A home automation system

Technical field

The present invention relates to a home automation system, understood as a system that is aimed at improving the quality of life in anthropized environments, such as the home.

Background art

A home automation system comprising a device provided with a microphone, a speaker and a system for interrogating the Internet is known. This device can be placed in a point of the room and the user can interrogate it through voice commands. For example, the user can ask a question and the device, using its own microphone, will receive it and search the Internet for an answer, which will be reproduced vocally by means of the speaker. The device is known in the art as a “virtual assistant”. Some commercially available examples are indicated by the following trade names:“Amazon Echo” and“Google Home”. The questions that can be asked vary widely, for example the weather, the capital of a country, the distance between two cities, etc.

Based on voice input received from the user, such devices are also capable of controlling a smart electric user by interacting directly with the latter in a wireless mode. This is the case of specific lightbulbs compatible with the virtual assistant.

The user interacts with said device without using his or her hands (for this purpose, the device is in fact provided with a microphone and a speaker). Consequently, the user is free to move around the home while delivering voice commands. However, in this manner, the user is also obliged to move the device as he or she moves from one room to another, as otherwise the microphone will not be able to hear the voice commands imparted. The device is substantially a box-like body and is not pocket sized. It is placed in one part of the home and it is inconvenient for the user to carry it around with himself or herself all the time. This is so also in consideration of the fact that one of the main advantages is tied to the fact that the device can receive input in a hands-free manner, perhaps while the user is doing something else.

Disclosure of the invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a home automation system that allows the user utmost freedom of movement, while simultaneously enabling commands to be given to the virtual assistant. In particular, the object of the present invention is to resolve the technical drawbacks indicated above.

The stated technical task and specified objects are substantially achieved by a home automation system comprising the technical features disclosed in one or more of the accompanying claims.

Brief description of drawings

Additional features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the approximate, and thus non-limiting, description of a home automation system as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

- figure 1 shows a schematic view of a system according to the present invention;

- figure 2 shows an accessory forming part of the system according to the present invention;

- figures 3 and 4 show views of a component in figure 1 with some parts removed in order to better highlight others;

- figure 5 shows a schematic view of a system according to the present invention, which is alternative to the one in figure 1 ;

- figures 6 and 8 show views of a component in figure 5 with some parts removed in order to better highlight others;

- figure 7 shows a sectional view of what is illustrated in figure 6.

In the accompanying figures, the reference number 1 indicates a home automation system.

Detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention The system 1 comprises a device 2 comprising an interrogation means 21 for interrogating an Internet network. The device 2 as such, for example “Amazon Echo” (with the Alexa virtual interface) or“Google Home” are known on the market. Conveniently, the device 2 comprises a system 201 for acquiring voice commands (a microphone) and a speaker 202. They enable interaction with the user (hands-free) through voice commands. The interrogation means 21 for interrogating an Internet network comprise, for example, a modem and software. The device 2 advantageously enables voice recognition of the commands, online searches via a search engine and the reading of a response provided by the network. As the device 2 may be of the commercial type and thus known (if considered in itself), it will not be further described.

The system 1 also comprises a repeater 3. The repeater 3 is suitable for being placed in a remote position relative to the interrogation means 21 (and more generally the device 2), for example in another room of a same home. In particular, the repeater 3 comprises a microphone 31.

Conveniently, the repeater 3 comprises a wireless transmission means 32 which transmits to the interrogation means 21 an input received from said microphone 31 or a signal that is a function of said input. In this regard, the repeater 3 can comprise a wireless transmission means 32 for transmitting the received input (typically voice input). The repeater 3 does not usually perform a voice recognition of the input, but rather relays the voice (audible) command exactly as received. The voice recognition could optionally be performed by the device 2 or via the Internet. However, the repeater 3 could also recognise the received command and transmit a signal (for example precoded) associated with said command.

The repeater 3 conveniently comprises a sound (for example voice) reproduction means 33 for reproducing a message coming from the interrogation means 21 in response to said input (or in response to the signal generated by said input). The sound reproduction means 33 conveniently comprises a wireless receiver and a speaker which reproduce the message. Figure 1 also shows a visual ring LED 303.

The system 1 advantageously comprises an electric user 4 electrically connected to the repeater 3. The connection is advantageously made by means of an electric cable. The repeater 3 comprises a means 34 for activating the electric user 4 on the basis of a command arriving in a wireless mode. The command is generated by the device 2 in response to a voice instruction sent by the repeater 3 to the device 2 (or a message generated by the repeater 3 on the basis of said instruction). In this case as well, the repeater 3 can transmit the received voice command or a message that is a function of the received command (for example, the message can be associated in advance with the command). The activating means 34 comprises a PCB. Conveniently, the repeater 3 also comprises a transformer for supplying power to the repeater 3 and/or the electric user 4.

As shown by way of example in figure 2, the system 1 comprises a recess- mountable box 5. The box 5 comprises a compartment 50. The repeater 3 is at least partly housed in the compartment 50 and accessible to a user. The microphone 31 and the sound reproduction means 33 are accessible from outside the compartment 50. In this manner, the user will be able to use them conveniently.

In this solution the electric user 4 can be at least partly housed in the compartment 50.

The user 4 can in fact comprise/be an electric socket 41 intended to receive a corresponding electric plug of an electrical household appliance. In a solution given purely by way of example, the voice input arriving from the user could be“activate the electric socket in the bathroom”.

In an alternative constructive solution, the system 1 comprises a bulb holder 40 comprising the repeater 3. The repeater 3 could thus be integrated into the bulb holder 40. The bulb holder 40 preferably comprises a ceiling fastening means. The electric user 4 is an electric light bulb applied to the bulb holder 40. Positioning the repeater 3 and thus the microphone 31 and the sound reproduction means 33 in a central position in the room makes it more easily reachable by the voice of a user. Therefore, the microphone 31 will be in an optimal position to receive commands. Similarly, the sound reproduction means 33 will be in a good position for diffusing sound in the room. Moreover, the device 2 controls the repeater 3 and thus the bulb holder 40 without there any longer being a need to use special light bulbs. For example, the instruction sent by the user to the repeater 3 could be linked to the on/off switching of the light bulb in the bulb holder 40 or else it could be to increase/lower brightness. In this regard, the repeater 3 comprises a control unit which activates a switch or a potentiometer. Specifically, the repeater 3 can comprise two PCBs, one for the power supply and one for managing the functions of the user 4 (light bulb).

In a particular solution, not illustrated, the repeater 3 is an electric light bulb. In this case the light bulb comprises a collar and a light source. The collar comprises/contains:

- the microphone 31 ;

- the wireless transmission means 32 which transmits to the interrogation means 21 an input received from the repeater 3 via said microphone 31 or a signal that is a function of said input;

- a sound reproduction means 33 for reproducing feedback coming from the interrogation means 21 in response to said input.

The light source of the bulb (i.e. the part that emits light), on the other hand, is the electric user 4.

In a further unillustrated embodiment, the repeater 3 is detachable. Therefore, it can be moved from one place to another. It comprises, for example (solution not illustrated), an electric plug engageable in an electric socket (which is on a wall, for example). Therefore, it can be positioned very easily, directly by the end user without the necessity of an electrician’s intervention.

The system 1 could further comprise an electric panel of a home. The interrogation means 21 for interrogating an Internet network are integrated into or electrically connected to the electric panel. Therefore, the device 2 can in fact be miniaturised and concealed in any point of the building. In fact, the repeater 3 will dialogue with the device 2, rather than the user directly. The device 2 can thus be lacking the system for acquiring voice commands and speaker described previously.

The present invention also relates to a method for interrogating the Internet by means of a system 1 having one or more of the features described previously.

The method comprises the steps of:

-receiving a (voice) input from a user via the microphone 31 of said repeater 3;

-transmitting to the interrogation means 21 said input received via the microphone 31 (or said signal that is a function of said input);

-interrogating the Internet network via the interrogation means 21 and obtaining feedback (a response) from the Internet network;

-transmitting said feedback to the repeater 3 in a wireless mode;

-audibly reproducing said feedback (in the form of sounds, for example a voice) via the sound reproduction means 33 for reproducing the message. For example, the user could voice any question whatsoever, normally preceded by a word or a phrase for activating the device 2. The interrogation means 21 would submit the same question to a search engine, which would indicate some results that would be reproduced by the device 2 in the form of sounds and relayed wirelessly to the repeater 3. The present invention further relates to a method of controlling an electric user by means of a system 1 having one or more of the previously described features.

The method comprises the steps of:

-receiving a voice instruction from a user via the microphone 31 of said repeater 3;

-transmitting to the device 2, supplementing the interrogation means 21 , said instruction imparted by the user via the microphone 31 (or a message associated with said instruction; for example, precoded in the repeater 3); -transmitting said command to the repeater 3 in a wireless mode so as to activate said electric user 4 connected to the repeater 3.

The present invention offers important advantages.

First of all, it allows the virtual assistant to be made accessible from various rooms without the need to move the device continuously and without having to buy a plurality of virtual assistants (which would increase costs and which would function independently of one another, in a non- coordinated manner).

The invention thus conceived is susceptible to numerous modifications and variants, all of which falling within the scope of the inventive concept characterizing the invention. Moreover, all details may be replaced with other technically equivalent elements. All the materials used, as well as the dimensions, may in practice be of any type, according to needs.