DEVICES AND METHODS FOR INTERACTING WITH AN HVAC CONTROLLER

• US 20150053781A1
• Filed: 08/20/2014
• Published: 02/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/21/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ademco Inc. (Resideo Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Nelson, Jay, Bures, David, Kolavennu, Soumitri, Kulkarni, Amit, Adamek, Martin, Buno, Juraj, Hoglund, Steven, Horky, Libor, Malek, Jan, Nemcek, Adam, Skala, Martin, Losak, Tomas, Novotny, Josef, Gessner, Thomas, Gilmer, Preston, Thiruvengada, Hari, Goh, Christopher, Juntunen, Robert D., Mulhouse, David, Kasparik, Petr, Konecny, Roman, Becvar, Daniel, Ix, Ix, Timmers, Bas
• Granted Patent: US 10,054,327 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 236/1.C
• 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 11/52 Indication arrangements, e.g. displays
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/56 Remote control
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/58 using Internet communication
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/00 Control inputs relating to air properties
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2130/40 Noise
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1902 characterised by the use of a variable reference value
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 10/40 Geothermal heat-pumps

Abstract

An HVAC controller may be controlled in response to a natural language audio message that is not recognizable by the HVAC controller as a command, where the natural language audio message is translated into a command recognizable by the HVAC controller. The HVAC controller may be a thermostat including a housing that houses a temperature sensor, a microphone, and a controller. The controller may identify a trigger phrase in an audio stream provided by the microphone. In response to identifying the trigger phrase, the controller initiates processing of the audio stream to identify a command following the trigger phrase and to generate a command understandable by the thermostat that instructs the controller to perform the identified command. The controller then executes the generated command understandable by the thermostat. A user may communicate with the thermostat via the microphone of the thermostat and/or a remote device having a microphone.

Claims

1. A thermostat configured to control one or more HVAC components of an HVAC system, the thermostat comprising:

a housing, the housing configured to house;

a temperature sensor;

a microphone;

a controller;

wherein the controller is configured to identify a trigger phrase included in an audio stream provided by the microphone of the thermostat, and in response to identifying the trigger phrase, the controller is configured to initiate the processing of the audio stream to;

identify one of a plurality of different commands following the trigger phrase; and

generate a thermostat command that is understandable by the controller and that instructs the controller to perform the particular command identified in the audio stream; and

wherein the controller is configured to execute the generated thermostat command.

2. The thermostat of claim 1, wherein the controller initiates the processing of the audio stream by sending at least part of the audio stream to a remote web service via an output port of the thermostat.

3. The thermostat of claim 2, wherein the thermostat further comprises an input port and wherein the controller is configured to receive the thermostat command from the remote web service via the input port.

4. The thermostat of claim 3, wherein the remote web service is configured to processes the audio stream sent by the controller, identify one of the plurality of different commands in the audio stream, generate the thermostat command, and send the thermostat command back to the input port of the thermostat.

5. The thermostat of claim 4, wherein the remote web service includes a speech recognition module for identifying one of the plurality of different commands in the audio stream.

6. The thermostat of claim 3, further comprising a speaker, wherein the controller is configured to receive a response audio clip via the input port and to play the received response audio clip over the speaker.

7. The thermostat of claim 6, wherein the remote web service generates and sends the response audio clip to the thermostat.

8. The thermostat of claim 1, wherein the controller includes a speech recognition module for identifying the trigger phrase in the audio stream.

9. The thermostat of claim 1, further comprising a display for displaying a message in response to identifying the trigger phrase.

10. The thermostat of claim 1, wherein the controller initiates the processing of the audio stream, and then the controller proceeds to identify one of the plurality of different commands following the trigger phrase and generate the thermostat command that is understandable by the controller and that instructs the controller to perform the particular command identified in the audio stream.

11. The thermostat of claim 1 further comprising a speaker, wherein the controller is configured to play an audio clip over the speaker after the trigger phrase is identified.

12. The thermostat of claim 1, wherein one of the plurality of different commands is a command to change a set point temperature to a requested set point value, and in response:

if the requested set point value is within a predetermined range, the generated thermostat command instructs the controller to change the set point temperature to the set point value; and

if the requested set point value is outside of the predetermined range, the generated thermostat command instructs the controller to change the set point temperature to a set point value that is within the predetermined range.

13. The thermostat of claim 12, wherein

if the requested set point value is within the predetermined range, the controller plays an audio clip over a speaker of the thermostat that annunciates the requested set point value;

if the requested set point value is outside of the predetermined range, the controller plays an audio clip over the speaker of the thermostat that annunciates a reason for rejecting the requested set point value.

14. The thermostat of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to receive feedback from a user when the controller incorrectly identifies the trigger phrase, and in response, the controller is configured to adjust a trigger phrase sensitivity factor that is used by the controller in identifying the trigger phrase.

15. A method of controlling an HVAC system with a thermostat, the method comprising:

receiving an audio stream at a thermostat;

identifying a trigger phrase in the audio stream;

identifying one of a plurality of different commands in the audio stream following the trigger phrase;

generating a thermostat command that is understandable by the thermostat and that instructs the thermostat to perform the particular command identified in the audio stream; and

executing the generated thermostat command by the thermostat.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein:

the identifying a trigger phrase step is performed by the thermostat;

the identifying one of the plurality of different commands step is performed by a remote web service; and

the generating the thermostat command step is performed by the remote web service.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein:

the identifying a trigger phrase step is performed by the thermostat;

the identifying one of the plurality of different commands step is performed by the thermostat; and

the generating thermostat command step is performed by the thermostat.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the identifying a trigger phrase step is performed by the thermostat, and wherein the thermostat is configured to receive feedback from a user when the thermostat incorrectly identifies the trigger phrase, and in response, the thermostat is configured to adjust a trigger phrase sensitivity factor that is used by the thermostat in identifying the trigger phrase.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein one of the plurality of different commands is a command to change a set point temperature to a requested set point value, and in response:

if the requested set point value is within a predetermined range, the generated thermostat command instructs the thermostat to change the set point temperature to the set point value; and

if the requested set point value is outside of the predetermined range, the generated thermostat command instructs the controller to change the set point temperature to a set point value that is within the predetermined range.

20. A method of controlling an HVAC system with a thermostat, the method comprising:

receiving an audio stream at a thermostat;

identifying a trigger phrase in the audio stream;

receiving feedback from a user when a trigger phrase is incorrectly identified, and in response, adjusting a trigger phrase sensitivity factor used when identifying the trigger phrase;

identifying one of a plurality of different commands in the audio stream following the trigger phrase;

generating a thermostat command that is understandable by the thermostat and that instructs the thermostat to perform the particular command identified in the audio stream; and

executing the generated thermostat command by the thermostat.

21. A thermostat system, comprising:

a memory;

a processor in communication with the memory;

a microphone for use in recording an audible stream, where the audible stream is at least temporarily stored in the memory and includes a trigger phrase followed by a voice command, wherein the voice command is not a thermostat command that is executable by the thermostat;

a speaker;

a voice recognition engine configured to process at least part of the audio stream to detect the trigger phrase and the voice command following the trigger phrase, and to provide a text based message of the detected voice command; and

a translation engine configured to translate the text based message into a thermostat command that is executable by the thermostat.

22. The thermostat system of claim 21, wherein:

the voice recognition engine is at least partially executed by a thermostat; and

the translation engine is at least partially executed by a web server that is remote from the thermostat.

23. The thermostat system of claim 21, further comprising playing an audio clip over the speaker that corresponds to the thermostat command.