Navigated menuing for industrial human machine interface via speech recognition

• US 7,249,023 B2
• Filed: 03/11/2003
• Issued: 07/24/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/11/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Square D Company (Schneider Electric SE)
• Original Assignee: Square D Company (Schneider Electric SE)
• Inventors: Pyle, Michael W., Thurmond, Michael Jason
• Primary Examiner(s): Hudspeth; David
• Assistant Examiner(s): ALBERTALLI, BRIAN LOUIS
• Application Number:
  US10/386,232
• Publication Number:
  US 20040181414A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,596 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 704/270
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/26 Speech to text systems G10L15/08 takes precedence

Abstract

An industrial human-machine interface device that permits speech-controlled navigation through a menu using a speech-recognition processor. The speech-recognition processor is coupled to a microcontroller and a display. The microcontroller is interfaced with a power metering device which monitors a power signal in a circuit. To obtain a reading of a characteristic of the power signal, the operator speaks a spoken keyword into a microphone of the human-machine interface device. The speech-recognition processor converts the keyword into an identification word which is outputted by the processor to the microcontroller. The microcontroller polls the output of the processor, and upon detection of an identification word, executes a function associated therewith. Menu navigation among consecutive or nonconsecutive menu levels is performed by speaking one or more predetermined keywords. The speech-recognition processor can recognize the keywords independent of the speaker or may be trained for speaker-dependent recognition.

Claims

1. An industrial human-machine interface device, comprising:

an integrated circuit including a speech-recognition processor operable to convert a speech pattern to an identification word representing said speech pattern;

a microcontroller operatively coupled via an interface bus to said speech-recognition processor to receive said identification word from said speech-recognition processor;

a display operatively coupled to said microcontroller;

an interface operatively coupled between said microcontroller and a power metering device that monitors at least one predetermined characteristic of a power signal; and

a first memory storing instructions, said first memory being coupled to said microcontroller, said instructions when executed by said microcontroller causing said display to be altered in response to one or more predetermined spoken keywords recognized by said speech-recognition processor, said predetermined spoken keywords including power-related keywords each corresponding to different predetermined characteristics of said power signal, said predetermined characteristics including at least one of power, voltage, current, energy, frequency, or total harmonic distortion, said instructions further causing said at least one predetermined characteristic to be provided to said microcontroller via said interface.

2. The industrial human-machine interface device of claim 1, wherein said power metering device is external to said industrial human-machine interface device.

3. The industrial human-machine interface device of claim 2, wherein said predetermined characteristic of said power signal includes one of power, voltage, current, energy, frequency, and total harmonic distortion.

4. The industrial human-machine interface device of claim 1, said power metering device including at least one sensor adapted to detect said predetermined characteristic of said power signal and to produce a sensor signal corresponding to said predetermined characteristic of said power signal.

5. The industrial human-machine interface device of claim 1, wherein said predetermined spoken keyword is a custom spoken keyword for a particular application.

6. The industrial human-machine interface device of claim 1, further comprising a second memory coupled to said speech-recognition processor, said second memory storing information indicative of custom spoken keywords.

7. The industrial human-machine interface device of claim 1, wherein said predetermined spoken keywords are generally speaker-independent.

8. The industrial human-machine interface device of claim 1, further comprising a keypad operatively coupled to said microcontroller.

9. The industrial human-machine interface device of claim 1, wherein said industrial human-machine interface device is incorporated in said power metering device.

10. The industrial human-machine interface device of claim 1, further comprising a microphone operatively coupled to said speech-recognition processor to convert audio signals into digital signals corresponding to said speech pattern.

11. A method of providing speech-controlled navigation in an industrial human-machine interface component, comprising:

coupling a microcontroller to an integrated circuit that includes a speech-recognition processor via an interface bus and a display;

converting, via said speech-recognition processor, a speech pattern representing one or more predetermined spoken keywords into an identification word;

associating said identification word with a function to be executed by said microcontroller;

providing said identification word from said speech-recognition processor to said microcontroller; and

responsive to said providing, executing said function to display, on said display, a predetermined characteristic of a power signal provided from a power metering device interfaced with said industrial human-machine interface component, said predetermined spoken keywords including power-related keywords each corresponding to different predetermined characteristics of said power signal, said predetermined characteristics including at least one of power, voltage, current, energy, frequency, or total harmonic distortion.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein said converting is generally speaker-independent.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising training said speech-recognition processor to recognize a custom spoken keyword.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising word spotting said speech pattern to recognize a sequence of more than one predetermined spoken keywords.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein said predetermined characteristic of a power signal includes one of power, voltage, current, energy, frequency, and total harmonic distortion.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein said power metering device is external to said human machine-interface component.

17. A method of speech-controlled navigation through a multilevel menu in an industrial human-machine interface component, comprising:

organizing a set of predetermined spoken keywords into a multilevel menu, wherein different subsets of said keywords are available in different levels of said menu and wherein at least some of said keywords correspond to different predetermined characteristics of a power signal, said predetermined characteristics including at least one of power, voltage, current, energy, frequency, or total harmonic distortion;

associating each of said predetermined spoken keywords with a corresponding identification word and with an associated menu function, wherein at least one of said keywords in a menu level corresponds to a menu function that makes available a different subset of keywords in a different menu level;

converting, in an integrated circuit that includes a speech-recognition processor, a speech pattern representing a predetermined spoken keyword into a corresponding identification word;

executing, in a microcontroller operatively coupled to said integrated circuit via an interface bus, the menu function associated with said identification; and

interfacing said industrial human-machine interface component with a power metering device that monitors at least one predetermined characteristic of said power signal.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising navigating from one level to a nonconsecutive level in said multilevel menu.

19. The method of claim 17, displaying said at least one predetermined characteristic of said power signal provided from said power metering device.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising providing one of an audible and visual confirmation that said speech pattern was converted by said speech-recognition processor into an identification word.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein said industrial human-machine interface component is external to said power metering device.