Patent ID: 6912429

Claim:
A home automation system for a home having a plurality of rooms, the system comprising: a plurality of controlled objects for placement in rooms; a plurality of room motion sensors for placement in the rooms to detect occupancy by a person therein; a controller for assigning each of the rooms to a first room state in response to detected occupancy in the room by one of the room motion sensors and to a second room state when occupancy in the room is not detected by the room motion sensors; an input device located in one of the rooms and connected to the controller for selecting one of a plurality of room modes that define room atmospheres created by the controlled objects, wherein the controller assigns to the one room a room mode selected by a first occupant using the input device, and wherein as the first occupant travels into and triggers room motion sensors in other rooms, the controller assigns these other rooms to the selected room mode; a second input device located in a second one of the rooms and connected to the controller for selecting one of the plurality of room modes, wherein the controller assigns to the second one room a room mode selected by a second occupant using the second input device, and wherein as the second occupant travels into and triggers room motion sensors in other rooms, the controller assigns these other rooms to the room mode selected by the second occupant; and the controller controls the controlled objects in each of the rooms in response to which of the first and second room states is assigned to the room, and in response to which of the plurality of room modes is assigned to the room; wherein the controller defines a priority hierarchy for the plurality of room modes, and wherein for any one room entered into by the second occupant while already occupied by the first occupant, the controller assigns the room to one of the plurality of room modes based upon the priority hierarchy.