Voice activated thermostat

• US 20030177012A1
• Filed: 03/13/2002
• Published: 09/18/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/13/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Brett Drennan
• Original Assignee: Brett Drennan
• Inventors: Drennan, Brett
• Application Number:
  US10/063,029
• Publication Number:
  US 20030177012A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/275
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/30 for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/56 Remote control
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/00 Control inputs relating to air properties
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/10 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/26 Speech to text systems G10L15/08 takes precedence

Abstract

A thermostat according to the present invention is capable of capturing audio commands from a user for controlling HVAC systems. The thermostat can operate in training mode and control mode. In training mode, the user can tailor a list of predefined keywords with his voice and, in control mode, the user can change HVAC system settings. Optionally, the thermostat is equipped to interface with a remote unit. The user can speak audio commands into the remote unit, and the remote unit will transmit his commands to the thermostat.

Claims

1. A voice activated thermostat for controlling heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment, the system comprising:

a control unit;

an audio input unit;

an audio output unit; and

a transceiver input unit for communicating with a remote unit,

wherein the audio input unit is capable of capturing audio commands from a user and converting the audio commands into digital signals

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising

a remote unit having

a remote audio input unit, and

a remote transceiver unit,

wherein the remote transceiver unit of the remote unit communicates with the transceiver input unit of the thermostat.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the audio input unit of the thermostat is equipped to receive security keywords.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the remote audio input unit of the remote unit is capable of capturing audio commands from a user and converting the audio commands into digital signals.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the thermostat has a list of predefined commands.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the thermostat further comprises a keypad input unit and a display output unit.

7. The system of claim 2, wherein the remote unit further comprises a remote audio output unit.

8. The system of claim 2, wherein the remote unit further comprises a remote keypad input unit and a remote display unit.

9. A method for controlling an HVAC system by using audio commands, the method comprising:

providing a voice activated thermostat; and

speaking an audio command for controlling the HVAC system to the thermostat.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising speaking a keyword to the thermostat.

11. The method of claim 9 further comprising recording the keyword.

12. The method of claim 9 further comprising recording a list of predefined audio commands.

13. A method for controlling a HVAC system by using audio commands, the method comprising:

providing a voice activated thermostat;

providing a remote unit; and

speaking an audio command for controlling the HVAC system to the remote unit.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising speaking a keyword to the remote unit.

15. The method of claim 13 further comprising recording a keyword.

16. The method of claim 13 further comprising recording a list of predefined audio commands.

17. A method for controlling a HVAC system by speaking audio commands to a voice activated thermostat, the method comprising:

receiving a control keyword;

verifying the control keyword is from an authorized user;

processing an audio command, if the control keyword is from an authorized user; and

ignoring the audio command, if the control keyword is not from an authorized user.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of processing audio commands further comprises:

comparing the audio command with a list of predefined audio commands;

executing HVAC control commands, if the audio command matches one of the predefined audio commands; and

discarding the audio command, if the audio command does not match any of the predefined commands.

19. The method of claim 17 further comprising recording a list of predefined commands.

20. A method for controlling a HVAC system by speaking audio commands to a remote unit, which is in communication with a voice activated thermostat, the method comprising:

receiving a control keyword;

verifying the control keyword is from an authorized user;

processing an audio command, if the control keyword is from an authorized user;

ignoring the audio command, if the control keyword is not from an authorized user; and

transmitting the audio command to the thermostat.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the step of processing audio commands further comprises:

comparing the audio command with a list of predefined commands;

executing HVAC control commands, if the audio command matches one of the predefined audio commands; and

discarding the audio command, if the audio command does not match any of the predefined commands.

22. The method of claim 20 further comprising recording a list of the predefined commands.