface of a component uses a cladding tool having a maximum reach less than the size of the surface. Geometry of the surface is segmented into a plurality of tessellated segments, each of which has a peripheral extent determined by a maximum reach of the cladding tool. A nominal tool subpath for each tessellated segment is generated, and then combined to generate a nominal tool path for depositing the cladding layer on the surface. The surface is clad using the nominal toolpath, including a process of adjusting the nominal tool path to an adjusted tool path that accounts for dimensions of the bead to be deposited by the tool to match an edge of the bead to be deposited with an edge of a previously deposited bead.

Automatic wavelength or angle pruning for optical metrology is described. An embodiment of a method for automatic wavelength or angle pruning for optical metrology includes determining a model of a structure including a plurality of parameters; designing and computing a dataset of wavelength-dependent or angle-dependent data for the model; storing the dataset in a computer memory; performing with a processor an analysis of the dataset for the model including applying an outlier detection technology on the dataset, and identifying any data outliers, each data outlier being a wavelength or angle; and, if any data outliers are identified in the analysis of the dataset of the model, removing the wavelengths or angles corresponding to the data outliers from the dataset to generate a modified dataset, and storing the modified dataset in the computer memory.

A functional unit is synchronized with an output system unit on the basis of a trigger signal input from outside with a synchronization period. The input system unit includes: a functional processing unit to perform, on the basis of the trigger signal, a functional process with a control period that is shorter than the synchronization period, and to generate processing results by repeatedly performing the functional process in one synchronization period; and a shared memory to collectively output the processing results of the functional processing unit to outside on the basis of the trigger signal.

A component mounting system includes a component mounting line, a storage device, and a display device. The component mounting line is formed by connecting a plurality of mounting board manufacturing machines. The storage device is connected to the component mounting line via a network to acquire information from each of the plurality of mounting board manufacturing machines. The display device is connected to the storage device via the network and displays a progress status of set-up work executed when changing a type of a mounting board manufactured by the component mounting line based on information stored in the storage device.

A method includes receiving samples of one or more monitored variables relating to building equipment, updating a statistical metric of the samples, determining whether the building equipment is operating in a steady state or operating in a transient state using the statistical metric of the samples, and adjusting an operation that uses the samples as an input based on whether the building equipment is operating in the steady state or operating in the transient state.

Some embodiments provide a system and method for interfacing with an irrigation controller based on rainfall, the system comprising: an interface unit including a housing and a control unit within the housing and configured to: cause an interruption of one or more watering schedules executed by the irrigation controller, which is separate from the interface unit, based on signaling received from a rain sensor including hygroscopic material, when a sensed expansion of the hygroscopic material is above a set rainfall accumulation threshold parameter, the rain sensor being separate from the interface unit and the hygroscopic material being configured to expand in response to being contacted by the rainfall and to contract in response to an absence of the rainfall; and remove the interruption after a completion of a predetermined interval of time after a sensed contraction of the hygroscopic material indicative of a rainfall stop.