SENSORS, ALGORITHMS AND APPLICATIONS FOR A HIGH DIMENSIONAL TOUCHPAD

• US 20100044121A1
• Filed: 08/15/2009
• Published: 02/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NRI R&D Patent Licensing, LLC (Advanced Touchscreen and Gesture Technologies, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Lester F. Ludwig
• Inventors: Graham, Andrew D., Simon, Steven H.
• Granted Patent: US 8,604,364 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 178/18.30
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04144 using an array of force sensing means position sensing using the local deformation of sensor cells G06F3/0447
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

A high dimensional touchpad (HDTP) controls a variety of computer windows systems and applications by detecting a user'"'"'s finger movement in the left-right, forward-backward, roll, pitch, yaw, and downward pressure directions. Measurements obtained from the touchpad of at least two attributes of finger movement at two different time intervals are used to provide a first and a second finger position attribute used to control an application on an electronic device. The finger roll angle is determined by detecting the edge and the peak region of a finger contact area. Also, a visual color displayed in an application operating on an electronic device is controlled by a measured-angle value of a finger in contact with a touchpad.

Claims

1. A method for refining raw measurements by a processor responding to at least a first and a second finger position attribute, the first and second finger position attributes being any distinct two of roll, pitch, yaw, surge, sway, and heave, the method comprising:

at a first time interval, obtaining first tactile array measurement data from the tactile sensor array, the first tactile array measurement data comprising tactile array measurement values;

processing the first tactile array measurement data by the processor with at least one data array processing algorithm, resulting in processed first tactile array measurement data;

performing a first raw measurement computation operation by the processor on the processed first tactile array measurement data for the first finger position attribute, resulting in a first time interval raw first finger position attribute value;

performing a second raw measurement computation operation by the processor on the processed first tactile array measurement data for the second finger position attribute, resulting in a first time interval raw second finger position attribute value;

at a second time interval, obtaining second tactile array measurement data from the tactile sensor array, the second tactile array measurement data comprising tactile array measurement values;

processing the second tactile array measurement data by the processor with at least one data array processing algorithm, resulting in processed second tactile array measurement data;

performing the first raw measurement computation operation by the processor on the processed second tactile array measurement data for the first finger position attribute, resulting in a second time interval raw first finger position attribute value;

performing a second raw measurement computation operation by the processor on the processed second tactile array measurement data for the second finger position attribute, resulting in a second time interval raw second finger position attribute value;

calculating the rate of change by the processor of the of the first finger position attribute measurement by subtracting the first time interval raw first finger position attribute value from the second time interval raw first finger position attribute value;

calculating the rate of change by the processor of the of the second finger position attribute measurement by subtracting the first time interval raw second finger position attribute value from the second time interval raw second finger position attribute value;

wherein if the rate of change of the of the first finger position attribute measurement is sufficiently larger than the rate of change of the of the second finger position attribute measurement, providing the second time interval raw first finger position attribute value as an output for the first finger position attribute measurement and the first time interval raw second finger position attribute value as an output for the second finger position attribute measurement, and

wherein if the rate of change of the of the first finger position attribute measurement is sufficiently smaller than the rate of change of the of the second finger position attribute measurement, providing the first time interval raw first finger position attribute value as an output for the first finger position attribute measurement and the second time interval raw second finger position attribute value as an output for the second finger position attribute measurement.

2. A method for measuring the angle of roll of a finger in contact with a tactile sensor array by a processor, the method comprising:

obtaining tactile array measurement data from the tactile sensor array, the tactile array measurement data comprising tactile array measurement values;

processing the tactile array measurement data with at least one data array processing algorithm by the processor, resulting in processed tactile array measurement data;

performing a first identification operation for identifying edge information of the processed tactile array measurement data, the edge information comprising at least one edge of the region of contact of the finger with the tactile sensor array, the first identification operation resulting in edge location data;

performing a second identification operation by the processor for identifying the peak region of the processed tactile array measurement data, the peak region comprising the region of contact of the finger with the tactile sensor array that comprises highest tactile sensor measurement values, the second identification operation resulting in peak location data; and

calculating a relative roll angle measurement of the finger, the calculation employing the edge location data and the peak location data, the calculation resulting in roll angle measurement data.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the at least one data array processing algorithm comprises a thresholding operation employing a threshold value.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the at least one data array processing algorithm comprises a rotation operation.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein the at least one data array processing algorithm comprises a center of mass operation.

6. The method of claim 3 further comprises obtaining center of mass data for the region of contact of the finger with tactile array measurement values that exceed the threshold value.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the calculation additionally employs the center of mass data.

8. The method of claim 8 wherein the calculation computes a difference between the center of mass data and the edge location data.

9. A method for controlling a visual color displayed in an application operating on an electronic device, the method comprising:

touching a touchpad with at least one finger;

measuring at least one change in one angle of the position of the finger with respect to the surface of the touchpad and producing a measured-angle value; and

using the measured-angle value to control the color value used in an application operating on the electronic device.