Medical Appliance Remote Control With Matched Pushbutton Display
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Solution Overview
Problem
Designing a remote-control device with physical operating pushbuttons that can intuitively control a variety of medical appliances, such as operating tables, is challenging due to the need for adaptable configurations that accommodate different appliance types, while maintaining the benefits of haptic feedback and error prevention.
Innovation Solution
A remote-control device with physical pushbutton units featuring visually distinguishable features and a display unit showing corresponding pictograms, allowing for flexible assignment of pushbutton functions to appliance components, enabling intuitive operation across multiple appliance configurations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If physical operating pushbuttons are used in the remote-control device, then haptic feedback and error prevention are improved, but adaptability to different appliance configurations deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The remote control device dynamically adapts its physical pushbutton layout to match the controlled appliance configuration. When a new appliance is detected, the system receives configuration data and repositions or reassigns physical pushbuttons to correspond with the appliance's components, maintaining intuitive control while preserving haptic feedback benefits
Solution Approach 2:
The positions and assignments of physical pushbuttons are changed as parameters based on the detected appliance configuration. The system modifies the spatial arrangement and functional mapping of pushbuttons to match the appliance's component layout, enabling adaptability while retaining the reliability advantages of physical buttons
2Adaptability or versatility
If different remote-control devices are designed for different operating tables, then adaptability to specific appliance configurations is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
A single universal remote control device design is used that can adapt to multiple different operating table configurations. The device incorporates detection capabilities and reconfigurable pushbutton layouts, allowing one device type to serve multiple appliance models and configurations, thereby reducing the need for multiple specialized remote control designs
3Ease of operation
If physical operating pushbuttons are used, then ease of operation through tactile feedback is improved, but difficulty in detecting and measuring appliance component correspondence deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements a feedback mechanism where the remote control device receives configuration data from the controlled appliance and uses this information to position and label physical pushbuttons appropriately. This feedback loop ensures that each physical pushbutton corresponds to the correct appliance component, making the correspondence detectable and intuitive for the user
Data Source
AI summary
A remote-control device for controlling an appliance having a plurality of appliance components is provided. The remote-control device includes a plurality of pushbutton units, each pushbutton unit including at least one physical operating pushbutton configurable to control at least one appliance component. Each of the pushbutton units is provided with a visually detectable distinguishing feature for visually distinguishing one pushbutton unit from another pushbutton unit. The remote-control device also includes a display unit configured to display representations of each controllable appliance component. Each representation of an appliance component includes the same visually detectable distinguishing feature as a corresponding pushbutton unit to which the appliance component is assigned.