Automated control-schedule acquisition within an intelligent controller

An intelligent controller comprising:

• a processor;
• a memory;
• a schedule interface;
• a control interface;
• and
• instructions stored within the memory that, when executed by the processor,
• acquire an initial control schedule and store the initial control schedule in memory as a current control schedule,
• during an aggressive-learning phase, modify the current control schedule based on immediate-control inputs received through the control interface and schedule changes received through the schedule interface, and
• during a steady-state learning phase, modify the current control schedule based on immediate-control inputs received through the control interface, schedule changes received through the schedule interface, and historical control schedules.

A method that automatically learns a control schedule implemented within an intelligent controller that includes one or more processors and one or more memories, the method comprising:

• acquiring an initial control schedule and storing the initial control schedule in one of the one or more memories as a current control schedule;
• during each of a set of successive monitoring periods,
• receiving immediate-control inputs through a control interface and recording the received immediate-control inputs in one of the one or more memories, and
• receiving schedule changes through a schedule interface and recording the received schedule changes of at least one type in the memory;
• and
• after each of the set of successive monitoring periods,
• generating an updated monitoring-period schedule based on the recorded immediate-control inputs, the recorded schedule changes, and the current control schedule,
• substituting the updated monitoring-period schedule for a portion of the current control schedule corresponding to the monitoring period, and
• propagating the updated monitoring-period schedule to additional time periods within the current control schedule.