METHOD OF LOCATING AN OBJECT IN 3D

• US 20090278800A1
• Filed: 12/03/2008
• Published: 11/12/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Analog Devices, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Analog Devices, Inc.
• Inventors: DELIWALA, Shrenik
• Granted Patent: US 9,285,459 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/158
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/213 comprising photodetecting means, e.g. cameras, photodiodes or infrared cells A63F13/219, A63F13/655 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/235 using a wireless connection, e.g. infrared or piconet
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/40 Processing input control signals of video game devices, e.g. signals generated by the player or derived from the environment
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/428 involving motion or position input signals, e.g. signals representing the rotation of an input controller or a player's arm motions sensed by accelerometers or gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/52 involving aspects of the displayed game scene
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/843 involving concurrently two or more players on the same game device, e.g. requiring the use of a plurality of controllers or of a specific view of game data for each player
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/90 Constructional details or arrangements of video game devices not provided for in groups A63F13/20 or A63F13/25, e.g. housing, wiring, connections or cabinets
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1006 having additional degrees of freedom
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1031 using a wireless connection, e.g. Bluetooth, infrared connections
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1087 comprising photodetecting means, e.g. a camera
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1093 using visible light
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6045 for mapping control signals received from the input arrangement into game commands
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/66 for rendering three dimensional images
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8088 involving concurrently several players in a non-networked game, e.g. on the same game console
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 3/783 using amplitude comparison of signals derived from static detectors or detector systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0009 Transmission of position information to remote stations involving assistance data G01S5/0236
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/163 Determination of attitude using inertial means G01C9/00; control of attitude G05D1/49

Abstract

Methods and devices for calculating the position of a movable device are disclosed. The device may include multiple optical detectors (ODs) and the movable device may include light sources. Optics may be above the ODs. A controller may calculate the position of the light source based on data from the ODs and properties of the optics. The device may be a game console, and the light source may be a game controller. The roles of the OD and light sources may be interchanged. The rotation of the movable device may be determined using multiple light sources and/or multiple ODs on the movable device. The movable device may calculate its position and transmit it to a console. The light sources may be modulated by time or frequency to distinguish between the light sources. There may be two or more movable devices. There may be two or more consoles.

Claims

1. A device for calculating a position of a light source, comprising:

two optical detectors, the optical detectors each receiving incident light from the light source and each generating a pair of electrical signals in response to the incident light,

a controller communicatively coupled to the optical detectors to calculate the position of the light source based on the electrical signals.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the electrical signals are analog signals with strength proportionate to the received incident light.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the optical detectors are position sensitive detectors.

4. The device of claim 3, wherein the position sensitive detectors each have a major length and the major lengths of the detectors are provided in a common direction.

5. The device of claim 4, further comprising a third position sensitive detector having a major length oriented in a different orientation than the common direction of the first and second optical detectors.

6. The device of claim 3, wherein the position sensitive detectors each have a major length and the major lengths of the detectors are provided in different directions to each other, and

the controller calculates the position of the light source in two dimensions in response to the two pairs of electrical signals.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein:

at least one of the optical detectors is a two-dimensional position sensitive detector, generating two pairs of electrical signals in response to the incident light, and

the controller calculates the position of the light source in two dimensions in response to the two pairs of electrical signals.

8. The device of claim 1, further comprising a housing with apertures to admit light from the light source, the apertures focusing the light from the light source on the optical detectors.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the apertures are a slit in the housing.

10. The device of claim 8, wherein the apertures include respective lenses.

11. The device of claim 1, wherein the device is a game console that receives light from a movable game controller.

12. The device of claim 1, wherein the game controller comprises:

a processor to execute program instructions representing a game, and

a computer display to display a player-controlled object of the game,

wherein the processor uses periodically calculated position data representing movement of the light source to move the player-controlled object on the display.

13. The device of claim 1, wherein the device is a movable game controller that receives light from a game console.

14. The device of claim 12, wherein the game controller includes a transmitter for communicating position data to the game console.

15. The device of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to:

calculate rotational information for a device housing the light source and at least one additional light source, the two lights of the light sources distinguishable by at least one of time and frequency.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein the controller is configured to calculate a directional vector between the light sources.

17. The device of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to:

calculate rotational information of the light source based on the pair of electrical signals and a known angular distribution of the light source.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein the controller is further configured to:

calculate rotational information of a second light source based on the pair of electrical signals and a known angular distribution of the second light source, the two lights of the light sources distinguishable by at least one of time and frequency; and

further configured to;

calculate rotational information for a device housing the light source and the second light source.

19. The device of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to calculate rotational information for the device based on measurements from the optical detectors, the measurements based on the light source and at least one other light source, the light sources distinguishable by at least one of time or frequency.

20. The device of claim 19, wherein the controller is configured to calculate a directional vector between the light sources.

21. The device of claim 1, wherein the electrical signals are currents.

22. The device of claim 1, wherein the electrical signals are voltages.

23. The device of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to:

calculate two of the coordinates of a position of a second light source based on measurements from the optical detectors, the second light source and the first light source being distinguished based on time modulation.

24. The device of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to:

calculate two of the coordinates of a position of a second light source based on measurements from the optical detectors, the second light source and the first light source being distinguished based on frequency modulation.

25. The device of claim 1, further comprising analog to digital converters respectively provided in signal paths between the optical detectors and the controller.

26. The device of claim 1, further comprising:

an amplifier and differencing and summing instrumentation communicatively coupled to at least one optical detector and communicatively coupled to the controller.

27. The device of claim 1, wherein the controller comprises:

a processor;

a memory communicatively coupled to the processor; and

wherein stored in the memory are instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to calculate two of the coordinates of the position of the light source based on measurements at the optical detectors.

28. The device of claim 1, wherein the device is further configured to track the position of the light source by repeatedly calculating the position of the light source.

29. The device of claim 1, wherein the position includes at least two of the six degrees of freedom of the light source.

30. The device of claim 1, wherein the position includes at least three of the six degrees of freedom of the light source.

31. The device of claim 1, wherein the optical detectors are linear optical detectors.

32-40. -40. (canceled)