Home Automation Scene Capture and Activation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing home automation systems are cumbersome and time-consuming to program, making it difficult for end-users to create and activate complex scenes that control multiple devices simultaneously, leading to limited user-defined scenes and reliance on pre-defined settings.
Innovation Solution
A method to capture and store user-defined scenes by taking a snapshot of the current system states, allowing users to select rooms and services of interest, and generate scenes that can be modified and persistently stored for later activation, enabling easy definition and activation of scenes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If users manually program scenes by individually selecting devices and actions, then precise control over device behavior is achieved, but the programming process becomes time-consuming and complex
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-configures template scenes with common device groupings and actions (e.g., lighting scenes, entertainment scenes, security scenes). Users can select from these pre-prepared templates and customize them as needed, rather than building scenes from scratch. This preliminary preparation significantly reduces the time required to create scenes while maintaining the ability to achieve precise control over device behavior through template customization.
Solution Approach 2:
The system allows users to copy existing scenes and modify them for new purposes. Once a scene is created or imported, it can be duplicated and adjusted for different device configurations or user preferences. This copying mechanism enables rapid scene creation by reusing proven configurations, reducing both time investment and potential programming errors while preserving precise control capabilities.
2Adaptability or versatility
If custom code is written to program scenes, then flexible and complex scene behavior is achieved, but the difficulty and error-proneness of programming increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces a visual scene configuration interface that acts as an intermediary between the user and the underlying complex device control logic. Instead of requiring users to write custom code, the interface provides drag-and-drop device selection, visual action sequencing, and automatic code generation. This intermediary layer maintains the flexibility and complexity of custom scene behavior while shielding users from programming difficulties and errors.
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically generates the necessary control code and device configurations based on user selections in the visual interface. The scene programming process is self-service in that the system handles the complex code generation, device communication setup, and action sequencing automatically, eliminating the need for users to manually write or debug code while still achieving flexible and complex scene behavior.
3Reliability
If a lengthy series of device and action selections are manually entered, then complete scene definition is achieved, but the user interface complexity and time required increase
Solution Approach 1:
The scene creation process is segmented into discrete, manageable steps presented through a structured visual interface. Users select devices from organized categories, choose actions from predefined options, and review the scene configuration in stages rather than entering all information at once. This segmentation reduces interface complexity by breaking down the lengthy definition process into intuitive, step-by-step tasks while ensuring complete scene definition through systematic coverage of all necessary parameters.
Solution Approach 2:
The visual scene configuration interface serves multiple functions: device selection, action definition, timing configuration, and scene validation. Rather than requiring separate interfaces for each of these tasks, the unified visual interface integrates all functions into a single coherent workflow. This multi-functionality reduces overall interface complexity while maintaining reliable and complete scene definition through consistent validation and error checking across all configuration aspects.
Data Source
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AI summary
Techniques are provided for defining and activating scenes in a home automation system. In one embodiment, a user-defined scene is automatically captured based on current states in a home automation system and a last media query. Current states in the home automation system are automatically captured for services to build a set of states, the set of states including states of services provided by multiple different types of devices, the multiple different types including two or more of audio/video (A/V) devices, lighting devices, heating ventilation and cooling (HVAC) devices, security devices, shade control devices, energy conservation devices, or communications devices. A last media query performed by the home automation system is also captured. A user-defined scene is generated from both. The user-defined scene is stored, and when it is determined it should be activated, service requests are sent.