CN112640581A

CN112640581A - Method and apparatus for managing large area lighting

Info

Publication number: CN112640581A
Application number: CN201980044905.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: W·曹; K·C·巴克斯特; M·史; F·H·福尔摩斯
Original assignee: Saibeiming Lighting Co
Current assignee: Saibeiming Lighting Co
Priority date: 2018-05-04
Filing date: 2019-05-06
Publication date: 2021-04-09
Also published as: WO2019213649A1; AU2019262667A1; KR20210005263A

Abstract

A lighting system suitable for illuminating a large area, such as a sporting event or a large event. The lighting system includes a light server in communication with one or more wide area LED lights, wherein the lights are each at least 300 watts; a smart phone application; and wherein the light server is in communication with the smartphone application; and wherein the smartphone application controls the light server.

Description

Method and apparatus for managing large area lighting

Cross Reference to Related Applications

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 62/666,935 filed on day 5, month 4, 2018 and U.S. patent application No. 16/388,641 filed on day 4, month 18, 2019, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes.

Technical Field

The invention relates to a large area lighting system which is computer controlled so that lighting can be provided to a user in an automated manner and the user can be charged for the use of the lighting and special effects and features of the automated system.

Background

Large area lighting has typically been used in stadiums, parks, harbors, prisons, airports, arenas, and similar large venue locations. These lamps have evolved from tungsten to sodium vapor to HID to the Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) currently in use. Initially, the only control was a very large on-off lighting control (fill) switch at the base of one pole. Turning off one of these large switches usually leaves the user completely dark, possibly unknowingly away from the center of the stadium or field with all of their tripping hazards. More recently, remote control schemes have existed in which a user can make a telephone call to a center where an operator or an automated process remotely turns on the lights. This improvement only allows on-off control but is a great improvement over lighting control switches.

For many years, tennis courts and similar facilities have been available that have coin or bill kiosks that allow players to purchase lighting one hour ago. A certain amount of currency is inserted and illumination is received for a fixed amount of time. If the player ends early, the light remains on and there is no opportunity to refund the unused portion of the lighting.

In the past decades professional sports have evolved into a very different form of entertainment than before. Athlete statistics, large video screens, music, fan participation programs, fire effects, fireworks, lasers, and generally fan participation experiences. These demonstrations require a large budget of staff and sports venues, but it is successful on a very satisfactory fan basis. Especially small leagues and amateur sports at the municipal level have not really developed in this way at all.

At the same time, some municipalities have curtailed expenses from their typical responsibility of providing a sports field for all of their inhabitants, with private paying operators emerging to meet the needs of amateur sports players. The operators of these stadiums/arenas will accept the booking at that time and require the team to pay. When using these facilities, costs are often shared among them by teams.

In harbours and airports, the continuous large area lamps traditionally used are sodium vapor lamps, which do not require bulb replacement due to their long life. Disadvantageously, the light level provided by Low Pressure Sodium Vapor (LPSV) with high masts is very low, coupled with the low visual acuity, extremely low Color Rendering Index (CRI), associated with this technique. HID lamps are usually installed near LPSV fixtures when workers are loading and unloading ships, since there are not enough lamps to work safely at LPSV, and HID fixtures are lit by a timer when work is in progress. The problem is that HID takes several minutes to reach full brightness, and when the timer runs out, the lamp goes out and requires a 20 minute cool down period before it can resume. This can result in workers working only at LPSV occasionally after the timer times out and they are accidentally killed in low light working conditions. LEDs have been used at ports, but running them at high brightness at all times, including times when they are not needed, has increased unacceptable power costs for operation.

It is desirable to solve all these problems with an easy to use solution.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention provides an automated way of managing, customizing and/or controlling large area lighting by an individual user. Another aspect of the invention includes a method of recording, editing and generating customized video.

In a preferred embodiment of the device of the invention, the device is based on an array of large area lights, said lights being focused on a sports or entertainment venue and controlled by a light server, which is one or more computers common to all lights, and which is connected to the internet (and the cloud). The computer may also be accessed by an application (app), which may then request a lighting change through a light server computer. Ideally, the lamps would be individually addressable.

The light server has several useful functions, one of which is to schedule lights on and off. The light server may change, add, or modify the schedule based on input from the application user. The lamp server also has similar functionality in relation to dimming lamps for economic, safety, security or entertainment purposes.

The light server will have several priority levels with respect to the user, the first priority being the facility manager. The facility manager is probably the most important and will control the timing of the lighting schedule and the blocking period. The coach or referee may have the next priority level and will be able to turn the lights on and off and dim, contradictory to lighting schedules and lockout times. The players may have the lowest priority and may be allowed specific control of the yard or courtyard they are authorized to play with but cannot violate the lock-out time. All activities of the user's communication with the lamp server will be verified and recorded with other priority levels added as required.

As used herein, the term user may be an individual user, such as an audience, including but not limited to a parent, relative, or particular performer (individual or member of an organization) or a fan of a participant, or may be a participant or coach, or the like. The term user also includes game or league officials, venue officials, directors or other administrators who, for example, are responsible for talking, tracking or maintaining and displaying typical information known to be displayed on a scoreboard, such as scores, game clocks, video and still content (including time, playback, streaming or inventory content), which may be related to events or shows or advertisements.

The light server will allow the facility manager to remotely control the lights at the remote location. If control of the various venues is required, they can be accessed independently and at the end of nighttime venue use, the lights can be dimmed to a very low level that is too low to continue for movement but bright enough that the public will not trip on roadways and similar hazards when they leave the facility. Many facilities are supported by fans commonly referred to as boosters (boosters), which are fans who donate money to improve the facility. These fans may be given the option on their application to control one or more lights (preferably during non-critical parts of the game) to show others which light is their contribution.

In a preferred embodiment, the light server may also be used to pay for or schedule use for a particular field or pitch by individual users who want to pay for the lights and/or the field/pitch by hour (time) and by lighting level (dimming). The individual user will have to pay through a credit card kiosk or through an application to which a credit card has been bound. For the same amount of money, individual users may choose a longer period of time at a low light level for exercise purposes, or they may choose a shorter period of time at a higher light level for increased visibility. Multiple application users may additionally connect to the light server so that they can share the cost for longer periods of time at high lighting levels. The sports facility may also use this portal of the light server to charge for the use of individual fields and courtyards and lighting. The apparatus of the present disclosure will allow municipalities to shift the cost of playgrounds and/or patios from taxpayers to individuals using the facility.

Ideally, the light server (computer) is also connected to a large video screen display and/or scoreboard and sound system, which allows the light server to control music, sound and video presentations and scores to stadium spectators in addition to controlling changes in lighting. In addition to large area lights, there may be multi-colored lights, such as red, green, blue (RGB) lights that may be controlled by a light server. The light server may also be connected to special effects such as smoke generators, fireworks lighters, fountains, fireball generators, air cannons, and video cameras, as examples only.

Game officials such as referees, referees or scoreboards may have applications that will allow them to control the video screen and/or the scoreboard. The video screen may also be used as a scoreboard, or both may be used in the illumination system of the present disclosure. An application controlled by the individual user(s) may have the ability to trigger special effects when a score or change in the race is registered on the light server. These special effects may include (preferably short or transient): lighting changes, music, video presentations, sound effects, smoke generators, fireworks igniters and fireball generators. A particular change in the scoreboard may trigger a particular special effect, in a baseball game, a gratuitous count will trigger a stressful piece of music, while a home run will trigger a chase and firework. There are traditional track lot and hiss tones and displays that occur in professional sporting events, as well as player and team theme songs, and make it possible to replicate in municipal or amateur sports facilities via the special effects of the apparatus of the present invention. Playing the audio effects of the organs of traditional combat tunes in primary league or even school hockey games will have a large emotional impact on the players and their spectators, as in the main arena.

The light server of the lighting system of the present disclosure may also provide billing for revenue, electrical usage, field usage, team scores, athlete statistics, and the like.

The viewer application user (or individual user) can browse and download specific special effects for specific situations, which can be triggered automatically when the scoreboard changes, or they can be triggered by the application user at will when the application instructs the light server if they do not compromise the fairness of the game. There may be a relevant charge for special effects of the application user (individual user). The federation can also access a portion of the application that can allow the federation to set how many fan participants it will allow. Younger players may be too sensitive to some hiss effects and these effects may be left to older players of the league, as an example only.

The application and light server may be used to count and display player statistics on a scoreboard or video display, it may become a league repository for player statistics, or it may simply import them from an external source such as a league server.

In another preferred embodiment, the light server may be connected to a video camera and a video recording system. The system will have several motion tracking cameras and at least one of them will be projected on a large video screen most of the time, especially during periods of motion. The application user (game official or individual user) may trigger instant replay, record a close-up view of an individual player, or receive a record of the entire game. Close-up views of individual players may show their statistics, such as close-ups of quarterback, center, or batter.

When playing a game, the athlete may be recorded visually and their performance may be analyzed in real time by Artificial Intelligence (AI). The same user application that allows control of the lights and special effects will also be used to receive constructive guidance from the AI.

As used herein, the terms artificial intelligence, AI and/or a.i. are terms known to those skilled in the art that refer to a computer technique that takes large data and then studies and learns it to produce a small algorithm that then performs a task similar to or better than a human can perform. One example is panning and tilting of the camera base so that the camera follows the movement. A.i. a sports player who may try to pan and tilt in order to follow the movement, then learns the speed, resolution and limitations of the motor actually operating the base. After several observations of the athlete's motion and the shortcomings of the operation of the motor (hardware), the algorithm that activates the motor can be modified to do a second better job. This is repeated many times until the algorithm can follow the moving athlete as well as or better than a person.

In a preferred embodiment, the light server may take data from real world sensors and allow lighting and special effects, which may be fully dynamic or fixed based on input. The smart phone may send its movements to the light server, where the smart phone is in the pocket of the performer (or game official or individual user) and the lighting and special effects may follow the body movements of the performer. For example, the brightness of the lights will rise when the performer (or game official or individual user) jumps, the lights will change color when the performer (or game official or individual user) swings left or right (dancing), and so on. A musical performance may also trigger special effects and lighting changes based on the frequency, tempo or volume of the music. There may be a DMX output from the light server to allow data to be output to virtually any DMX fixture or device. Using the device of the invention, fans (individual users) from one team who own applications can participate in a sports game, their movements can be collectively judged for all fans from another team. The device of the present invention will allow the lighting of sports or entertainment activities to be controlled by movements of the fan.

In a further preferred embodiment, the light server may take input from a Passive Infrared (PIR) motion detector or a motion detection video camera. These motion sensors can detect motion in areas such as car dealership venues, prisons, industrial sites, and running rails or corridors. The lights in such installations will be preset at a low level by the light server computer of the present invention and then dim up the lights, but only in the immediate vicinity of the detected motion or person. They may be slowly dimmed to eliminate any jumps or jerkiness, making them gradual. The light server may communicate with an application or smart phone of a car dealer/salesman in the case of a car park or with an application on a guard's smart phone in the case of a prison. The brightness of the light alone can alert a person to movement. This will result in a substantial power saving, but with a reasonable moderate brightness.

The present disclosure relates to a lighting system for large area lighting, comprising: a light server in communication with at least one wide area LED light, wherein the light server is adapted to control and schedule the at least one wide area LED light; an application in communication with the light server such that the application is adapted to control the light server. The at least one wide area LED lamp is preferably at least 300 watts. The lamp server may comprise at least one timer. The timer may be a timing device or generated by software.

The lighting system may also comprise special effects controlled by the lamp server. The special effect may comprise at least one smoke generator controlled by a light server. The special effects may also or alternatively comprise at least one sound effect generator controlled by the light server. Special effects may also or alternatively include fireworks controlled (emitted) by the light server. The special effects may also or alternatively comprise at least one video display controlled by a light server. The video display may be a large video monitor as is known and used in sporting events, or it may be a small scoreboard. The video display may display information provided by a user (e.g., a game official or an individual user) to the light server. The video display may display information stored on the light server as directed by the user. The video display may display information stored on the light server as directed by the game official.

The lighting system of the present disclosure may include a light server that receives input from one or more smartphones that include motion sensors. Information from the motion sensor may be input into the application such that a particular movement input triggers a customized lighting display (strobe, color, etc.) or video display or other special effect.

The light server may include a plurality of user priority levels.

The application may be adapted to receive control input from a user. The control information from the application may be payment information derived from the user in the application. The application may be adapted to receive time information from a user. This may be, for example, the time when the user needs to illuminate a tennis or basketball court or soccer court. The application may also or alternatively be adapted to receive dimming information from a user. The user may be an individual user, a game official, a facility manager, or the like.

The present disclosure also includes a method for controlling or scheduling output of large area lighting. The method includes providing a wide area LED lamp of at least 300 watts; adapting an application for controlling a light server; the light server is adapted to control the wide area LED light.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the more important features of the present invention disclosed herein so that the detailed description that follows may be better understood, and so that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. This invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. Rather, the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various other ways not specifically enumerated herein. Further, the following disclosure is intended to apply to all alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting, unless the specification specifically so limits the invention.

Drawings

Fig. 1 depicts a block diagram of a preferred configuration of the lighting system of the present invention.

Fig. 2 depicts a block diagram of a light server and its connections.

Fig. 3 shows a progression of screens of an application.

Fig. 4 shows a diagram of a video system.

Fig. 5 depicts a block diagram of a preferred configuration of the motion-to-light system.

Fig. 6 shows a diagram of an area-reactive lighting system.

Detailed Description

The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processes and manufacturing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the invention may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the claimed invention.

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is important to understand that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the construction and to the steps set forth herein. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals represent like parts throughout the several views, there is shown in FIG. 1 in its general environment a representative lighting as a service system 100. In a preferred embodiment, a plurality of LED-based large

area lighting fixtures

112 and 118 are positioned to illuminate a sporting event or entertainment venue. The

large area lamp

112 and 116 is ideally an LED white light fixture, while the large area lamp 118 may be an RGB fixture. The lamp 116 may be a white light fixture, but it may also be bi-colored, with one color being warm white and the other color being cool white, and the fixture may be cross-faded between the two colors by command from the lamp server 101 and have any selected particular color temperature between 2700K and 6000K, as an example and not by way of limitation. The

lamps

112 and 118 are connected to the lamp server 101. The lamp server 101 may also connect directly to the user's smartphone or tablet application 106 through bluetooth or Wi-Fi or other known protocols 150, or through a cellular network to the web 108 and cloud 107, bluetooth or Wi-Fi 134, which then communicates with the lamp server 101 via the internet 136. The

communication link

142 and 148 may be comprised of many technologies such as DMX, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, cellular modem, to name a few non-limiting examples.

In embodiments where the light server 101 may control the special effect 102, the light server 101 may also be connected to the special effect 102 via a link 152. Special effects 102 may include one or more of the following: fireworks, fireballs, lasers, smoke generators, confetti, cannon sounds, sound effects, searchlights, drones, and music, as non-limiting examples only. The communication link 152 may be one of many communication schemes known in the art.

The user of the viewer application 106 may select a special effect 102 or a

lighting

142 and 148 change from a large amount of content listed on the light server 101 or from the web 108. The referee application user 106 may input a rating change to the light server, which will trigger the special effect display 102, or video 120, or scoreboard 122, because the viewer application 106 user has selected the special effect 102 when a particular team is rated. The user may be charged a fee and pay for special effects 102. Similarly, the user application 106 may select subscriptions and payments for use of a facility, such as a venue, court, or arena, through the light server 101, which communicates with the web 108 and possibly with the facility website.

Referring now to the next figure, the lamp server 101 is shown in particular detail in fig. 2. In a preferred embodiment, the light server 101 has a computer 202 at its core, where a Linux based computer 202 is particularly suitable, having several ways to communicate out to the world, such as but not limited to an ethernet port 208, a fiber optic communication port 210, a serial port, USB 218, and DMX-512212 or other such communication ports known to those skilled in the art. The computer also has wireless options such as Wi-Fi 216 and Bluetooth 216. Ideally, the computer 202 also has a computer tablet (such as android or apple iPad-based) 214 that provides a touch screen interface. The Linux computer 202 should also have the capability to store large amounts of storage and receive software updates over a network. The physical computer 202 will then connect to the internet, where the cloud version of the light server 101 will reside as a mirror or backup. The cloud version may be the same as computer 202. When an internet connection is not available, the local physical lamp server 101 will be able to address most functions.

Referring now to the next figure, a smartphone application screen 106 is shown in fig. 3. Referring now to the next figure, a smartphone and computer application screen 300 is shown in fig. 3. The application places the user in screen 302 as a login screen. This screen is the main screen from which the user navigates. The average user will likely select and enter 318 the control screen 304 to operate the lights. Once completed, they may go to the effects screen 306 or return 320 to the login/home screen 302 and then go 344 to the payment screen 316. After selecting the payment method or condition, the user will return 342 to the login/home screen. Only the administrator will be allowed 334 to proceed to the administration screen 312. Where they can set priority levels for other users and make scheduling and other high-level changes. They may also go to 340 report screen 314 where they may generate reports showing time of use, power usage, cost savings, and other similar charts and spreadsheets. The administrator will also be able to access the configuration system's setup screen 308 from where they can go 330 to the individual fixture screens 310 where the information, location, address and connection of each individual fixture is defined.

Referring now to the next figure, a video system 104 is shown in fig. 4. In a preferred embodiment, the combined Digital Video Recorder (DVR) and video switch 422 are connected to the plurality of

cameras

402 and 408 through their

respective connections

412 and 418. These joining techniques are well known in the art and depending on the location and technical requirements, an optimal joining method will be preferred. Additionally, the cameras of the drone 428 may be wirelessly connected 420 to the DVR 422. Flight instructions for the drone 428 will come from the light server 101 over the wireless connection 152, and video from the drone 428's camera may use this same connection path, but will then need to be relayed to the DVR over the connection 140. The

camera

412 and 418 desirably have a Pan Tilt Zoom (PTZ) support and the camera also has automatic motion tracking capabilities, which are well known in the art. The camera is typically aimed at a sports field or stage and will have various fields of view.

The field of view of camera 402 will be mounted on one of the light poles 424 to obtain a high angle field of view. The camera 404 may be a bullet camera, a small waterproof camera mounted directly above or next to the point where the score occurs. The location may be a goal line in soccer, above the net in hockey, above the board in baseball, or looking down at the rim in basketball, as non-limiting examples only. The camera 406 may be a camera with a telescopic lens that will be fixed and focused on a point of action, such as a batter in baseball or a quarterback in football. The camera 408 may use its motion tracking or AI to track the soccer ball during the game. The cameras in the drone 428 may fly on the field at portions of the race, such as when the station changes, with a large amount of movement throughout the field. These

same cameras

402, 408, 428 (drone cameras) and their capabilities will be used for performances such as concerts, bizarre truck competitions and specific events. The user's application 106 may use the light server 101 to transmit aiming instructions (which may be generated by the AI) to the camera 406 through the DVR 422 for recording to a particular athlete or performer. There may be enough cameras so that if a user wishes to go to their application and order them, all athletes can be close-up on a single camera view. DVR 422 will record all video feeds from

cameras

402, 408, 428 and each application user may have a different final edit based on their favorite athlete's recordings. This final edit may be streamed live over the web 108 to a distant video recipient 410, or it may be sent or viewed at a later date, or made available to other video recipients 410 that will be social media sites, such as Facebook, YouTube, WeChat, and so forth.

The video screen 120 will receive an image from the DVR 422 that may be a single frame or multiple frames. The DVR 422 will switch to a particular camera based on priority and the motion detection camera 408 or AI will take priority during the active period. The activities recorded by the camera 404 near the scored location may take the highest priority. During periods of low activity, the switch may slowly cycle through all views. This same video feed may be sent to the application user or made available to video recipient 410.

Referring now to the next figure, the movement to the lamp system 500 is shown in fig. 5. In a preferred embodiment, the motion to light system will have a smart phone 502 with one or more inertial motion chips that can measure the motion of the smart phone and send this data to the light server 101. The light server 101 will then use the motion data and make relative changes to the

lights

112 and 118 and changes to the special effects 102 and possibly change the image on the video screen 120. The motion chip will determine the x, y and z movements as well as the rotation, heading, rate of change and combinations of all of these. These motion parameters will affect the brightness and color of the lamp as well as the number and timing of special effects.

Multiple smartphones

502 and 508 will all communicate with the light server 101 and can use the sum of their movements to determine changes in lighting and special effects. The communication between the

smart phone

502 and 508 and the lamp server 101 may be a variety of different communications, such as the

smart phone

502 and 508 communicating via the cell network 134 with the web 108, which will then be connected to the lamp server 101, but such communication paths are well known to those skilled in the art.

Smartphones

502 and 504 may add up their sum of motion and compete with the sum of motion of

smartphones

506 and 508, with the result being displayed by light server 101 to change

lights

112 and 118 and special effects 102 and video screen 120. The light server 101 may also communicate with the DMX-512 interface 510, and this interface may talk to other lights (which may or may not be located at the stadium/stadium). The lamp server 101 and the DMX-512 interface 212 may be combined into one device.

Referring now to the drawing of the area-reflective lighting system 600 shown in fig. 6. In a preferred embodiment, the array of

large area lamps

112 and 118 are arranged in the pattern shown. The motion detection camera or PIR motion sensor or AI 402-406 has a field of view depicted by a dashed line. Camera/sensor 402 has a field of view of

lights

116 and 112, camera/sensor 404 has a field of view of

lights

118 and 114, and camera/sensor 406 has a field of view of

lights

118, 112, and 114.

In the preferred embodiment, both

lights

112 and 118 may be turned on, but dimmed to 20% brightness, which dims

lights

112 and 116 to full brightness when the camera/sensor 402 or AI sees motion. After one minute when no motion is detected, the

lights

112 and 116 return to 20% brightness. Similarly, when the camera sensor or AI 404 sees motion, the

lights

118 and 114 are turned on to full brightness. The lamp server 101 preferably uses the internet for secure contact.

Accordingly, the present invention is well adapted to carry out the objects and attain the ends and advantages mentioned as well as those inherent therein. While presently preferred embodiments have been described for purposes of this disclosure, many variations and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are intended to be included within the scope and spirit of the present invention.

It will be understood that the terms "comprises," comprising, "" includes "and" consisting of …, and grammatical variants thereof, do not preclude the addition of one or more components, features, steps or integers, or groups thereof, and that the terms should be interpreted as specifying the components, features, steps or integers.

If the specification or claims refer to "an additional" element, that does not preclude there being more than one of the additional element.

It should be understood that where the claims or specification refer to "a" or "an" element, such reference should not be construed as indicating the presence of only that one element.

It will be understood that where the specification states that a component, feature, structure, or characteristic "may", "might", "could", or "could" be included, that particular component, feature, structure, or characteristic is not required to be included.

Where applicable, although state diagrams, flowcharts, or both may be used to describe embodiments, the inventions are not limited to these diagrams or to the corresponding descriptions. For example, flow need not move through each illustrated box or state, or in exactly the same order as illustrated and described.

The methods of the present invention may be implemented by performing or completing manually, automatically, or a combination thereof, selected steps or tasks.

The term "method" may refer to manners, means, techniques and procedures for accomplishing a given task including, but not limited to, those manners, means, techniques and procedures either known to, or readily developed from known manners, means, techniques and procedures by practitioners of the art to which the invention pertains.

The term "at least" is followed by a number and is used herein to denote the beginning of a range starting from the number (which may or may not be the range with the upper limit depending on the variable being defined). For example, "at least 1" means 1 or greater than 1, and the term "at most" followed by a number is used herein to indicate the end of the range that ends with the number (which can be a range having 1 or 0 as its lower limit, or a range having no lower limit, depending on the variable being defined). For example, "up to 4" means 4 or less than 4, and "up to 40%" means 40% or less than 40%. Unless otherwise indicated, terms of approximation (e.g., "about," "substantially," "about," etc.) should be interpreted according to their ordinary and customary meaning as used in the relevant art. Absent a specific definition and absent ordinary and customary usage in the relevant art, these terms should be construed as ± 10% of the base value.

In this specification, when a range is given as "(first number) to (second number)" or "(first number) - (second number)", this means that the lower limit thereof is the first number and the upper limit thereof is the second number of the range. For example, 25 to 100 should be interpreted as representing a range with a lower limit of 25 and an upper limit of 100. In addition, it should be noted that where a range is given, every possible subrange or interval within the range is also specifically intended unless the context indicates to the contrary. For example, if the specification states a range of 25 to 100, such range is also intended to include sub-ranges, such as 26-100, 27-100, etc., 25-99, 25-98, etc., as well as any other possible combination of lower and higher values within the stated range, e.g., 33-47, 60-97, 41-45, 28-96, etc. It is noted that the integer range values are used in this paragraph for illustrative purposes only, and fractional values (e.g., 46.7-91.3) should also be understood to be intended as possible subrange endpoints unless explicitly excluded.

It should be noted that where reference is made herein to a method comprising two or more defined steps, the defined steps may be performed in any order or simultaneously (unless the context excludes that possibility), and the method may further comprise one or more other steps performed before any defined step, between two defined steps, or after all defined steps (unless the context excludes that possibility).

Accordingly, the present invention is well adapted to carry out the objects and attain the ends and advantages mentioned as well as those inherent therein. While presently preferred embodiments have been described for purposes of this disclosure, many variations and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are encompassed within the spirit of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. An illumination system for large area illumination, comprising:

a light server in communication with at least one wide area LED light,

the light server is adapted to control and schedule the at least one wide area LED light;

the at least one wide area LED lamp is at least a 300 watt lamp;

an application in communication with the light server;

the application is adapted to control the lamp server.

2. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the light server comprises at least one timer.

3. The lighting system of claim 1, further comprising a special effect, and wherein the special effect is controlled by the light server.

4. The lighting system of claim 3, wherein the special effect comprises at least one smoke generator controlled by the light server.

5. A lighting system according to claim 3, wherein said special effects comprise at least one sound effect generator controlled by said light server.

6. The lighting system of claim 3, wherein the special effect comprises a firework controlled by the light server.

7. The lighting system of claim 3, wherein the special effect comprises at least one video display controlled by the light server.

8. The lighting system of claim 7, wherein the video display displays information provided to the light server by a user.

9. The lighting system of claim 7, wherein the video displays information stored on the light server directed by a user.

10. The lighting system of claim 7, wherein the video display displays information stored on the light server as directed by a game official.

11. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the light server receives input from one or more smartphones comprising motion sensors.

12. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the light server comprises a plurality of user priority levels.

13. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the application is adapted to receive control input from a user.

14. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the application is adapted to receive payment information from the user.

15. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the application is adapted to receive time information from the user.

16. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the application is adapted to receive dimming information from the user.

17. The lighting system of claim 13, wherein the user is a personal user.

18. The lighting system of claim 13, wherein the user is a game official.

19. The lighting system of claim 13, wherein the user is a facility manager.

20. A method for controlling or scheduling output of large area lighting, comprising:

providing a wide area LED lamp of at least 300 watts;

adapting an application to control a light server;

the light server is adapted to control the wide area LED light.