Circuit breakers with notification and reporting capability

A system for monitoring electrical faults, the system comprising:

• a circuit breaker comprising:
• at least one sensor configured to sense electrical properties of a circuit coupled with a load;
• a first memory configured to store a plurality of programmable instructions;
• and
• at least one processing device in communication with the first memory, wherein the at least one processing device, upon execution of the plurality of programmable instructions, is configured to:
• process features of signals output by the at least one sensor;
• transition between states of operation based on the processed features, wherein the states of operation include a normal state, a fault state, and a trip state, wherein the state of operation remains in the normal state until the processed features no longer satisfy normal criteria, after which the state of operation transitions to the fault state, wherein the state of operation transitions from the fault state back to the normal state when a trip condition is not satisfied, and transitions to the trip state when the trip condition is satisfied;
• detect a warning event when the state of operation transitions from the normal state to the fault state and back to the normal state;
• and
• output one or more warning event notifications upon determination of the warning event;
• and
• an edge device comprising:
• a second memory configured to store a plurality of programmable instructions;
• and
• at least one processing device in communication with the second memory, wherein the at least one processing device, upon execution of the plurality of programmable instructions, is configured to:
• receive from the circuit breaker the one or more warning event notifications, wherein each warning event notification is based on detection of a pattern of transitions between the states of operation of the circuit breaker, wherein the pattern includes a series of transitions that includes transitions from the normal state to the fault state and back to the normal state;
• determine a probability of an impending trip based on the pattern detected in association with the respective one or more warning notifications;
• and
• output a trip impending notification as a function of the determined probability.

A method of monitoring electrical faults, the method comprising:

• processing features of signals output by at least one sensor of a circuit breaker about electrical properties of a circuit coupled with a load;
• transitioning between states of operation based on the processed features, wherein the states of operation include a normal state, a fault state, and a trip state, wherein the state of operation remains in the normal state until the processed features no longer satisfy normal criteria, after which the state of operation transitions to the fault state, wherein the state of operation transitions from the fault state back to the normal state when a trip condition is not satisfied, and transitions to the trip state when the trip condition is satisfied;
• detecting a warning event based on detection of a pattern of transitions between the states of operation, wherein the pattern includes a series of transitions that includes transitions from the normal state to the fault state and back to the normal state;
• outputting a communication packet with a warning event notification each time the warning event is detected;
• receiving communication packets including one or more warning event notifications that were output;
• determining a probability of an impending trip based on the pattern detected in association with the respective one or more warning event notifications;
• and
• outputting a trip impending notification as a function of the determined probability.