Misalignment detection

• US 10,664,100 B2
• Filed: 07/31/2014
• Issued: 05/26/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Tang, Yun, Kang, Jinman, Short, David Bradley, Tretter, Daniel R, Tan, Kar Han, Marathe, Amit A
• Primary Examiner(s): Reed, Stephen T.
• Application Number:
  US15/500,831
• Publication Number:
  US 20170228100A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,126 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 17/54 with projector
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 21/30 adapted to collapse or fold, e.g. for portability
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0418 for error correction or compensation, e.g. based on parallax, calibration or alignment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0428 by sensing at the edges of the touch surface the interruption of optical paths, e.g. an illumination plane, parallel to the touch surface which may be virtual sensing beam interruptions in a planar beam grid of an optical touch-screen G06F3/0421
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures

Abstract

Examples disclosed herein relate to detecting misalignment of a touch sensitive mat. Examples include detecting corners of the touch sensitive mat, determining a set of reference corners, performing a comparison of the detected corners of the mat with the set of reference corners, and determining a level of misalignment based on the comparison.

Claims

1. A misalignment detection system, comprising:

a plurality of sensors;

a projector unit;

a computing device attachable to the projector unit and comprising a processor; and

a touch sensitive mat communicatively coupled to the computing device, the touch sensitive mat including a touch sensitive surface having a first spectral reflectance characteristic and a portion of a perimeter of the touch sensitive surface having a second spectral reflectance characteristic, wherein the computing device is to cause;

the plurality of sensors to differentiate the first spectral reflectance characteristic from the second spectral reflectance characteristic to detect corners of the touch sensitive mat;

the processor to compare the detected corners of the touch sensitive mat to a set of reference corners of the touch sensitive mat, the set of reference corners based on previous detection of the corners of the touch sensitive mat; and

the processor to determine a level of misalignment of the touch sensitive mat based on the comparison of the detected corners to the set of reference corners.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a support structure including a base, an upright member extending upward from the base, and a cantilevered top extending outward from the upright member and including a fold mirror and the plurality of sensors, wherein the projector unit is attachable to the upright member.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein a portion of the base of the support structure is to form a space between the portion of the base and a surface on which the touch sensitive mat is to lie, wherein an edge of the touch sensitive mat is received within the space.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing device is further to cause the processor to initiate a calibration process based on the level of misalignment.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensors detect the corners of the touch sensitive mat when the projector unit is in standby state.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the set of reference corners are corners of the touch sensitive mat captured during a prior calibration process.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the set of reference corners are corners of the touch sensitive mat restored through 2 homographies.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensors to detect the corners of the touch sensitive mat comprises at least an RGB camera.

9. A method to detect misalignment of a touch sensitive mat, the method comprising:

detecting corners of the touch sensitive mat, including differentiating a first spectral reflectance characteristic of a touch sensitive surface of the touch sensitive mat from a second spectral reflectance characteristic of a portion of a perimeter of the touch sensitive surface;

determining a set of reference corners for the touch sensitive mat, the set of reference corners based on past detection of the corners of the touch sensitive mat;

performing a comparison of the detected corners of the touch sensitive mat with the set of reference corners for the touch sensitive mat; and

determining a level of misalignment of the touch sensitive mat based on the comparison of the detected corners with the set of reference corners.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising determining whether a projector unit associated with the touch sensitive mat is in standby mode, and detecting the corners of the touch sensitive mat if the projector unit is in the standby mode.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein determining the set of reference corners further comprises retrieving stored data associated with the corners of the touch sensitive mat.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the stored data comprises captured images of the corners of the touch sensitive mat, the captured images captured during prior calibrations of the touch sensitive mat.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving an image of the touch sensitive mat;

deriving depth data from the image of the touch sensitive mat, the depth data providing information related to non-flatness of a surface that the touch sensitive mat lies on;

displaying an alert if the non-flatness of the surface is not within an acceptable tolerance; and

initiating a calibration process if the non-flatness of the surface is within the acceptable tolerance and above a user threshold.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the alert comprises a message to a user of the touch sensitive mat to check for an object under the touch sensitive mat or to move the touch sensitive mat to a different surface.

15. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions executable by a processing resource of a computing system to detect misalignment of a touch sensitive mat, the instructions executable to:

newly detect corners of the touch sensitive mat based on differentiating a first spectral reflectance characteristic of a touch sensitive surface of the touch sensitive mat from a second spectral reflectance characteristic of a portion of a perimeter of the touch sensitive surface;

determine a set of reference corners associated with the touch sensitive mat, the set of reference corners based on previously identified corners of the touch sensitive mat;

perform mapping of the newly detected corners of the touch sensitive mat with the set of reference corners associated with the touch sensitive mat; and

determine a level of misalignment of the touch sensitive mat based on the mapping of the newly detected corners with the set of reference corners.

16. The storage medium of claim 15, wherein the corners of the touch sensitive mat are corners of an area of the touch sensitive mat, wherein the area represents the touch sensitive surface of the touch sensitive mat.