EP1699030A1 - Method for wireless remote control - Google Patents

Abstract

The method involves causing a maintained execution of a corresponding command by an actuator with an electric supply. The power supply of the actuator is stopped during the reception of a frame containing a specific command different from a stop command, and the absence of the reception of frames during time duration longer than that of a securization time-out. The maintained execution of the command is caused by a repeated transmission of frames containing a movement command and the reception of the frames. An independent claim is also included for an installation for the control of a movable unit of a shading device, projection unit, ventilation unit or closing unit in a building.

Description

The invention relates to the field of remote control, wireless and radio frequencies, actuators for the operation of closing equipment and / or sun protection and screens in the building. More specifically, the invention relates to a control method of an electrically powered actuator driving a movable element and an installation for carrying out the method.

US Pat. No. 6,326,754 and US patent application Ser. No. 2002/0104266 disclose door opening operating devices. These devices are controlled by remote controls. The operation of these devices is such that when a closing command is received, while the door opens, the movement of the door is stopped.

U.S. Patent 3,699,522 relates to a radio locomotive remote control system. If for a period of one and a half seconds no order is received or only an incorrect order is received, then the locomotive is stopped urgently.

US Pat. No. 6,359,399 describes a remote control installation, comprising a transmitter comprising a plurality of control buttons, and a receiver. As indicated in column 5, lines 33-48, activation of the actuator by the receiver takes place as long as the latter receives a signal, and on its side the transmitter transmits said signal as long as the user presses a signal. control button.

However, a problem related to radio transmission is the possibility of interference producing poor reception of an emitted signal. As a result, the designers are obliged to provide a delay for securing the reception: a receiver considers that the signal has really disappeared if no reception takes place during the delay of this delay.

Thus, the shutdown reaction time of the actuator is greater than its activation time.

Such behavior is problematic when controlling the orientation of a Venetian blind, for example. The mobile remote control is for example provided with three buttons up, stop and down command. The up and down control keys, or motion control keys, may have dual operation. A very brief pulse on the Up key is interpreted as a movement command to the up position. Once this order is issued and received, the actuator raises the Venetian blind and stops either because the blind has reached a high limit or because a stop command has been issued by the transmitter, more pressing the Stop key by the user. In such a case, the reaction time is the same for the beginning of movement and the end of movement: it is the interpretation and execution time of the command received by the receiver.

On the other hand, during a long press on the Up command key, the desired operation is different: the transmitter transmits the command as long as the command key is pressed, and the receiver activates the actuator, for example with a mode reduced speed feed, as long as he receives the signal. This action allows the pivoting movement of the Venetian blades, whose orientation has a very strong impact on the visual comfort situation. However, it is precisely at the moment when the user finds that he is in the desired situation, and therefore releases the control key, that the reaction time is increased because of the securing delay.

Paradoxically, the disadvantageous effect of the stop reaction time is thus the most sensitive in the operating phases in orientation or in adjustment mode, in which an important precision is desired.

There is therefore a problem of reducing the reaction time for such systems when they are in a mode of operation of reaction to the continuous emission of a signal, whose transmission duration corresponds to the desired operating time of an actuator.

Thus, the object of the invention is to improve known devices and methods.

More particularly, an object of the invention is to allow a faster and homogeneous reaction of the actuators for maneuvering.

This object is achieved by the subject of the claims.

The remote control method according to the invention is defined by claim 1.

Different embodiments of the method according to the invention are defined by the dependent claims 2 to 5.

The control installation according to the invention is defined by claim 6.

Different embodiments of the installation are defined by claims 7 and 8.

The invention will be better understood by the description of embodiments thereof and the appended figures in which

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an operating method corresponding to the state of the art.

Figure 2 shows control transmission frames.

FIG. 3 represents a block diagram of the method according to the invention.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show two control frames according to two embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 5 represents an INS installation in which the method according to the invention is implemented.

Figures 1 and 2 specify a method corresponding to the prior art, in particular used by the applicant in the products using the communication protocol "Radio Technology Somfy" (registered trademark).

The left part of the figure corresponds to the transmission method of the transmission unit TRU, whereas the right part of the figure corresponds to the reception method of the reception unit RCU. In the first case, the horizontal arrows indicate actions of the user, in the second case, the horizontal arrows indicate a modification in the reception of the radio signal.

A first action of the UA1 user is to press a command key. In a first step 201, this action is detected by the WCU alarm control unit which activates the closing of the contact SW and causes the power supply of the processing means.

In a second step 202, the microcontroller establishes which command must be transmitted, depending on the key pressed. For example, pressing the UP key should cause a UPC command to be issued, pressing the ST key should cause an STC command to be issued, pressing the DN key should cause the transmission of a DNC command. Combinations of supports can cause the emission of other commands, listed in the microcontroller.

The command to be transmitted is transmitted to the radio frequency transmitter RFU and is transmitted using the antenna ANT.

In step 203, the process of this transmission is repeated periodically, as long as the key is pressed. By way of example, FIG. 2 represents the successive transmission of frames, containing the UPC rise command. A frame also includes other data, such as the identifier of the issuer, an authentication code, etc. The frames are separated by a short time interval, or by a special sequence allowing synchronization of the reception means.

A second action of the user UA2 is to release the control key. This action has the effect of stopping step 203 and start a step 204 in which it stops feeding the processing means. By these terms, it must be understood that the broadcast ceases immediately. Of course, it is not essential to instantly cut the power of the microcontroller: indeed, the probability of a new action of the user is large immediately after a first action. We can continue for example the power supply (or waking) of the microcontroller for a few seconds or tens of seconds before switching to low-power sleep mode.

In Figure 2, the emission lasted 8 frames. Each frame lasts for example 140 ms. The duration of a broadcast could as well be 50 frames or more.

For the RCU receiver, the method of the prior art is described from a first radio action RF1 corresponding to a start of radio signal reception, causing the passage to step 211 in which this signal is processed so as to ability to interpret the command received. In step 212, the actuator is activated according to the command received, for example the motor is energized in the direction causing the rise if it is a UPC command.

At step 213, each new signal frame is reinterpreted and the activation is maintained as long as the signal is received. By these terms, it should be understood that the receiver maintains the activation if it continues to receive frames of functional content identical to the first.

A second radio action RF2 corresponds to the disappearance of the radio signal, either entirely or because the content is altered and the signal has become incomprehensible, which normally constitutes an end of reception. In this case, step 214 is activated, in which a delay for securing reception is started. This delay has a duration DLN representing the duration of N emission frames. For example, it is accepted that 3 consecutive frames may be "lost" due to interference.

In the next step 215, if the signal reappears in the DLN delay interval, and if it is the same command (for example UPC), then the receiver considers that there has been continuous transmission and continues the action in progress. Otherwise the actuator is deactivated after the delay.

If this timing precaution was not taken, and in the situation of FIG. 2, the receiver would cause the activation of the actuator to stop after the fourth frame. And as long as a support corresponding to two frames, at most, is interpreted as a "brief support" as described in the introduction, the last two UPC frames of Figure 2 would be at the origin of the interpretation of a new order, that of going to the high position at nominal speed, while they belong instead to the same sequence of frames of the same orientation command (for example at reduced speed).

However, the effect of the securing delay is to increase the reaction time of the receiver by the "normal" disappearance of the signal. Thus, in the case of FIG. 2, the actuator will be activated for a duration TUA + DLN while the pressing of the key has lasted TUA.

The invention overcomes this drawback by combining two operating modes which are a priori excluded, that of the control by change of state, in which the command is only issued when the key state changes, and that of the previously maintained control.

In the case of state-changing commands, it is known to use the release of a key to cause a particular action or even issue a command. In US Patent 4,653,090, it is described how the end of a press on a computer mouse button causes the generation of a new command. In US Pat. No. 5,937,038, for example, an infrared remote control system is described for a television set which is also provided with an interface with a communication network. In particular, it describes how the receiving unit discriminates the state of a key or its relaxed state. However, a control by change of state is easily blurred by parasitic emissions, and these different examples do not therefore make it possible to solve the problem. satisfactorily the problem of the reaction time set forth above.

The invention consists in providing in the receiver the means for implementing a method making it possible at the same time to cause the actuator to stop on receiving a specific command, different from the stop command, but also to cause the shutdown of the actuator if the control signal is not received for a duration greater than the duration of a safety delay.

The specific command is issued by the transmitter upon release of one of the motion control keys.

It is useful that the specific command is different from the stop command: in fact, in programming mode, the installer or the user may be required to make support combinations: for example, simultaneous pressing on the keys "Stop" and "Climb" can mean learning a particular position, for example end of course. Since the key release is not absolutely synchronous, the receiver may be programmed to ignore the appearance of a brief "Stop" command following the current command.

In a preferred manner, the specific command refers to the motion control corresponding to the support that has just been released. Indeed, this reference allows the receiver to verify that the information "end of order" related to the specific command relates to the flow of frames running, not a new command that would have appeared during a time interval where the end receipt of the previous command would have been scrambled.

A first specific control embodiment is therefore to take an available code associated with each motion control code. For example, if the operational part of a command is coded on 3 bits, we will have: 000: X 100: Y 001: Stop (STC) 101: Prog 010: Climb (UPC) 110: Downhill (DNC) 011: Stop-Rise 111: Stop-Down

X and Y are available codes. The Prog code is used to issue a pairing command and / or switch to special programming mode. The Stop-Up and Stop-Down codes are issued when these two buttons are pressed simultaneously to indicate specific position setting operations. All you need to do is assign the X code to the specific release command of the Up key, and the Y code to the specific command to release the Down key.

At the transmitter, the code of the specific command issued is therefore deduced from the motion control key corresponding to the support that has just been released. Similarly, at the receiver, it is possible to identify the relationship between the specific command and the previously received motion command and thus to ensure that the specific command belongs to the same frame stream as those containing the motion command. running.

FIG. 4A shows a mounted control frame (F11) followed by a specific relaxed support control frame (F12). The first frame F11 contains the code of the UPC mounted command. The frame also contains other data, such as an ID. This frame is repeated by the transmitter as long as the UP climb control key is activated. The second frame F12 contains the code X, which has the same format as the UPC code, for example coded on 3 bits. This second frame is emitted one or more times after releasing the UP key.

A second specific control embodiment consists in providing that, in the transmission frame, a bit is assigned to the pressed or released state of the key. This solution is simpler in the case where it is desired to maintain compatibility with older systems: the control codes are unchanged, but, in a frame longer than before, a flag or bit of support is placed at the same time. high when the key is pressed, while the frame is re-transmitted one or more times with the same command but this support bit is set low when the key is released. Thus the specific command is not identical to the command that has just been issued, but contains it.

In FIG. 4B, there is shown a mounted control frame (F21) followed by a specific relaxed support control frame (F22). The first frame F21 contains the code of the UPC mounted command. The frame also contains other data, such as an ID. The frame also contains an SB bit associated with the command code. The SB bit is in state 1 because the control key is activated. This frame is repeated by the transmitter as long as the UP climb control key is activated. The second frame F22 contains the bit SB at state 0. This second frame is transmitted one or more times after releasing the UP key. The support bit SB is a bit added to the original frame or a bit available inside this frame.

Such a choice makes it possible to considerably increase the discrimination power of the receiver, in other words to reduce its reaction time, while advantageously preserving the principle of the delay of securing the transmission.

A particular advantage is that of the recognition of brief supports, even in parasitized situations. For example, if the receiver only receives a frame with the command code "Y" (or a frame with the DNC code with a low support bit in addition), it can interpret this reception as resulting from a brief press on a descent key having caused the issuance of one or two "DNC" commands and a specific command, but for which an interference masked the "operational" commands. Nevertheless, the residual information is sufficient to correctly interpret the order received.

In the case of prolonged support, the maintenance of a securing delay, including on the frames containing the specific release command released, makes it possible to cope with the jamming situations described in FIG. 4, while benefiting from instant responsiveness (to a frame close) thanks to the specific command, in non-jamming situations.

The method according to the invention is thus described in FIG. 3. It essentially repeats the method according to the prior art.

For the TRU transmitter, it differs in steps 304 and 305. In step 304, the specific command RLC is defined as has been specified above. This step does not occur systematically, but at least for the motion control keys.

Step 305 of repeating the specific command is optional, but desirable for dealing with disturbed environments.

• soit la non réception du signal
• soit la réception d'une commande spécifique, différente d'une commande d'arrêt.

For the RCU receiver, the step 313 differs from the step 213 of the prior art in that the stop of the supply of the actuator has a double origin:

• either the non reception of the signal
• the receipt of a specific command, different from a stop command.

However, the following steps 314 and 315 make it clear that the non-reception of the signal causes the stop only if it continues for a duration longer than that of a time delay DLP covering one or more transmission frames. for example 3 frames.

In both embodiments of the specific command it is transmitted in the same frame format as the UPC and DNC motion commands or the STC stop command. As a result, no additional hardware devices are required on the transmitter or on the receiver relative to the devices of the prior art to send or receive the frames containing the specific command. On the other hand, the transmitter must be equipped with the software means necessary for the development of this specific command, for example in the form of a computer program, and the receiver must be equipped with the software means necessary for the interpretation of this command, also under the form of computer program.

FIG. 5 represents an INS installation in which the method according to the invention is used.

The nomadic remote control transmitter is a TRU transmission unit comprising a KBU control keyboard, a CPU microcontroller and a RFU radio-frequency transmitter, provided with an ANT transmission antenna. The KBU keyboard comprises three control keys such as a UP key, a ST stop key and a DN descent key, acting for example on electrical contacts, not shown. The keyboard is connected to the microcontroller CPU by a first bus BUS1. The microcontroller is connected to the RFU transmitter by a second bus BUS2. The mobile remote control transmitter is powered by a BAT battery, whose negative pole is connected to the GND electrical ground of the TRU transmission unit.

The KBU keyboard is also connected, using the first BUS1 bus, to a WCU alarm control unit, the purpose of which is to activate the processing means constituted by the microcontroller CPU and by the radio-frequency transmitter RFU when a key on the keyboard is pressed. In the assembly of FIG. 1, this unit causes the closing of a switch SW connecting the positive pole of the battery BAT to the positive supply wire VDD of the means of treatment. Thus, the positive pole of the battery BAT is therefore permanently connected only to the positive supply wire VCC of the keyboard and the WCU alarm control unit.

In variant embodiments, known to those skilled in the art, the control unit is included in the same integrated circuit as the microcontroller or acts on a wake-up signal from the microcontroller and / or the transmitter rather than on their diet. The transmitter can also be awakened in a second time by the microcontroller.

The signal emitted by the antenna ANT constitutes a radio wave or RFW signal, which is picked up and interpreted by a reception unit RCU, which drives an actuator ACT. The reception unit is connected to the 230 V 50 Hz alternating sector or to another source of electrical energy, not shown.

Claims (8)

A method of remote radio frequency control of an electrically powered actuator driving a movable member, wherein the repeated transmission of frames containing a motion command and the reception of these frames have the effect of maintaining the corresponding command by actuator, characterized in that the stopping of the supply of the actuator is caused during the occurrence of each of the following events: receiving a frame containing a specific command different from a stop command, - No reception of frames for a period longer than that of a securing delay. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that it keeps execution of the current command if at least one frame containing the same control signal is received before the expiration of the security delay. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a specific command is determined by one of the following codes: a specific command code replacing the motion control code of the preceding frames but making it possible to identify this motion code - The motion control code of the previous frames, which is associated with an indicator placed in a particular state. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the frame containing a specific command has the same format as a frame comprising a motion command or a stop command. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it interprets as a permanent motion control to an end-of-travel position the reception of at least one frame containing the specific command without having previously received one or several frames including motion control. Control installation of a mobile solar protection, projection, ventilation or closure element in a building, comprising at least one transmitter and a receiver connected to the actuator driving the mobile element, said transmitter being able to send repetition of the control frames when pressing on the same control key for their reception by the receiver and their execution by the actuator, characterized in that the transmitter comprises particular means for transmitting at least once after release of the control key a specific command different from the stop command, and characterized in that the receiver contains the software means for the application of the method according to claims 1 to 5. Installation according to Claim 6, characterized in that the transmitter contains the software means necessary for coding the specific command of to replace the code corresponding to a key a specific command code corresponding to the same key. Installation according to Claim 6, characterized in that the transmitter contains the software means necessary for coding the specific command so as to modify the state of an indicator associated with the control code corresponding to a given key.

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