3D POINTING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR COMPENSATING ROTATIONS OF THE 3D POINTING DEVICE THEREOF

• US 20110260968A1
• Filed: 07/06/2011
• Published: 10/27/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/06/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CyWee Group Ltd.
• Original Assignee: CyWee Group Ltd.
• Inventors: Liou, Shun-Nan, Ye, Zhou, Li, Chin-Lung
• Granted Patent: US 8,552,978 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/158
• 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 3D pointing device utilizing an orientation sensor, capable of accurately transforming rotations and movements of the 3D pointing device into a movement pattern in the display plane of a display device is provided. The 3D pointing device includes the orientation sensor, a rotation sensor, and a computing processor. The orientation sensor generates an orientation output associated with the orientation of the 3D pointing device associated with three coordinate axes of a global reference frame associated with the Earth. The rotation sensor generates a rotation output associated with the rotation of the 3D pointing device associated with three coordinate axes of a spatial reference frame associated with the 3D pointing device itself The computing processor uses the orientation output and the rotation output to generate a transformed output associated with a fixed reference frame associated with the display device above. The transformed output represents a segment of the movement pattern.

Claims

1. A 3D pointing device, comprising:

an orientation sensor, generating an orientation output associated with an orientation of the 3D pointing device associated with three coordinate axes of a global reference frame associated with Earth;

a rotation sensor, generating a rotation output associated with a rotation of the 3D pointing device associated with three coordinate axes of a spatial reference frame associated with the 3D pointing device; and

a first computing processor, using the orientation output and the rotation output to generate a transformed output associated with a fixed reference frame associated with a display device.

2. The 3D pointing device of claim 1, wherein the orientation sensor comprises:

an accelerometer, generating a first signal set comprising axial accelerations associated with movements and rotations of the 3D pointing device in the spatial reference frame; and

a second computing processor, generating the orientation output based on the first signal set and the rotation output.

3. The 3D pointing device of claim 2, wherein the orientation sensor further comprises:

a magnetometer, generating a second signal set associated with Earth'"'"'s magnetism, wherein the second computing processor further generates the orientation output based on the first signal set, the second signal set and the rotation output or based on the first signal set and the second signal set.

4. The 3D pointing device of claim 3, wherein the orientation output comprises a yaw angle, a pitch angle, and a roll angle associated with the three coordinate axes of the global reference frame;

the first signal set comprises a first axial acceleration, a second axial acceleration, and a third axial acceleration;

the second computing processor calculates the pitch angle based on the first axial acceleration, calculates the roll angle based on the second axial acceleration and the pitch angle or based on the third axial acceleration and the pitch angle, and calculates the yaw angle based on the pitch angle, the roll angle, and the second signal set.

5. The 3D pointing device of claim 1, wherein the orientation output provided by the orientation sensor is a rotation matrix, a quaternion, a rotation vector, or comprises three orientation angles.

6. The 3D pointing device of claim 1, wherein the transformed output represents a segment of a movement in a plane in the fixed reference frame parallel to a screen of the display device.

7. The 3D pointing device of claim 1, wherein the first computing processor obtains an orientation of the display device associated with the global reference frame, obtains an orientation of the 3D pointing device associated with the fixed reference frame based on the orientation output and the orientation of the display device associated with the global reference frame, generates a transformed rotation associated with the fixed reference frame based on the orientation of the 3D pointing device associated with the fixed reference frame and the rotation output, and generates the transformed output based on the transformed rotation.

8. The 3D pointing device of claim 7, wherein when the first computing processor receives a reset signal, the first computing processor records a current orientation output generated by the orientation sensor as the orientation of the display device associated with the global reference frame.

9. The 3D pointing device of claim 8, wherein the current orientation output comprises a yaw angle associated with one of the three coordinate axes of the global reference frame, the first computing processor obtains the orientation of the 3D pointing device associated with the fixed reference frame by subtracting the yaw angle from the orientation output.

10. The 3D pointing device of claim 7, wherein the first computing processor obtains a rotation matrix from the orientation of the 3D pointing device associated with the fixed reference frame, and multiplies the rotation matrix and the rotation output together to generate the transformed rotation.

11. The 3D pointing device of claim 10, wherein the transformed rotation comprises a first angular velocity, a second angular velocity, and a third angular velocity associated with three coordinate axes of the fixed reference frame;

the transformed output comprises a first movement component and a second movement component associated with two of the three coordinate axes of the fixed reference frame;

the first computing processor multiplies the second angular velocity by a scale factor to generate the second movement component and multiplies the third angular velocity by the scale factor to generate the first movement component.

12. A method for compensating rotations of a 3D pointing device, comprising:

generating an orientation output associated with an orientation of the 3D pointing device associated with three coordinate axes of a global reference frame associated with Earth;

generating a rotation output associated with a rotation of the 3D pointing device associated with three coordinate axes of a spatial reference frame associated with the 3D pointing device; and

using the orientation output and the rotation output to generate a transformed output associated with a fixed reference frame associated with a display device.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of generating the orientation output comprises:

generating a first signal set comprising axial accelerations associated with movements and rotations of the 3D pointing device in the spatial reference frame; and

generating the orientation output based on the first signal set and the rotation output.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of generating the orientation output further comprises:

generating a second signal set associated with Earth'"'"'s magnetism; and

generating the orientation output based on the first signal set, the second signal set and the rotation output or based on the first signal set and the second signal set.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the orientation output comprises a yaw angle, a pitch angle, and a roll angle associated with the three coordinate axes of the global reference frame;

the first signal set comprises a first axial acceleration, a second axial acceleration, and a third axial acceleration;

the step of generating the orientation output based on the first signal set and the second signal set comprises;

calculating the pitch angle based on the first axial acceleration;

calculating the roll angle based on the second axial acceleration and the pitch angle or based on the third axial acceleration and the pitch angle; and

calculating the yaw angle based on the pitch angle, the roll angle, and the second signal set.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the orientation output is a rotation matrix, a quaternion, a rotation vector, or comprises three orientation angles.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the transformed output represents a segment of a movement in a plane in the fixed reference frame parallel to a screen of the display device.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of generating the transformed output comprises:

obtaining an orientation of the display device associated with the global reference frame;

obtaining an orientation of the 3D pointing device associated with the fixed reference frame based on the orientation output and the orientation of the display device associated with the global reference frame;

generating a transformed rotation associated with the fixed reference frame based on the orientation of the 3D pointing device associated with the fixed reference frame and the rotation output; and

generating the transformed output based on the transformed rotation.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of obtaining the orientation of the display device associated with the global reference frame comprises:

recording a current orientation output as the orientation of the display device associated with the global reference frame in response to a reset signal.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the current orientation output comprises a yaw angle associated with one of the three coordinate axes of the global reference frame, and the step of obtaining the orientation of the 3D pointing device associated with the fixed reference frame comprises:

obtaining the orientation of the 3D pointing device associated with the fixed reference frame by subtracting the yaw angle from the orientation output.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of generating the transformed rotation comprises:

obtaining a rotation matrix from the orientation of the 3D pointing device associated with the fixed reference frame; and

multiplying the rotation matrix and the rotation output together to generate the transformed rotation.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the transformed rotation comprises a first angular velocity, a second angular velocity, and a third angular velocity associated with three coordinate axes of the fixed reference frame;

the transformed output comprises a first movement component and a second movement component associated with two of the three coordinate axes of the fixed reference frame;

the step of generating the transformed output based on the transformed rotation comprises;

multiplying the second angular velocity by a scale factor to generate the second movement component; and

multiplying the third angular velocity by the scale factor to generate the first movement component.