Moment cell counterbalance for active hand controller
First Claim
1. In an active hand controller system comprising manual control means for being controlled by a user by movement thereof in at least one plane, said manual control means connected through a gimbal to a shaft, said shaft connected to a motor for having said motor exert a force on said manual control means representative of a mechanical hand controller means, position detecting means for providing a position signal, rate detecting means for providing a rate signal, force detecting means connected to said manual control means and located between said manual control means and said gimbal, said force detecting means having an internal axis of rotation, said force detecting means for detecting a force exerted on said manual control means and for providing a force signal representative of said detected force, control means for accepting said position signal, said rate signal and said force signal and providing a motor control signal, the improvement comprising:
- means for balancing inertial forces acting on said manual control means about said internal axis of rotation in said at least one plane.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An active hand controller system includes a moment cell for generating a signal representative of the force or torque applied to the stick of the hand controller by a user. The moment cell has an internal center of rotation and distributed masses are used to counterbalance the effect of inertial forces on the stick of the hand controller.
149 Citations
13 Claims
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1. In an active hand controller system comprising manual control means for being controlled by a user by movement thereof in at least one plane, said manual control means connected through a gimbal to a shaft, said shaft connected to a motor for having said motor exert a force on said manual control means representative of a mechanical hand controller means, position detecting means for providing a position signal, rate detecting means for providing a rate signal, force detecting means connected to said manual control means and located between said manual control means and said gimbal, said force detecting means having an internal axis of rotation, said force detecting means for detecting a force exerted on said manual control means and for providing a force signal representative of said detected force, control means for accepting said position signal, said rate signal and said force signal and providing a motor control signal, the improvement comprising:
means for balancing inertial forces acting on said manual control means about said internal axis of rotation in said at least one plane. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. In an active hand controller system comprising manual control means for being controlled by a user by movement thereof about at least one axis, said manual control means connected through a gimbal to a shaft, said shaft connected to a motor for having said motor exert a force on said manual control means representative of a mechanical hand controller means, position detecting means for providing a position signal, rate detecting means for providing a rate signal, control means for accepting said position signal and said rate signal and providing a motor control signal, force detecting means connected to said manual control means and located between said manual control means and said gimbal, said force detecting means having a second axis of rotation, said force detecting means for detecting a force exerted on said manual control means and for providing a signal representative of said detected force to said control means to result in a control signal from said motor control means to said motor which eliminates the effects of inertial forces and of operational non-linearities resulting from electromechanical connections of said active hand controller system, the improvement comprising:
counterbalance means for balancing said manual control means about said second axis of rotation to eliminate the effect of inertial forces. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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11. In an active hand controller system comprising manual control means for being controlled by a user by movement in a first plane and in a second plane, said second plane being perpendicular to said first plane, said manual control means connected to a moment cell having a center of rotation for detecting a first force exerted by a user in said first plane and a second force exerted by a user in said second plane, said moment cell connected through gimbal means having a first axis of rotation to a first motor and a second axis of rotation to a second motor for having said first motor exert a third opposing force on said manual control means in said first plane and said second motor exert a fourth opposing force on said manual control means in said second plane, said third force being related to said first force and said fourth force being related to said second force, and said third and fourth forces being representative of a mechanical hand controller means, the improvement comprising:
means for balancing inertial forces acting on said manual control means about said internal axis of rotation. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
Specification