Automatic door control

Abstract

An automatic door opening system includes an element that is rotatable to change a position of a door. A potentiometer is coupled to the element such that rotation of the element in one direction increases a resistance of the potentiometer and rotation of the element in the opposite direction decreases the resistance. A controller is configured to rotate the element concurrently with monitoring the resistance of the potentiometer, and to stop the rotation when the resistance of the potentiometer is indicative of a target position of the door.

1 . An automatic door opening system comprising:
 an element that is rotatable to change a position of a door;   a potentiometer that is coupled to the element such that rotation of the element in one direction increases a resistance of the potentiometer and rotation of the element in an opposite direction decreases the resistance; and   a controller that is configured to rotate the element concurrently with monitoring the resistance of the potentiometer, and to stop the rotation when the resistance of the potentiometer is indicative of a target position of the door.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the element comprises a shaft. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein a housing of the controller includes an opening to enable an end of the shaft to extend into the housing. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the end of the shaft includes a pulley wheel and a shaft of the potentiometer is provided with a pulley wheel, the rotatable element being coupled to the potentiometer by a pulley belt. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one sensor. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the controller is configured to select the target position based on a signal from said at least one sensor. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the sensor is configured to sense an environmental condition. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the environmental condition comprises an interior or exterior temperature or an interior or exterior humidity. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the system is configured to stop rotation of the rotatable element in response to a signal from said at least one sensor. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the signal is indicative of faulty operation of the system. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 5 , further comprising an encoder for sensing a rotation of the element. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured to rotate the element when a signal that is generated by the encoder is indicative of a target position of the door 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is provided with a nonvolatile data storage that is configured to store a correlation between a target position of the door and a resistance of the potentiometer. 
     
     
         14 . The system of claim  15 , wherein the controller is configured to receive a signal during execution of a calibration method, the signal indicating that a current resistance of the potentiometer corresponds to the target position. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured for wireless communication wirelessly with an external device. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the wireless communication comprises Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the external device comprises a smartphone. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the wireless communication is configured to enable an operator or the external device to indicate a correlation between a current resistance of the potentiometer and the target position of the door. 
     
     
         20 . A method for operation of an automatic system for changing a position of a door, the method comprising, by a controller:
 receiving input from a sensor;   when the input is indicative of changing the position of the door to a target position:
 operating a motor to rotate a rotatable element in one direction to open the door, or in an opposite direction to close the door; 
 concurrently with operating the motor, receiving a reading of a potentiometer that is coupled to the rotatable element rotation, where rotation of the element in one direction increases a resistance of the potentiometer and rotation of the element in the opposite direction decreases the resistance; and 
 stopping the rotation when the resistance of the potentiometer is indicative of the target position of the door.