Appliance control apparatus

• US 7,541,965 B2
• Filed: 05/12/2006
• Issued: 06/02/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Ouchi, Kazushige, Moriya, Akihisa, Suzuki, Takuji
• Primary Examiner(s): Zimmerman; Brian A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dang; Hung Q
• Application Number:
  US11/432,489
• Publication Number:
  US 20060262001A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,117 Days
• Field of Search: 341/20, 341/176, 340/825.19
• US Class Current: 341/176
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 17/02 using a radio link
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 2201/32 Remote control based on movements, attitude of remote control device
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 23/04 using light waves, e.g. infrared
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 74/20201 Control moves in two planes

Abstract

An appliance control apparatus including an acceleration sensor which senses an acceleration resulting from a user motion; a recognition unit which recognizes a control-object apparatus and a control attribute set to the control-object apparatus from the acceleration sensed by the sensor; a control command generator which generates a control command according to the control attribute recognized by the recognition unit; and a transmitter which transmits the control command generated by the control command generator to the control-object apparatus recognized by the recognition unit.

Claims

1. An appliance control apparatus comprising:

an acceleration sensor which senses an acceleration resulting from a user motion;

a storage unit which stores a common control attribute set for a plurality of apparatuses, with the common control attribute set for a plurality of apparatuses corresponding to the sensed acceleration from a user motion;

a recognition unit which recognizes a control-object apparatus and the common control attribute set to the control-object apparatus from the acceleration sensed by the sensor with reference to the storage unit;

said recognition unit includes a control-object recognition unit which recognizes the control-object apparatus from the acceleration sensed by the acceleration sensor and previously-set acceleration information of the control-object apparatus according to the user motion;

wherein the acceleration information includes a recognition number distribution of the acceleration according to the control-object apparatuses, and

wherein the control-object recognition unit recognizes a control-object apparatus having a high recognition number distribution;

a control command generator which generates a control command according to the control-object apparatus and the control attribute recognized by the recognition unit; and

a transmitter which transmits the control command generated by the control command generator to the control-object apparatus recognized by the recognition unit.

2. The appliance control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the acceleration information includes accelerations corresponding to the control-object apparatuses, and wherein the control-object recognition unit recognizes a control-object apparatus having the closest acceleration.

3. The appliance control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recognition unit comprises:

a control attribute recognition unit which recognizes a control attribute according to a time change of the acceleration sensed by the acceleration sensor.

4. The appliance control apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the recognition unit comprises a control amount recognition unit which recognizes a control amount with respect to a control content recognized by the control attribute recognition unit, and

wherein the control command generator generates a control command according to the control amount recognized by the control amount recognition unit.

5. The appliance control apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein the control attribute recognition unit recognizes a correction command according to a time change of the acceleration sensed by the acceleration sensor, and

wherein the control command generator generates a control command corresponding to the correction command recognized by the control attribute recognition unit.

6. The appliance control apparatus according to claim 5,

wherein the control command generated corresponding to the correction command by the control command generator is a control command for allowing the control-object apparatus to return to an immediately preceding control state.

7. The appliance control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a control result determination unit which determines whether or not the recognition for the control-object apparatus recognized by the recognition unit is correct.

8. The appliance control apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising:

an acceleration information database which stores acceleration information of the control-object apparatus according to the user motion,

wherein, when the recognition for the control-object apparatus recognized by the recognition unit is correct, the acceleration for the control-object apparatus recognized by the recognition unit which is sensed by the acceleration sensor is stored as the acceleration information in the acceleration information database.

9. The appliance control apparatus according to any one of claims 1, 2 and 3 to 8, wherein the appliance control apparatus is a stick-shaped device having a distal end portion where the acceleration sensor is disposed and a handle portion.

10. The appliance control apparatus according to claim 9, comprising:

a plurality of LEDs disposed at the distal end portion.

11. The appliance control apparatus according to claim 10, wherein, after the control-object apparatus is recognized by the recognition unit, the LEDs are sequentially lightened from the LED closest to the handle portion along the distal end portion.

12. The appliance control apparatus according to claim 11, wherein, after the LED disposed at the distal end portion is lightened, the recognition unit recognizes the control attribute set to the control-object apparatus.

13. The appliance control apparatus according to claim 10, wherein a plurality of the LEDs are lightened in respective different colors or patterns for each of the control-object apparatuses recognized by the recognition unit.