Touch-Triggered State Machines for Networked Home Appliance Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users of networked home appliances, such as luminaires, often lack immediate access to mobile devices for controlling lighting settings, and there is a need to leverage communication capabilities for various tasks and applications beyond traditional control methods.
Innovation Solution
Implementing touch sensors in home appliances that can detect touch events and initiate state machines, allowing for networked communication to control lighting and other devices, such as smartphones or lighting system bridges, using protocols like ZigBee or coded light, enabling remote control and automation of lighting settings and other tasks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If touch sensors are implemented in home appliances to enable direct control, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The home appliance is designed to serve multiple functions: it acts as both a traditional appliance and a touch-controlled control device. The appliance can detect touch events on its surface and translate these into control commands for itself or for other networked devices, eliminating the need for separate remote controls or mobile device intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
The appliance enables users to control it directly through touch interactions with the appliance itself, rather than requiring external control devices. The touch sensor integrated into the appliance allows the user to interact with the appliance's control interface directly, making the appliance self-controlled.
2Measurement precision
If mobile computing devices are required for controlling home appliances, then control precision is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The control functionality is extracted from the mobile computing device and embedded directly into the home appliance through integrated touch sensors. This allows the control interface to be physically present at the appliance location, eliminating the need to carry or access a mobile device for basic control operations.
3Adaptability or versatility
If communication capabilities are added to home appliances for networked control, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The communication interface in the home appliance serves multiple purposes: it enables networked control of the appliance itself, allows the appliance to act as a remote control for other networked devices, and provides a platform for future expansion of control capabilities without requiring separate communication hardware.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables users to control lighting and initiate various state machines, such as sending messages or activating devices, through touch events on home appliances, providing enhanced convenience and automation without requiring immediate access to mobile devices.
Implementation Method 1
The touch sensor may be a capacitive touch sensor. In one embodiment, the touch sensor comprises an accelerometer to detect a force applied to or a movement of the home appliance.
Data Source
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AI summary
Various inventive methods and apparatus disclosed herein relate to associating state machines with touch event profiles, and to initiating state machines in response to touch events detected at home appliances. In some embodiments, a touch event may be detected at a touch sensor associated with a home appliance (102, 102a). The home appliance may be operated to perform its primary function in response to the detected touch event. It may be determined whether the touch event satisfies a predetermined touch event profile. A state machine may be operated at a computing device (102a, 112, 330) remote from the home appliance in response to the determining.