Interconnected home devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing kitchen and bathroom devices lack integrated systems for personalized, voice-controlled operation and coordination across different appliances, limiting their ability to provide tailored services based on user identity and preferences.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising intelligent kitchen and bathroom devices connected through a home hub communication device, which collects user data to analyze and provide customized functions, including voice-controlled operation of sink faucets, and coordinates with other appliances to offer personalized services.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If kitchen and bathroom devices operate independently without integrated systems, then device simplicity is maintained, but personalized services and appliance coordination capability are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a home hub as an intermediary device that coordinates communication between kitchen and bathroom appliances. The hub receives sensor data from various devices, processes user identity information, and sends control commands to appropriate appliances, enabling personalized services without requiring direct complex interconnections between all devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The home hub serves multiple functions including user identification, data aggregation, command routing, and appliance coordination. This multi-functional approach consolidates what would otherwise require multiple specialized components across different appliances, reducing overall system complexity while enhancing adaptability.
2Ease of operation
If devices collect and analyze user sensor data for personalized services, then service personalization is improved, but data privacy and security risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system processes user data locally through the home hub rather than transmitting all raw sensor data to external servers. User identity and preference information are maintained and processed within the local home network, minimizing external data exposure while still enabling personalized services through local pattern recognition and command generation.
3Ease of operation
If voice-controlled operation is implemented for sink faucets, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity and power consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The home hub acts as an intermediary that handles the computationally intensive voice recognition and command interpretation tasks. The sink faucet itself only needs to execute simple control commands received from the hub, significantly reducing the power requirements and complexity of the faucet's own control system while still providing voice-controlled operation.
Data Source
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AI summary
A home hub communication device for a sink, the home hub communication device comprising: a communication interface configured to communicate with a network and receive data indicative of at least one voice command from a user; a flow sensor configured to generate sensor data indicative of a flow of water for the sink; and a controller configured to perform an analysis of the sensor data and the data indicative of the at least one voice command from the user and, in response to the analysis, control one or more valves to control the flow of water for the sink.