HOME DEVICE CONTROLLER WITH TOUCH CONTROL GROOVES

• US 20180191517A1
• Filed: 01/03/2018
• Published: 07/05/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/03/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brilliant Home Technology, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Brilliant Home Technology, Inc.
• Granted Patent: US 11,563,595 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04809 Textured surface identifying touch areas, e.g. overlay structure for a virtual keyboard
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/282 based on user interaction within the home receiver circuitry for displaying additional information being controlled by a remote control apparatus H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 45/10 Controlling the intensity of the light

Abstract

A home device controller can include one or more touch grooves, a touch slider operatively coupled to each of the one or more touch grooves, and one or more processors. The processor(s) can receive signals from each touch sensor, each signal corresponding to a touch gesture performed by a user interacting with the one or more touch grooves. The processor(s) can generate control commands executable by a home device based at least in part on the signals, and transmit the control commands to the home device for execution.

Claims

1. A home device controller comprising:

one or more touch grooves;

a touch slider operatively coupled to each of the one or more touch grooves; and

one or more processors executing instructions that cause the home device controller to;

receive signals from each touch sensor, each signal corresponding to a touch gesture performed by a user interacting with the one or more touch grooves;

based at least in part on the signals, generate control commands executable by a home device; and

transmit the control commands to the home device for execution.

2. The home device controller of claim 1, wherein the home device comprises a light element, and wherein the control commands comprise a dim level command to increase or decrease a brightness of the light element.

3. The home device controller of claim 2, wherein the executed instructions cause the home device controller to transmit the dim level command as a manipulated output waveform on a load line to the light element.

4. The home device controller of claim 2, further comprising:

a wireless communication interface;

wherein the executed instructions cause the home device controller to transmit the dim level command to the lighting element via the wireless communication interface.

5. The home device controller of claim 1, further comprising:

a touch screen.

6. The home device controller of claim 5, wherein the executed instructions further cause the home device controller to:

receive signals corresponding to user gestures performed on the touch screen;

generate a set of control commands for the home device based on the received signals corresponding to the user gestures performed on the touch screen; and

transmit the set of control commands to the home device for execution.

7. The home device controller of claim 5, wherein the touch screen displays a selectable menu of smart home devices.

8. The home device controller of claim 7, wherein the executed instructions further cause the home device controller to:

receive a user input on the touch screen selecting a smart home device; and

reconfigure a respective touch groove of the one or more touch grooves to enable control of the selected smart home device on the touch screen.

9. The home device controller of claim 8, wherein the selected smart home device comprises one of a temperature control system, a fan controller, a window controller, or an audio controller.

10. The home device controller of claim 1, wherein the touch slider comprises a plurality of capacitive touch sensors.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a home device controller, cause the home device controller to:

receive signals from a touch sensor of the home device controller, each signal corresponding to a touch gesture performed by a user interacting with a touch groove of the home device controller;

based at least in part on the signals, generate control commands executable by a home device; and

transmit the control commands to the home device for execution.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the home device comprises a light element, and wherein the control command comprises a dim level command to increase or decrease a brightness of the light element.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the executed instructions cause the home device controller to transmit the dim level command as a manipulated output waveform on a load line to the light element.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the home device controller comprises a wireless communication interface, and wherein the executed instructions cause the home device controller to transmit the dim level command to the lighting element via the wireless communication interface.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the home device controller comprises a touch screen.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the executed instructions further cause the home device controller to:

receive signals corresponding to user gestures performed on the touch screen;

generate a set of control commands for the home device based on the received signals corresponding to the user gestures performed on the touch screen; and

transmit the set of control commands to the home device for execution.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the touch screen displays a selectable menu of smart home devices.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the executed instructions further cause the home device controller to:

receive a user input on the touch screen selecting a smart home device; and

reconfigure a respective touch groove of the one or more touch grooves to enable control of the selected smart home device on the touch screen.

19. A computer-implemented method for controller home devices, the method being performed by one or more processors and comprising:

receiving signals from a touch sensor of the home device controller, each signal corresponding to a touch gesture performed by a user interacting with a touch groove of the home device controller;

based at least in part on the signals, generating control commands executable by a home device; and

transmitting the control commands to the home device for execution.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the home device controller comprises a touch screen displaying a selectable menu of smart home devices, the method further comprising:

receiving a user input on the touch screen selecting a smart home device; and

reconfiguring a respective touch groove of the one or more touch grooves to enable control of the selected smart home device on the touch screen.