IoT Controller Meta-Data Interface for End-User Adaptation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current IoT controllers offer either highly customizable interfaces accessible only to expert software engineers or very limited interfaces usable by non-technical users, with high production costs for fully-custom software, limiting adaptability without resorting to expert interfaces.
Innovation Solution
The development of an IoT controller with a user-friendly Argument Editor that allows non-technical users to adapt IoT applications through a consistent and expressive graphical interface, using meta-data language and tree structuring techniques, enabling end-users to create and modify application parameters without programming expertise.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a highly customizable interface is provided for IoT controllers, then adaptability is improved, but the interface becomes accessible only to expert software engineers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a graphical programming environment as an intermediary layer between the user and the complex underlying system. This environment provides drag-and-drop components and visual interfaces that translate user-friendly operations into complex control logic, enabling non-experts to access highly customizable functionality without needing software engineering expertise.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments complex control functionality into modular, reusable components that can be independently configured and combined. By breaking down the customizable interface into discrete functional blocks with standardized interfaces, the system enables adaptability through composition while maintaining ease of operation through modular assembly rather than monolithic programming.
2Ease of operation
If a limited interface is provided for IoT controllers, then ease of operation is improved, but adaptability is severely restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal graphical programming environment that serves multiple functions: it provides intuitive drag-and-drop interface for beginners, supports complex logic construction for advanced users, enables configuration of diverse IoT devices through standardized components, and allows deployment across different platforms. This multi-functional environment delivers both ease of operation and adaptability through a single unified system.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adapts its interface complexity based on user needs and context. The graphical environment can adjust between simplified views for basic operations and advanced configuration modes for complex adaptations, allowing the same interface to serve both novice users seeking ease of operation and experienced users requiring high adaptability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If fully-custom software is provided for IoT controllers, then adaptability is improved, but production costs become extremely high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables adaptability through configuration rather than customization. By allowing users to modify system behavior through parameter settings, component selection, and visual programming rather than requiring custom software development, the system achieves high adaptability while maintaining low production costs through standardized software platforms and reusable components.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses template-based configuration and reusable software components that can be copied and adapted for different applications. Instead of developing custom software for each use case, pre-built functional blocks and configuration templates can be replicated and modified, dramatically reducing development and production costs while maintaining adaptability across diverse IoT scenarios.
Data Source
AI summary
An Internet of Things Controller, and related tools. The tools address application development and deployment. An Application Meta-Data Editor permits a developer to specify meta-data, that guides the structure of actual data, that can be passed to the application, when invoked as a particular execution (or task) for a particular end-user. Once an application is developed, and has undergone a test deployment, the developer can upload the application to an online Application Store, from which the application can be downloaded and deployed by others. A Data Editor permits an end-user to create his/her own data, in accordance with the developer's meta-data, that adapts the execution to his/her particular needs. While permitting adaptation, the Data Editor ensures that the data created follows the overall pattern of the meta-data, as provided by the developer. Facilities for internationalization of a deployed application's documentation, on a crowd-sourced basis, are also provided.