Smart Home Controller Configuration for Occupancy-Based Sensor Alerts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current manual methods for setting the configuration of smart home controllers are inefficient and inconvenient, leading to false alarms and reduced user satisfaction due to the need for constant adjustments based on changing circumstances within a dwelling.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that dynamically set the configuration of a smart home controller based on user location, door lock status, and occupancy data, enabling or disabling sensors and alerts accordingly, with notifications sent to the user when configurations change.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If sensors are always on to detect various parameters and states, then detection capability is improved, but false alarms increase and user convenience decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic configuration changes based on detected conditions. The controller automatically transitions between different sensor configurations (e.g., from a first configuration with sensors enabled to a second configuration with sensors disabled) based on occupancy detection, door/window state, and time of day, thereby adapting detection capability to current circumstances and reducing false alarms during periods when detection is unnecessary.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes operational parameters of sensors based on detected conditions. Specifically, the controller modifies sensor enable/disable states and alert generation parameters according to occupancy status, door/window states, and temporal information, allowing the system to optimize between detection reliability and false alarm reduction by adjusting sensor parameters dynamically.
2Device complexity
If manual methods are used to set controller configuration, then system simplicity is maintained, but efficiency and user satisfaction decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The controller performs self-configuration by automatically determining the appropriate configuration based on detected conditions such as occupancy status, door/window states, and time of day. The system autonomously selects and applies configurations without requiring user intervention, thereby dramatically improving configuration efficiency while maintaining relative system simplicity through rule-based automatic decision-making.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors conditions (occupancy, door/window states, time) and uses this feedback to automatically adjust controller configuration. The controller receives feedback from sensors about current system state and external conditions, then dynamically modifies configuration parameters in response, creating a closed-loop system that adapts to changing circumstances without user input.
3Adaptability or versatility
If configuration changes are made frequently to adapt to changing circumstances, then system adaptability is improved, but system stability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the operational conditions into distinct segments or categories (occupancy-based conditions, door/window state conditions, time-based conditions). Each segment has pre-defined configuration rules, allowing the system to adapt to different types of circumstances through modular condition-checking logic. This segmentation enables systematic handling of multiple conditions while maintaining stable, predictable behavior within each condition category.
Data Source
AI summary
A method performed at a computer system includes: obtaining door lock activation data for a door of a dwelling of the user; obtaining current occupancy data for the dwelling; setting a configuration of a controller for the dwelling, based at least in part on the door lock activation data for the door and the current occupancy data for the dwelling; the first configuration including for each sensor in a set of sensors coupled to the controller, disabling the sensor or disabling alerts from the sensor.