US-12624488-B2 - Electronic apparatus and sensor ball registration method of electronic apparatus

US12624488B2US 12624488 B2US12624488 B2US 12624488B2US-12624488-B2

Abstract

Provided are an electronic apparatus and a sensor ball registration method of the electronic apparatus. The electronic apparatus according to examples of the present disclosure comprises: a communication circuit; a display; an actuator; a speaker; and a controller electrically connected to the communication circuit, the display, the actuator, and the speaker. The controller may be configured to: control so that a first guidance message is output through the display or the speaker in accordance with a sensor ball registration mode selection input; check sensor ball identification information included in a sensor ball-related message received through the communication circuit during a set period of time; control so that a second guidance message is output through the display or the speaker based on the set period of time expiring; and control so that, after the set period of time has expired, the sensor ball corresponding to the sensor ball-related message received during the set period of time is registered based on at least one sensor ball-related message received from the sensor ball.

Inventors

Kyungwoo Lee
Taedong GOH
Daehyun Kim
Youngjun PARK

Assignees

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20230503
Priority Date: 20201208

Claims (19)

1 . An electronic device comprising: a communication circuit; a display; a speaker; and a controller electrically connected to the communication circuit, the display, and the speaker, wherein the controller is configured to: control the display or the speaker to output a first guidance message in response to a selection input of a sensor ball registration mode; identify identification information of a sensor ball included in a sensor ball-related message received through the communication circuit within a specified time; control the display or the speaker to output a second guidance message related to changing movement of the sensor ball based on the specified time expiring; and based on the specified time expiring, perform control to register the sensor ball based on information corresponding to a harvest voltage of the sensor ball, wherein the harvest voltage of the sensor ball is included in at least one sensor ball-related message received through the communication circuit from the sensor ball and changes in response to the change in movement of the sensor ball, wherein the first guidance message includes instructions related to causing movement of the sensor ball and the second guidance message includes instructions related to stopping movement of the sensor ball.
2 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor ball-related message comprises information corresponding to humidity sensed by the sensor ball.
3 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to: control the sensor ball to be registered based on a comparison between a harvest voltage stored in memory of the electronic device before the at least one sensor ball-related message is received and a value included in the identified information corresponding to the harvest voltage.
4 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to: based on no sensor ball-related message being received from the sensor ball after the specified time has expired, perform control to register the sensor ball corresponding to the sensor ball-related message received within the specified time.
5 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to: identify information corresponding to the harvest voltage of the sensor ball and included in each of multiple sensor ball-related messages received through the communication circuit for the specified time; and based on the harvest voltage of the sensor ball being determined to be greater than a harvest voltage identified from a previous sensor ball-related message, perform control to register the sensor ball corresponding to the sensor ball-related message.
6 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the sensor ball-related message is transmitted through an advertisement message of Bluetooth low energy (BLE).
7 . The electronic device of claim 1 , comprising an actuator, wherein the controller is configured to control operation of the actuator based on a harvest voltage information included in sensor ball-related messages received from the sensor ball.
8 . The electronic device of claim 1 , comprising an actuator, wherein the controller is configured to control operation of the actuator based on humidity sensed by the sensor ball included in sensor ball-related messages received from the sensor ball.
9 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to: identify information corresponding to the harvest voltage of the sensor ball; and based on the harvest voltage of the sensor ball being determined to be less than a previously identified harvest voltage, perform control to register the sensor ball corresponding to the sensor ball-related message, wherein the at least one sensor ball-related message is received after the specified time has expired.
10 . An electronic device comprising: a communication circuit; a display; an actuator; a speaker; and a controller electrically connected to the communication circuit, the display, the actuator, and the speaker, wherein the controller is configured to: control the actuator to be driven during a specified first operation interval; identify identification information of a sensor ball included in a sensor ball-related message received through the communication circuit during the specified first operation interval; control the actuator to be stopped during a specified first stop interval based on the specified first operation interval elapsing; identify information corresponding to a harvest voltage of the sensor ball, wherein at least one sensor ball-related message is received through the communication circuit after the specified first stop interval has expired; and perform control to register, based on the information corresponding to the harvest voltage of the sensor ball being determined to be less than a previously identified harvest voltage, the sensor ball corresponding to the sensor ball-related message received during a specified time based on the specified first stop interval elapsing.
11 . The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the at least one sensor ball-related message comprises information corresponding to humidity sensed by the sensor ball.
12 . The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the controller is configured to control operation of the actuator based on humidity sensed by the sensor ball included in sensor ball-related messages received from the sensor ball.
13 . A method for sensor ball registration by an electronic device, the method comprising: outputting a first guidance message through a display or a speaker in response to a selection input of a sensor ball registration mode; identifying identification information of a sensor ball included in a sensor ball-related message received through a communication circuit within a specified time; outputting a second guidance message related to changing movement of the sensor ball through the display or the speaker based on the specified time expiring; and based on the specified time expiring, registering the sensor ball based on information corresponding to a harvest voltage of the sensor ball, wherein the harvest voltage of the sensor ball is included in at least one sensor ball-related message received through the communication circuit from the sensor ball and changes in response to the change in movement of the sensor ball, wherein the first guidance message includes instructions related to causing movement of the sensor ball and the second guidance message includes instructions related to stopping movement of the sensor ball.
14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the at least one sensor ball-related message comprises information corresponding to humidity sensed by the sensor ball.
15 . The method of claim 13 , comprising: identifying the information corresponding to the harvest voltage; and registering the sensor ball based on a comparison between a harvest voltage stored in a memory before the at least one sensor ball-related message is received and a value included in the identified information corresponding to the harvest voltage.
16 . The method of claim 15 , comprising registering, based on no sensor ball-related message being received from the sensor ball after the specified time has expired, the sensor ball corresponding to the sensor ball-related message received within the specified time.
17 . A method for sensor ball registration by an electronic device, the method comprising: outputting a first guidance message through a display or a speaker in response to a selection input of a sensor ball registration mode; identifying identification information of a sensor ball included in a sensor ball-related message received through a communication circuit within a specified time; outputting a second guidance message related to changing movement of the sensor ball through the display or the speaker based on the specified time expiring; identifying information corresponding to a harvest voltage of the sensor ball; and based on the specified time expiring and based on the harvest voltage of the sensor ball being determined to be less than a previously identified harvest voltage, registering the sensor ball corresponding to the sensor ball-related message, wherein at least one sensor ball-related message includes information corresponding to the harvest voltage of the sensor ball and is received after the specified time has expired, and the harvest voltage of the sensor ball changes in response to the change in movement of the sensor ball.
18 . An electronic device comprising: a communication circuit; a communication circuit; a display; a speaker; and a controller electrically connected to the communication circuit, the display, and the speaker, wherein the controller is configured to: control the display or the speaker to output a first guidance message in response to a selection input of a sensor ball registration mode; identify identification information of a sensor ball included in a sensor ball-related message received through the communication circuit within a specified time; control the display or the speaker to output a second guidance message related to changing movement of the sensor ball based on the specified time expiring; and identify information corresponding to a harvest voltage of the sensor ball; and based on the specified time expiring and based on the harvest voltage of the sensor ball being determined to be less than a previously identified harvest voltage, perform control to register the sensor ball corresponding to the sensor ball-related message, wherein at least one sensor ball-related message includes information corresponding to the harvest voltage of the sensor ball and is received after the specified time has expired, and the harvest voltage of the sensor ball changes in response to the change in movement of the sensor ball.
19 . The electronic device of claim 18 , wherein the second guidance message includes instructions related to shaking the sensor ball.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/KR2021/016883 designating the United States, filed on Nov. 17, 2021, in the Korean Intellectual Property Receiving Office and claiming priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2020-0170732, filed on Dec. 8, 2020, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. BACKGROUND Field The disclosure relates to an electronic device and a sensor ball registration method of the electronic device. Description of Related Art A sensor device that acquires a sensing value related to the operation of an electronic device is widely spread. For example, a washing machine may include a door sensor for determining that a door is closed before the washing machine starts to operate, and a water level sensor capable of detecting the height of water level to maintain an appropriate water level for washing. Also, a dryer with a built-in humidity sensor may determine whether laundry has been sufficiently dried, based on a humidity value acquired from the humidity sensor. A sensor device for acquiring a sensing value related to an operation of an electronic device may be embedded in the electronic device as a part of the electronic device or integrally combined with the electronic device. It may be difficult for the sensor device embedded in the electronic device to acquire a sensing value at a location away from the surface of the electronic device. For example, in the case of a dryer with a built-in humidity sensor, even when the humidity sensor is disposed closest to laundry, the humidity sensor is located on the inner surface of the dryer, and thus may not acquire a humidity value of laundry away from the inner surface of the dryer. Therefore, a sensing value detected by the sensor device may be different from a sensing value that is actually required. A sensor device may be a device (e.g., a sensor ball) that is not embedded in the electronic device and is distinct from the electronic device. For example, as the sensor device moves in the electronic device, the sensor device may generate electrical energy through an energy harvester, and may transmit a sensing value acquired through a sensor to the electronic device. A movable sensor device (e.g., a sensor ball) configured separately from an electronic device must be registered in the electronic device (e.g., a washing machine or a dryer) so that information received from the sensor device can be distinguished from information received from other sensor devices. For example, when the sensor device broadcasts the sensed information by Bluetooth low energy (BLE) advertising, the electronic device (e.g., a washing machine or a dryer) must collect information from the registered sensor device or a sensor device operating in the electronic device to prevent confusion with information acquired from other sensor devices (e.g., other adjacent sensor devices). SUMMARY Embodiments of the disclosure may provide an electronic device and a sensor ball registration method of the electronic device, wherein without directly registering information about a specific sensor device (e.g., a specific sensor ball) in the electronic device, a user may intuitively and easily register the sensor device. An electronic device according to an example embodiment may include: a communication circuit, a display, an actuator, a speaker, and a controller electrically connected to the communication circuit, the display, the actuator, and the speaker, wherein the controller is configured to: control the display or the speaker to output a first guidance message in response to a selection input of a sensor ball registration mode, identify identification information of a sensor ball included in a sensor ball-related message received through the communication circuit for a specified time, control the display or the speaker to output a second guidance message based on the specified time expiring, and based on the specified time expiring, perform control to register a sensor ball corresponding to the sensor ball-related message received for the specified time, based on at least one sensor ball-related message received from the sensor ball. An electronic device according to various example embodiments may include: a communication circuit, a display, an actuator, a speaker, and a controller electrically connected to the communication circuit, the display, the actuator, and the speaker, wherein the controller is configured to: control the actuator to be driven during a specified first operation interval, identify identification information of a sensor ball included in a sensor ball-related message received through the communication circuit during the specified first operation interval, control the actuator to be stopped during a specified first stop interval based on the specified first operation interval elapsing, and perform con