Method and control unit for operating a household appliance system with one household appliance and another household appliance, household appliance and household appliance system

Abstract

A method for operating a household appliance system (100) comprising a household appliance (102) having a light source (104) and a communication device (106), and at least one further household appliance (110) having a further light source (112) and a further communication device (114), comprises a step of determining a relative position between the household appliance (102) and the further household appliance (110) using the communication device (106) and the further communication device (114), and a step of controlling the light source (104) of the household appliance (102) and the further light source (112) of the further household appliance (110) to produce a continuous light pattern when the relative position indicates that the household appliance (102) and the further household appliance (110) are positioned adjacent to each other.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a method and a control unit for operating a household appliance system with a household appliance and another household appliance, a household appliance and a household appliance system.

[0002] Household appliances include cleaning equipment, cooking appliances, and refrigerators. These appliances are often placed side by side. Furthermore, the so-called smart home, which allows household appliances to be networked, is popular today.

[0003] The approach presented here aims to create an improved method and an improved control unit for operating a household appliance system with one household appliance and another household appliance, an improved household appliance and an improved household appliance system.

[0004] According to the invention, this problem is solved by a method and a control unit for operating a household appliance system comprising a household appliance and a further household appliance, a household appliance and a household appliance system with the features of the main claims. Advantageous embodiments and further developments of the invention are described in the following dependent claims.

[0005] The presented approach advantageously eliminates the need for users to manually configure devices, thus simplifying their operation. Ideally, household appliances can connect automatically and display relevant information to the user. This also enables appliance localization for interactive lighting effect concepts.

[0006] A method for operating a household appliance system is presented, comprising a household appliance having a lighting device and a communication device, and at least one other household appliance having a further lighting device and a further communication device. The method includes a step of determining a relative position between the household appliance and the other household appliance using the communication device and the further communication device, and a step of controlling the lighting device of the household appliance and the further lighting device of the other household appliance to generate a continuous lighting pattern when the relative position indicates that the household appliance and the other household appliance are positioned adjacent to each other.

[0007] The method can advantageously be carried out in different types of household appliances. The household appliance system can therefore, for example, be located in a user's kitchen and comprise a number of appliances, at least two identical or different appliances as an example. The household appliances are preferably built-in appliances, such as ovens, fully automatic coffee machines, or cleaning appliances. The lighting devices can, for example, be in the form of LED strips, which are arranged on the front of the installed appliances and are thus directly visible to the user. Advantageously, the lighting devices can provide the user with information, for example, regarding their connection status or a specific appliance program, through their lighting pattern and, additionally or alternatively, through a lighting color.This can improve the user's overview of the activity of the household appliances. For example, the pairing of the two household appliances can be automated after the device(s) are switched on, using communication devices that enable data transmission between them.

[0008] According to one embodiment, the relative position can be determined in the determination step exclusively using the communication device and the additional communication device. Alternatively, the relative position can be determined using the communication device, the additional communication device, and an additional communication device of a mobile device. The relative position can preferably represent or comprise a vertical and a horizontal position within a communication radius of the communication devices. The mobile device can, for example, be a smartphone or a tablet, via which a user can preferably manually select and additionally or alternatively link the household appliances.

[0009] In the determination step, the relative position is determined using ultra-wideband (UWB) signals from the communication device and the other communication device. When using ultra-wideband signals, the preferred measurement principles are Time-Difference-of-Arrival (TDoA), Two-Way-Ranging (TWR), Angle-of-Arrival (AoA), and Phase-Difference-of-Arrival (PDoA). Advantageously, coupling the household appliances using communication devices configured as UWB devices can be automated.

[0010] In the determination step, the relative position is determined using Bluetooth signals from the communication device and the other communication device. When using Bluetooth signals, the so-called "Channel Sounding" of the Bluetooth standard from version 6.0 onwards is preferably used, employing Phase-Based Ranging (PBR) and Round-Trip Time (RTT). Advantageously, pairing of household appliances using communication devices implemented as Bluetooth devices can be automated.

[0011] In the determination step, the relative position can be determined as a distance between the appliance and the other appliance, and additionally or alternatively, as well as the position and orientation of the other appliance relative to the first appliance. More precisely, the distance between the communication devices and their relative heights can be determined, for example, by measuring the angle of incidence. The accuracy tolerance for this can be, for example, between +5° and -5°, and in particular between +3° and -3°. Advantageously, the control step can be carried out when the relative position indicates that both communication devices are positioned at approximately the same height within the accuracy tolerance.

[0012] According to one embodiment, in the determination step, a direction vector between the communication devices and the relative position can be determined using this direction vector. The distance and orientation of the household appliances relative to each other can then be easily determined using this direction vector.

[0013] During the control step, the lighting device and the other lighting device can be controlled to create a coherent lighting pattern, such as continuous illumination, flashing, an interactive lighting pattern, and additionally or alternatively, entire light contours. For example, an interactive lighting pattern could be a continuous line of light illuminating both adjacent household appliances. Additionally or alternatively, the color of the lighting pattern could also vary or change.

[0014] The approach presented here further creates a control unit designed to execute, control, and implement the steps of a variant of the method presented here in appropriate devices. This embodiment of the invention, in the form of a device, also allows the underlying problem to be solved quickly and efficiently.

[0015] The control unit can be configured to read input signals and use these input signals to determine and provide output signals. An input signal can, for example, be a sensor signal readable via an input interface of the control unit. An output signal can be a control signal or a data signal that can be provided at an output interface of the control unit. The control unit can be configured to determine the output signals using a processing instruction implemented in hardware or software. For example, the control unit can include a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, or a software module and may be implemented as a discrete component or comprised of a discrete component.

[0016] A computer program product or computer program with program code that can be stored on a machine-readable medium such as semiconductor memory, hard disk memory, or optical memory is also advantageous. If the program product or program is executed on a computer or control unit, it can be used to carry out, implement, and / or control the steps of the method according to one of the embodiments described herein.

[0017] Furthermore, a household appliance is presented that comprises a lighting device, a communication device, and a control unit in a previously mentioned configuration. The control unit is configured to control the lighting device in order to generate a lighting pattern associated with another lighting device of a further household appliance when the household appliance and at least one other household appliance are positioned adjacent to each other. Their relative positions can be determined using the communication device of the household appliance. Advantageously, this simplifies position determination for the user, thus avoiding complicated networking or setup processes.

[0018] The communication device can, for example, be located behind a panel of the household appliance. The communication device can be designed as an ultra-wideband (UWB) module. The lighting device can include at least one light-emitting diode (LED).

[0019] Although the described approach is based on a household appliance, the approach described here can be used accordingly in connection with a commercial or professional device.

[0020] Furthermore, a household appliance system is presented which includes a household appliance in a previously mentioned variant and at least one further household appliance with an additional lighting device for emitting light and an additional communication device.

[0021] The household appliance system can preferably comprise several communication-enabled household appliances, but at least two. Advantageously, at least one mobile device or several mobile devices can also optionally be paired with the household appliance system.

[0022] An embodiment of the invention is shown purely schematically in the drawings and is described in more detail below. It shows Fig. 1. A schematic representation of an exemplary embodiment of a household appliance system; and Fig. 2 a flowchart of an exemplary embodiment of a method for operating a household appliance system.

[0023] Fig. Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of an embodiment of a household appliance system 100. The household appliance system 100 comprises a household appliance 102. The household appliance 102 has a light source 104, a communication device 106, and a control unit 108. The control unit 108 is designed to generate a continuous light pattern using the light source 104 and another light source 112 of a further household appliance 110 when the household appliance 102 and the further household appliance 110 are positioned adjacent to each other. The control unit 108 is, for example, arranged behind a panel of the household appliance 102 and is therefore invisible to a user. Furthermore, the household appliance system 100 comprises at least one further household appliance 110, which has the further light source 112 for emitting light and another communication device 114.The communication device 106 and / or the further communication device 114 are, for example, designed as an ultra-wideband (UWB) communication module. The lighting devices 104, 112 each have, for example, at least one LED. According to this embodiment, the lighting devices 104, 112 are designed as light strips arranged on the front of the household appliance 102 and the further household appliance 110.

[0024] The household appliance system 100 is optionally coupled or can be coupled with a mobile device 116, which is an additional communication device 122 for communicating with the household appliance 102 and / or the other household appliance 110. The mobile device 116 is optionally a component of the household appliance system 100.

[0025] In addition to household appliances 102 and 120, two further household appliances 118 and 124 are shown as examples. According to this embodiment, the four household appliances 102, 110, 118, and 124 are interconnected. The further household appliance 118 is, for example, a large appliance, such as a refrigerator. The further household appliance 118 has, for example, an additional light source 120 for emitting light and an additional communication device 122 for communicating with the household appliance 102 and / or the further household appliance 110. In this embodiment, the position of the additional light source 120 is chosen only as an example. The household appliances 102, 110, and 124 are each, for example, designed as a built-in appliance.

[0026] According to the approach described here, at least the household appliances 102, 110 interact with the user via visual feedback through the lighting devices 104, 112, which can also be described as light elements. If, for example, several household appliances 102, 110, 118, 124 are grouped together in a conglomerate, the lighting devices 104, 112 of the directly adjacent household appliances 102, 110 could interact together. To this end, the household appliances 102, 110, 118, 124 determine their respective positions relative to each other so that their light elements interact meaningfully. According to this embodiment, for example, two lighting devices 104, 112 of the adjacent household appliances 102, 110, designed as LED light strips extending across the entire aperture, merge into one another as if they were a single continuous line of light.

[0027] To enable this, automatic localization measurement is performed so that the household appliances 102, 110, 118, 124 can recognize each other and exchange their positions to implement interactive lighting concepts. The household appliances 102, 110, 118, 124 also configure their lighting elements independently. For this purpose, the household appliances 102, 110, 118, 124 have communication devices 106, 114, 122, 126, implemented, for example, as UWB communication modules, which determine the distance and preferably also one or two solid angles 128 (horizontal = azimuth and vertical = elevation) to other communication devices. Once the household appliances 102, 110, 118, 124 have determined their distances to each other, they can make an initial rough estimate of their relative positions, for example, with a tolerance of up to 12 cm.Using UWB communication, the appliances 102, 110, 118, and 124 can communicate with each other and identify themselves. They therefore already know the exact model of the appliance that is nearby. Consequently, they also know where the UWB module is installed within the appliance 102, 110, 118, or 124. For example, if an oven and a built-in fully automatic coffee machine are located next to each other and have the UWB module in the same position behind the panel, the distance will be approximately 60 cm. If the distance differs by the size of a kitchen cabinet, the appliances 102, 110, 118, and 124 know that they are not directly adjacent.

[0028] Next, appliances 102, 110, 118, and 124 determine their installation height and thus whether they are stacked vertically. This is done by measuring an angle. The accuracy of this measurement is approximately ±3°. This resolution is sufficient to determine whether appliances 102, 110, 118, and 124 are installed side-by-side or offset by at least one appliance panel. This offset can occur, for example, between a 60 cm appliance and a 45 cm appliance, although for design reasons, the panels are usually installed at the same height. Therefore, it is advisable to incorporate some general design principles into the positioning process. Should unforeseen deviations occur in these rare cases, the user can optionally intervene and correct the configuration.

[0029] If the household appliances 102, 110, 118, and 124 only have UWB modules that offer ranging but not angle measurement, the user could use a UWB-enabled mobile device 116, which has precise location tracking of other UWB-enabled devices, to locate the household appliances 102, 110, 118, and 124 relative to each other. This information would then be shared with the household appliances 102, 110, 118, and 124 via a home appliance network, for example, using an app.

[0030] If the household appliances 102, 110, 118, 124 are aware of their precise relative positions, and if, for example, two of these appliances are located directly next to each other at the same installation height, then two light lines can merge and create interacting lighting effects. These effects can be achieved, for instance, with a continuous light line across both appliances, where a light signal on one side of one of the appliances 102, 110, 118, 124 begins to move to the other side and, at the transition to an adjacent appliance 102, 110, 118, 124, transitions to that appliance and continues until its end. Alternatively, entire light contours or light signals from individual light elements can be implemented, which illuminate or flash, with the light signals of adjacent appliances interacting to provide the customer with visual feedback.

[0031] According to one embodiment, the household appliances 102, 110, 118, 124 recognize and locate themselves and then automatically implement preset, interacting light effects.

[0032] Fig. Figure 2 shows a flowchart of an exemplary embodiment of a method 200 for operating a household appliance system, as is found, for example, in Fig. The method 200 comprises a step 202 of determining a relative position between the household appliance and the other household appliance using the communication device and the additional communication device, and a step 204 of controlling the lighting device of the household appliance and the additional lighting device of the other household appliance to generate a continuous lighting pattern when the relative position indicates that the household appliance and the other household appliance are positioned adjacent to each other. In step 202 of determining the relative position, the relative position is determined, for example, exclusively using the communication device and the additional communication device, or alternatively using the communication device, the additional communication device, and an additional communication device of a mobile device, as also described in Fig.1 is shown as an example.

[0033] For example, the relative position is determined using UWB signals from the communication device and the other communication device. The relative position includes, for example, a distance between the appliance and the other appliance and / or a position or orientation of the other appliance relative to the appliance, such as height and / or a solid angle measured by an angle measurement with an accuracy of + / - 3°. For example, in step 202 of the determination process, a direction vector between the communication devices and the relative position are determined using this direction vector.Optionally, in step 204 of the control process, the lighting device and the other lighting device are controlled to create a continuous lighting pattern, a flashing, a blinking, an interacting lighting pattern, such as a continuous line of light across both devices, and / or entire light contours.

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