Passive remote control system

A remote control system powered by an excitation field, the remote control system comprising:

• a controlled device;
• an exciter coupled to the controlled device, the exciter producing an electrostatic excitation field generated by electrostatic radiation;
• a remote control device, powered capacitively by the electrostatic excitation field, in signal communication with the exciter such that the remote control device produces an electrostatic response signal;
• and
• at least one manually actuated element on the remote control device, the manually actuated element being coupled to a radio frequency identification circuit such that actuation of the manually actuated element causes the remote control device to produce a predetermined response signal for controlling an operation of the controlled device.

A method of controlling a controlled device with a remote control device, the method comprising the steps of:

• generating an electrostatic excitation field via electrostatic radiation;
• powering the remote control device capacitively with the electrostatic excitation field;
• actuating a manually actuated element on the remote control device to produce an electrostatic response signal;
• receiving the electrostatic response signal at the controlled device;
• and
• determining an operation to be performed by the controlled device based on the response signal.

A method of controlling a controlled device with a remote control device, the method comprising the steps of:

• receiving an excitation signal via electrostatic radiation;
• powering the remote control device capacitively with the excitation signal;
• and
• producing an electrostatic response signal to control an operation of the controlled device.