Energy Efficiency Algorithm Inspired by Honeybees

Innovation: Industry

Encycle

2005

Image: Eric Ward / Unsplash / CC BY SA - Creative Commons Attribution + ShareAlike

Respond to Signals

To interact with its environment, a living system must not only sense a variety of signals, but also respond to them. To be energy- and material-efficient, those responses must be appropriate to the signal. This generally requires sensing thresholds to trigger an appropriate level of response (for example, hiding under a shrub versus running away to avoid a predator). Response strategies are tied to a specific signal and often have a response threshold, which determines how strong a signal must be to warrant expending energy to respond. One example is a plant that lives in arid regions in South Africa. Its seed capsules remain closed until rainfall triggers them to open to release the seeds. But the plant only responds to a second rainfall, thus protecting against releasing its seeds before there is enough sustained water for them to grow.

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Distribute Energy

Many forms of energy are naturally available, including kinetic, potential, thermal, elastic, radiant, chemical, and more. All living systems require energy to carry out their many activities. Energy isn’t a physical object that can be held, so it also can’t be pushed, pulled, or carried. However, it can be transmitted or transformed. For example, the golden-scale snail has a tri-layered shell that dissipates, or transfers, forces from a predator biting down on it, thereby minimizing damage to its soft body inside the shell.

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Brochures

SwarmLogic Encycle Case Study
327.8 KB PDF

Patents

SwarmLogic from Encycle uses a unique algorithm that allows power-consuming appliances to communicate with each other and save energy.

Benefits

Reduced energy consumption
Reduced cost

Applications

HVAC systems
Smart buildings

UN Sustainable Development Goals Addressed

Goal 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities
Goal 12: Responsible Production & Consumption

The Challenge

HVAC systems are found in almost all major buildings, but they can be the biggest energy consumer, and therefore the biggest cost, of running a building. Different types of building equipment usually operate in isolation from each other, obeying a single thermostat or a timer that has no knowledge of what else is currently operating in the facility. Since these loads do not communicate with each other, they often operate simultaneously–unnecessarily boosting energy usage and increasing costs.

Innovation Details

SwarmLogic® is an energy efficiency technology that integrates with a building’s controls to dramatically and instantly reduce electric costs. Swarm Logic controllers establish a mesh wireless network among power-consuming appliances, enabling them to communicate among themselves autonomously. Using a custom algorithm inspired by honeybee communication, the connected appliances spread out energy demand among them. The result is known as peak demand shaving.

Biological Model

Honeybees communicate with one another and coordinate individual behaviors to form a collective organization that efficiently acts to build hives and feed their colonies.

See Related Strategy

thousands of honeybees swarm on a tree branch, closely together building a half spherical shape

Biological Strategy

Quorum Determines New Hive Site

Bees

Honeybees in a colony select a new hive location via quorum.

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