Web HVAC Floor Plan Interface for Remote Thermostat Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
HVAC control systems face challenges in scalability, ease of use, and cost-effectiveness, particularly in managing complex installations and remote monitoring across various building types.
Innovation Solution
A web-enabled HVAC control system featuring a controller with ports for communication over networks, allowing remote access and control through a web server that provides graphical floor plans and user-friendly interfaces for configuring and monitoring thermostats, scheduling, and alarm management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a web-enabled control appliance with graphical floor plans and drag-and-drop interface is implemented, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
A web-enabled control appliance serves as an intermediary between the user and the HVAC system. It provides a graphical floor plan interface where users can visually locate and control thermostats by dragging and dropping icons, eliminating the need to remember complex device names or navigation paths. This intermediary layer simplifies user interaction while managing the underlying system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical or manual HVAC control interfaces with a web-based graphical interface. Instead of physical thermostats requiring direct manipulation or complex menu navigation, users interact through a browser-based platform with visual floor plans, icons, and drag-and-drop functionality, substituting mechanical interaction with intuitive graphical manipulation.
2Adaptability or versatility
If remote access and monitoring capabilities are added to HVAC systems, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control appliance implements a universal web-enabled platform that can access and control multiple HVAC devices, thermostats, and building systems through a single interface. This multi-functional system provides remote access, monitoring, control, and management capabilities across diverse HVAC equipment, eliminating the need for separate specialized systems for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The web-enabled control appliance acts as a mediator between remote users and the HVAC system. It handles authentication, data transmission, device communication, and control signal routing, allowing users to access and control HVAC systems from any location with internet connectivity without exposing the underlying system complexity.
3Ease of operation
If graphical floor plans with drag-and-drop thermostat control are implemented, then ease of operation is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses visual copies or representations of the physical building layout in the form of graphical floor plans. Each thermostat is represented by a draggable icon that corresponds to its physical location. This visual copying approach allows users to intuitively understand the spatial relationship between control devices and controlled environments without requiring technical knowledge of HVAC system architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional HVAC control interfaces with a web-based graphical interface. Instead of physical thermostats requiring direct manipulation or complex menu navigation, users interact through a browser-based platform with visual floor plans, icons, and drag-and-drop functionality, substituting mechanical interaction with intuitive graphical manipulation.
Data Source
AI summary
An HVAC control system that accommodates and/or facilitates control from a remote location. The HVAC control system may include a web-enabled building control appliance having a controller, a first port and a second port. The controller may implement a web server that is coupled to the first port for serving up one or more web pages on a first network and for receiving a number of responses. The controller may be coupled to the second port so as to communicate with one or more communicating thermostats via a second network. The web server may provide one or more web-pages via the first port that display a graphical floor plan of the building, and permit a user to drag and drop individual building control device images that correspond to the one or more building control devices onto the floor plan.