Universal Digital Timer and Thermostat

Independent, stand alone environment control device/system.

This product is designed to be used as an extremely flexible, multipurpose controller for use in wide variety of applications involving the control of heating and/or cooling with time dependent scheduling of the temperature control programs and flexible configuration of inputs, outputs and man-machine interaction.

The goal is to provide an average, unskilled user/consumer with a simple to use, relatively inexpensive system that is capable of controlling :

- heating,
- air conditioning,
- ventilation,
- water heating,
- solar heating or cooling,
- humidity control,
- temperature monitoring,
- programmable timing,
- time display
- some security features

as well as usable in some industrial process control applications.

All that is to be achieved through a simplified setup procedure, so that it can be done, for instance, by an average homeowner.

The controller inputs are configurable, selectable and capable of supporting a variety of :

- temperature sensors ( RTD, NTC, TC ),
- humidity sensors,
- discrete contact inputs,
- remote sensing devices ( temperature, humidity, light ),
- external data sources ( PC, GPS, Radio, IR )
- communication devices ( serial, Ethernet, PLC, RF).

The controller outputs are configurable, selectable and capable of supporting a variety of :

- power loads,
- relays ( low power, high power, SSR ),
- displays ( LED, LCD, indicators ),
- remote data receivers ( PC, Radio, IR ) ,
- communication devices ( serial, Ethernet, PLC, RF).

The controller parameters are configurable, selectable and capable of supporting its functionality as :

- programmable thermostat,
- programmable differential thermostat,
- programmable timer,
- programmable stopwatch,
- programmable thermostat + timer
- programmable water heater controller,
- programmable solar system controller,
- programmable humidity controller,
- digital thermometer,
- digital time monitor ( clock ),
- facility security system,
- facitlity communication system,

The controller man-machine interface is configurable, selectable and capable of functioning with :

- selectable number and function of push-buttons,
- selectable number and function of control pots,
- selectable number and function of displays,
- selectable number and function of external control inputs.

The controller programmability is effected by means of:

- direct user interaction through the on-board controls ( push-buttons, pots etc.. ),
- automatic download of configuration from an external device like a PC or network interface,
- dedicated download through the KERA-VCOM interface system ( see description ),

KERA-VCOM interface description:

This interface is based upon the existence of the controller on-board opto-sensor, like photoresistor, photodiode or phototransistor, that is capable of sensing the information encoded light impulses from an external source.
The external source may be an LED lamp, light bulb, TV screen, monitor screen or a cell phone display screen, or similar.
The transmitted information is a series of data bits, encoded as a series of light flashes that are encoded in a specific manner ( format and protocol ), that is understandable to the controller input device and interpreted by the controller internal program.
This information, either partly or completely, configures the controller to the functions and operation as desired by the program.
The effective configuration may be controlled by a password or special code that may activate or enable the user to set the specific parameters, effectively making the controller perform the specific functions.
Additional functions or configuration detail may be further modified by the user through a direct access to the parameters and setups using the local interface like the controller push-buttons or control pots.
The configuration data is conveyed to the user as a movie or a video file through any possible means, like for instance email, web site download or a video file transmission to the designated cell phone device.
Any format of the video file may be acceptable as long as it can be played back to the controller input light sensing device.
The recording of such a video file may be done either by modifying, frame by frame of a video movie using any of the available video production programs, or by simply placing a light source, like an LED lamp, in front of the video recording camera and having that light source be controlled by a controller that has been programmed to generate the specific configuration file to the designated output ligh source.