Appliance Control Block Sequencing for Human–Machine Operations
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods struggle to create control content for appliances that includes both automated operations and human interventions, such as cooking recipes, without requiring complex manual input.
Innovation Solution
An information processing method and apparatus that defines first-type blocks for appliance functions and second-type blocks for human operations, allowing for the arrangement and modification of block sequences based on received information and user instructions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If control content is created manually to include both appliance operations and human interventions, then the completeness of control content is improved, but the complexity and time required for creation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments control content into standardized blocks representing discrete operations (appliance operations, human interventions, transitions). This segmentation allows complex control content to be built from simple, reusable components, reducing creation complexity while maintaining completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary action by automatically generating initial control content from appliance operation histories before user refinement. This preliminary generation provides a complete baseline structure that users can then modify, reducing the overall creation effort while ensuring completeness.
2Reliability
If control content is created manually to include both appliance operations and human interventions, then the completeness of control content is improved, but the time required for creation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by automatically generating control content from historical appliance operation data before user refinement is needed. This preliminary generation creates a complete initial structure, significantly reducing the time users need to spend on creation while maintaining completeness through subsequent user modifications.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses copying by reusing standardized block templates for common operations and interventions. Instead of creating control content from scratch, the system copies and adapts pre-defined blocks, dramatically reducing creation time while maintaining completeness through proper block selection and configuration.
3Ease of operation
If automated control is implemented without human intervention blocks, then the ease of operation is improved, but the adaptability to complex cooking recipes decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments control into distinct block types including both automated appliance operations and human intervention steps. This segmentation allows the system to maintain ease of operation through standardized blocks while achieving adaptability to complex recipes by including intervention blocks that capture human actions in cooking processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies universality by designing a block-based system where each block type can be universally applied across different recipes and appliances. The standardized blocks provide ease of operation through consistency, while their configurable parameters and combinations enable adaptability to diverse cooking scenarios including human interventions.
Data Source
AI summary
A first-type block defined in a functional unit executable by an appliance and a second-type block defined in a unit of operation to be executed by a person are defined. A receiver receives information related to the first-type block executed by the appliance. An estimator estimates a block sequence in which the first-type block and the second-type block are arranged in an order of operation based on the received information related to the first-type block. A modifier modifies, in a case of receiving an instruction to modify the estimated block sequence, the block sequence.