BACKGROUND

Large, sophisticated laboratories (e.g., research and development facilities, pharmaceutical company facilities, etc.) typically use many high value and sensitive equipment assets in addition to various specialized laboratory workspaces. Managers of such facilities may be responsible for understanding and planning space layout design, equipment management, workflow managing, resource usage, etc. for the space. For example, managers of such facilities may be tasked with designing laboratories, placing equipment, organizing work schedules, etc. to maximize the productivity of the laboratories and the personnel that work there. Furthermore, as research priorities shift, new equipment is acquired, or other changes occur, modifications to such designs, plans, layouts, etc. may be desirable. Such adaptations are preferably supported by robust information relating to a laboratory, which may be difficult to acquire. Accordingly, a need exists for systems and methods for generating, collecting, and analyzing information relating to actual utilization of laboratories to guide management, redesign, and other planning for the laboratories.

SUMMARY

One implementation of the present disclosure is a method. The method includes defining a plurality of monitored spaces. For each of the plurality of monitored spaces, the method includes associating a set of laboratory equipment with the monitored space, calculating an equipment utilization score for the monitored space based on resource consumption data for the set of laboratory equipment, calculating an occupancy utilization score for the monitored space based on occupant tracking data for the monitored space, and calculating a combined utilization score based on the equipment utilization score and the occupancy utilization score. The method also includes providing a graphical user interface comprising the combined utilization scores for the plurality of monitored spaces.

In some embodiments, the method includes operating the set of laboratory equipment to consume electrical power via network-connected plugs and measuring, by the network-connected plugs, amounts of the electric power consumed by the set of laboratory equipment. The resource consumption data includes the amounts of the electrical power.

In some embodiments, the method includes tracking positions of a plurality of beacons. Each beacon is associated with an occupant of the plurality of monitored spaces. The method also includes defining the occupant tracking data based on a number of the plurality of beacons positioned at the monitored space. In some embodiments, the plurality of beacons include Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) badges. Tracking positions of the plurality of beacons may include, for each beacon, detecting, by each of three or more transceivers, a distance between the transceiver and the beacon and performing a triangulation calculation based on the distances and the positions of the transceivers to determine a position of the beacon.

In some embodiments, defining the plurality of monitored spaces includes defining a geofence around each of the monitored spaces and defining the occupant tracking data for the monitored space includes determining whether the position of the beacon is within the geofence for the monitored space.

In some embodiments, calculating the combined utilization score includes normalizing the equipment utilization score based on an expected equipment utilization, normalizing the occupancy utilization score based on an expected occupancy, and at least one of adding the equipment utilization score to the occupancy utilization score or multiplying the equipment utilization score by the occupancy utilization score.

In some embodiments, calculating the equipment utilization score includes determining, for each of a plurality of sub-periods in a time period and for each device in the set of laboratory equipment, a status of the device based on the resource consumption data, counting, for each device, a number of the plurality of sub-periods for which the status of the device indicates utilization of the device to determine a device utilization score, and averaging the device utilization scores for the set of laboratory equipment to determine the equipment utilization score for the monitored space. Determining the status of the device based on the resource consumption data may include comparing an amount or rate of resource consumption for the device during the sub-period to a threshold value. The method may include determining the status of the device as in-use when the amount or rate of electrical power consumption for the device during the sub-period exceeds the threshold value.

In some embodiments, associating a set of laboratory equipment with the monitored space includes determining whether a tag associated with a first device of laboratory equipment is located within a perimeter of the monitored space, and, in response to determining that the tag associated with the first device of laboratory equipment is located within the perimeter of the monitored space, associating the first device of laboratory equipment with the monitored space.

Another implementation of the present disclosure is a system. The system includes laboratory equipment positioned in a plurality of spaces of a laboratory facility and configured to consume electrical power when operating, a tracking system configured to detect locations of occupants of the laboratory facility, one or more processors, and one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing program instructions executable by the one or more processors, the program instructions causing the one or more processors to perform operations. The operations include defining boundaries of the plurality of spaces of the laboratory facility, calculating, for at least one of the plurality of spaces, an equipment utilization score based on data representing resource consumption of the laboratory equipment positioned in the space over a time period, calculating, for the at least one of the plurality of spaces, an occupancy utilization score based on data representing a number of people occupying the space over the time period, and calculating, for the at least one of the plurality of spaces, a combined utilization score based on the equipment utilization score for the space and the occupancy utilization score for the space.

In some embodiments, the system includes a plurality of network-connected plugs. The laboratory equipment is configured to draw electrical power from a building electrical system via the network-connected plugs. The plurality of network-connected plugs are configured to measure electrical power consumption of the laboratory equipment to obtain the data representing resource consumption of the laboratory equipment and transmit the data representing resource consumption of the laboratory equipment to the one or more processors.

In some embodiments, the system includes a plurality of beacons. Each beacon is associated with an occupant of the laboratory facility. The operations include determining the number of people occupying the space over the time period based on tracked positions of the plurality of beacons. The beacons may include Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) badges, and the system may include a plurality of transceivers. Each transceiver is configured to detect a distance between the transceiver and a subset of the BLE badges proximate the transceiver. The operations include determining a position of the occupant associated with the beacon by performing a triangulation calculation using the distances detected by the transceivers. In some embodiments, determining the number of people occupying the space comprises determining whether the position of the occupant is within the boundary of the space.

In some embodiments, calculating the combined utilization score includes normalizing the equipment utilization score based on an expected equipment utilization and normalizing the occupancy utilization score based on an expected occupancy.

In some embodiments, calculating the equipment utilization score includes determining, for each of a plurality of sub-periods in the time period and for each device in of laboratory equipment positioned at the space, a status of the device based on the data representing resource consumption, counting, for each device, a number of the plurality of sub-periods for which the status of the device indicates utilization of the device to determine a device utilization score, and averaging the device utilization scores for the devices of laboratory equipment positioned at the space to determine the equipment utilization score for the space. Determining the status for the device may include comparing an amount or rate of resource consumption for the device during the sub-period to a threshold value. Determining the status for the device may include identifying the status of the device as having an in-use status when the amount or rate of resource consumption for the device during the sub-period exceeds the threshold value.

In some embodiments, the system includes a plurality of trackable tags. Each trackable tag is associated with a device of the laboratory equipment. The operations include automatically identifying the laboratory equipment positioned at the space based on tracked positions of the trackable tags.

