Smart Home Appliance Appointment Control Without Clock Calibration
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing smart home appliances rely heavily on mobile terminals for timing control, leading to increased burden on the terminals and higher product costs due to the need for regular clock calibration and complex configuration.
Innovation Solution
A method utilizing a microcontroller with function activation and duration counters, along with a defined communication protocol, allows smart home appliances to autonomously execute appointment functions without continuous mobile terminal interaction, reducing dependence on mobile terminals and eliminating the need for clock calibration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If timing control is implemented in mobile terminal APP, then appointment functions can be controlled, but mobile terminal burden increases and user experience deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The timing control function is extracted from the mobile terminal APP and transferred to the smart home appliance itself. The appliance now contains its own timing control module that can independently execute appointment instructions without requiring continuous interaction with the mobile terminal, thereby reducing the terminal's burden while maintaining control convenience.
Solution Approach 2:
The smart home appliance is equipped with its own timing control capabilities, allowing it to autonomously manage appointment execution. The appliance receives the appointment instruction from the mobile terminal once, then independently handles timing and execution without needing the terminal to remain active or send continuous commands.
2Extent of automation
If timing control is implemented in smart home appliance, then appointment functions can be executed autonomously, but product cost increases due to clock calibration requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The mobile terminal serves as an intermediary that provides the timing reference to the smart home appliance. Instead of requiring the appliance to have its own calibrated clock, the terminal's reliable timing is transmitted to the appliance along with the appointment instruction, eliminating the need for complex clock calibration hardware in the appliance.
Solution Approach 2:
The timing information is prepared in advance by the mobile terminal and included in the appointment instruction before being sent to the smart home appliance. This preliminary preparation of timing data eliminates the need for the appliance to perform complex real-time clock calibration and synchronization operations.
3Reliability
If regular interaction between mobile terminal and smart home appliance is required, then timing control can be maintained, but communication overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
All necessary timing information is included in the initial appointment instruction sent from the mobile terminal to the smart home appliance. The instruction contains pre-calculated timing parameters that allow the appliance to execute the appointment autonomously without requiring subsequent communication or timing adjustments, thereby reducing communication overhead while maintaining accuracy.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for controlling the appointment of functions of smart home appliances that only when the user control interface completes the appointment setting, the mobile terminal sends the appointment control instruction to the controlled smart home appliance is provided. The mobile terminal does not send the appointment control instruction to the controlled smart home appliance until the next time the user updates the appointment setting, the mobile terminal sends the appointment control instruction to the controlled smart home appliance again to update the appointment control of controlled smart home appliances, the controlled smart home appliance receives the appointment control instruction sent by the mobile terminal, uses the function activation counter and the function duration counter of the microcontroller to count down respectively, and cooperates with the cyclic shift of the N work flag bits used to indicate whether the function is activated or not to realize the cycle control of the function, the microcontroller does not need to be configured with a clock module, which not only reduces the cost, but also does not need to calibrate the clock regularly, which improves the accuracy of the appointment control.