A solar charging umbrella uses solar power to charge electronic devices wirelessly, such as by a wireless or inductive charging port. The umbrella is self-sustained, capable of charging electronic devices in locations away from electrical outlets. The umbrella has a rechargeable battery that is recharged by sunlight. When charged, the umbrella's battery can charge devices when sunlight is not available. The umbrella supports simultaneous charging of higher power devices such as tablet computers.

A tablet docking station comprising a tablet dock configured for receiving a tablet, an upper post extending from the tablet dock, and an extension arm extending from the upper post. The spray tubing can be mounted to the extension arm. The spray tubing provides a water mist for cooling a user when the spray is activated. The tablet docking station optionally includes a fan assembly including a fan housing. The spray tubing has one or more spray outlets configured to provide a water mist for evaporative cooling of an area near a user. The tablet docking station may provide an electronic control for the fan assembly providing a fan control speed adjustable by a graphical use interface on the tablet.

An intelligent shading umbrella includes a processor, a base assembly, a stem assembly coupled to a base assembly and a central support assembly coupled to a stem assembly, the central support assembly including one or more arm support assemblies. The intelligent shading umbrella further comprises one or more blades, coupled to the arm support assemblies. The intelligent shading umbrella further comprises an infrared receiver, the infrared receiver receiving signals from a remote device and communicating signals to control movement of the intelligent shading umbrella.

A method of automatically operating an intelligent umbrella includes automatically capturing sensor measurements from detection sensors without user intervention and communicating captured sensor measurements, automatically analyzing captured sensor measurements, and automatically generating, at a controller, commands and/or signals, based at least in part on the analyzed sensor measurements. The method of automatically operating an intelligent umbrella further includes communicating the generated commands and/or signals to one or more of a first motor assembly, a second motor assembly or a third motor assembly; and automatically generating signals and/or commands to cause movement of an umbrella by rotating about an azimuth axis, rotating about an elevation axis, or deploying or retracting one or more arm support assemblies.

An intelligent shading charging system, comprises a housing having a rechargeable battery installed therein, a lower support assembly connected to the housing and an upper support assembly, the upper support assembly comprising one or more arm support assemblies. The intelligent shading charging system further comprises a hinging assembly connecting a lower support assembly to an upper support assembly to allow an upper support assembly to rotate with respect to the lower support assembly, one or more arms connected to the one or more are support assemblies, a shading fabric; and one or more solar cell arrays mounted on or integrated within the shading fabric.

A mobile computing device may comprise a user interface component configured to output stimuli and receive inputs, a wireless transceiver configured to communicate commands and/or messages to one or more wireless transceivers of the one or more electronic devices, and one or more processors coupled to the user interface component and the wireless transceiver. A computer-readable storage medium may contains computer-readable instructions, that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to receive input corresponding to a selected azimuth movement/position of the intelligent umbrella and a selected tilting movement position, communicate messages and/or commands, based on the selected azimuth movement and the selected tilting movement to the intelligent umbrella to cause a support assembly to rotate with respect to a base about an azimuth axis and to cause an upper support assembly to tilt with respect to a lower assembly about an elevation axis.

An intelligent shading umbrella comprises a base assembly, a stem assembly coupled to a base assembly, and a center support assembly coupled to a stem assembly, the center support assembly comprising one or more arm support assemblies. The intelligent shading umbrella further comprises one or more blades, coupled to the arm support assemblies, a shading fabric, coupled to at least the one or more blades; and a camera, the camera to capture images of an area in proximity to the intelligent shading umbrella. The camera may be located in the center support assembly and the center support assembly may rotate with respect to the base assembly, allowing the camera to capture a variety of images of an area in proximity to the intelligent shading umbrella.

An article comprises a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer implementable instructions executable by a processor in a computing device to receive measurements from one or more environmental sensors of an intelligent shading device, analyze and compare received sensor measurements to preset user-defined weather-based thresholds, and generate and communicate alert messages to identify that user-defined weather-based thresholds have been met or exceeded.

An intelligent umbrella includes an array of solar panels/cells for capturing sunlight and converting into electrical energy, a solar panel charging assembly to receive power from one or more solar assemblies, a rechargeable battery to receive power generated from the solar panel charging assembly, and a processor and a memory, the processor and the memory to receive power from the rechargeable battery; and a wireless transceiver to receive power from the rechargeable battery, the wireless transceiver to communicate messages and/or signals when no external power source is connected to and/or available for the intelligent umbrella. The intelligent umbrella may further comprise a cellular transceiver to receive power from the rechargeable battery, the cellular transceiver to communicate messages and/or signals when no external power source is connected to and/or available to supply power for the intelligent umbrella.

A personal umbrella assembly has a frame, a lighting apparatus coupled with the frame, and light control logic operatively coupled with the lighting apparatus. The light control logic is configured to receive an input signal and cause the lighting apparatus to display a light signal/pattern as a function of the input signal.