Home Automation Alert Evaluation for Targeted Maintenance Monitoring

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current home automation systems face challenges in efficient configuration and supervision, leading to inadequate maintenance and repair operations due to resource-intensive management and lack of targeted maintenance notifications.

Innovation Solution

A method for configuring a management unit connected to home automation devices, allowing alert notifications based on predefined conditions, enabling expert users to define alerts for maintenance users, and optimizing resource usage by evaluating conditions on the central control unit.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If maintenance operators manually supervise and monitor home automation devices, then they can detect and respond to malfunctions, but the operations require significant travel time and on-site monitoring time, reducing productivity

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemaintenance detection capabilityVSAvoidmaintenance operation efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The system enables self-service through automated alert generation and notification. The central control unit automatically detects malfunctions and sends notifications to maintenance operators without requiring manual supervision, allowing the system to monitor itself and trigger maintenance only when necessary.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements feedback through automated notification mechanisms. When the central control unit detects a malfunction condition, it automatically sends an alert notification to the maintenance operator's terminal, creating a closed-loop feedback system that eliminates the need for continuous manual monitoring.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

2Reliability

If multiple maintenance operators supervise numerous devices, then coverage is improved, but the complex interpretation of supervision information is required, increasing device complexity and time consumption

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesupervision coverageVSAvoidinformation interpretation complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system extracts the interpretation function from the maintenance operator and relocates it to the central control unit. The central control unit automatically analyzes supervision information, interprets malfunction conditions, and generates structured alert notifications, removing the cognitive burden from operators.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The central control unit acts as an intermediary between the supervised devices and maintenance operators. It receives raw data from devices, processes and interprets the information, and presents processed alert notifications to operators, simplifying the information flow and reducing interpretation complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Reliability

If manual supervision and monitoring are performed, then maintenance operations can be carried out, but the significant amount of time required for travel and on-site monitoring reduces productivity

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemaintenance capabilityVSAvoidtravel and monitoring time
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary action by automatically detecting and identifying malfunction conditions before maintenance operators arrive. The central control unit continuously monitors device states and prepares alert notifications in advance, so that when operators are notified, they already have targeted information about the specific issue and location.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

4Reliability

If comprehensive supervision of all devices is implemented, then no malfunction goes undetected, but the resources needed on the management unit during execution increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesupervision completenessVSAvoidmanagement unit resource consumption
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The system segments the supervision function across multiple levels: individual devices report to central control units, which then report to the management unit. This hierarchical segmentation allows comprehensive supervision without overloading the management unit, as the central control units perform local processing and filtering.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The management unit performs partial action by receiving only processed alert notifications from central control units rather than raw data from all devices. The central control units perform the excessive action of continuously monitoring all connected devices locally, filtering out normal operations, and only transmitting abnormal conditions to the management unit.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentEP3488301B1Method for configuring and monitoring home automation equipment
Publication Date: 2022.06.08 SOMFY ACTIVITES SA
  • EP3488301B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3488301B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3488301B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

The present invention relates to a method for configuring a management unit connected to at least one home automation equipment comprising at least one home automation device (D) and at least one central control unit (U), the method being implemented by a management unit (Sv) and comprising the following steps: configuring (EcfSv2) an alert (Al) corresponding to the triggering of an alert notification and/or an action when a triggering condition (Cnd) is produced relating to at least one state variable for a home automation device (D), a group of home automation devices (D), a type of home automation device (DT) or a group of types of home automation devices (DT); the step of configuring an alert (Al) being carried out on the basis of instructions of a first user (Usr1) having a first user profile type; declaring (ECfUsr26) the monitoring of an assembly of home automation devices (D) comprising at least one home automation device (D) for which at least one alert (Al) has been configured by a second user (Usr2) having a second user profile type, downloading the alert (Al) condition (Cnd) on at least one central control unit (U) to which at least one home automation device (D) belonging to the group of home automation devices (D) is connected, in order to configure the home automation device (D) for evaluating the condition (Cnd) and sending a notification of production of the condition to the management unit. The present invention also relates to a method for monitoring said equipment.