CN112188707B

CN112188707B - Control method of lighting system and lighting system

Info

Publication number: CN112188707B
Application number: CN201910600890.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈永虎
Original assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co Ltd
Current assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-07-04
Filing date: 2019-07-04
Publication date: 2023-08-08
Anticipated expiration: 2039-07-04
Also published as: JP7217479B2; CN112188707A; JP2022537962A; WO2021001809A1

Abstract

The invention relates to the field of illumination, in particular to a control method of an illumination system, the illumination system comprises a remote controller and a plurality of light units which are connected with the remote controller in a wireless way, the light units are divided into a plurality of control groups, each control group is provided with at least one light unit, the remote controller can be connected with each light unit, and grouping control is carried out on the light units by taking the control groups as units, and the control method comprises the following steps: a detection step of detecting signal intensity of wireless connection between each light unit and the remote controller; an object selection step of selecting, as an individual control light unit, a light unit whose wireless connection signal strength between the current light unit and the remote controller reaches a prescribed threshold; and an individual control step of performing individual control on the individual control light units selected in the object selection step. The lighting system can utilize a remote controller which is low in cost and does not have a graphical user interface to realize the functions of grouping control and independent control of the complex lighting system.

Description

Control method of lighting system and lighting system

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of lighting, and more particularly to the field of control techniques for lighting systems.

Background

With the advent of the intelligent industry and the internet of things, more and more electric products are brought into the internet of things for intelligent unified management. Similar changes also occur in the lighting industry, and along with popularization of the internet of things technology, communication modules are also installed or connected on more and more lighting apparatuses so as to adapt to the needs of intellectualization and interconnection.

At the same time, for indoor or outdoor lighting, the user is no longer satisfied with the simple need to obtain sufficient illuminance with a single luminaire, but is increasingly focusing on the decorative function of the lighting itself. By utilizing the matching of parameters such as the type, style, dimming performance and the like of a group of light units (such as light sources of lamps and lanterns and components capable of changing the lighting state of the light sources, such as shutters, lampshades and baffles), various complicated and attractive lighting scenes can be combined, and the matching of the technology and the art is promoted in the field of commercial lighting and household lighting.

While group control can facilitate the user in constructing and reproducing complex and aesthetically pleasing lighting scenes, individual control is still not disposable in most cases from the standpoint of operational and control flexibility. For the above reasons, as control systems need to meet both individual control and group control requirements, the number of selectable or tunable items that they need to interact with users becomes more and more, as well as the systems that are implemented become more and more complex.

In order to provide more complex man-machine interaction functions, the system is usually controlled by using a terminal application installed on the intelligent mobile terminal, and a graphical user interface provided by the terminal application can generate separate controls for different light units. The user can click on a control to independently control the corresponding light units, or compile a plurality of light units into an independent control group, store the control group information compiled by the user, and further execute grouping control by taking the control group as a unit.

However, the control of the lighting system by using the smart mobile terminal is performed, on the one hand, the cost of manufacturing software, a graphic user interface and the like is high, and on the other hand, some countries and regions with insufficient popularity of the smart mobile phone and some people with specific usage habits (such as the elderly) do not tend to use the smart mobile terminal for installation and control, so that the lighting system still faces a plurality of difficulties in actual popularization.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the present invention provides a lighting system capable of taking into account both the grouping control and the individual control functions of a complex lighting system by using a remote controller having no graphical user interface or only a simple graphical user interface at a low cost.

The lighting system adopted by the control method comprises a remote controller and a plurality of light units which are connected with the remote controller in a wireless way, wherein the light units are divided into a plurality of control groups, each control group is provided with at least one light unit in a grouping way, the remote controller can be connected with each light unit, and grouping control is carried out on the light units by taking the control groups as units, and the control method of the lighting system comprises the following steps: a detection step of detecting signal intensity of wireless connection between each light unit and the remote controller; an object selection step of selecting, as an individual control light unit, a light unit whose wireless connection signal strength between the current light unit and the remote controller reaches a prescribed threshold; and an individual control step of performing individual control on the individual control light units selected in the object selection step.

The signal intensity of the wireless connection can well reflect the distance between the remote controller and the light units and whether the distance is blocked by objects such as walls and metals, the selection of the light units is implemented by taking the signal intensity as a judgment basis, and the light units which are intended to be independently controlled by a user can be accurately captured in cooperation with the simple action of the user, so that the independent setting and management of part of the light units in the complex lighting system are efficiently realized. In addition, by adjusting the size of the prescribed threshold, the user can formulate a selection strategy for different light units, balancing the efficiency of selection with the accuracy of selection. Moreover, the control process can be completed by operating a remote controller with low cost, no or only a simple graphical user interface, and the equipment cost and the popularization cost are low.

In the preferred technical scheme of the invention, the remote controller is provided with a signal intensity detection mode, and the detection step is started by starting the signal intensity detection mode.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the control method of the lighting system further includes: and a prompting step, namely when the signal strength of the wireless connection between the current light unit and the remote controller reaches a specified threshold value and is selected as an independent control light unit, prompting information is sent out in a preset mode.

In the preferred technical scheme of the invention, the prompting step sends prompting information by independently controlling the specified flashing or the specified switch of the light unit.

In the preferred technical scheme of the invention, the remote controller further comprises an indicator lamp, and the prompting step sends out prompting information through the flickering of the indicator lamp.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the optical unit is individually controlled to be the highest wireless connection signal strength among the plurality of optical units reaching the predetermined threshold.

In the preferred technical scheme of the invention, the remote controller is provided with grouping controls, the grouping controls are toggle switches with a plurality of gears, and each gear corresponds to one control group; if the toggle switch is toggled to a gear corresponding to the specified control group, the remote controller detects the signal intensity of wireless connection of the light units in the specified control group.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the remote control and the plurality of optical units are nodes in a mesh network.

In the preferred technical solution of the invention, the mesh network is constructed based on the bluetooth protocol.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the signal strength is represented by an RSSI value or an Rx value.

In a preferred technical solution of the present invention, the remote controller further has a single selection key, and in the individual control step, the remote controller sequentially jumps one by one among the plurality of light units selected as the individual control light units and connects them in response to an operation of the single selection key.

In the preferred technical scheme of the invention, the remote controller further comprises a memory, and the control method further comprises: and a parameter storage step of storing the dimming parameters of the adjusted light unit in a memory.

In a preferred technical solution of the present invention, the control method of the lighting system further includes: a scene generation step of creating a scene for the same control group based on the stored dimming parameters of the plurality of light units in the control group.

The invention also provides a lighting system, which comprises a remote controller and a mesh network formed by a plurality of light units which are connected with the remote controller in a wireless way, wherein the remote controller and the light units are nodes in the mesh network, the light units are divided into a plurality of control groups, each control group is provided with at least one light unit, the remote controller can carry out grouping control on the light units by taking the control groups as units, and a control method of the lighting system is used for carrying out independent control on a specified light unit.

The present invention further provides a lighting system including a remote controller and a plurality of light units wirelessly connected to the remote controller, the plurality of light units being divided into a plurality of control groups, each control group grouping having at least one light unit, the remote controller performing grouping control on the plurality of light units in units of control groups, the lighting system including: the detection device is used for detecting the signal intensity of wireless connection between each light unit and the remote controller; the object selecting device selects the light unit with the wireless connection signal strength reaching a specified threshold between the current light unit and the remote controller as an independent control light unit; and an individual control device for performing individual control on the individual control light units selected by the object selection device.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an illumination system in an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a light unit in an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a remote controller according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an initial setting method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a method of selecting light units in an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of an individual control method in the embodiment of the present invention.

Reference numerals: 1 a-a first control group, 1 b-a second control group, 10-light units, 102-PWM dimming circuits, 104-driving power supplies, 106-light emitting components, 108-mechanical switches, indicator lights of 110-light units, master control chips of 10C-light units, 10 TBC-independent control light units, bluetooth communication modules of 10 BLE-light units, processors of 10 MCU-light units, memories of 10 MEMO-light units, 20-remote controllers, 200-grouping controls, 202-scene controls, 204-independent control activation keys, 206-feedback keys, 208-dimming keys, indicator lights of 210-light units, master control chips of 20C-remote controllers, bluetooth communication modules of 20 BLE-remote controllers, processors of 20 MCU-remote controllers and memories of 20 MEMO-remote controllers.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described generally with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the following embodiments, and various embodiments within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention can be employed.

The present embodiment first provides an illumination system, and the illumination system provided by the present embodiment is described below with reference to fig. 1 from various aspects.

Network system

In this embodiment, bluetooth Mesh (Bluetooth Mesh) is used for connection between the plurality of optical units 10 and the remote controller 20, and further, the Bluetooth Mesh in this embodiment is a network topology constructed based on a low power version of Bluetooth standard protocol of 4.0 or more, that is, a Bluetooth low energy Mesh (BLE Mesh, bluetooth Low Energy Mesh).

Each of the optical units 10 and the remote controller 20 has bluetooth communication modules (10 BLE and 20 BLE) that are one node in the bluetooth low energy mesh network, and the nodes in the bluetooth low energy mesh network can be mutually transmitted in two directions, and the bluetooth communication module 10BLE of the optical unit 10 can be used as a signal relay of the bluetooth communication module 20BLE of the remote controller 20, so that the remote controller 20 can broadcast data by means of network connection between the optical units 10, and send control signals to the optical units 10 outside the signal sending working distance of the remote controller 20 to implement control.

In the conventional lamp control mode, the lamps in the current room need to be turned off and left before the night rest, if no other light source irradiates in the room, the user needs to act in a dark environment in the period from the time of turning off the lamps in the current room to the time of turning on the lamps in another room, and the user experience is poor. By the above mesh network connection, the user can choose not to turn off the lamp in the current room, and after moving to another room, the carried remote controller 20 is used to turn off the lamp in the original room, so that no action in dark environment is needed, and the use requirement of the lamp in the initial design layout process is reduced.

Light unit

In some embodiments, the light unit 10 may be one or a combination of several selected from incandescent, decorative incandescent, enclosed light, infrared, halogen, LED, fluorescent, sodium, xenon, ceiling, chandelier, ceiling, recessed ceiling, wall-mounted, wall-hung, desk, floor, street, garden, door, flashlight, pocket, lantern, searchlight, spotlight, or any other suitable controllable light source, or any combination of any suitable uncontrollable light source described above and accessories capable of changing the illumination state of the light source, such as controllable blinds, lampshades, baffles, etc., or may be a controllable module or assembly of any one or more of the above.

Referring to fig. 2, in the present embodiment, the light unit 10 is an LED lamp, and the LED lamp uses a PWM dimming circuit 102 to perform dimming control on a light emitting module 106 of the LED lamp via a driving power supply 104. In this embodiment, the system and method of this embodiment are described by taking as an example that the first scene and the second scene are respectively constructed with 50% brightness and 100% brightness, and in other embodiments of the present invention, the construction of the scenes can be implemented in other more complex manners, and since this embodiment mainly involves the grouping control part of the light unit 10, the construction and switching of the scenes will be described only briefly.

In this embodiment, the LED lamp (light unit 10) further has a bluetooth communication module 10BLE with low power consumption, and the bluetooth communication module 10BLE is electrically connected to the PWM dimming circuit 102 of the light unit 10, or integrated with the PWM dimming circuit 102 in the same main control chip 10C, so that the switching and dimming parameters of the light unit 10 can be adjusted based on the control instruction obtained by the bluetooth communication module 10 BLE. Integrating the PWM dimming circuit 102 with the bluetooth communication module 10BLE can effectively reduce cost. In addition, in order to make the integrated bluetooth communication module 10BLE and the PWM dimming circuit 102 be adapted to different types of light units 10, multiple types of chips may be used for adapting respectively, and a general bluetooth module may also be used for adapting to different peripheral circuits, so as to reduce the cost of adapting to different types of light units.

In some embodiments, for some light units 10 whose light performance is controlled at least partially by the accessory, the bluetooth communication module 10BLE may also be communicatively connected to the control portion of the accessory to control the working state of the accessory, for example, to the driving component of the lampshade to adjust the opening and closing degree of the lampshade.

In the present embodiment, the light unit 10 further includes a mechanical switch 108 (for example, a wall switch), and the mechanical switch 108 is electrically connected to the light unit 10 to perform switching control of the light unit 10.

In addition, the main control chip 10C of the light unit 10 in the present embodiment is integrated with or connected to the memory 10MEMO, and the main control chip 10C can acquire the switching state and the dimming parameter of the light unit 10, and store the acquired operation data about the switching state and the dimming parameter in the memory 10 MEMO. In some embodiments, the memory 10MEMO may also be set in the main control chip 10C of only part of the light units 10 in the lighting system, where the one or more main control chips 10C provided with the memory 10MEMO can obtain the operation data of other light units 10 via the mesh network established by the bluetooth communication module 10BLE, and store the operation data in the memory 10 MEMO. The memory 10MEMO is only arranged in the main control chip 10C of a part of the light units 10, so that the hardware cost of the system can be effectively reduced.

In some embodiments, memory 10MEMO may comprise a non-volatile memory such as read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), FLASH memory (FLASH), or any other device capable of storing program instructions or data with or without application of power. The memory may also include volatile memory such as Random Access Memory (RAM), static Random Access Memory (SRAM), dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), and Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), although other types of RAM may be used to implement the storage. The memory 10MEMO may be implemented using a single memory module or multiple memory modules, and may also be configured as a cloud memory separate from the light unit 10 or remote control 20.

Grouping

The present embodiment is described taking home lighting as an example, in which a plurality of light units 10 in the same lighting system are divided into two control groups according to the spatial positions where the light units are located (in this embodiment, the room is taken as a grouping condition), in which five light units 10 located in a living room are divided into a first control group 1a, three light units located in a bedroom are divided into a second control group 1b, each light unit 10 in the same control group has an interconnected bluetooth communication channel, and at least some light units 10 in different control groups also have bluetooth communication channels.

In other embodiments of the invention, the lighting system may also be used in other forms of illumination, such as commercial illumination, outdoor illumination, etc., to provide illumination for scenes in different spaces or areas. The grouping condition is not limited to the spatial position of the light unit 10, and may be based on actual usage logic (for example, a group of spot lights which are far from each other but illuminate the same area), or its own characteristics (for example, according to the light color and intensity), or the like. Furthermore, although in the present embodiment the same light unit 10 may be divided into a single control group in the lighting system, in some embodiments of the present invention the same light unit may also be used by different control groups; the number of control groups is not limited to two in the present embodiment, and three or more may be provided according to actual needs.

Bluetooth signals are easily blocked by objects such as walls, metals, etc., and thus bluetooth signal intensities in different rooms or areas tend to be greatly different. The control system in this embodiment can use the difference of the signal intensities to convert the original disadvantage of the bluetooth communication mode in terms of signal transmission into advantages, and efficiently identify all the light units in the same room or area, and the specific identification and grouping process will be described in detail in the method process section.

Remote controller

Referring to fig. 3, the remote controller 20 used in the lighting system of the present embodiment includes a group control 200, a scene control 202, and a bluetooth communication module 20BLE.

The grouping control 200 is a toggle switch, and the plurality of light units 10 in the system can be respectively controlled by two control groups, and correspondingly, the two control groups are switched by adopting a two-position toggle switch. In other embodiments of the present invention, a multi-position toggle switch may be used, for example, a four-position toggle switch is used to implement switching between four control groups, and other gears that do not correspond to the control groups may be added to enrich the control functions.

Grouping control 200 can act as a mechanism for a user to select groupings during user interaction. For example, group control 200 is dialed to a position corresponding to first control group 1 a: in the grouping process, indicating that the grouping action is to distribute the optical units 10 to be grouped into the first control group 1 a; during the control, indicating that the present control action is to be performed for the light units 10 in the first control group 1 a; in the releasing or initializing the grouping process, it is instructed that the grouping of the light units 10 in the first control group 1a is to be released or that the light units 10 in the first control group 1a are to be initially set.

In this embodiment, the scene control 202 of the remote controller 20 includes a light-off button and two preset scene buttons, which can be pressed by a user to turn off (light off) all the light units in the corresponding control group, and set to 50% light intensity (scene one) or 100% light intensity (scene two). In other embodiments of the present invention, the number of buttons in the scene control 202 may be increased or decreased as desired for the control function. In the present embodiment, the scene setting is stored in the memory 10MEMO of the light unit 10 at the time of shipment. In other embodiments of the present invention, the user may also use a single lamp adjustment method to save the dimming parameters of the light unit 10 in the remote controller 20 or the memory 10MEMO or 20MEMO of the light unit 10 after adjusting the dimming parameters of the light unit 10 in the control group to a satisfactory state.

In this embodiment, the bluetooth communication module 20BLE carried by the remote controller 20 is capable of detecting signal intensity, and selecting, grouping and controlling single or multiple light units with signal intensities higher than a predetermined threshold value according to the signal intensity detection result.

The signal strength of each bluetooth communication connection detected by the remote control 20 is measured by QualcommProvided RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) valueThe measurement is performed in units, the RSSI value is a reference value calculated according to the signal strength in units of dbm, and the value range of the RSSI value varies between 0 and 127, wherein rssi=127 indicates no signal attenuation, rssi=0 indicates no signal reception, and the larger the value of the RSSI indicates the higher the signal strength. In other embodiments of the invention, the signal strength may also be measured using Rx values or any suitable measurement means and units of measurement.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the remote controllers 20 may also have a plurality of remote controllers and each may be used as a node in the BLE Mesh network, the information set and stored between different remote controllers 20 may be kept synchronous, and the user may implement control using the remote controller 20 corresponding to each room.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the remote controller 20 and the light unit 10 are provided with indicator lamps, including the indicator lamp 210 of the remote controller 20 and the indicator lamp 110 of the light unit 10, the indicator lamp 110 is in communication connection with the main control chip 10C of the light unit 10, and the indicator lamp 210 is in communication connection with the main control chip 20C of the remote controller 20, so that the operating states of the remote controller 20 and the light unit 10, such as a single lamp selection state, a pairing state, and the like, are indicated by using state changes such as blinking of the indicator lamps 110, 210. In some embodiments, the light unit 10 may also implement an indication function using its own state change (e.g., a state change of blinking, extinguishing, and lighting, or adjustment of a dimming parameter, such as a change in cool-warm tone). In other embodiments, the sounding of a buzzer (not shown) may also be employed to alert the user. The buzzer or the indicator lamp may be separately provided on the light unit 10, may be separately provided on the remote controller 20, may be provided on the light unit 10 or the remote controller 20 in a mutually paired manner, or may be provided at any other suitable position.

In the present embodiment, the remote controller 20 is provided with the individual control activation key 204, and long-press of the individual control mode activation key 204 can activate individual control functions of the remote controller 20 and the light unit 10. The remote controller 20 activated with the individual control function will first enter a signal strength detection mode to detect the signal strength of the bluetooth communication connection between the remote controller 20 and the bluetooth communication module of each optical unit 10, and the subsequent operation procedure will be described in detail in the method procedure section, which is not repeated here.

The remote control may also have a function of a single key integrated with the individual control activation key 204, and if the number of light units 10 whose signal intensity has reached a predetermined threshold is detected to be more than 1 in the signal intensity detection mode, the individual control activation key 204 may be pressed one time to sequentially jump one by one among the plurality of light units 10 selected as the individual control light units 10TBC and connect them. The order in which the hops are ordered may be based on the ordering of the signal strength, may be based on the ordering of the MAC addresses, or may be in any other suitable ordering.

The feedback key 206 on the remote control is used to collect user confirmation or cancellation information of the status of grouping, individual control of the light units, preservation of parameters, generation of scenes, etc. The remote controller 20 further has a dimming key 208 capable of adjusting the brightness of the light unit 10. In other embodiments of the present invention, the remote control 20 may also have other dimming functions, such as adjusting one or more of the individual control unit 10TBC color temperature, the time delay dimming function, and the buzzer control function.

Method flow (initial setting method)

The present embodiment also provides an initial setting method applicable to the above-described illumination system.

Referring to fig. 4, the initial setting method provided in this embodiment specifically includes the following steps:

and S01, powering up.

After purchase and installation, the user turns on the power supply of each light unit 10 and the remote controller 20.

S02, initializing

Each light unit 10 and remote control 20 reads the initial data in the firmware and initializes the light unit settings.

S03, networking

Each light unit 10 and the remote controller 20 enter a pairing waiting mode, in which the bluetooth communication modules 10BLE of the light units 10 communicate with each other using a short-range broadcast mode, in which signals smaller than the signal strength threshold are ignored by setting the signal strength threshold, so as to reduce the possibility that the light units 10 to be paired are wrongly bound by the networks of other lighting systems.

In the present embodiment, the light unit 10 can detect the operation (or the switching state) of the mechanical switch 108 thereof, and forcibly initialize the light unit 10 in response to the above operation or state satisfying a preset condition. In the above manner, even if a part of the optical units 10 are wrongly bound by other networks, the mechanical switch 108 thereof can be used to trigger the initialization of the optical units 10, so that the wrongly bound optical units 10 can be forcedly unbound from other networks.

For example, an operation of repeatedly opening and closing the mechanical switch 108 (or repeatedly switching of the switch state is detected) for a certain period of time may be used as a trigger operation for initializing the optical unit 10, and in response to detecting the trigger operation, the optical unit 10 may be forcedly initialized to a factory state and removed from the BLE Mesh network after pairing is completed. In some embodiments, the light units 10 within different rooms or areas are added to the same network in response to separate acknowledgements from those different rooms or areas.

S04, confirming a networking result.

The user can learn the networking result through the indication of the light unit 10 and the indication lamps 110, 210 on the remote control 20. If the pairing of the light unit 10 and the remote controller 20 is completed, the indicator lamps 110 and 210 on the light unit 10 and the remote controller 20 inform the user of the networking result by means of flashing behavior, turning on and off, flashing frequency, breathing lamp change and the like.

If the user confirms successful networking using the feedback key 206, the process goes to the step S05 of grouping. In this embodiment, after the network is established successfully, the indicator lamp 110 is turned on after flashing once, and is used as a predetermined prompting mode.

If the user cancels the networking result by using the feedback key 206, the power-on step is returned to S01.

S05, grouping.

The light unit 10 enters a packet setting mode automatically or in response to an instruction of the remote controller 20.

In the group setting mode, grouping of the light units 10, the plurality of light units 10 in the lighting system into a number of control groups may be achieved in any suitable way.

S06 confirms the grouping result.

If the user confirms the grouping result using the feedback key 206, the initial setting is completed.

If the grouping result is canceled by using the feedback key 206, the process goes to the grouping step S05.

Method flow (grouping control method)

After the initial setting is completed, when the toggle switch 200 on the remote controller 20 is toggled to the first gear (group one), the plurality of light units 10 in the first control group 1a corresponding to the gear may be group-controlled as a whole. For example, the scene control 202 may be operated to retrieve the dimming parameter information of each light unit 10 in the preset scene, and load the dimming parameter information into each light unit 10 of the first control group 1a accordingly, so as to implement grouping control.

In addition, in some embodiments, the operations of group de-grouping (still in the network) and network de-binding of the light units 10 within the group may also be implemented in conjunction with other controls of the remote control 20. For example, when the toggle switch 200 is toggled to the first gear (group one), if a predetermined action of the user on the remote controller is detected, the first control group 1a may be released. The network unbinding operation may be activated and implemented at the light unit 10 using mechanical means mounted on the light unit 10, initializing individual light units to unbinding from the network; it is also possible to perform the operation from the remote control 20 in groups, for example, the toggle switch 200 may be toggled to the first gear (group one), and all the light units 10 in the first control group 1a are initialized by a predetermined action, and unbind from the network.

Method flow (Single control method)

As for the system in which grouping has been completed by the above initial setting method, the present embodiment also provides a control method for implementing individual control by using the remote controller 20 capable of implementing grouping control.

Taking the example that a user needs to select a specific one of the light units 10 as an individual control light unit 10TBC, several strategies that can be used at least by the individual control method provided in this embodiment are given below:

strategy one: in some embodiments, the prescribed threshold of RSSI values may be set higher, for example, 110-125, and only light units 10 above this prescribed threshold may be selected. The higher prescribed threshold can enable the remote control 20 to only select the light unit 10 as the individually controlled light unit 10TBC when proximate to the light unit 10.

In the above manner, the user can bring the remote controller 20 close to the light unit 10 that needs to perform individual control, select this light unit 10 as the individual control light unit 10TBC, and perform individual control. In response to being selected to individually control the light unit 10 TBCs, the indicator light 110 of the light unit 10 emits a prompt informing the user that the selected action has been completed.

Specifically, referring to fig. 5 and 6, taking a spot light as an example of individually controlling the light unit 10, the individually controlling method includes the steps of:

first, long pressing of the individual control activation key can activate the signal intensity detection mode of the remote controller 20, and the remote controller entering the signal intensity detection mode can perform:

and S07, detecting the signal intensity of the wireless connection between each light unit 10 and the remote controller 20.

When the user holds the remote controller 20, the remote controller 20 is far away from each light unit 10, and the signal intensity of each light unit 10 belonging to the first control group 1a in the living room cannot reach the specified threshold, and the remote controller 20 maintains the signal intensity detection mode to continuously detect the signal intensity of the bluetooth connection between each light unit 10 and the remote controller 20. To select the target light unit 10, the user may move to the vicinity of the target light unit 10 and lift the remote control 20 further from the target light unit 10, and when the proximity of the remote control 20 to the target light unit 10 reaches a threshold (which may be, in some embodiments, a specified threshold of signal strength, which may be reciprocally translated), the signal strength of the bluetooth connection between the remote control 20 and the target light unit 10 will also reach the specified threshold. The detection result at this time is shown in fig. 5.

In some embodiments, it is also possible to detect only the signal strength of the individual light units 10 within the first control group 1a when the grouping control 200 of the remote control 20 is located in the gear corresponding to the first control group 1 a.

After the S07 detection step, execution of:

and S08, selecting the light unit 10 with the wireless connection signal strength between the current light unit 10 and the remote controller 20 reaching a specified threshold value as an independent control light unit 10TBC. Since the wireless connection signal strength between the target light unit 10 and the remote control 20 reaches the prescribed threshold at the present moment, the target light unit 10 will be selected as the individual control light unit 10TBC.

When the target light unit is selected as the individual control light unit 10TBC, performing:

and S09, prompting, namely when the signal strength of the wireless connection between the current light unit and the remote controller reaches a specified threshold value and the current light unit is selected to be the single control light unit, prompting information is sent out in a preset mode.

In this embodiment, the indicator light of the light unit 10 may flash, ignite, extinguish or any other suitable manner to give out a prompt. In other embodiments, the prompt message may be sent by a prescribed flashing or a prescribed switch of the TBC of the individual control light unit 10 itself. In another embodiment, the sound of the buzzer may be used to send out the prompt message.

Next, execution:

and S10, performing independent control on the independent control light unit 10TBC selected in the S08 object selection step.

In the above manner, the user can precisely select a specific light unit 10 for individual control, effectively improving the accuracy of selecting the light unit 10 by the remote controller 20.

Strategy II: in some embodiments, the specified threshold of RSSI values may be set in the lower range 30-60, for example 60. Since only light units above this threshold can be selected, the luminaires of other rooms (e.g. bedroom lamp one, bedroom lamp, etc.) cannot be selected due to the weak interference signal strength of the existing wall or metal, whereas luminaires in the same room, due to the absence of interference of the wall or metal, the signal strength can easily reach the prescribed threshold, and the user can fully select the light units 10 to be selected in a limited number of times by reasonably setting the size of the prescribed threshold and by moving the remote control 20 in the living room.

As shown in fig. 5, the light units with preset RSSI values greater than 60 in the remote controller 20 are selected, when the user moves the remote controller 20 to the illustrated position, the light units 10 in the living room are in the same space, so that the signal transmission is less interfered by the wall and metal, and the signal intensity of the bluetooth communication module 10BLE is higher than that of the light units 10 in other rooms, therefore, in the illustrated position, the bluetooth signal intensity of each light unit 10 in the living room is higher than 60, and all the light units 10 in the living room can be selected at one time, so that the dimming control is uniformly implemented on all the lamps in the living room. By the above manner, the packet setting method can convert the original disadvantage of the bluetooth communication in terms of signal transmission into advantages, and effectively improves the efficiency of selecting the optical unit 10 by the remote controller 20 in the process of grouping.

In the present embodiment, the single control activation key 204 on the remote controller 20 is integrated with the function of a single selection key, and by pressing the single control activation key 204 once, the plurality of light units 10 selected as the single control light units 10 TBCs may be sequentially jumped one by one and connected. If the single-light control of a single light unit is further implemented, the single-light control function can be utilized to jump and switch to the light units needing to be implemented with the single-light control one by one, and continuous Bluetooth communication connection is established with the light units, and the single-light control is implemented. In another embodiment of the present invention, in order to perform the single-lamp control for a certain light unit 10, the remote controller 20 may be configured to perform the single-lamp control only for the highest signal intensity among the plurality of light units 10 reaching the predetermined threshold.

Strategy III: in some embodiments, if only a portion of the light units 10 in the living room need to be individually controlled, the threshold of RSSI may be first defined to be a certain value in the range of 30 to 60, for example 60, and similarly to policy two, the light units 10 with the corresponding bluetooth connection signal strength higher than 60 will be selected, that is, all the light units 10 in the living room may be selected at similar positions as the individually controlled light unit 10TBC.

Then, the signal intensity received by the remote controller 20 is continuously detected, and the selected state of the light unit 10 is removed in response to detecting that the Bluetooth connection signal intensity between the current light unit 10 and the remote controller 20 is greater than 120.

Similarly, the user may also establish the selected state of the other light units 10, lock the selected state of the partial light units 10 or remove the selected state of the partial light units 10 after preliminary selection of the partial light units 10 as individual control light units 10 TBCs.

Although in the first to third embodiments, the predetermined threshold is set as the lower limit value, only the light units 10 whose signal intensities are higher than the predetermined threshold are selected. However, in some embodiments of the present invention, the prescribed threshold may also be an upper limit to define a specific range of signal strengths. For example, by adjusting the predetermined threshold to be the upper limit value=100, and making the light units 10 having the signal intensity <100 be selected and the individual control performed, the user can quickly turn off all the light units 10 in other rooms in the above manner.

In some embodiments, the range of the signal intensity may be limited to a range of plural steps by using plural thresholds in combination, and for example, the light unit 10 whose signal intensity reaches the first predetermined threshold (upper limit 60) or the second predetermined threshold (lower limit 100) may be selected.

In addition, in some embodiments, the detected signal strength may be intuitively presented to the user after equivalent conversion to a distance value, in addition to being measured using, for example, an RSSI value, an Rx value, or the like. For example, RSSI >100 corresponds to a range within 1m, the distance value is written or displayed in a corresponding manner on the instruction manual or on the user interface of the remote control.

Preferably, the bluetooth communication module 10BLE of the light unit 10 is installed at a side facing the user when the light unit 10 is in use, so as to further prevent the signal of the bluetooth communication module 10BLE from being interfered by the wall or the light unit 10 itself after the light unit 10 is installed, and is difficult to be selected due to its signal blocking in the step S05 of grouping.

After the S10 individual control step, the single lamp control method of the present embodiment may further include:

and S11, setting and storing, namely, if the confirmation information fed back by the user through the feedback key 206 is received, changing the dimming parameter of the specific light unit, storing the changed dimming parameter in the memory 10MEMO or the memory 20MEMO, and further modifying factory settings of the dimming parameters corresponding to the scene controls 202 such as the scene one, the scene, and the like.

S12, a scene generating step of creating a scene for the same control group based on the dimming parameters of each light unit 10 in the control group and storing the scene in the memory 20 MEMO.

In some embodiments, the user may enter the scene setting mode by using a scene setting button (not shown) on the remote controller 20, after completing individual control on all the light units required to adjust the dimming parameters in the control group, determine, aggregate and generate the final individual control result as a scene, and store the scene in the memory 20MEMO, so that the remote controller 20 can directly call by using the scene control 202 in the subsequent control process to reproduce the scene setting defined by the user.

In the above manner, the control method provided in this embodiment can realize grouping control and individual control of a complex lighting system using the remote controller 20 having no graphical user interface or only a simple graphical user interface. In addition, the control of each light unit 10 and each control group in the system can be implemented by using the same remote controller 20, so that the integration level of the control equipment is greatly improved. Furthermore, a user-defined scene may also be generated based on the individual control results for direct invocation of the group-controlled scene control 202.

Thus far, the technical solution of the present invention has been described in connection with the accompanying drawings, but it is easily understood by those skilled in the art that the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited to these specific embodiments. Equivalent modifications and substitutions for related technical features may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the principles of the present invention, and such modifications and substitutions will fall within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A control method of a lighting system comprising a remote control and a plurality of light units wirelessly connected to the remote control, the remote control and the plurality of light units being nodes in a mesh network, the plurality of light units being divided into a plurality of control groups, each of the control groups grouping at least one of the light units, the remote control being capable of establishing a connection with each of the light units and performing grouping control on the plurality of light units in units of control groups,

the control method of the lighting system comprises the following steps:

a detection step of detecting signal intensity of wireless connection between each light unit and the remote controller;

an object selecting step of raising a specified threshold value, and making the remote controller close to a light unit needing to execute independent control, and selecting a light unit with the wireless connection signal strength between the current light unit and the remote controller reaching the specified threshold value as an independent control light unit;

an individual control step of performing individual control on the individual control light units selected in the object selection step;

the remote control does not have a graphical user interface.

2. A method of controlling a lighting system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the remote control is provided with a signal intensity detection mode, the step of detecting being started by activating the signal intensity detection mode.

3. The control method of a lighting system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the control method of a lighting system further comprises:

and a prompting step, namely, when the signal intensity of the wireless connection between the light unit and the remote controller reaches a specified threshold and is selected to be an independent control light unit, prompting information is sent out in a preset mode.

4. A control method of a lighting system as set forth in claim 3, wherein said prompting step issues said prompting message by a prescribed flashing or a prescribed switch of said individual control light unit.

5. A control method of a lighting system according to claim 3, wherein the remote controller further includes an indication lamp, and the prompting step issues the prompting message by blinking of the indication lamp.

6. The method of controlling a lighting system according to claim 1, wherein the individually controlled light unit is a highest wireless connection signal strength among a plurality of light units reaching a prescribed threshold.

7. The method of controlling a lighting system according to claim 1, wherein the remote controller has a group control, the group control being a toggle switch having a plurality of gear positions, each of the gear positions corresponding to one of the control groups;

and if the toggle switch is toggled to a gear corresponding to the specified control group, the remote controller detects the signal intensity of wireless connection of the light units in the specified control group.

8. The method of controlling a lighting system according to claim 1, wherein the mesh network is constructed based on a bluetooth protocol.

9. The method of controlling a lighting system according to claim 8, wherein the signal strength is expressed in terms of an RSSI value or an Rx value.

10. The control method of a lighting system according to claim 1, wherein the remote controller further has a single selection key, and in the individual control step, the remote controller sequentially jumps one by one among a plurality of light units selected as individual control light units and connects them in response to an operation of the single selection key.

11. The control method of a lighting system according to claim 10, wherein the remote controller further comprises a memory, the control method further comprising:

and a parameter storage step of storing the dimming parameters of the adjusted light unit in the memory.

12. The control method of a lighting system according to claim 11, wherein the control method of a lighting system further comprises:

a scene generation step of creating a scene for the same control group based on the dimming parameters of a plurality of the light units in the control group that are saved.

13. A lighting system comprising a remote control and a mesh network of a plurality of light units wirelessly connected to the remote control, the remote control and the plurality of light units each being a node in the mesh network, the plurality of light units being divided into a plurality of control groups, each of the control groups grouping at least one of the light units, the remote control being capable of performing group control on the plurality of light units in units of control groups, characterized in that individual control is performed on a prescribed light unit using the control method of the lighting system as claimed in any one of claims 1-12.

14. A lighting system comprising a remote control and a plurality of light units wirelessly connected to the remote control, the remote control and the plurality of light units each being a node in a mesh network, the plurality of light units being divided into a plurality of control groups, each of the control groups grouping at least one of the light units, the remote control performing group control on the plurality of light units in control groups units,

the illumination system comprises:

a detection device for detecting the signal intensity of the wireless connection between each light unit and the remote controller;

the object selecting device is used for heightening a specified threshold value, enabling the remote controller to be close to a light unit needing to be controlled independently, and selecting a light unit with the wireless connection signal strength between the current light unit and the remote controller reaching the specified threshold value as an independent control light unit;

an individual control device that performs individual control on the individual control light units selected by the object selection device;

the remote control does not have a graphical user interface.