FOOT-OPERATED CONTROLLER

• US 20110088536A1
• Filed: 10/14/2010
• Published: 04/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: BeBop Sensors, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Kesumo, LLC
• Inventors: Lacy, Conner, McMillen, Keith
• Granted Patent: US 8,680,390 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 84/746
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 1/18 using properties of piezo-resistive materials, i.e. materials of which the ohmic resistance varies according to changes in magnitude or direction of force applied to the material
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 5/225 to foot actuated controls, e.g. brake pedals
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/056 Programming the PLC
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/23056 Foot pedal, control, operated
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0414 using force sensing means to determine a position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/044 by capacitive means
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/348 Switches actuated by parts of the body other than fingers
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2220/071 Pedal indicator, e.g. guitar pedal status lights
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/311 MIDI transmission G10H2240/056 takes precedence

Abstract

Highly expressive and flexibly programmable foot-operated controllers are described. Specific implementations are intended for musical applications and allow musicians an unprecedented degree of control of a wide variety of musical components and subsystems for recording and/or performance.

Claims

1. A controller, comprising:

a substrate;

a plurality of pressure-sensitive regions arranged on the substrate, each pressure-sensitive region having one or more sensors associated therewith configured to generate one or more output signals that are monotonically representative of time-varying pressure applied to the one or more sensors via the associated pressure-sensitive region; and

a processor configured to receive the one or more output signals from the one or more sensors associated with each pressure-sensitive region and generate control information in response thereto, the control information being for controlling operation of one or more processes or devices in communication with the controller.

2. The controller of claim 1 wherein the one or more sensors associated with each pressure-sensitive region comprise two or more sensors, and wherein the one or more output signals generated by the two or more sensors associated with each pressure-sensitive region are also representative of one or more directions of the pressure applied to the pressure-sensitive region.

3. The controller of claim 2 wherein the one or more directions of the pressure applied to the pressure-sensitive region are relative to a surface of the pressure-sensitive region and include a clockwise rotation, a counter-clockwise rotation, a first linear direction along a first axis, and a second linear direction along a second axis.

4. The controller of claim 2 wherein the one or more output signals for each pressure-sensitive region comprise a plurality of output signals corresponding to the associated plurality of sensors, each of the plurality of output signals for each pressure-sensitive region representing a contribution to the one or more directions of the pressure applied to the pressure-sensitive region.

5. The controller of claim 1 wherein each of the sensors comprises a piezo-resistive material having an electrical resistance which changes with the pressure.

6. The controller of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to process the output signals received from the sensors associated with adjacent ones of the pressure-sensitive regions to determine which of the adjacent pressure-sensitive regions was activated.

7. The controller of claim 1 wherein at least some of the control information comprises musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) messages, the controller further comprising a MIDI interface configured to facilitate communication of the MIDI messages from the processor to an external MIDI device.

8. The controller of claim 1 wherein the one or more processes or devices comprises a computing device on which a software application is running, and wherein the control information is provided to the computing device for use by the software application.

9. The controller of claim 1 wherein the control information includes either or both of musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) messages or Ethernet messages.

10. The controller of claim 1 further comprising a status indicator associated with each pressure-sensitive region representing an activation state of the associated pressure sensitive region.

11. The controller of claim 1 wherein the processor is programmable to save a group of settings for each pressure-sensitive region corresponding to the control information for that pressure-sensitive region.

12. The controller of claim 11 wherein the processor is programmable to save one or more additional groups of settings for each pressure sensitive region, each additional group corresponding to different control information for that pressure sensitive region.

13. The controller of claim 12 wherein the processor is programmable to save a first group of settings for each of the pressure-sensitive regions collectively as a first scene.

14. The controller of claim 13 wherein the processor is programmable to save a second group of settings for each of the pressure-sensitive regions collectively as a second scene.

15. The controller of claim 14 wherein the processor is programmable to save a sequence of the scenes as a setlist.

16. The controller of claim 15 further comprising navigation controls configured to facilitate navigation among the scenes of the setlist.

17. The controller of claim 16 wherein the processor is further configured to save a last state of a first one of the scenes upon navigation away from the first scene, and to return to the last state of the first scene upon navigation back to the first scene.

18. The controller of claim 1 wherein the processor is programmable to configure sensitivity to the pressure for the one or more sensors associated with each pressure-sensitive region.

19. The controller of claim 18 wherein the one or more output signals generated by the one or more sensors associated with each pressure-sensitive region are also representative of one or more directions of the pressure applied to the one or more sensors, and wherein the processor is programmable to configure sensitivity to the pressure for each of the one or more directions.

20. The controller of claim 1 further comprising navigation controls configured for selecting a functionality of each of the pressure-sensitive regions.

21. A computer-program product for configuring a controller, the controller including a plurality of pressure-sensitive regions configured to generate output signals that are monotonically representative of time-varying pressure applied to each of the pressure-sensitive regions, the output signals further being representative of one or more directions of the pressure applied to each of the pressure-sensitive regions, the controller further comprising a processor configured to receive the output signals and generate control information in response thereto, the computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable storage media having computer program instructions stored therein that are configured to cause one or more computing devices executing the instructions to:

program the processor to configure sensitivity to the pressure for each of the one or more directions for each pressure-sensitive region; and

map the control information corresponding to each of the pressure-sensitive regions to one or more destination processes or one or more destination devices thereby facilitating control of the destination processes or destination devices by the controller.

22. The computer program product of claim 21 wherein the computer program instructions are further configured to cause the one or more computing devices executing the instructions to program the processor to configure a status indicator associated with each pressure-sensitive region to represent an activation state of the associated pressure sensitive region.

23. The computer program product of claim 21 wherein the computer program instructions are further configured to cause the one or more computing devices executing the instructions to program the processor to save a group of settings for each pressure-sensitive region corresponding to the control information for that pressure-sensitive region.

24. The computer program product of claim 23 wherein the computer program instructions are further configured to cause the one or more computing devices executing the instructions to program the processor to save one or more additional groups of settings for each pressure sensitive region, each additional group corresponding to different control information for that pressure sensitive region.

25. The computer program product of claim 24 wherein the computer program instructions are further configured to cause the one or more computing devices executing the instructions to program the processor to save a first group of settings for each of the pressure-sensitive regions collectively as a first scene.

26. The computer program product of claim 25 wherein the computer program instructions are further configured to cause the one or more computing devices executing the instructions to program the processor to save a second group of settings for each of the pressure-sensitive regions collectively as a second scene.

27. The computer program product of claim 26 wherein the computer program instructions are further configured to cause the one or more computing devices executing the instructions to program the processor to save a sequence of the scenes as a setlist.

28. The computer program product of claim 21 wherein the one or more directions of the pressure applied to each pressure sensitive region is relative to a surface of the pressure-sensitive region and include a clockwise rotation, a counter-clockwise rotation, a first linear direction along a first axis, and a second linear direction along a second axis.

29. The computer program product of claim 21 wherein the one or more destination processes or one or more destination devices are taken from a group consisting of:

a musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) device, a software process configured to receive MIDI messages, an open sound control (OSC) device, a software process configured to receive OSC messages, an Ethernet device, a software process configured to receive Ethernet messages, a video editing software process, a computer aided design (CAD) software process, a graphics design software process, an analog device, a musical instrument, and an expression pedal.

30. The computer program product of claim 21 wherein the control information includes either or both of musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) messages or open sound control (OSC) messages.