EyeTap vehicle or vehicle controlled by headworn camera, or the like

• US 20030043268A1
• Filed: 09/04/2001
• Published: 03/06/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: W. Stephen G. Mann
• Original Assignee: W. Stephen G. Mann
• Inventors: Mann, W. Stephen G.
• Application Number:
  US09/944,430
• Publication Number:
  US 20030043268A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/143
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 30/04 using wireless transmission
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 1/00 Steering controls, i.e. means for initiating a change of direction of the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/017 Head mounted
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0016 characterised by the operator's input device input arrangements for computing systems in general G06F3/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0038 by providing the operator with simple or augmented images from one or more cameras located onboard the vehicle, e.g. tele-operation images analyzed by a computer and used for automatic navigation G05D1/0246
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/183 for receiving images from a single remote source

Abstract

A vehicle is controlled by a sensor such as an EyeTap device or a headworn camera., so that the vehicle drives in whatever direction the driver looks. The vehicle may be a small radio controlled car or airplane or helicopter driven of flown by a person outside the car or plane, or the vehicle may be a car, plane, or helicopter, or the like, driven or flown by a person sitting inside it. A differential direction system allows a person'"'"'s head position to be compared to the position of the vehicle, to bring the difference in orientations to a zero, and a near zero difference may be endowed with a deliberate drift toward a zero difference. Preferably at least one of the sensors (preferably a headworn sensor) is a video camera. Preferably the sensor difference drifts toward zero when the person is going along a straight path, so that the head position for going straight ahead will not drift away from being straight ahead. The invention can be used with a wide range of toy cars, model aircraft, or fullsize vehicles, airplanes, fighter jets, or the like.

Claims

1. A drive-where-looking vehicle comprising:

a body sensor for being borne by a body of a driver of said vehicle;

a vehicle sensor for being borne by said vehicle;

a processor,

said processor responsive to an input from said body sensor and said vehicle sensor, said processor providing an output to at least one steering control of said vehicle.

2. The drive-where-looking vehicle of claim 1, including a video camera borne by said vehicle, and a video display for being borne by said driver.

3. The drive-where-looking vehicle of claim 2, said video display being a headworn display, said body sensor borne by said headworn display.

4. The drive-where-looking vehicle of claim 3, where said body sensor is a headworn camera borne by said headworn display.

5. The drive-where-looking vehicle of claim 1, where exactly one of:

said body sensor; and

said vehicle sensor,

is mounted upside down with respect to the other sensor.

6. The drive-where-looking vehicle of claim 1, where one of:

said body sensor; and

said vehicle sensor,

is a first camera, and the other sensor is a second camera, said first camera being mounted upside down with respect to said second camera.

7. The drive-where-looking vehicle of claim 1, further including a deliberate differential drift to zero feature.

8. The drive-where-looking vehicle of claim 1, further including a deliberate differential drift to zero tendency said tendency proportional to a straightness of trajectory of said vehicle.

9. The drive-where-looking vehicle of claim 1,