Smart Laundry Machine Remote Control via Server Mediator
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional laundry machines and home appliances face challenges in implementing additional user interfaces due to spatial limitations, leading to increased costs and difficulty in extending functions without modifying hardware, and they lack remote control capabilities, making it hard for users to manage operations from outside the laundry room.
Innovation Solution
A smart laundry machine system that communicates with external devices via a server, allowing remote control and management through a user terminal, enabling users to access and control appliances without direct interaction, using a Wi-Fi communication module and a remote service activation input unit to prevent confusion between direct manipulation and remote control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If additional user interfaces are implemented on the control panel to extend appliance functions, then the appliance versatility is improved, but the spatial limitations and manufacturing complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions the user interface from the physical control panel dimension to the wireless communication dimension. The control panel maintains its original simple functions while additional interfaces are provided through wireless communication with external terminals, effectively adding functionality in a different dimension without increasing physical complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a server as an intermediary between the appliance and external terminals. The server receives service requests from external terminals, transmits them to the appliance, and relays operation results back, allowing function extension without direct modification of the control panel.
2Ease of operation
If remote control capabilities are added to allow users to manage appliances from outside the laundry room, then the ease of operation is improved, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The server acts as a mediator that handles the complex communication protocols and data processing, while the appliance itself only needs simple wireless communication modules. This distributes the complexity to the intermediary system rather than increasing it within the appliance.
Solution Approach 2:
The wireless communication module and server infrastructure serve multiple functions: receiving service requests, transmitting operations, relaying results, and potentially supporting multiple different appliances and service types, amortizing the complexity across universal functionality.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the appliance provides both direct manipulation interface and remote control interface, then the adaptability is improved, but user confusion increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the user interface into two distinct parts: the original control panel for direct manipulation and the external terminal for remote control. This segmentation clearly separates the two interaction modes, preventing user confusion about which interface to use for which purpose.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides feedback to users about the current operation state through both the control panel display and the external terminal. This consistent feedback mechanism helps users understand whether they are controlling the appliance directly or remotely, reducing confusion about the active control mode.
Data Source
AI summary
An online system, including a smart laundry machine, which is capable of easily and inexpensively using the smart laundry machine is disclosed. A further extended type of a smart home appliance, an online system including the same, and a method of using the online system are also disclosed. A method of using an online system includes transmitting user information to a server through an external terminal to log in to the server, the server specifying a home appliance for a remote service based on the user information received from the external terminal and determining whether remote service activation of the specified home appliance is set, upon determining that the remote service activation of the home appliance is set, the server transmitting operation information of the home appliance to the external terminal, the external terminal transmitting a command signal to the server such that the home appliance is operated based on the received operation information, the server receiving the command signal, and the server transmitting the command signal to the home appliance such that the home appliance is operated.