Controller interface with interview programming

• US 20050119771A1
• Filed: 12/02/2003
• Published: 06/02/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ademco Inc. (Resideo Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Amundson, John B., Finch, Heidi J., Vick, Brent D.
• Granted Patent: US 7,181,317 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/86
• 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 11/61 using timers
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0426 Programming the control sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2614 HVAC, heating, ventillation, climate control
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1904 variable in time
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1917 using digital means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99942 Manipulating data structure, e.g. compression, compaction, compilation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 Object-oriented database structure
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

A controller and a method of programming a schedule of a controller having a user interface, the schedule having a number of schedule parameters, the method including the steps of: providing one or more interview questions to a user via the user interface; accepting one or more user responses to the one or more interview questions from the user via the user interface; and modifying one or more of the schedule parameters based on the user responses provided by the user interface.

Claims

1. A method of programming a schedule of a controller having a user interface, the schedule having a number of schedule parameters, the method comprising the steps of:

providing one or more interview questions to a user via the user interface;

accepting one or more user responses to the one or more interview questions from the user via the user interface; and

creating and/or modifying one or more of the schedule parameters based on the user responses provided by the user interface.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the providing step comprises providing one or more interview questions that elicit an affirmative or negative user response.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the providing step comprises providing one or more interview questions that elicit a “

YES”

or a “

NO”

user response.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the providing step comprises providing one or more interview questions that are natural language questions.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the providing step comprises providing one or more interview questions that are phrases.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the providing step comprises providing one or more interview questions that are phrases having three or more words.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the providing step comprises providing one or more interview questions that are audible.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the accepting step comprises accepting one or more user aural responses.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the modifying step comprises modifying one or more HVAC schedule parameters.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the modifying step comprises modifying one or more lawn sprinkler schedule parameters.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the modifying step comprises modifying one or more security system schedule parameters.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the modifying step comprises modifying one or more lighting schedule parameters.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the providing step comprises providing one or more interview questions related to, which weekdays have a same schedule, when a first person wakes up, when a last person goes to sleep, when a last person leaves during the day, when a first person arrives home, what a comfortable temperature is when heat is on, what a comfortable temperature is when air conditioning is on, what a comfortable sleeping temperature is in summer, or what a comfortable sleeping temperature is in winter.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the providing step comprises providing one or more interview questions that provide a plurality of predetermined responses for selection by the user.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the providing step comprises providing one or more interview questions that further display a previous answer that was accepted by the user interface.

16. A controller comprising:

a programmable schedule, the schedule having a number of schedule parameters; and

a user interface, adapted and configured to provide one or more interview questions to a user, and to accept one or more user responses to the one or more interview questions from the user;

wherein, the one or more schedule parameters are modified based on the user responses provided by the user interface.

17. The controller according to claim 16, wherein the user interface comprises a touchscreen.

18. The controller according to claim 16, wherein the user interface provides one or more interview questions that elicit a “

YES”

or a “

NO”

user response.

19. The controller according to claim 16, wherein the user interface provides one or more interview questions that are phrases having two or more words.

20. The controller according to claim 16, wherein the one or more schedule parameters are HVAC schedule parameters.

21. The controller according to claim 16, wherein the one or more schedule parameters are security system schedule parameters.

22. The controller according to claim 16, wherein the user interface provides one or more interview questions that provide a plurality of predetermined responses for selection by the user.

23. A controller comprising:

schedule means for providing a programmable schedule, the programmable schedule having a number of schedule parameters; and

user interface means adapted and configured to provide one or more interview questions to a user, and to accept one or more user responses to the one or more interview questions from the user;

wherein, the controller modifies one or more of the schedule parameters based on the user responses provided by the user interface.

24. A method of programming a schedule of a controller having a user interface, the schedule having a number of schedule parameters, the method comprising the steps of:

providing one or more interview questions to a user via the user interface;

accepting one or more user responses to the one or more interview questions from the user via the user interface;

translating the one or more user responses to form a translated response; and

modifying one or more of the schedule parameters based on the translated response.

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein the providing step comprises providing one or more interview questions that elicit a “

YES”

or a “

NO”

user response.

26. The method according to claim 24, wherein the providing step comprises providing one or more interview questions that are natural language questions.

27. The method according to claim 24, wherein the providing step comprises providing one or more interview questions that are phrases having three or more words.

28. The method according to claim 24, wherein the modifying step comprises modifying one or more HVAC schedule parameters.

29. The method according to claim 24, wherein the modifying step comprises modifying one or more lawn sprinkler schedule parameters.

30. The method according to claim 24, wherein the providing step comprises providing one or more interview questions that provide a plurality of predetermined responses for selection by the user.

31. A controller comprising:

a programmable schedule, the schedule having a number of schedule parameters;

a user interface, adapted and configured to provide one or more interview questions to a user, and to accept one or more user responses to the one or more interview questions from the user; and

a translator, adapted and configured to translate the one or more user responses to form a translated response;

wherein, the number of schedule parameters are modified based on the translated response.

32. The controller according to claim 31, wherein the user interface provides one or more interview questions that elicit a “

YES”

or a “

NO”

user response.

33. The controller according to claim 31, wherein the user interface provides one or more interview questions that are phrases having two or more words.

34. The controller according to claim 31, wherein the one or more schedule parameters are HVAC schedule parameters.

35. The controller according to claim 31, wherein the one or more schedule parameters are security system schedule parameters.

36. The controller according to claim 31, wherein the user interface provides one or more interview questions that provide a plurality of predetermined responses for selection by the user.

37. A method of programming a schedule of a controller having a user interface, the schedule having a number of schedule parameters, the method comprising the steps of:

sequentially providing a number of predetermined queries via the user interface; and

accepting user responses to at least selected queries, the queries adapted to collect sufficient information from the user responses to generate at least a major portion of the schedule parameters.

38. The method according to claim 37, wherein the sequentially providing step comprises sequentially providing a number of predetermined queries that elicit a “

YES”

or a “

NO”

user response.

39. The method according to claim 37, sequentially providing step comprises sequentially providing a number of predetermined queries that are context sensitive to the user response.

40. The method according to claim 37, wherein the accepting step comprises determining the number of queries based on the user responses to the context sensitive queries.

41. The method according to claim 37, further comprising the step of generating HVAC schedule parameters using the user responses accepted during the accepting step.

42. The method according to claim 37, wherein the modifying step comprises generating lawn sprinkler schedule parameters.

43. The method according to claim 37, wherein the sequentially providing a number of predetermined queries step includes sequentially providing a number of queries related to, which weekdays will have a same schedule, when a first person wakes up, when a last person goes to sleep, when a last person leaves during the day, when a first person arrives home, what a comfortable temperature is when heat is on, what a comfortable temperature is when air conditioning is on, what a comfortable sleeping temperature is in summer, or what a comfortable sleeping temperature is in winter

44. The method according to claim 37, wherein the sequentially providing step comprises sequentially providing one or more queries that provide a plurality of predetermined responses for selection by the user.