Home automation input interfaces based on a capacitive touchscreen for detecting patterns of conductive ink

• US 9,977,547 B1
• Filed: 10/13/2014
• Issued: 05/22/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/13/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Sloo, David, Honjo, Shigefumi, Fadell, Anthony M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Benjamin C
• Assistant Examiner(s): Liang, Dong Hui
• Application Number:
  US14/513,161
• Time in Patent Office: 1,317 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0393 Accessories for touch pads or touch screens, e.g. mechanical guides added to touch screens for drawing straight lines, hard keys overlaying touch screens or touch pads
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/044 by capacitive means
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/08 using markings of different kinds or more than one marking of the same kind in the same record carrier, e.g. one marking being sensed by optical and the other by magnetic means
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks

Abstract

A smart home controller receives information from an electronic device with a two-dimensional capacitance sensing area. The received information is based on a predefined capacitance distribution detected for an object placed on or near the two-dimensional capacitance sensing area. In response to receiving the information from the electronic device with the two-dimensional capacitance sensing area, the smart home controller is at least conditionally configured, such that the smart home controller changes from operating in a first configuration to operating in a second configuration, distinct from the first configuration, based on the received information.

Claims

1. A smart home controller configured to govern operation of a smart home environment, comprising:

one or more processors; and

memory storing one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for;

receiving a capacitance distribution for a detected optical and conductive barcode on an article of manufacture placed on or near a two-dimensional capacitance sensing area coupled to the smart home controller, wherein the capacitance distribution encodes first information;

receiving a visual pattern from a visual scan of the detected optical and conductive barcode on the article of manufacture, wherein the visual pattern encodes second information distinct from the first information;

wherein at least one of the first information and the second information includes one or more instructions for the smart home controller;

analyzing the received capacitance distribution and the received visual pattern to decode the first and second information;

determining whether the received capacitance distribution and the received visual pattern match one of a plurality of pre-stored capacitance distributions and one of a plurality of pre-stored visual patterns, respectively, wherein each pre-stored capacitance distribution and pre-stored visual pattern combination is associated with one of a plurality of smart home configurations; and

in accordance with a determination that the received capacitance distribution and the received visual pattern respectively match a pre-stored capacitance distribution and a pre-stored visual pattern;

selecting the one of the plurality of smart home configurations with which the matching pre-stored capacitance distribution and pre-stored visual pattern combination is associated; and

changing an operating configuration of the smart home controller to the selected smart home configuration.

2. The controller of claim 1, wherein the two-dimensional capacitance sensing area comprises a capacitive touch-sensitive surface of a mobile device.

3. The controller of claim 1, wherein the two-dimensional capacitance sensing area comprises a capacitance sensing area of a control panel coupled with the smart home controller.

4. The controller of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the optical and conductive barcode is printed with conductive ink, and wherein the capacitance distribution of the optical and conductive barcode is provided by the conductive ink.

5. The controller of claim 1, wherein the article of manufacture comprises a card or an article of clothing.

6. The controller of claim 1, wherein the received capacitance information includes one or more of:

raw data from the two-dimensional capacitance sensing area and specific instructions derived from the raw data.

7. The controller of claim 1, wherein the selected smart home configuration is for a particular user of the smart home environment.

8. The controller of claim 1, wherein analyzing the received capacitance distribution and the received visual pattern comprises extracting information from the received capacitance distribution and from the received visual pattern;

and

wherein changing the operating configuration of the smart home controller to the selected smart home configuration comprises changing the operating configuration of the smart home controller based on a combination of the extracted information from the received capacitance distribution and the extracted information from the received visual pattern.

9. The controller of claim 1, wherein changing the operating configuration of the smart home controller to the selected smart home configuration comprises changing the operating configuration of the smart home controller based on information extracted from the received visual pattern.

10. A method, comprising:

at a smart home controller configured to govern operation of a smart home environment;

receiving a capacitance distribution for a detected optical and conductive barcode on an article of manufacture placed on or near a two-dimensional capacitance sensing area coupled to the smart home controller, wherein the capacitance distribution encodes first information;

receiving a visual pattern from a visual scan of the detected optical and conductive barcode on the article of manufacture, wherein the visual pattern encodes second information distinct from the first information;

wherein at least one of the first information and the second information includes one or more instructions for the smart home controller;

analyzing the received capacitance distribution and the received visual pattern to decode the first and second information;

determining whether the received capacitance distribution and the received visual pattern match one of a plurality of pre-stored capacitance distributions and one of a plurality of pre-stored visual patterns, respectively, wherein each pre-stored capacitance distribution and pre-stored visual pattern combination is associated with one of a plurality of smart home configurations; and

in accordance with a determination that the received capacitance distribution and the received visual pattern respectively match a pre-stored capacitance distribution and a pre-stored visual pattern;

selecting the one of the plurality of smart home configurations with which the matching pre-stored capacitance distribution and pre-stored visual pattern combination is associated; and

changing an operating configuration of the smart home controller to the selected smart home configuration.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein analyzing the received capacitance distribution and the received visual pattern comprises analyzing the received capacitance distribution and the received visual pattern to determine whether the detected optical and conductive barcode is valid;

and

wherein changing the operating configuration of the smart home controller to the selected smart home configuration comprises changing the operating configuration of the smart home controller in accordance with a determination that the detected optical and conductive barcode is valid.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein analyzing the received capacitance distribution and the received visual pattern comprises extracting information from the received capacitance distribution and from the received visual pattern;

and

wherein changing the operating configuration of the smart home controller to the selected smart home configuration comprises changing the operating configuration of the smart home controller based on a combination of the extracted information from the received capacitance distribution and the extracted information from the received visual pattern.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein changing the operating configuration of the smart home controller to the selected smart home configuration comprises changing the operating configuration of the smart home controller based on information extracted from the received visual pattern.

14. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which, when executed cause the controller to:

receive a capacitance distribution for a detected optical and conductive barcode on an article of manufacture placed on or near a two-dimensional capacitance sensing area coupled to the smart home controller, wherein the capacitance distribution encodes first information;

receive a visual pattern from a visual scan of the detected optical and conductive barcode on the article of manufacture, wherein the visual pattern encodes second information distinct from the first information;

wherein at least one of the first information and the second information includes one or more instructions for the smart home controller;

analyze the received capacitance distribution and the received visual pattern to decode the first and second information;

determining whether the received capacitance distribution and the received visual pattern match one of a plurality of pre-stored capacitance distributions and one of a plurality of pre-stored visual patterns, respectively, wherein each pre-stored capacitance distribution and pre-stored visual pattern combination is associated with one of a plurality of smart home configurations; and

in accordance with a determination that the received capacitance distribution and the received visual pattern respectively match a pre-stored capacitance distribution and a pre-stored visual pattern;

selecting the one of the plurality of smart home configurations with which the matching pre-stored capacitance distribution and pre-stored visual pattern combination is associated; and

changing an operating configuration of the smart home controller to the selected smart home configurations.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein analyzing the received capacitance distribution and the received visual pattern comprises analyzing the received capacitance distribution and the received visual pattern to determine whether the detected optical and conductive barcode is valid;

and

wherein changing the operating configuration of the smart home controller to the selected smart home configuration comprises changing the operating configuration of the smart home controller in accordance with a determination that the detected optical and conductive barcode is valid.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein analyzing the received capacitance distribution and the received visual pattern comprises extracting information from the received capacitance distribution and from the received visual pattern;

and

wherein changing the operating configuration of the smart home controller to the selected smart home configuration comprises changing the operating configuration of the smart home controller based on a combination of the extracted information from the received capacitance distribution and the extracted information from the received visual pattern.