Remote application for controlling an HVAC system
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing HVAC systems lack the ability to be efficiently controlled from remote locations, limiting user convenience and flexibility in managing environmental conditions within buildings.
Innovation Solution
A wireless device with a user interface and controller that communicates with HVAC components, allowing remote access and control through a network, featuring a dynamic ranking algorithm to prioritize icons based on user interaction, time, temperature, humidity, and system conditions, ensuring only relevant functions are displayed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a wireless device displays all HVAC control functions, then complete system control is available, but user interface complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic icon ranking system where the order and visibility of icons on the wireless device interface change based on multiple factors including time of day, outdoor temperature, humidity levels, and user interaction history. This dynamic reordering allows the interface to adapt to current environmental conditions and user preferences, presenting only the most relevant controls at any given moment, thereby reducing perceived complexity while maintaining full system control capability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the interface shows all available icons, then all functions are accessible, but ease of operation decreases due to information overload
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by differentiating the display prominence of icons based on their current relevance. Instead of treating all icons uniformly, the system varies the size, position, and visibility of individual icons according to their contextual importance. For example, when outdoor temperature indicates cooling demand, air conditioning-related icons are enlarged and positioned prominently, while heating icons are minimized or hidden, making the interface easier to operate by highlighting only necessary functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-ranking icons based on historical user behavior patterns and current environmental conditions before the user even interacts with the device. This anticipatory ordering ensures that the most frequently used or contextually relevant functions are immediately visible and accessible, reducing the cognitive load and time required for users to find and operate desired functions.
3Device complexity
If static icon ordering is used, then device complexity is low, but adaptability to different conditions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic icon ranking system where the order and visibility of icons on the wireless device interface change based on multiple factors including time of day, outdoor temperature, humidity levels, and user interaction history. This dynamic reordering allows the interface to adapt to current environmental conditions and user preferences, presenting only the most relevant controls at any given moment, thereby reducing perceived complexity while maintaining full system control capability.
Data Source
AI summary
A wireless device used to communicate with and control one or more components of an HVAC system from a remote location is provided. The wireless device is configured to display two or more icons on the display of the device, wherein each icon executes a function that aids the user in controlling one or more components of the HVAC system. The wireless device dynamically orders the two or more icons on the display of the device, each according to a dynamic ranking algorithm. The dynamic ranking algorithm is based on a number of factors such as, for example, a relative frequency of selection of each of the two or more icons by a user, the current time of day, the current time of year, the current temperature, and/or the current location of the wireless device.