NATURAL LANGUAGE INSTALLER SETUP FOR CONTROLLER

• US 20060206220A1
• Filed: 06/02/2006
• Published: 09/14/2006
• 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.
• Granted Patent: US 7,634,504 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/87
• 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

Controllers and methods for programming configuration information are disclosed. An illustrative controller can include an interview question generator adapted to generate questions relating to the installation or setup of the controller and/or one or more components controlled by the controller, a user interface including a display screen adapted to display interview questions to a user along with at least two answers for each interview question, and a memory unit for storing operational parameters of the controller based at least in part on user responses to the interview questions.

Claims

1. A controller, comprising:

an interview question generator adapted to generate a number of interview questions relating to the installation or setup of the controller and/or one or more components controlled by the controller;

a user interface including a display screen adapted to display one or more interview questions to a user along with at least two answers for each interview question; and

a memory unit for storing operational parameters within the controller based at least in part on user responses to the one or more interview questions.

2. The controller of claim 1, wherein the one or more interview questions are natural language questions.

3. The controller of claim 1, wherein the one or more interview questions are phrases.

4. The controller according to claim 1, wherein the user interface includes a touchscreen.

5. The controller according to claim 1, wherein the user interface includes a selector means for selecting answers displayed on the display screen.

6. The controller according to claim 1, wherein the operational parameters include one or more parameters of a heating unit.

7. The controller according to claim 1, wherein the operational parameters include one or more parameters of a cooling unit.

8. The controller according to claim 1, wherein the interview question generator is adapted to vary the presentation of the one or more interview questions to the user based at least in part on a previous user response stored within the memory unit.

9. The controller according to claim 1, wherein the controller is adapted to display the one or more interview questions to the user based on the type of component to be installed or setup.

10. The controller according to claim 1, wherein said one or more interview questions are grouped via icon buttons or tabs displayed on the display screen.

11. A controller, comprising:

an interview question generator adapted to generate a number of interview questions relating to the installation or setup of the controller and/or one or more components controlled by the controller;

a user interface including a display screen adapted to display one or more interview questions to a user along with at least two answers for each interview question; and

a memory unit for storing operational parameters within the controller based at least in part on user responses to the one or more interview questions;

wherein, for at least certain interview questions, the controller is adapted to prompt the user to select between at least two answers simultaneously displayed on the display screen.

12. A method of programming configuration information within a controller, the method comprising the steps of:

providing one or more interview questions to a user via a user interface, the one or more interview questions including at least one question relating to the installation or setup of the controller and/or one or more components controlled by the controller;

prompting the user to select between at least two answers simultaneously displayed on the user interface;

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

modifying the operational parameters of the controller and/or one or more components controlled by the controller based at least in part on said one or more user responses.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the providing step comprises providing one or more interview questions that are natural language questions.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein the providing step comprises providing one or more interview questions that are phrases.

15. The method according to claim 12, wherein the user interface is a touch screen, and where said step of prompting the user to select between at least two answers simultaneously displayed on the touch screen includes the step of prompting the user to select an answer to the interview question directly on the touch screen.

16. The method according to claim 12, wherein the user interface is an LCD or dot matrix screen, and wherein said step of prompting the user to select between at least two answers simultaneously displayed on the LCD or dot matrix screen includes the step of prompting the user to select between answers via a selector on the user interface.

17. The method according to claim 12, wherein the modifying step includes modifying one or more operational parameters of a heating unit.

18. The method according to claim 12, wherein the modifying step includes modifying one or more operational parameters of a cooling unit.

19. The method according to claim 12, further comprising the step of varying the presentation of the one or more interview questions to the user based at least in part on a previous user response stored within the controller.

20. The method according to claim 12, wherein the prompting step includes the step of providing a default answer on the user interface for confirmation by the user.