Keypad Brightness Synchronization for Wireless Lighting Groups
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Solution Overview
Problem
In illumination systems controlled by keypads, distal illumination devices often receive wireless commands with delays, leading to inconsistent illumination value changes due to hop-based wireless communication, causing disparities in illumination values among devices within a group, which compound with each button press and release.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a keypad that computes and sends a start-change signal and an end illumination value wirelessly to a group of illumination devices, with a masking time allowing devices to smoothly transition to a common end illumination value, ensuring all devices within the group maintain synchronized illumination values.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If wireless commands are sent via hop-based routing to distal illumination devices, then the illumination devices can be controlled remotely across the structure, but the commands experience variable delays causing inconsistent illumination value changes among devices
Solution Approach 1:
The keypad computes and transmits the end illumination value in advance, before the illumination devices complete their transition. This preliminary action ensures that all devices receive the same target value simultaneously, eliminating synchronization issues caused by variable wireless delays during the transition process
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a feedback mechanism where the keypad monitors the transition progress and sends updates to ensure all devices reach the common end illumination value. This feedback loop compensates for variable delays by continuously adjusting commands until synchronization is achieved
2Ease of operation
If the button press duration determines the illumination value change, then the user has intuitive control over brightness adjustment, but devices at different distances from the keypad receive different effective values due to communication delays
Solution Approach 1:
The keypad acts as an intermediary that computes the end illumination value based on press duration and transmits it to all devices. This intermediary function translates the user's press duration into a precise target value that compensates for communication delays, ensuring all devices achieve the intended illumination level
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the control parameter from direct press-duration-to-brightness mapping to press-duration-to-end-value-computation. By computing the end illumination value as an intermediate parameter, the system achieves both intuitive user control and precise synchronization across all devices
3Device complexity
If illumination devices are arranged in groups controlled by a single keypad, then the system complexity is reduced, but synchronization errors compound with each button press and release
Solution Approach 1:
Before each illumination transition, the keypad computes and sends the end illumination value to all devices in the group simultaneously. This preliminary action prevents error accumulation by establishing a common target value before the transition begins, ensuring synchronization is maintained across multiple operations
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates a masking time period that cushions against potential synchronization errors. During this time, devices are allowed to complete their transitions at their own pace, preventing error propagation to the next operation while maintaining group coherence
Data Source
AI summary
An illumination system and method are disclosed for maintaining a consistent change in illumination value among a group of illumination devices whenever a change command is manually sent from a keypad to those illumination devices. The consistent change results from maintaining a common start illumination value among not only the group, but also the keypad which controls the group. From the start illumination value, the keypad can then compute an end illumination value depending upon the amount of time that an increase or decrease in illumination value button is depressed and held. Since the change command can arrive at different illumination devices within the group depending upon where each illumination device is geographically located, a masking time is reserved after the button is released so that enough time is allocated for each of the illumination devices within that group to arrive at a common end illumination value.