3-D cursor control system

• US 20070115252A1
• Filed: 01/27/2005
• Published: 05/24/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Burgmans, Tom
• Application Number:
  US10/586,934
• Publication Number:
  US 20070115252A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/156
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 11/14 using ultrasonic, sonic, or infrasonic waves
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors

Abstract

A 3-D cursor control system includes a remote control unit (20) which emits ultrasonic waves. Ultrasonic sensors (14a,14b,14c) measure changes in the position of the remote control unit (20) for controlling the position of a cursor on a display. The ultrasonic sensors (14a,14b,14c) also measure the distance that the remote control unit (20) is removed from the sensors (14a,14b, 14c). This distance measurement is then used to adjust the sensitivity of the 3-D cursor control system such that the cursor moves on the display in accordance with the same movement of the remote control (20) regardless of distance of the remote control unit (20) from the ultrasonic sensors (14a,14b,14c).

Claims

1. A cursor control system comprising:

a handheld remote control unit (100) having means for transmitting control signals to a controlled device (32), said handheld remote control unit (100) further having means for transmitting (102) an ultrasonic position signal;

receiving means for receiving said control signals and for applying said received control signals to said controlled device (32) for controlling various functions of said controlled device (32);

an ultrasonic sensor array (106a, 106b, 106c) for receiving said ultrasonic position signal; and

means (108, 110, 112), coupled to said ultrasonic sensor array (106a, 106b, 106c), for detecting movements of said handheld remote control unit (100) and for applying cursor position signals to said controlled device (32) for moving a cursor on a display (116) of said control device (32) correspondingly to said movements of said handheld remote control unit (100), the movement of the cursor in relation to the detected movement of the handheld remote control unit (100) being at a predetermined ratio,

wherein said means (108, 110, 112)) for detecting movements of said handheld remote control unit (100) comprises means (114) for modifying a sensitivity of said ultrasonic sensor array (106a, 106b, 106c) such that said predetermined ratio remains constant, whereby movements of the handheld remote control unit (100) when relatively distant from the controlled device (32) result in the same movement of the cursor as when the handheld remote control unit (100) is similarly moved when relatively close to the controlled device (32).

2. The cursor control system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said modifying means (114) comprises a manually operable variable control (118) on said handheld remote control unit (100) coupled to said control signal transmitting means for transmitting a sensitivity setting signal to said controlled device (32) for said detecting means (108, 110, 112) wherein said sensitivity setting signal modifies said sensitivity of said ultrasonic sensor array (106a, 106b, 106c).

3. The cursor control system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said modifying means comprises means (112) coupled to said ultrasonic sensor array (106a, 106b, 106c) for determining a distance of said handheld remote control unit (100) from said ultrasonic sensor array (106a, 106b, 106c), and means (114′

) for modifying said sensitivity based on said determined distance.

4. A method of controlling movements of a cursor on a display (116) based on movements of a 3-D remote control unit (100), said method comprising the steps:

detecting the 3-D remote control unit (100) at a predetermined distance from a receiver (106a, 106b, 106c);

determining (108, 110, 112) a ratio of movement of the cursor to movement of the 3-D remote control unit (100) based on a sensitivity setting of said receiver and said predetermined distance; and

measuring a current distance (106a, 106b, 106c, 110) of the 3-D remote control unit (100) from the receiver, and modifying the sensitivity setting (114′

) of said receiver based on the measured current distance such that said ratio remains constant.